A/N: Forgive my not updating last night, I got caught up in the baseball game and was in such a bad mood on account of my team loosing. But, it's a brand new day, and there will be a brand new game. Therefore, I woke up determined to finish this story TODAY with no if's, and's or but's attached. That being said, here is the next chapter where things will finally unfold. The last chapter (ch. 12) shall be posted momentarily; for now please, stay tuned. :)
Just on a side note, I will say this again- to anyone who wants to ask me on translating this or ANY of my other works to use in other groups, and/or fandoms- my answer is to please, do not ask me this question again. My stories are written for SQ ONLY and are mine alone. Thank you, kindly.
"Marco! Marco!" Ruby came running toward Marco's booth, breathlessly panting. Her hands caught herself along the booth, before she tumbled over from lack of oxygen.
"Good God, is someone chasing you?" Marco looks over Ruby's shoulder, expecting to see someone behind her with a knife or an ax.
"No- now, listen because this is very important." Ruby breathes. "Mr. Gold wants to see you in his office immediately." She pauses.
Marco frowns, his eyes move along to the monitors before they look back at Ruby. "Shit." He mutters.
Ruby's eyes display the fear that Marco feels inside. "You don't think…?"
"I can't say for sure. It could not be that." Marco shakes his head. "But, no matter," he holds his head up high. "I'll go see what he wants." He marches out of his booth, leaving Ruby all alone.
"I'm sorry to be such a bother early this morning, but I just thought to myself: Where would a maid get a Harry Winston Wreath?" Emilia shook her head.
"It's no bother at all, ma'am. I assure you that in this hotel we take matters like this seriously." Gold glares up at Marco, who is standing beside him with a deep frown. Gold holds up his remote and turns on a monitor he keeps in his office. "I'll just play this video from a couple of weeks back and you just point out if you see her."
Emilia nods, her narrowed eyes remaining on the video. Her hand elegantly resting underneath her chin. "Wait!" Her eyes widened at the sight of Emma, pushing along a cart of cleaning supplies along the hallway. "I mean…" She squints. "It could be her. Yes, yes! It's her, I'm certain of it."
"Are you absolutely sure?" Gold asks with a frown to him.
"Yes, of course. I know her- well, I thought I did- but, she always wears her hair the same way." Emilia nods. "Could we fast forward a little, please? Perhaps she will appear better in another shot."
Gold nods, quickly skipping to another time of day in the video feed where Emilia doesn't miss a closer shot of Emma, bent down in front of a little boy, dressed in what she knew to be her clothes. She would know her clothing anywhere. Regina was in the background, waiting patiently by the elevators.
"Wait! Stop!" Emilia's eyes are wide with horror as her long finger points toward the monitor. "That's my Dolce coat!"
Gold's face is turned into a grim stone as he looks up at Marco, "How could you possibly have missed this?" He asks him with seething anger in his voice.
"I'm sorry, sir." Marco's frown deepens. He didn't want to imagine what was in store for poor Emma.
"What do you suggest we do, Ms. Swan?" Asked Sidney, still putting Emma to the test.
Emma looks over a clipboard, "Well, we can send a plunger up to two-o-three, and I can call the pharmacy and make sure we are stocked up on medications."
Sidney nods, truly impressed. "Very good, Ms. Swan."
Emma smiles. "Thank you, sir."
"Emma! Em!" Ruby comes running into the room, panting. "There's something-"
All heads turn to an employee, poking his head from behind the door frame. "Mr. Gold wants to see both of you in the Park Suite, right away." His eyes look to Emma and Sidney.
The Park Suite? Emma's heart jumps into her throat as she exchanges a quick glance with Sidney, followed by Ruby as she is exiting behind Sidney.
Once Emma and Sidney entered the Park Suite, they weren't at all surprised to see Gold, Ingrid and Emilia Clarke within the room.
"Ah, Sidney, Emma." Gold announced.
"Emma?" Emilia scoffs, "Well, that's very interesting, considering you told me your name was Emily." She crossed her arms over her chest, her brow lifted.
Emma never told her that. Emilia simply assumed it because apparently remembering her name was Emma was too much of a task for her, but it would do no good to argue that right now. "I thought it would be impolite to correct you." She said.
