The next afternoon, Emma found herself sitting outside of SMC doing a stakeout. Earlier that morning an email from Maurice demanding results had lit a fire under her ass. Apparently, Spencer's wife was gearing up to take her case to another hotshot firm across town. It was the first time in her entire career that she felt like she wasn't delivering.
Recently, one could argue that her head wasn't in the game. Instead, it was shoved up her own ass with the mistakes she was making left and right. Maurice wasn't one to go soft either, which gave her all the more reason to step up her game. At this point, Emma was screwing up on the job and Maurice would likely terminate her position if she failed to deliver.
She was making rookie mistakes, like failing to notice when Spencer left the restaurant that one time, or her minor fender bender. Who knows, maybe she was hot on the trail one of those days, but she would never know. The fact was, the case had gone on for too long and she needed to produce results by that afternoon.
So there she sat, seats rolled back, window cracked, and music playing softly in the background in her car. Bob Marley really knew his stuff, Three Little Birds, which was arguably his most popular song, moved Emma as she sang along.
"Don't worry about a thing, worry about a thing, oh! Every little thing gonna be all right. Don't worry!"
Perhaps she should pull a page out of Bob's songbook and honestly believe that everything was going to be okay. She was literally a ball of stress, all wound up. The only thing missing at this point was an angry cat from a Saturday morning cartoon deciding to play with her.
The night before had been beyond embarrassing. She should have never fallen into August's trap and played that stupid game. She clearly didn't think ahead to the consequences and how they would affect her emotionally. Emma's emotions were all over the place bouncing off the walls like bumper cars at a carnival. Normally, she wouldn't be such a hot mess, but not having this talk with Regina was really eating at her from the inside out, festering. It was truly her fault for not telling Regina the first day they ever spoke that she was transgender.
While the night before made her feel like the girlfriend from planet weird, Regina shocked her by providing support, effectively grounding her back to Earth.
Granted, those nerves had spawned from August's game like Satan on Doomsday. That wouldn't have been a factor had August not challenged her to play that game in the first place. She should have been smarter and not been a pawn in one of his schemes.
Despite how it all unfolded, one thing was certain, Regina was more reassuring than she initially gave her credit for. Perhaps, realizing that the night before, Emma could take that fuel and direct it towards entrusting Regina with the truth. Emma was who she was. She just hoped that Regina was ready to accept her.
So like Bob's lyrics said, she needed to not worry about a thing, well, maybe. She did need to figure out the right words for the whole coming to Jesus she was going to have with Regina.
First, Emma would have to tell Regina that what she was going to share with her was incredibly hard. That she would need her to be patient as she explained everything.
Emma read a blog on Huffington Post that said that the first step is to explain what gender dysphoria is, well, the science behind it, and what that means in relation to herself.
While Emma knew she could accurately tell her story, she knew that rejection was a huge possibility. She'd read to also expect confusion, anger, and to be answering a lot of questions. The number one cardinal rule, however, was to remain positive throughout the talk.
Emma knew she was ready to have this talk with Regina. She wanted her to know. She wanted to have her support and understand why she had been so batty and nervous. Take away that layer of nerves, then perhaps she could be a normal person and not babbling like a fool as if she didn't know a lick of proper English.
Being lost in her train of thought, Emma nearly missed Spencer pulling out of SMC's parking lot.
Her body kicked into action, she started her bug up, rolled up her windows, and trailed behind him. Every stop sign they came to he'd roll stop and didn't use his turn signal. Emma was already at wits end since her last accident, acting with extreme caution, she took each stop slowly checking for oncoming cars.
"Where the Hell are you taking me, Spencer?" Emma commented to herself. They were back in her suburb only two streets away from her own apartment.
To her shock, they turned down her own street. An even bigger shocker, he pulled that large price tag of a car into her neighbor's driveway.
"What the shit?" Emma said in confusion as she snapped a few shots of Spencer getting out of his car. She watched as he knocked on the door, which Mr. Jones swung open, and they appeared to be in some argument.
