Three days into Kathryn's holiday Regina was sitting at her desk wondering not for the first time if her arrangement with Emma was such a good idea when her phone flared to life announcing an incoming facetime call from her best friend.
She hit the answer button and Kathryn's face instantly swam into view, the brightly coloured beach towel draped over the deck chair behind her head along with the sounds of laughter and moving water told Regina that her friend was sitting on the beach.
"It's alright for some" Regina grumbled half-heartedly.
"Well, you could have been here" Kathryn hit back, pointedly pausing to draw a large sip of her blue iced cocktail through the straw resting in her oversized glass before putting it on the small table beside her and continuing to talk to Regina.
"I invited you, but you apparently had better things to do, just think of how much better you could have known Emma by the end of this trip if you had only come along" she teased turning the image on her phone so that Regina could see Kathryn's perfectly pedicured toe nails and the view of the beach and sea that lay beyond them instead of her face.
From where she sat Kathryn had a perfect view of her twins and Emma playing together in the shallow waters nearby and now so did Regina.
Her mouth went dry as she watched the slender blonde scoop up one of the boys, twirling him in the air before she put him back onto the sand and moved to do the same with the other, laughing freely as her long wild hair blew gently in the light breeze that was blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean that day.
Feeling like she was intruding on Emma's privacy seeing her like this without her knowledge, dressed only in a one-piece red swimsuit, Regina dragged her eyes away from the vision on the screen until Kathryn was calling her attention again.
"Oh, please don't tell me you've gone all bashful on me all of sudden" Kathryn teased her "It's not like I'm showing you, your wife undressed the night before your wedding day, she just a girl you'll be pretending to date wearing a swimsuit on the beach" she laughed.
"I know" Regina stammered a hot flush rising in her cheeks, why did she always seem to blush whenever Emma was around she silently wondered to herself, "It's just that given our arrangement it felt intrusive to be ogling at her without her knowing especially in her current state of undress" the brunette confessed.
"She's wearing her costume on a public beach Regina, not naked at a swingers party" Kathryn scoffed.
"I know" Regina repeated, she didn't know how to explain it but a swimming costume even one as modest as Emma's suddenly didn't seem like it covered much of anything at all and in that moment it just felt wrong to stare at the blonde who seemed so very exposed.
"Ok, ok, no more previews of Emma in her swim wear" Kat laughed and rolled her eyes.
"What's, that? Who wants to see me in my swim wear" Emma's voice suddenly sounded close to the phone and to Regina's mortification green eyes, set in a sun kissed faced that was surrounded by long wild curls suddenly appeared next to Kathryn's.
"Oh, hi Regina" she smiled brightly upon seeing the brunettes face on the screen "I wasn't aware that our arrangement would involve me giving you previews of myself in my swim wear, that might cost you extra" she jested with a cheeky wink.
"What….no….I" Regina stammered, and Kathryn and Emma burst out into peals of laughter.
"I'm teasing you Regina" Emma chuckled "I've come back because the boys are ready for some lunch" she added to Kathryn who looked back into the phone and said,
"Sorry Regina looks like I'm going to have to cut this conversation short, boys and their stomachs aye" she laughed again "I'll try to call you later."
"No problem" Regina smiled "talk later Kat, and I look forward to getting to know you better soon Emma" she smiled broadly, and Emma smiled back and if Regina had been standing she was sure that it would have made her go weak at the knees.
"This isn't real dating, its pretend and it's temporary and you absolutely cannot fall for your pretend date" Regina told herself firmly as soon as she had hung up the phone.
Over the remainder of the week that followed Regina questioned the wisdom of Kathryn's plan multiple times but only in her own head, she couldn't quite bring herself to drop out of the arrangement no matter how unwise she was starting to think that it was.
The pull of what it would mean for her to not be dateless for the holiday season for once in her life, coupled with her mounting curiosity about Emma and the pull that she seemed to feel towards her was far too strong and tempting for Regina to turn down and so two days after she knew that Emma had returned from Miami Regina bought up their message thread and prepared herself to send the blonde a text.