"Oh!" Emilia chuckles, "And I suppose it's polite to steal people's clothes?" Her tone has a bite to it that makes Emma blink.
"I didn't steal!" Emma replies all too quickly.
"Ms. Swan," Ingrid speaks up, quite sternly. "Mr. Gold has spent the last thirty minutes trying to convince Ms. Clarke not to press former chargers against you. I suggest you say as little as possible."
"We have all the evidence I need against you on video." Said Emilia.
"Was everything returned?" Gold asks.
Emma's eyes gloss over. "Yes, sir."
There is a knock at the door, to which Sidney hurries to open it.
"Oh, Regina-!" Emilia stands, and Regina's eyes remain on Emma the entire time as she enters the room, with Killian on her heels. Emma's heart dies at the sight of her, at the shocked look to her face. "I'm terribly sorry to have pulled you away from your busy schedule but I thought that you had a right to know what was going on here."
"What is going on?" Regina asks, her eyes trained on Emma.
"It's very simple, Regina," Emilia's smiles at Regina. "The woman you thought was a guest on this floor is the maid on this floor." Her eyes look to Emma, lips thinned out tightly. "Isn't that right, Emma?"
Emma fights back a sob as her head bows, gaze to the floor. She couldn't even look at Regina right now. She knows Regina must hate her.
"No, her name is Emilia." Regina replies, looking to Emma for answers.
"No, Regina, darling- that's my name. It seems that Emma here takes it upon herself to steal clothes, identities-"
Regina shakes her head, "What the hell is going on here? Wha-" She chuckles as she takes Emma's uniform to memory. "Why are you dressed that way?"
Emma blinks, her eyes irritated and red, unable to fight back the tears that spring free as all she can do is stare at Regina with a heavy apologetic look.
"Emilia?" Regina waits, expecting an explanation from the woman that matters the most to her. Her eyes take in Emma's figure dressed in her maid outfit again. "Is this true?"
Emma feels a lump in her throat, gulping it down. "It's true." Her voice breaks.
Regina's eyes grow wide, the shock along her face more visible. Killian runs a hand through his dark hair. "Jesus Christ!" He breathes sharply. "The press is really going to have a field day with this one."
"There's no reason to involve the press." Said Gold.
"Yeah?" Killian takes a step before Gold, his fist glued to his hip. "And just how are you going to prevent her from speaking?" He asks.
Emilia scoffs, "This would never happen at the Four Seasons."
Regina turns her head, glaring at the real Emilia over her shoulder through her peripheral vision.
"And I can assure you, it has never happened here either." Gold assured, his eyes glaring at Sidney as he held up a single digit. "Sidney, you are slipping. You should have noticed something. I am truly disappointed in you."
"Please, Mr. Gold- Sidney had nothing to do with this." Emma breathes pleadingly, her eyes moving to Regina again.
"Of course, sir. I understand." Sidney says calmly.
"Ms. Swan, you no longer work here. Please, go to security, hand in your passes and your ID and you'll be escorted from the building." Gold says sternly.
"Is that really necessary?" Asks Regina, shaking her head in disbelief as she begins to march after Emma.
"Regina, please- let the man do this job." Said Killian, going ignored by the brunette.
"Oh, Regina!" Emilia hurries behind Regina, "Regina," she halts the brunette near the door. "I can't help but feel that this is partly my fault." Her hand lands against her chest.
"It isn't. Spare yourself." Regina says sternly.
"Well, at least let me buy you lunch, after all we only have each other to get through this humiliation." Emilia doesn't waste time to sound flirtatious, something Regina isn't in the mood for.
Regina sighs, having had enough. "Emilia, the first lunch was a mistake. A second one would be complete torture." She marches past Emilia.
"Drinks then?" Emilia whips around, seeing Regina march right out the door, slamming it shut.
Emma sniffs, having had a good cry session in the locker room as she packs up her uniform inside a dry cleaning bag, changed into her regular clothes and jacket. She slams the door shut, seeing Ruby standing beside her.
"Em, you aren't really going, are you?" Ruby asks.
Emma sighs, looking down at the bag she currently holds. "I knew it was too good to be true. You know? And yet, a part of me wanted to believe that Regina and I-" she shakes her head. "It doesn't matter. I should have told her the truth. You should have seen how she looked at me, Ruby." Her voice breaks, chin wobbling. "You all were right. Regina and I are from two entirely different worlds, it would have never worked out."