"Oh great. This couldn't be more awkward. What are the two of you up to?" Emma said as she closely watched her sleaze ball neighbor yelling back at Spencer. There was clearly some feud between the two, which Emma hadn't expected since she had been following him for weeks. She continued to snap some action shots of the two yelling at one another.
Whatever seemed to be the problem had died down. Mr. Jones had walked out of his house with a bag of trash while Spencer got back in his car. Emma wasn't missing a beat of what was happening, snapping pictures left and right. She knew this was going to be a key to whatever Spencer was involved with.
She captured, Spencer as he went to pull his car out of the driveway, Mr. Jones right behind him in his own.
Starting her own engine, she put the car back into drive to follow them when a different car pulled into her driveway.
Emma had no idea what was going on. "Who the Hell is that?"
She squinted to see if the car was familiar, which it wasn't. "You're kidding me." Emma snapped. Before Emma knew it, the two guys drove away, along with her big break in the case. She slammed her hands down on her steering wheel out of a moment of anger and frustration.
That flow of emotions was quickly wiped away when Regina stepped out of the unknown car, which clearly was an Uber.
Many things passed through Emma's mind at that point, excitement and fear being two of them. Regina had shown up a day early. While Emma knew what she needed to talk about with her, thanks to Huffington Post, she still thought she had a day to come up with all the right words. Trying to remain calm, she knew she needed a diversion.
She quickly called August as if he was her saving grace, safety net, hotline, or whatever.
"Hello? Miss me?"
"Dude, seriously, I need your help. Regina is here early. I'm in the middle of making a break in my case. I'm not ready to talk to her yet and I need to get this case done because I have Maurice up my ass. She's here early and I don't know what to do. Can you please like get over here, like now?"
"Emma, I can't. I'm-"
"No, no. You don't get to do that. You seriously owe me after last night. I need someone to help distract her, be a buffer, uh, uh, some sort of distraction."
"Emma, you've got to talk to her."
"I am. I just need to figure out this case, today! My job is on the line here. My head has been up my ass and I could lose my job. I just got a new lead and need your help."
"Fine, I'll be there in a few minutes. Hang tight."
Emma at the same time started to get another incoming call, from Regina. She swapped the calls and answered.
"Hey!" Emma said. "How are you doing?"
"I'm good. So, I may have rearranged my meetings and I may be sitting in my Uber in your driveway. Where are you?"
"You don't say! That's…I, can't believe you're here. I'll be home in a few minutes, but uh, just so you know the house isn't as clean and August will be coming over. But I'm so happy to see you and have some extra time with you!"
Regina laughed, "Well, I hope my little surprise wasn't a huge inconvenience. After last night, I wanted to see you."
"That means a lot to me. You didn't have to move around your meetings, I know how important they are."
"Honestly, the company I'm working with is probably not going to work out. I rather spend the time with you."
Emma saw August in her rear-view mirror and started to ease her way over to her own driveway, where Regina was.
When she pulled in, she flirtatiously said into the phone, "Honey, I'm home, do I get a kiss?" Emma knew she was acting really smooth, or so she thought.
She jumped out of her car and greeted Regina, who was just stepping out of her Uber car.
"Hey." Emma said, shyly.
"Hey, yourself." Regina smiled.
Emma took the first step forward and wrapped her arms around Regina's thin waist. "God, I have missed you more than you'll know."
"Oh, I think I do know. I may have just rearranged my entire schedule to be here." Regina quickly said back.
"So that kiss?" Emma said as she wiggled her nose.
Regina smiled at the blonde in her arms. Emma would have to be dumb to not see that sparkle in her eyes. "Yes, about that kiss." Regina said. It was her who moved forward and captured the blonde's lips in a tentative, but blissful, heartwarming kiss. Emma deepened it moments later only to be interrupted by the sudden loss of Regina's sensual, plump lips.
"I think we have an audience." Regina said, pulling back a little to look at the bearded ladies' man who was watching their every move. Not to mention the Uber driver who was waiting for Regina to get her things out of the trunk.
"Sup." He said, waving at the pair. "Sorry to, uh, interrupt the sweet Hallmark moment."
Emma smiled at her friend. "S'okay. How about you grab Regina's things?"