Her cheeks flushed again and her heart fluttered as her eyes fell on the only message that currently occupied the thread, Emma's message telling her that she looked beautiful and calling her babe, she knew it wasn't serious, that Emma had just been teasing her and that sitting with her phone in her hand blushing like a teenager with a crush was utterly ridiculous yet somehow she just couldn't stop her body from reacting that way.
She shook her head feeling irritated at herself and tapped a message out for Emma reading it over once before hitting send.
R-Are you available one evening this week, we really need to go over our arrangement and work out a schedule that works for both of us, Regina.
It was a few hours before Regina received a reply but she knew from Kathryn just how busy Emma's schedule was so it didn't surprise her, she just hoped that Emma's hectic life wasn't going to interfere with what they needed to achieve together over a relatively short period of time, because as she had thought over the last six months that she had been with Eve and the fact that there were still another three to fill before Christmas Regina had gradually begun to realise just how much work this would entail to make it truly believable that Emma had been her girlfriend for most of the year.
E- I can be free from around seven-thirty tomorrow night.
R- Great, how would you feel about coming round to my place?
E- Wow so early into the relationship, I must say I didn't realise you'd be such a fast mover Regina. *Winking face emoji*
Regina rolled her eyes excessively as she read what Emma no doubt believed to be an extremely witty response though she couldn't deny that her stupid heart had started to race faster as she tapped out a further reply of her own.
R- You know very well that's not what I meant.
E- Send me the address and I'll be there.
R- Much better, I'll tell Jerry to expect you.
E- Who's Jerry?
R- The doorman to my building.
E-Ooo fancy x
Regina rolled her eyes again and sent Emma her address wondering if the blonde was always going to be this irritating to her or if she'd eventually lose interest in her smart aleck responses, meanwhile Emma was saving Regina's details and wondering why the hell she couldn't stop her mouth or fingers from running away with her where Regina was concerned, the brunette just seemed to bring the banter out of her way to easily, but she didn't want to end up annoying Regina with her silly comments.
The phone rang at seven thirty on the dot Emma it appeared wanted to make a good impression and Regina appreciated that.
"Your blonde guest has arrived Ms Mills" Jerry said in typical Jerry fashion as soon as Regina had lifted the handset.
"Thank-you Jerry send her straight up" Regina smiled into the phone.
"Already done dear" Jerry replied and sure enough seconds later Regina's doorbell was ringing through her top floor apartment.
Regina thanked Jerry again, hung up the phone and hastened towards the front door, she too wanting to make a good impression and keeping her guest waiting on her doorstep wouldn't serve her well in that area.
She paused briefly to check the camera as she always did before opening her front door and found herself staring at the screen for longer than she had intended too a warm smile spreading across her lips as she watched the obviously nervous woman wringing her hands together and staring anxiously around the hallway as she waited for Regina to appear.
Pulling herself out of the trance that she had somehow found herself in Regina turned off the screen and finally opened the front door with a broad smile which Emma returned with a slightly timider one of her own.
"Hi" she said "uh nice place you have here".
"Thank-you Miss Swan, please do come in, leave your shoes by the door and make yourself at home".
Emma did what she was told slipping her old converses off just inside the front door and padding along after Regina quietly thanking god that she had put her decent socks on after her shower than evening, they had no holes in their toes, and they actually matched.
"Can I get you a drink Miss Swan" Regina asked as she led her guest through to the kitchen.
"Sure" Emma replied "And please call me Emma, we're dating after all" she added giving Regina such an endearingly cheeky wink and smile that Regina found herself smiling back rather than feeling annoyed.
"Okay Emma" Regina's smile grew, "what would you like, I have the best apple cider you will ever taste, apple juice, coffee, water or milk."
"Big fan of the apples huh" Emma chuckled.
"My family has an orchard back in Storybrooke, it's trees grow the most amazing, crisp, sweet apples you could ever find" Regina said her eyes filled with reverie "When they are ripe enough my father arranges for some to be sent over to me and I cook with them and make them into the most delicious juice and cider, but you don't have to take my word for that" she smiled holding up a decanter filled with amber liquid that Emma guessed to be the cider.