Ruby's frown deepens as her hand cradles Emma's shoulder. "Did you at least talk to her to see how she felt about it?"
"Felt about it? Ruby, I lied to her! If anything Regina feels betrayed right now, and she has every right to feel that way." Emma snaps.
"Well, sure she might feel a little betrayed, Em, but talk to her. I mean you said so yourself that last night she-"
"Last night was last night, Ruby." Emma shakes her head. "You were right. I was just living in a fantasy." She manages to give Ruby a sad smile, all while holding onto one of her hands. "Be that as it may, I want you to know that you are my bestest friend. And I'm never going to find a better partner in crime."
"No, Em," Ruby steps before Emma, blocking her exit. "You can't leave like this. Come on, it-" she scoffs. "This isn't fair, okay? If you leave, then I'm leaving, too."
Emma can't help but hug Ruby, so tight she was surprised she didn't break any bones in the girl's body. Lastly, Emma places a kiss along Ruby's cheek. "Goodbye, Rubes. Thank you for everything. You were truly the best fairy Godmother a girl could have asked for."
Ruby leans her body along the lockers, releasing a sigh once Emma walks out of the room.
"I'm going to need your key card, name tag and ID card, please." Another security guard stood next to a frowning Marco, looking sternly at Emma.
Emma dug through her pockets, pulling out every single item that was asked of her, and willingly handing them in.
"I'm so sorry, Emma." Marco's frown deepens.
"It's okay, Marco. This is nowhere near your fault." Emma gives Marco a sad smile as she hands over the bag with her uniform inside of it.
"I just wish there was more I could do for you." Said Marco.
"You were a great friend to me throughout the years. You helped me with Henry when I needed it. That's all I could ask for." Said Emma. Her head turns, eyes go wide as she's surprised to see Sidney standing beside her. "Sidney- oh, God- don't tell me they fired you, too?"
"No." Sidney shakes his head, willingly removing his ID from around his neck. "On the contrary, I made the decision a moment ago." He turns his items into security. "It was long overdue."
Emma's lips part evenly. "You quit?"
Sidney nods. "Sometimes, Ms. Swan…" His eyes find Emma's. "We are forced into directions in our lives that we ought to have found for ourselves." He waves his hand, indicating Emma to walk first.
"Bye, Marco." Emma waves, delivering another sad smile to Marco as she walks beside Sidney.
"You know, Ms. Swan…" Sidney halts, facing Emma. "To serve people takes dignity and intelligence. But remember, they're only people with money. And although we serve them, we are not their servants. What we do, Ms. Swan, does not define who we are. What defines us is how well we rise after falling." Then, Emma sees something she hardly ever saw on Sidney, if not ever. A tiny little smile pulling itself up out of the corner of his lip. "I think you'll make a wonderful manager someday. And it has truly been a great honor to have worked with you."
Emma smiles a little and watches as Sidney willingly walks away. She turns to Marco, giving him one last wave before leaving for good.
Regina bursts through the doors of the hotel, immediately finding herself surrounded by paparazzi, chatter of different questions and thousands of flashing lights.
"Ms. Mills! Candidate Mills! Is it true that the woman you were with at Belfrey's benefit dinner was a maid working for this hotel?" A reporter holds out his microphone toward Regina, going ignored by the brunette.
"No, comment on that remark, please." Killian steps in. "I will have you know that those are just rumors-"
"Emilia!" Regina takes off running as soon as she spots Emma across the street. She doesn't even care that everyone takes off after her, or that a car honks angrily at her after she was almost impacted by the oncoming vehicle as she crossed the street. "Emilia! Emilia- Emma- I'm sorry, I don't know which name to use." She walks beside Emma.
Emma's eyes throw a quick glance to Regina as she walks. "It's Emma." She breathes out, thankful for her own name.
"Now it all makes sense… Why, you wanted me to call you…" Regina breathes, keeping up with Emma's fast pace. She can see a slight blush appear right on Emma's cheeks. "I- I don't understand. What just happened back there?"
Emma's green eyes lock onto Regina's, "What don't you get? I'm the maid." She replies.