"Yeah, how about I do that as if I'm some sort of bellman."
"Don't get snarky."
"Oh me, snarky. Whatever do you mean?" August said in a fake attempt to look appalled.
"You two act like children." Regina said as she leaned into Emma's arms.
"While that seems the case, I promise we're adults."
"So, August, why don't you go get Regina settled inside. I've got to do something real fast."
"Wait, you're not coming with me?" Regina asked, confused.
"I'll be inside in a few minutes. I got a big break in my case just before you got here. Looks like my neighbor is involved somehow."
"Are you going to go question him?"
"No, no this isn't that bad. God that would be awful. Instead, I get to dig through his trash."
Regina pinched her face in confusion, "I don't understand. How's that worse?"
"If you saw Mr. Jones, you'd understand. He's a pervy old man claw for an arm. He oozes of grease and smells like onions and pines after women."
"Oh, that's rather disgusting."
"Yeah. I made the mistake of once trying to have a conversation with him. Regret that decision. Anyways, I'm going to go search his trash. After, I'm going to need to take a quick shower. Can you man the house till then?"
"Yeah, I think if I can run a company and be a mayor, 'manning' the house shouldn't be a problem."
Emma smirked. "You're a handful." She pulled Regina into her arms and kissed her forehead.
"I'm so glad you're finally here. I have missed you."
"Go dig through that trash, I'm not going anywhere, yet at least."
Her body was stubborn and didn't want to leave. However, when Emma did finally peel herself away, she was able to find some old bills inside the trash bags for The Jolly Hooker, for Killian Jones. Emma did a Google search on her phone and discovered that it was a local bar across town. Finally, it all came full circle. While Spencer wasn't a cheating bastard, he was up to something scandalous.
"So good news. I found some more evidence. Bad news, we can't investigate it further until eight tonight, I need to go to a bar." She said as she dropped the papers on her counter that she had trashcan dived for.
"Why's that bad news?" Regina asked.
"Because I'm technically still on the job till I crack my case."
"You're one step closer, though. I'd like to go with you later?"
Emma smiled. "So, it's a date." She paused. "I'm going to jump into the shower. I'll be right back. Just gonna go scrub the icky scum off my body." Emma cringed. "One of the many perks of my jobs." She said, sarcastically.
When Emma left the room, August took that as an opportunity to play twenty questions with Regina.
"While she's in the shower, how about we get to know each other a little more? I don't feel like the first time was good enough."
"Oh?" Regina said in slight surprise. "What do you want to know?"
"How come you were on FindLove to begin with?"
"Isn't it obvious? I wanted to meet someone."
"The people in your town not good enough?"
"I wasn't interested in dating anyone in my town. I'm the mayor, remember."
"Well, I guess that makes sense. So, you just decided to look in the whole U.S.?"
"No. I had it set for a hundred-mile radius. I didn't know people from all over could see my profile. Luckily, that was the case. Emma was the one that reached out to me."
August nodded. "Right. So do you think this is something that would last long-term?"
Regina had a genuine smile spread across her face. "Yes, I do."
"Have you given thought to, perhaps, how the commute will get old?"
"That's a valid point. I actually don't have any more meetings in Florida in the immediate future considering I just canceled my meetings."
"Here's just a friendly suggestion, maybe think about some sort of goal? Like will one of you move if this gets more serious. Think about the things you'll be willing to sacrifice for this to work."
They both heard the shower turn off in the other room.
Regina brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. "I suppose Emma and I should have this conversation sometime soon."
"She really likes you, Regina. She's a good person, but she makes mistakes sometimes. She's got good intentions at heart. She values what you both have, and I've never seen her like this about anyone. It's like you put the life in her again."
"She's a good person who I have come to quite enjoy. I think we've both given each other the little spark we needed. Thanks for confiding in me."
"I'm here for you both. Remember, I'm basically Cupid." August winked.
They both looked up as Emma walked in. Her hair was dripping wet on her shoulders and her fresh face lit up the room. "Hey, guys, sorry that took so long. How about we order some takeout and watch something on TV until we need to get ready to leave again?"