"Ugh, as much as I'd love to try some of that I have to work later so I really shouldn't, I'll try the juice instead though" she smiled brightly and Regina nodded as she discarded the decanter, took two of the crystal glances that were sitting upside down next to it and placed them on the kitchen island right way up before moving to the fridge and taking a large glass bottle from inside.
This contained amber liquid that looked a lot like the cider only as Emma knew this was the alcohol-free version.
She watched as Regina topped up both glasses with the juice, placed the bottle back into the fridge then picked the glasses up and handed one to Emma, indicating that she should follow her into a different room.
Emma being the clumsy person that she was didn't dare to take a sip whilst she was still on the move instead choosing to focus on carefully holding the glass upright as she followed Regina through more of her beautiful home until she found herself entering a spacious reception area.
Regina's home was a world away from what currently passed as home for Emma, Regina's home was spacious and airy, she appeared to be a minimalist but even with the distinctive lack of clutter Regina's apartment still achieved a cosy feel.
The room that she was currently standing had a comfortable looking couch and two matching armchairs, the armchairs had their own small tables next to them, each with coaster and matching lamps on top, which would turn them into their own cosy corners when used while the couch had a long, sleek coffee table in front it which also had a number of identical coasters on top of it waiting for hot mugs to be placed on top of them.
A huge black and white rug covered a portion of the space between the table and the wall mounted electric fire that glowed in a modern strip below the huge wall mounted TV and on either side of the screen a couple of floating shelves had been attached to wall, these had a number of framed photos sitting on top of them.
From where she stood Emma could see a little girl no older than five sitting on a huge horse her legs stretched across its vast back, her feet nowhere near close enough to reach the stirrups, but she clung onto the reigns wearing a black and red riding hat and a beaming smile on her face, beside her stood a man smiling proudly up at her in a way that only a father could with his hands at the ready in case she should slip, if Emma had to guess he would say that this was little Regina with her daddy.
The dorm that Emma shared was small and cluttered and the air smelt musty, mostly because her roommate, Belle had stacks of books in various states of ageing everywhere on her side of the room along with a variety of notebooks and stationery, some of which Emma wasn't even sure of what it was for.
Emma didn't have nearly as much on her side of the room, life hadn't been kind to her, and she had spent a lifetime travelling light and failing to set down roots for long, a habit that she had yet to break.
But what little she did have, mostly clothes, was scattered all about the place on her own side of the room and despite her side of the dorm being extremely cluttered Belles vast number of academic belongings were probably better organised than Emma's things, it even surprised the blonde just how far her few belongings could spread sometimes.
"That's me and my father" Regina confirmed Emma's thought as she followed the blondes line of sight to the photo on the shelf pulling her out of her wandering thoughts.
"His name is Henry, and this" she said walking to photo of a happily smiling couple, "Is another one of him with my Mother Cora."
Emma nodded.
"Henry and Cora" she said making a mental note to remember that.
"And this" she moved to the only picture on the other side, a pretty red headed woman cradling an infant wrapped in a canary yellow blanket, which Emma could just see some tufts of red hair the same shade as the baby's mother peeking out from, stood, smiling next to good looking brunette, with an open friendly face and eyes that crinkled in the corners when he smiled, he had a toddler resting on his hip, the looked a lot like him but with the red heads startling blue eyes and standing front and centre was teenage girl with blonde hair and blue eyes that matched the toddlers and the woman's.
"Is my sister Zelena, her husband Chad and their three children, Robyn" she pointed at the teen "Chad Jnr" she pointed at the toddler "and little Abbie" she pointed at the yellow bundle in Zelena's arms.
"Wow, I would never have guessed, you look so different" Emma said, "I guess there must have been some kind of throwback in the genes when Zelena was born because I can see the resemblance between you and your parents but not in Zelena."