"Well, explain this to me, please. What was this to you then, some kind of a bet? A little game of what? Get the guests?" Regina asks a little sternly.
"No!" Emma hurries her walk a little more, surprised that Regina is able to keep up, even after she accidentally bumps into a bystander along the crowd they found themselves in. "The truth to things was that I was stupid, alright? I was just trying on her clothes and then you happened to walk in, you saw me and everything else just-"
"So it was better for you to lie?" Regina hurries her steps a little more, feeling a little angry. "You really thought you had to lie to keep me interested in you?" She steps before Emma to stop her from walking for a second.
Emma halts, facing Regina dead-on this time. "Who's kidding who here, Regina? Do you honestly think that you would have taken a second look at me if you knew I was the maid?" A crowd of photographers gathers behind Emma, wasting no time in recording and snapping pictures.
"Emma-" Regina shakes her head.
"Look, with all due respect for your big hearted politics, but I really doubt it, Ms. Mayor." Emma marches on through the crowd.
Regina wastes no time in following beside her, "And how would you know that to be true? I was interested- Emma-!" She steps before Emma, walking backwards so that her eyes lock onto green ones again. "I am interested, but you didn't even give me a chance!"
"A chance for what, Regina, huh?" Emma scoffs, shaking her head. "A big romance? A chance to ride with you into the sunset and live happily ever after? That doesn't happen for people like me. Not with someone like you."
"That may be what you want to believe, and you know what- I feel sorry for you." Regina seethes, becoming angry all of a sudden. "I mean, what about you?"
"What about me?" Emma seethes.
"Well, you're so quick to judge everyone else around you, that you don't actually take the time to get to know them. That's your problem, you think everyone is judging you, that they are somehow- out to get you."
"Oh, and you think they're not?" Emma snaps, walking a little faster. "Look around you, Regina, people like me- half the time I'm a stereotype. The other half the time, I'm just invisible. You didn't even remember me from the very first time we met! Well, let me refresh your memory, okay? The first time we met, I was picking up Sidney's medicine from your bathroom floor, only you didn't see me! The only time I existed for you was when I wore those fancy clothes."
Regina scoffs, "Well, what the hell did you expect me to do? Introduce myself to you while I was getting ready to go to the bathroom?"
"Regina!" Killian comes running through the crowd, halting both Emma and Regina as he stands before them. "What the hell are you doing?" He glares at Regina.
Emma rolls her eyes and simply marches on, while Regina glares directly at Killian. "Not now, Killian." Said Regina, marching right past him, and straight after Emma.
"Regina-" Killian grabs onto Regina's arm, his voice low as he says, "Don't do this, alright? We have to go, you have a meeting-"
"I don't care!" Regina yanks her arm back and goes through an open gate, quickly catching up to Emma. "Emma."
"No!" Killian runs through the crowd of paparazzi, blocking their entrance through the gate. "No!"
"Emma, please," Regina breathes, her tone no longer angry that it breaks Emma, willing her to face the brunette once again. "Please. I just want the truth."
Emma's eyes gloss over so quickly that a single tear rolls off her cheek. "Alright, you want the truth?" She sees a nod from Regina. "For a small moment, there was a part of me that wanted to see what it felt like to have someone like you look at me the way you did when you thought I was someone else. It was a stupid thing to do, and I'm sorry. Truly. I never meant to hurt you, Regina. If I could rewind the past week, I would, in a heartbeat. And honestly? I don't know if I would even be honest then, because to have you look at me with the anger that you did, the betrayal locked behind your eyes when you saw me as my true self moments ago…" Her chin wobbles. "I can't go through that again. I won't. I can't… Look into your eyes without seeing what you really think of me."
Regina fights back tears of her own. She wouldn't cry. Not in front of Emma. She was too angry, too hurt to even cry. But she would ask one thing. A question that if she didn't know the answer to it now, she would probably forget her strong-headed will, drop to her knees and burst into tears. "Was any of it real? You and I."
Emma's heart breaks as she nods. "Yes. It was real." She inhales slowly, "It was so real that I wondered how I was ever going to give you up." She swallows down a hard lump. "But I had to give you up. I was determined. And then… Last night… I couldn't."
Regina watched as Emma turned on the balls of her feet and walked away from her forever.