"You watch too much TV. It can't be good for your health. Don't get me started on that takeout of yours either." Regina nonchalantly commented.
"Television isn't a bad thing. Especially, not if that means I get to wrap my arm around you and relax together."
"I think I need to get a thermometer. It just got gayer in here. I mean hotter." August whined.
Regina chuckled as Emma sat down at the end of the couch with her arms open. "I know I'm irresistible."
"My, do you have a big ego today."
Emma fake pouted at Regina; arms still wide open. Regina, in turn, gave in and cuddled into the blonde's arms. August picked out an action movie and, fortunately, it at the very least had Angelina Jolie in it.
It was later that evening when Regina and Emma found themselves sitting in The Jolly Hooker. The bar's vibe was pirate themed, which Regina described it as tacky and poorly decorated.
Emma really didn't have any commentary besides that she had no idea that her sleazy neighbor owned a bar.
"So they have some specials since it's Thirsty Thursday and happy hour. What would you like?" Emma practically yelled over the twenty some patrons in the bar.
"A martini, extra dry. Oh, and Emma, Grey Goose." Regina pointed out. Emma nodded and turned on her heel to get their drinks. When she returned to their front row seats to the stage, Regina asked, "So he's here? The guy you've been following?"
"Yeah. I think it's safe to say he's not cheating on his wife?"
"How do to you know?"
"You don't get out much, do you?"
"I do too." Regina retorted.
"Regina, have you ever been to a drag bar?"
"A drag, what?" She asked in shock.
"You know drag queens."
"I have no idea what that is."
"You're kidding me, right?"
"Do I look like I'm kidding."
Emma chuckled. Her girlfriend was clearly in for a treat. She wrapped her arm around Regina and pulled her close. She missed being about to feel her and see her up close and personal.
"You'll see soon. I've gotta take some pictures for evidence to give to Maurice. So, when they come on stage, I'm going to need you to toss a few of these dollar bills on stage or hand them out."
Before Regina could respond. A beautiful dark and creamy skin toned woman stepped on stage in an ornate costume. In a regal voice, she announced, "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Cream Puff and I'll be announcing the lineup for this evening. We have some wonderful queens backstage getting all dolled up for you. Please give them a round of applause." The crowd hooted and hollered.
"That was weak. Let's try that again!" She said into her microphone.
The crowd once again clapped their hands together and hollered. Some even whistling for the ladies backstage.
"Now that was better. Now we have a great line-up this evening. We have a new queen in town who is first up on stage. Let's hear it for, Ms. Jezebel."
The bar was once again filled with encouraging rounds of applause's and someone even yelled, "Yeah baby!"
"Who names someone Cream Puff?" Regina said in disbelief.
Emma shook in a fit of laughter. "Just watch."
The lights grew dark, and the curtains pulled back to a tall brunette with long black hair, appeared.
Music in the background started playing, Cher's song, Believe.
"Is this like some impersonation theater."
Trying to not laugh at how naive her girlfriend was Emma responded, "I guess it's something like that."
The lights started changing on the center stage and the woman came into full view.
"No matter how hard I try,
You keep pushing me aside,
And I can't break through,
There's no talking to you,
It's so sad that you're leaving,
It takes time to believe it,
But after all is said and done,
You're gonna be the lonely one."
Emma and Regina watched as the crowd cheered, hooted, and hollered at Jezebel. Her glamorous sequined leotard emphasized her curves as her body moved to the music.
"Do you believe in life after love,
I can feel something inside me say,
I really don't think you're strong enough."
"Emma, it's a man!" Regina gasped out in shock. Her hand also betrayed her as she clutched tightly on Emma's thigh. Before Emma could chime in, Regina burst out into a fit of laughter and released her grip. "Oh, this is great. I've tried to avoid stuff like this, because well, never mind that's not important!" She said as she grabbed a dollar off the table and held it out for Jezebel.
The performer's eye caught the bill waving in the air and danced over to where they were seated. "Thank you, darling." She whispered in a deep, but feminine tone to Regina before carrying on dancing on stage to her song.