"My mother was already pregnant with my sister when she met my father " Regina explained "I've never seen her father not in person or in photo so I can't say for sure but I strongly suspect that she inherited her looks from his side of the family because your right dear she doesn't look like my mother at all" Regina smiled broadly and Emma didn't know why but that combined with the way she used the word dear to address had caused a weird fluttering in her stomach.
She took a sip of her juice to distract her from how she was feeling.
"This stuffs amazing Regina" she gasped taking another sip immediately after she'd swallowed the first holding the cool liquid in her mouth this time so that the sweet flavour could wash over her tastebuds for a little longer before she swallowed it.
Regina raised a brow in amusement as she watched her then turned her attention back to the photo of Zelena and her family.
"My father was the one that was there throughout my mother's first pregnancy after Zelena's birth father fled and he was there when she was born and raised her for all of her life so they might not look alike nor share the same genes but he is her father in every way that matters, much like Chad is Robyns father, she was eight when he and Zelena met, her biological father had never been a stable in her life but Zelena finally kicked him to the curb for good after he came on to me" Regina shuddered.
"Eww gross" Emma spoke her thoughts without meaning to and was about to apologise when she heard Regina chuckle, a truly magical sound, rich like velvet.
"My sentiments exactly" she replied, and Emma breathed out with relief.
"Anyway, he's long gone, we haven't seen or heard from him since, it's sad for Robyn that things turned out how they did but she's found the father in Chad that she never had in Robin".
"Wait your sister named two of her children after their fathers?" Emma asked, and Regina nodded.
"I must admit I did worry she might be jinxing things when she announced Chad Jnrs name" she replied making Emma chuckle.
"But enough about my family for now" Regina said "We should probably sit down and talk" she indicated for Emma to sit on the couch.
Emma complied taking one end while Regina seated herself on the other.
"So how do you want to this?" Emma asked.
"Well, I thought about it a lot whilst you were away and by Christmas as far as my mother knows we will have been together for nine months and she's the type to ask questions and a lot of them at that."
"seriously" she added when she looked up into Emma's uncertain looking face "You should have seen how bad she was when Zelena bought Chad home" Regina shuddered then ploughed on.
"So we're going to have to get to know each other well enough for us to both be able to answer any questions that she might ask and then she'll want to know what we've been doing and telling her won't be enough, she'll want to see pictures, so I'm afraid we've got our work cut out for us Emma, we've got six months' worth of dates to make up for and another three months to fill between now and Christmas" Regina sighed and flopped back into the couch.
"I don't know if it's all going to be too much, maybe I should just come clean and get it over with" she sighed again already sounding defeated "I'd still pay you in full of course" she assured a concerned looking Emma.
"That's not what I was thinking about, though I do appreciate the gesture" Emma answered honestly.
"Then what were you thinking because you looked worried and I know you lost that job you had lined up to nanny for Kathryn last week" Regina replied in a quieter voice than normal.
"I was worried about you, you seem a little overwhelmed and then I was trying to figure out a solution and I've had an idea."
"Oh, and what might that be?" Regina asked suddenly sitting up straighter closer to the edge of her seat her interest piqued.
"How's your mom with modern tech?" Emma asked.
"Oh, please she's practically a dinosaur" Regina scoffed.
"Okay, that's good because that should make my idea easier to pull off if you're agreeable of course." Emma smiled.
"Well tell me and I'll let you know" Regina pressed, suddenly looking and sounding much more hopeful, Emma thought she looked cute, then shaking those thoughts from her head she began to explain.
"My roommate is like a freaking genius; she favours books but she's also a whizz on the computer."
"Right but how does that help with my problem?" Regina asked suddenly feeling disheartened again.
"She can manipulate images and she does it really well, so I was thinking that we could go on a dates between now and Christmas take pictures for your mom to look at and get to know each other better, and if you feel okay about it maybe you could send some photos of yours and Eve's time together over to me and I can ask Belle to help me alter them so they look like me and you instead, only if you want to of course, no pressure" Emma said.
"I'm sure if we put our minds to it we can make up six months' worth of date photos" she shrugged.
