Regina arrived at her office at 8:58am, plenty of time to walk in and get started right at nine. Her heels clicked through the building with everyone who passed greeting her, "Good morning, Madam Mayor," and other hellos, she responded respectfully.

As she approached her office, "Morning Vincent!" Vincent was a very openly gay man and one hell of a worker. Regina isn't quite sure which land he's from, but he 'lives for her mayoral outfits' every morning and he compliments something everyday. Regina was always excited to see what he was going to say.

"Oh, Mayor Mills! Your eyes are extra smokey, I could stare at 'em all day! And who said you could be unbutton three buttons? Feeling a little flirty today, hm?" He was sitting straight up at his desk, wearing a lavender button up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows accompanied by light grey dress pants. His ginger hair is always perfectly coiffed and his skin is always perfectly moisturized. On his desk was a laptop, a phone, pens in a small cup containing a small rainbow flag, a nameplate and his signature mug that said 'Best Secretary Ever', given to him by Regina a few Christmas's back.

"Thank you, dear. And, maybe a little if you must know," Regina smirked. "I told her to let me know when she's ready, but if a blonde woman in a red leather jacket shows up today, send her in, please. Her name is Emma."

"Yes ma'am! Your work is on your desk, love."

"Thank you. What would I do without you?" They both smiled at each other.

The mayor strutted into her office closing the door behind her. She sat her purse down on the table, walked to the window behind her desk and stared at her town lovingly, as if it was the first time. The air was different since Emma came to town, everything seemed brighter. She finally sat down at her desk and started her day of paperwork.

Emma sat in her car for a few minutes thinking about how much control Regina had over her already. Maybe I should just go back. No, I just met Henry, it would hurt him. But, I don't belong here. No, but I think there could be something between me and Regina. I should stay. For Henry... Yeah, for Henry. Emma finally decided start her car and drive into town. She found some parallel parking across from a place called Granny's. She got out of her car and started walking. Where to? She didn't know or care.

As she strolled down the street looking at the different knick-knack stores, clothing and shoes stores, she noticed the people of the town were staring at her. The blonde shook it off and boiled it down to just her being someone new in a small town where everyone knew everyone. Emma stopped at a crosswalk and noticed the big, abandoned building with a clock tower on top. "Hmm," she questioned noticing that the clock said 7:15 when her phone said 11:00.

"The ole clock tower," a familiar voice said.

Emma turned around and saw the sheriff, the same one that strutted down Regina's stairs. "Oh, hello sheriff," She did not want a conversation with him.

"That clock has been broken for who knows how long," he paused, "but it's right two times a day!"

Emma smiled out of courtesy, not because the joke was good, "right."

The sheriff cleared his throat, "have you decided to stay?"

"Debating on whether or not I should for Henry."

"Oh, right, you're his birth mother. Well, I'm sure Granny's has a room open if you decide to stay. Amazing burgers, too"

"Thank you, but I might already have a place to stay," Emma was blushing at the mere thought of Regina.

He cocked an eyebrow, "may I ask where?"

Why does he care? "With Re- the mayor actually," she gulped.

"Ah... Well, if you ever need anything..."

"Emma."

"Emma," he handed her his business card. It was a bit outdated and had a slight stain on one of the corners. He probably never hands these out. "I'm Graham, nice to finally meet you."

"You too," Emma was relieved the conversation was over. She watched him walk back to his parked car. Was he watching me? She checked the time again, 11:11am. Make a wish. The blonde decided to head back to Granny's for some lunch.

When she entered the diner, everyone turned and stared for what felt like forever. Finally everyone resumed their lunch.

"Haven't seen you before!" A dark brunette with a red streak said from behind the bar. Her red plaid shirt was unbuttoned as far as she could manage with the bottom of the shirt tied in a knot just above her stomach. Her matching red shorts were so short, the hem was almost above the counter.

"I- uh... Just got in town," Emma responded.

"I can tell. Please sit!" The waitress gestured to the open seats at the bar. "I'm Ruby, but everyone calls me, Red. You hungry? Want some coffee?"

Emma sat. She was a bit taken aback from the nice hospitality, a contrast from what she received coming in. "Yes and yes."

"Coming right up! How hungry are ya today?" Ruby poured the coffee into a small white mug and set it in front of Emma's folded hands, along with a small bowl of sugar and a small pitcher of creamer.

"A little," Emma added a spoon of sugar and a drop of creamer to her cup, and Ruby took a mental note of it. After mixing, she took a sip, "this is delicious, thank you."

"Home grown! So! How do you feel about a grilled cheese and fries?" Ruby bounced up and down from being excited about a new customer. She reminds me of a puppy, Emma thought.

"Perfect," Emma took another sip.

"Great! It'll be ready soon. Do you want it for here or to-go?" Ruby wrote down the order on a pad with a red pen.

"To-go, please."

"You got it!" Ruby wrote that down as well and started to walk towards the kitchen.

"Actually, do you know what Regina usually gets?" Emma questioned.

Ruby stopped in her tracks and quickly turned around, "Regina? As in, the mayor?" she whispered.

"Uh... yeah?" Emma whispered back questioning, "what's wrong?"

Back to normal volume, "nothing, she's just... not well liked. To each there own."

"Interesting. Well, she was kind enough to lend me a room last night, so I wanted to repay her... with food, I guess." Emma was questioning everything now. Was Henry comparing her to the Evil Queen because she's mean?

Ruby looked concerned but answered anyway, "She gets the house salad with apple slices and greek dressing. Did you want to get that too?"

"Yes, please," Emma finished her coffee pushing the mug and other items to Ruby's side of the bar, "and two waters as well, please."

Ruby nodded, less enthusiastic than she has been. She walked over to the kitchen and placed the order paper near the other stack of orders.

After a refill of coffee, stares from people coming and going, Ruby gliding around the diner, the food was ready. Ruby thanked the person cooking and bagged the order. Ruby told Emma the total, she paid and left a good tip. Ruby thanked her and winked once she saw the tip amount, asking her to 'Come back soon!' as the blonde left the diner.

It took Emma a while to find the Town Hall, assuming that's where Regina worked. It was a nice drive though, lots of trees and older buildings to look at. As the yellow bug parked, she checked the time, 12:02pm. She should be on her lunch break by now. The blonde not-so-gracefully got out of the car, fumbling with the food bag, barely holding onto the drinks. She finally made it inside, asking every other person where the mayors office was. Some were polite but some just pointed in a vague direction rolling their eyes, at me or Regina? Finally, Emma walked up to Vincent.

"Hey Blondie! Are you Emma?"

"Y-yeah. Is Regina-"

"Yes ma'am, go right in!" The ginger smiled knowing that Emma was exactly the mayor's type. Vincent and Regina were close enough to talk about there gay crushes, knowing that the gay scene wasn't very big in Storybrooke. Every now and then, they would have a wine night and talk about anything and everything, mostly about other coworkers though and people they didn't like. Henry liked him too because he helped him with homework sometimes.

"Thank you," Emma knocked on the big french doors and walked right in.