"Do you believe in life after love,
I can feel something inside me say,
I really don't think you're strong enough."
"She's great!" Emma said. "I haven't been to one of these in years."
Creme Puff came back on stage and announced, "Ms. Buffy The Va China Slayer".
It took Emma three times to repeat her name before she got it. "Buffy the va-gina slayer." Emma of course laughed. Regina, on the other hand, rolled her eyes in disgust at the drag queen's name.
By the end of three acts, Creme Puff came back on stage.
"I stand here with bittersweet news today. One of our very own special ladies who wasn't supposed to be here this evening is making a special appearance. The bitter news is that it will be her last show with us at The Jolly Hooker. So, let's give her a round of applause. Everyone, please welcome, Ms. Orgazma da Spenca!"
Emma choked on her beer.
The curtains pulled back to a woman in a long black dress, blonde hair all pinned up, with long satin gloves sang, "Hello, it's me."
"Oh my god, he's doing an Adele impersonation." Emma said as she grabbed her camera. "This is epic!"
"I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet, to go over everything, they say that time's supposed to heal ya, But I ain't done much healing."
While Emma snapped away pictures on her iPhone, she failed to see the shock wash over Regina's face.
"Hello, can you hear me?
I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be, when we were younger and free,
I've forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet."
"Emma, you know who that is?" Regina asked with a little bite to her question. The music faded off into the background as Emma turned and answered Regina.
"Yeah, Albert Spencer. He's the guy I've been following for the last few weeks. Why? Want his autograph? He's pretty good for an old white guy in drag, but damn that name makes me want to cringe." Emma's words were muted as the chorus is the song blared from the speakers just over their heads.
"Hello from the other side,
I must've called a thousand times,
To tell you I'm sorry,
For everything that I've done."
Regina spoke over the music to Emma. "He's the CEO of SMC." Regina said to Emma.
"Yeah, but how'd you know that?" Emma was now confused.
"Because SMC is the company that's acquiring Mills Corp., my company. And that." Regina pointed. "Is the man who's been giving me a hard time by lowering the initial offers I was given."
It was Emma's turn to be shocked. "You're kidding."
"No, I don't think I am." Regina held out her palm. "Hand me a five."
Emma dug out a five from her wallet and handed it over to Regina, who stood, confidently, waving the green Abraham Lincoln in the air."
When Orgazma da Spenca came closer, she reached out to grab the money to thank Regina. At that moment, however, Spencer froze. Instead of like the drag queens before she faltered and missed a few beats to her performance. Regina smirked and knew this was exactly how she was going to get what she wanted.
"What are you doing here? How'd you find me?" She heard in a deep guttural snap.
"I have my sources." She said back in response. While it was sheer coincidence, she wasn't going to tell Spencer that, especially not when she had this to hold over his wigged head.
While most performers are taught to jump right back into the mix of things, that wasn't the case for Orgazma da Spenca, who stormed off stage behind the curtains. An angry crowd booed in response trying to get her back on stage.
Creme Puff came back on stage to simmer the crowd down, who was as equally thrown off guard by the sudden shift in the energy on stage. "Alright, that is a wrap. We are going to have the performers back on stage for a finale in just a few moments." Cream Puff announced.
"Regina where are you going?" Emma asked as she saw her girlfriend stand from her seat.
"Taking care of business." Emma watched her march in the direction of the dressing room as if she was on a mission to kill.
Hot on her heels, she followed Regina. What she didn't expect to find was Spencer, peeling off his large and in charge fake eyelashes yelling at her neighbor, Mr. Jones.
"I told you, Killian. This was my last performance. I knew you couldn't keep my identity under wraps, you filthy slime bag." She shoved her creepy neighbor. "I knew my stage name would be compromised. My business could be ruined now. And God knows what else!"
"What are you talking about. I did nothing but work to keep anonymity. I value your work here, as well as your financial support, and have done nothing but go out of my way for you." Her clawed neighbor defended himself.
Regina stepped in now. "Well, it seems like we have some things to discuss."