"I mean we could frequent the same restaurants multiple times couldn't we, that way all we'd need to do is pack a few sets of clothes, change in the bathroom and move tables in between courses, make sure we don't catch the same people in the photos and voila one date becomes three" she smiled and Regina suddenly leaned in and placed a quick kiss on her cheek, Emma's heart started to race and her cheeks flared red as Regina immediately pulled away again looking a little sheepish at her spontaneous action.
"Thank-you Emma" she smiled her feelings of uselessness over the situation suddenly gone, Emma was right they could make this work.
"We're going to have to work on that though" Regina winked mischievously.
"Work on what?" Emma asked obliviously, still feeling a little hot under the collar after her unexpectedly all be it brief close proximity to Regina.
"Well, my mother might get a little suspicious if you turn bright red every time I get too close to you" Regina chuckled lightly.
"Right, ugh maybe I was wrong, maybe this would have been easier if you'd been some obnoxious mummies boy" Emma sighed.
"Oh" Regina raised a brow and moved a little closer to Emma on the couch enjoying the effect that she was clearly having on her blonde guest a little too much, "I don't make you feel uncomfortable, do I?" she asked feigning innocence.
Emma deciding that if she couldn't beat Regina she might as well join her gave the brunette a surprise by playing her at her own game, she leaned in so close that her lips brushed against Regina's right ear as she whispered.
"No more than any other hot woman I've ever met" then she planted a light kiss on Regina's lobe and pulled back her eyes shining when she saw that Regina was now the one turning red.
"Hmm perhaps I'm not the only one who needs to work on that" Emma observed with a cheeky wink of her own.
"Yes quite" Regina stammered clearing her throat and taking a deep swig from her glass of apple juice while she wondered what in the hell had just come over her, she wasn't supposed to be flirting with the blonde at least not for real, so why did she do just that?
"You wait here, and I'll go get us a refill" she said picking up Emma's empty glass and hurrying from the room, she needed an excuse to get away from Emma for a few minutes to clear her head before they could continue their conversation and refilling their drinks seemed as good of an excuse as any and Emma certainly wasn't about to turn more of that delicious nectar down.
By the time Regina returned to the lounge Emma was firmly on one side of the couch drumming her long slender fingers against the armrest, Regina placed a glass on the table in front of her and then just to ensure that they maintained a safe distance settled herself into the armchair that was farthest away from Emma.
"I'm not sure about doctoring pictures of Eve" she admitted bringing the conversation back to Emma's idea before things had gotten awkward between them.
"I'm not ruling it out entirely, I just don't want to go there yet, I like your other idea though, three dates in one, sounds like it could be interesting" she chuckled and took a sip from her glass, smacking her lips appreciatively in a way that gave Emma butterflies before she continued.
"Maybe you could just run the photo idea past your roommate and ask if she'd be willing to do it and how long it would take and what her fee would be, because I wouldn't expect her to do it for free and then we can stick it on the back burner for a bit and come back to it closer to the time if we need it" she said and Emma nodded in agreement.
"Of course," she smiled back at Regina "I'll ask Belle later and get back to you with the details".
"Good" Regina replied giving a satisfied nod of her own, "and while we're on the subject of paying for services I just wanted to assure you that any expenses occurred during this experience, you know for meals and such I will cover in full, it's not to come out of what I've paid you, that's for your time and it's only right that any other expenses occurred are on me too." She concluded.
"That's very honourable of you Regina" Emma smiled again and raised a glass to her companion.
"To you, to us and to pulling the wool over a dinosaur's eyes" she laughed and Regina raising her own glass from across the room happily toasted to that too.
Next on the agenda was to make a schedule, Regina had purchased organisers for both of them for this purpose, she got up to retrieve and then with any remaining awkwardness in the room long gone she sat beside Emma again opening the organisers to the same page and placing them side by side on the coffee table.
"I've already filled in my work schedule for the next few months" Regina pointed to her neat writing "Now I just need you to add yours and I'll copy then we can see what's left between us."
