Once again Emma had been entrusted with Henry's care for the next two to three days. Regina had politely requested that she took him while she went out of town for mayoral reasons. It had become a frequent occurrence over the last few months. The town barrier had been down for quite some time and the memory consequences were no longer an issue due to Regina and Rumple concocting a spell that remedied that side effect of crossing the town line.
Emma had become increasingly curious as to what the former Queen was doing, going to all of these "meetings" or conventions but had never plucked up the courage to ask. Currently the blonde sheriff was plopped down in front of her 55' plasma with a random show playing while she was wracking her brain trying to come up with an answer to the mayor's whereabouts. Henry was in his room playing video games in her semi-new house she had bought hoping that Hook would move in; however, he ultimately decided to remain on the Jolly Roger claiming that he loved the water too much to become a "landlubber".
Her parents, Mary Margaret and David, better known as Snow White and Prince Charming, had invited Henry to stay with them for a day but Henry claimed that it was too crowded with baby Neal and his grandparents and Emma agreed. Plus, she wanted to spend more time with him. She in no way minded taking care of the boy; she was just intrigued why it was happening more and more often.
—
With Storybrooke in her rear view mirror, Regina felt like a completely different person. Over the past few months she had taken up a new "hobby", one in which she not only felt like she couldn't do in her own town but one she desperately felt like she needed and wouldn't reap the benefits from there, satisfaction and pleasure.
The brunette was headed to New York, paid for by her employer. Lodging, food, gas, the whole trip was compensated for every time. She thought it was a hell of a deal, all she had to do was give her time…. and of course her body but that was nothing she wasn't used to after being married to King Leopold. She figured why not make some extra income from it.
Regina arrived at the hotel that her employer had generously provided, she tossed the keys to her black Mercedes Benz at the valet telling him that there would be something extra in it for him if he took great care of it in the meantime. Grabbing her luggage for the weekend she rolled it behind her through the lobby and checked in at the freestanding front desk. The older woman behind the desk had silver cat wing glasses that sat upon her puggish nose, her bright blue eyes peering out from behind them. "Checking in?" She friendly chirped with an illuminating smile on her ruddy face.
"Yes please," is all the town mayor replied with.
"I see here that everything is already taken care of, room service and room payment is paid for until Monday." The salt and pepper haired woman informed, finding the room key she put it in a small envelope and handed it over to Regina. "Well, if you need anything just call the front desk and we'll be more than happy to help you. Thank you so much for staying with us!"
"Thank you," was the short answer directed at her.
—
After successfully opening her hotel room door, the brunette glided in locking the door behind her. She unpacked her clothes putting them into the dresser drawers; then proceeded to unpack her toiletries, placing them on the bathroom sink.
Glancing at her sleek Apple Watch she saw it was almost 5pm. She was wondering if Henry was being fed the usual garbage of pizza or Granny's or if Emma actually made an effort to cook for the young teen. She decided to get comfortable, wash her face to remove the makeup and dirt from the day then call Emma to talk to her son. Unbeknownst to the town Regina actually preferred to walk around at home in sweats and a sweatshirt, only Henry knew and as he grew up she made him swear secrecy that he wouldn't tell a soul.
—
Emma was still sitting on her navy blue couch only Henry was sitting on the cushy, newly carpeted floor in front of her watching The Simpsons, a show his other mother would kill her if she knew she let him watch. The sheriff was trying to come up with something semi-healthy for dinner, "Hey kid, what do you want for dinner and don't say pizza or Granny's, Regina would kill me, not just for the shows I let you watch but for the junk I let you eat."
The chestnut boy kept staring at the tv screen and shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno, why don't we go to grandma and grandpa's and have dinner with them?"
"Well we can't exactly invite ourselves but I'll stealthily ask if that's what you really want. I thought you didn't want to go over there because of it being crowded?" His birth mother reminded him with a raised brow.
Finally turning his head he looked straight into her eyes and clarified, "No, I said I didn't want to spend the weekend there, not visit." He turned around to become immersed in the show again.
A grin grew on Emma's face, laughing she picked up her iPhone and called her parents. "Hi mom, what are you guys doing for dinner tonight?" There was a pause as Snow asked Charming what he wanted to do for dinner. "Chinese takeout? Sounds good! Do you want some company? Of course I'm bringing Henry! What kinda question is that?! Okay I'll see you in 30 minutes and we'll order when we get there. Okay…..by mom."