"Regina, how did you find me?" The man she knew as a fierce business maker, stood disheveled, make-up smeared on his face and one feathery eyelash hanging from his eyelid. His wig had even been discarded somewhere on his dressing room table. The florescent lights caused the room to glow and all Emma could see was Regina going in for what appeared to be an easy kill.
"Miss you can't be in here." Emma's neighbor meekly tried not recognizing her. She thanked God for that. The last thing she needed was her cover blown.
Regina, however, spoke over Spencer, ignoring his question. "That doesn't matter, what matters is that you keep stalling my business deal. How about you think long and hard about what I'm about to say. Give me that initial deal we discussed. If you do that, then all of this goes away. I was never here, and I'll make damn sure to never tell anyone."
Spencer stared into Regina's eyes with fire willing her to back down from this fight. But she stood her ground causing him to cave in. "Fine. You have a deal."
"I'll have my assistant send the paperwork tomorrow. I want it signed and dated the moment it comes across your desk. You will release a press release stating that SMC is acquiring Mills Corp. In that statement, you will also comment on how this is one of the best business moves SMC has done in a decade and how it's been a pleasure working with Regina Mills, founder of Mills Corp., do you understand?"
"Yes." Spencer said with slight reluctance. "I understand. You have a deal. So help me God, if I find out that you ever leak anything about me, I will ruin you."
"Oh, you have my word, I won't say anything." Regina brought her hand out to seal the deal.
Emma, who stood off to the side, had no idea what just happened. But from the looks of it, Regina was one hundred percent in charge.
When they left and got back to the car, Regina turned to Emma. Her face in utter shock. "Do you know what this means?" She asked.
"Not really."
"Emma, I just got a billion dollar offer for my company."
"You what?" Emma felt the air grew thick and stuttered out, "Regina did you just say a bill...billion...dollars?"
"I know I can't believe it!" She said.
"You made a billion dollars?" Emma repeated again, dumbfounded.
"The company did, but I will make a cut of it." Regina said, still in disbelief herself shaking her head and then she burst out into laughter.
"Regina you're like a millionaire now!" Emma laughed and couldn't believe what she was saying.
Before Emma could mindlessly say anything else while she was in shock, Regina surged forward and captured her lips, kissing Emma passionately. It was celebratory and the words they didn't know how to say were communicated through their actions. Their chests both heaving and it was Regina who breathlessly asked Emma to take her home.
Emma did as she asked and put her car in drive and made the quick trip across town. Her heart aching for what she knew was coming next.
By the time they got back to her apartment, her hands shook with anticipation causing her to barely be able to get her door open. But as soon as it did swing open, Regina pushed her up against it. Emma wanted to live in the moment, to let things just unfold, but she couldn't. She knew better.
"Regina we really need to talk." Emma said as she leaned into the other woman, kissing her lips in a heated moment. While she said one thing, her body made a different impression.
Regina's hands start playing with the hem of Emma's shirt and daringly wandered beneath. Her knees buckled and caused her to lean more into Regina as she melted from her touch. Emma broke the kiss despite how much her body ached from the desire that longed between her legs.
"We need to talk." She managed to force the words past her lips again. Her own hands, however, started traveling down Regina's curves and her lips pursued Regina's in a heated and sensual kiss. Again, her actions distracted Regina whose lips were swollen from the rough kisses they kept stealing back and forth.
"You're so intoxicating." Regina purred into Emma's ear. Her mouth moved lower to her neck where she playfully nipped at Emma's flesh and sucked hard earning a moan. "All I want is to take you right here, right now." Regina confessed. Her soft touches teased Emma's body as they drifted and explored her form.
Emma's head leaned back against her door, her body giving into Regina's seduction. Heat radiated off her as Regina moved against her causing all thoughts in Emma's mind to be forgotten. It was hypnotic and Emma moved along in the motions with Regina, leaning into every touch and every kiss.
That was until Regina's hand moved a little too high up her thigh and against Emma's hot pulsating sex. Regina's hand clutched tightly against Emma's clothed form that filled her hand, which instantly shot away as if it burned by fire.
In that instant, both women froze. Emma's mind came crashing back down to reality and she felt the immediate loss of Regina's tantalizing touch.