—
Regina had decided to take a long hot shower to wash the whole day away instead of simply running a wet washcloth over her face. By that time her stomach had started rumbling alerting her that she hadn't eaten since breakfast, and that was only whole wheat toast with margarine and her daily allowance of coffee. After drying her tanned skin she slipped on her favorite dark purple lace thong, baggy heather grey Storybrooke sweatshirt and matching sweatpants then very unregina-like she plopped down in the middle of the king sized bed. Retrieving the room service menu she decided on ordering a Santa Fe grilled chicken salad with raspberry tea for dinner. Following hanging up with the kitchen she called Emma. It rang once, then twice, by the fifth ring her voicemail came on, "Oh for the love of…..Emma! Call me back on my cell, I just want to speak with Henry. Goodbye." Short and to the point.
—
Emma, Snow, Charming and Henry were all seated around the table with Neal in his high chair playing with plain buttered noodles. Snow and Charming were eating off of plates whereas Emma and her son were eating from the takeout boxes, Snow eyed them disapprovingly, "Why don't you just get a plate?" She glanced at the offending boxes in the hands of her daughter and grandson.
"It just tastes better this way!" the boy explained.
Humphing, she shook her head, looking at Charming for help from whom she only got a smirk. Emma's face echoed her father's, a crooked smirk appeared on her visage as she used her chopsticks to retrieve more Kung Pao Chicken.
"Have you heard from Regina, did she get to the convention okay?" her father asked, attempting to change the direction of the conversation.
She gasped, almost choking on her food, "Crap! I left my phone in the car!" Leaping up, she scrambled out of the apartment, running down the stairs and outside to get her cell. Calmly walking back in she opened her phone. Seeing that she had a missed call from the mayor, she listened to the voicemail. Holding her head in her right hand she saved the message and immediately called back.
"Miss Swan! I called you almost an hour ago, why didn't you pick up?" she scolded.
Groaning at the verbal lashing, "I uh….. I accidentally left my phone in the car."
Rolling her dark chocolate eyes, 'Eloquent as always.' Regina thought to herself. "Well I just wanted to speak with my son."
Cringing at her using the words MY SON the blonde grumbled, "Okay, here he is." Handing the device to Henry she mouthed, "It's Regina."
"Hi mom, you got to the convention okay?"
Regina hated lying to Henry about her whereabouts but she knew she couldn't very well tell him what she was doing. "Yes dear, I got here fine."
"That's good, I'm glad", the boy sincerely responded.
"So, what are you having for dinner tonight?"
His hazel eyes got round. "Ummm not pizza or Granny's if that's what you're trying to get at."
"You didn't answer my question, what are you having for dinner?" She raised her voice, adding a little more authority to it.
"Takeout from Mulan's new restaurant, we're at grandma and grandpa's."
Emma grimaced, waiting for the voice on the other end of the photo to become audible to everyone in the room. "Tell her it's healthier than pizza", she whispered to Henry.
He quickly added, "It's healthier than pizza!"
She let out an unladylike grunt, "I suppose it is but you deserve a home cooked meal, at least once when I'm out of town."
"Talk to ma about that. Here's Emma." He held out the phone to his blonde mother.
Vigorously shaking her head she whispered, "No, no, absolutely not!"
He just shook the phone in front of her, "Take it!" he whispered back.
Sighing in resignation, she grabbed the cellphone, "Hello?" she softly said.
"Don't 'Hello' me Miss Swan. I'm glad that Henry isn't eating any of the typical junk food you allow him but Chinese takeout is barely any better. I expect you to fix him a home cooked meal this weekend, is that in any way unclear?"
"No, I hear you crystal clear. Have a good weekend." Emma's anger rose to the surface as she hung up without another word.
—
Mouth agape, she stared at the phone and muttered to herself, "She did NOT just hang up on me!" Tempted to call Emma back to ream her she resolved to let it go, knowing that they'd just get into one of their heated arguments if she confronted the other woman.
Following her leaving the message for Emma her dinner had arrived and was eaten by the time she had received the return call. Deciding to order some wine to be brought up she turned on the tv and picked out the least annoying show she could find. By the time 10pm rolled around she concluded that she should get some sleep, she had an early call time the next day and it was going to be a long and exhaustive day for sure.
—
Snow and Charming had bid their two visitors goodbye with hugs and kisses all around. It was 9pm before Emma and Henry drove home. By the time they got there the boy was yawning every ten seconds and it was making her tired just watching him. She told him as they pulled into the driveway, "Seeing as how you can't stop yawning, the first thing you're going to do when you get in there is change into pjs, brush your teeth and go to bed. No reading, you hear me?" Her son didn't argue, he just nodded and drug himself out of the bug, trudged up the steps to the house and then upstairs to his room to change.
The sheriff dropped onto the couch and turned the tv on, not watching it, just leaving it on for background noise. Gazing at her phone she stared at the voicemail from Regina, debating if she should waste police resources tracing where the call came from. Maybe that would tell her approximately where the mayor was, finally answering one of her many questions.