Emma could see the realization wash over Regina's face followed by confusion, and then... hurt.
"Is that what you wanted to talk about?" Regina asked as tears formed in her eyes as she took a large step back away from Emma.
"Regina, please listen." Emma took a step forward trying to dissolve the distance between them.
"Listen? All I've ever done is listen." Regina spat back at her.
"I didn't know what to say or how to even tell you that I'm transgender. I don't just tell people that. Every part of me is female, I just didn't know what to say."
"The truth, maybe?" Regina yelled at her with venom in her voice.
"It's not that simple." Emma cried out; tears started to stream down her face. "Please just, can I explain? I've never had to deal with something like this before. I know I messed up."
Regina shook her head and cynically laughed to herself and asked, "Have I ever given you any reason for you to not trust me?"
"No." Emma said as she looked away from deep brown eyes that had ocean swells pouring from her eyes. Emma could see the devastation, the betrayal that Regina felt. The only words that felt right to say were, "I'm sorry." But even those words didn't feel enough to Emma. They didn't fix anything. They felt weightless, empty, and unworthy of use. She knew she needed more than and I'm sorry to mend what she singlehandedly ensured would happen by not talking to Regina sooner.
Regina shook her head and turned. Emma watched as Regina grabbed her things that were still off to the side from when August brought them in earlier that afternoon.
Emma felt broken inside, weak even. She didn't know what to do except watch as the woman she cared so passionately leave. The tears on her face didn't even cover the sorrow she felt, the true pain of rejection that rocked her entire soul into a bleak oblivion. All she wanted was to be a pile of ash, swept under a rug, forgotten.
"I gave you my trust. I have moved everything around for you." Regina yelled through her own tears of pain. "How could you not realize how I've put my life on hold to just be here with you?" She hurtfully yelled. "Does that in itself not warrant your trust? You've betrayed me and I'm beyond hurt that you didn't even think you could share something like this with me. It's a huge thing to just not tell me about. You mislead me. All those nights together, you didn't once think to bring it up? You make me feel like what we have meant nothing to you."
Emma's mind screamed. She had no idea what to do, but nothing that was happening between them could be fixed in that instant. Her words would mean nothing. Her own tears would prove nothing.
Despite her realization, her words begged to not fall on deaf ears. "Regina, no I didn't think that at all. Listen to me, this is, was, never about you. It was always about me and my fear of losing you."
Regina grabbed the door handle and twisted then pulled it open, despite Emma's weight against it.
The humid evening air rushed into Emma's apartment causing the air to feel even thicker.
"Please don't go." Emma tried again. "I just need to explain. Please, Regina." She grabbed at her hand, but it was snatched away, coldly.
"I need time... to process. Please, just let me go." Regina said. Her body tense and her voice, well, it was emotionless.
Emma knew that she couldn't say or do anything at that moment to fix her mistake. So, no matter how hard it was, she stepped aside and let Regina leave.
"Where are you going?" Her voice shook with pain. Her tearful gaze watched as the woman she loved turned her back to her.
"A hotel." Regina shot back as she quickly called an Uber reluctant to make eye contact with Emma. When the car arrived moments later, she stepped into it without hesitance and had the driver drive away... from Emma.
Emma stood there in the chilly 60-degree evening as she watched the car fade off into the distance. Once it was gone, she walked back into her apartment and slammed her door shut.
She slowly slid down it and collapsed on to the floor in a broken mess of tears. She grabbed at her chest, as she felt the ache from rejection, and screamed. Tears fell down her face and her body rocked, longing for affection that she wasn't even sure she deserved.
Emma reached into her pocket, pulled out her cell phone, and called her one and only confidant.
When his familiar voice said, Hello, she sniveled and sobbed into the phone. She didn't need to say anything for him to know what happened and what she needed.
"I'm coming, Emma. Don't move. I'm coming. It's going to be okay." She dropped her phone on the floor. By that time the tears stopped falling, and emptiness seeped through her body filling the abyss in her heart. Loneliness set in and for the first time in her entire life, Emma Swan knew to her core exactly what rejection felt like.