She decided to call Ruby, "Hey Red, would you be willing to come over to stay with Henry while I run to the station for a bit?"
"Is everything alright Ems?" the lanky brunette had deep concern in her voice.
Attempting to alleviate her friend's worries, Emma said "Oh absolutely, I just need to check something that can't wait until tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll be there in 15 minutes. See ya soon."
Fifteen minutes later, the waitress knocked on her door. "Hi, so what's so pressing that you can't wait until tomorrow to do?" Emma had expressed her feelings about what Regina could be doing with her weekends to her friend. She smirked having a feeling what the sheriff was up to.
"I'm not gonna say anything until I know something so you're shit outta luck!" Emma defended, her face turning into a deep shade of red. With that she snatched up her keys and left the house. As soon as she got to the station she walked right past Mulan without greeting her and started her task, trying to triangulate Regina's cell phone signal.
—
Regina woke up the next day feeling free from her mayoral responsibilities, ready to head to "work", if you could call it that. She thoroughly showered soaping every crevice of her tan voluptuous body. She had started going to the tanning salon that had opened in Storybrooke the previous year so her natural Spanish skin tone had gotten darker. Once she had dried her body and hair she threw on a simple T-shirt and jeans, yes the mayor owned T-shirts and jeans, knowing that the hair, makeup and wardrobe departments would cover all of that before shooting the first scene. Since it was Spring she didn't need a coat, as if she had even packed one, so she walked out of the hotel and asked the valet to retrieve her Mercedes tipping him $100 and thanking him for taking care of her precious vehicle.
As soon as she arrived at the studio she was immediately rushed into hair and makeup then rushed to wardrobe. She was introduced to her co-star for the day, a man named Christian who was about a foot taller than her petite 5'3", short light brown hair and forest green eyes that reminded her of someone that she couldn't name at that specific moment. They talked briefly about what was expected of them and the scenes they were sharing that sunny day. He confirmed her do's and don'ts as they power walked to the stage, he didn't really have a problem with them and had none of his own.
The sound stage was set up to look like a bar called Roni's, her being Roni and him as a random customer named Mr. Grey, ironically. The scene was that she was the owner and he was a distraught husband who just caught his wife in bed with her gynecologist and he wanted to drink himself to death to cope with the infidelity.
Her hair had been left with her natural curl in it, she wore a black Rick James T-shirt with a sleeveless jean vest and insanely tight blue jeans. On her feet she wore designer 3" heels, very unrealistic for the characters occupation but no one was going to pay attention to that detail she was sure of. As the scene began "Roni" was wiping the bar down when "Mr Grey" exploded through the door.
"Hi, what can I get for you this afternoon?" She inquired, licking her lipstick free plump lips.
Dropping onto a stool he let out an exasperated breath, slapping a $100 on the bar top, "I don't care, whatever will make me get drunk the fastest."
A smirk lifted one side of her mouth, "Have a rough day?"
"Mr Grey" explained in great detail what he had walked in on after deciding to go home for lunch. "Roni" listened with extreme interest, placing a soft hand on top of his, for comfort of course. In the scene the characters flirted with each other, eventually "Kelly", her sister had come in and took over behind the bar. She wasn't very experienced but it was early afternoon and they were slow as hell so "Roni" took a seat next to "Mr Grey" turning to face him, one of her legs dangling closely between his.
Running an index finger down his arm from his elbow to the back of his hand she boldly announced, "I live above the bar if you'd rather go somewhere quieter to talk, or something."
"Yeah, I'd like that." He answered, suddenly forgetting the situation with his wife.
"CUT!" The director, who went by the name Murphy, screamed. He was greasy and looked like a rat, everyone called him "The Cockroach", however not to his rodent-like face.
—
Emma had gotten home around 5am after finally getting some results of her triangulation attempts after trying for 5 ½ hours unsuccessfully. She woke Ruby , who had fallen asleep on the couch with the tv on, offering Ruby three twenties for her babysitting but she refused to take her friend's money saying, "All I did was watch tv and listened to see if Henry needed anything, I'm not accepting your money."
"Fine, but I owe you, okay?"
The slender brunette nodded, "Oh before I leave, did you accomplish what you set out for?"
The sheriff raised an eyebrow, "I kinda did but I need to do a little more research."
Ruby gently shook her head and chuckled, "Well I'm gonna keep bothering you until you tell me what you're doing." Then strutted out the door.
With the knowledge that her son would sleep until around 10am and if he did wake up before her he was old enough to grab himself a bowl of cereal and watch the cartoon channel until she got up to start the day. Quietly climbing the stairs, the blonde went to her room to change and climb into bed.