"Good idea" Emma smiled leaning in and beginning to add her own writing to her organiser while ensuring that Regina had an unobscured view so that she could copy.
When they were finished, they sat back to look at them, between to two of them the organisers looked pretty full now, but Regina quickly pointed out that Wednesday evenings were free for both of them.
"That can be date night" she said raising her hands making quotation marks in the air with her fingers as she said the word date, Emma nodded in agreement, and they both added that to their organisers.
"What about some lunch meetings?" Emma asked after the two of them had spent a few minutes staring blankly at their combined busy schedules, silently trying to find space for more meetings.
"Yes, that could work" Regina replied "Shall we say Monday and Friday, that will break up the week nicely, plus you'll only have one morning of homework on Mondays, and you'll have the weekend to catch up after Friday" Regina added thoughtfully, Emma nodded again and again they both jotted those meetings in on those days.
"We should find somewhere in between my campus and your work to meet, that'll maximize the time we can spend together" Emma said freeing her mobile from her pocket.
"Great minds" Regina chuckled waving her own mobile which she had just picked up from the coffee table to use for the same purpose for Emma to see before she turned her attention to her search engines results.
Emma smiled broadly back and remembering the address of Regina's office from the business card that the brunette had given her during their first meeting at the diner she began to tap on her own phone.
"There's a park that's pretty central" Emma said a few moments later, "and it could provide a good opportunity for date pictures on nicer days."
"Agreed" Regina smiled "And if it's cold there are a number of places around it to sit inside and eat or just grab a coffee and chat."
"That's, that decided then" Emma stated adding the name of the park to lunch date entries.
"I'll arrange for a car to pick you up" Regina told Emma as she followed suit "I'll text you the drivers name and number plate as soon I know who'll be collecting you."
"Oh, you don't have to do that" Emma flushed "I'm sure that I'm quite capable of making my own way there."
"Be that as it may it'll be quicker and warmer if you go by car and we need all the time we can get if we're going to pull this off, besides what's the use of being the boss of my own company if I can't abuse the companies finances occasionally and send one of my cars to pick up my girlfriend" she shrugged and Emma laughed.
"Well, I guess I can't argue with that" she said before adding "so is that us done?"
"Almost" Regina frowned at the schedule again "I think it would be good if we tried to meet here once a week, to cover the things that aren't so easily covered in a public place" she explained.
"Now I know this is a big ask because it's your only full day off all week but how would you feel about coming here late Sunday afternoons and I'll cook for us; we could make it fortnightly if you'd rather?"
"Regina it's just for a few months I'm sure I can cope with sacrificing part of my one day off for that long, besides you had me at 'cook for us' I've missed out on way too many home cooked meals in my life to turn any down now." She laughed and added the final details to her organiser then sat back with a satisfied smile on her face, Regina frowned curiously at her for a moment but didn't press her any further instead she too noted Sundays arrangement then looked up and said.
"That's, that then, how does lasagne grab you for our first Sunday?"
"Are you kidding, I love lasagne but I'm not going to lie I've only ever had the microwave kind" Emma admitted.
"Oh, baby you haven't lived until you've had my home-made lasagne" Regina teased.
"Is that so" Emma laughed.
"Oh, that's very so" Regina returned playfully "But I think I've taken up more than enough of your time for one day" .
"Yeah I should probably get going" Emma murmured suddenly not entirely sure that she really wanted to leave but she got up without comment anyway and followed Regina to the front door with her full organiser under arm.
She stopped at the door and pulled on her converses, tightening the laces before she rightened herself again finding herself face to face with Regina.
Their eyes locked and suddenly the foyer felt far too constricted.
"Umm, so I'll see you at the restaurant on Wednesday" Emma said tearing her eyes away from Regina's and staring at her own feet instead.
Regina nodded silently and moved to open the door.
"See you there, Miss Swan" she confirmed "And thank-you for your help" she added,
"No thanks necessary" Emma replied as she stepped over the threshold and out into the hallway outside of the apartment "And call me Emma".
Emma could still feel Regina's eyes on her as she walked towards the elevator and noticing that the elevators were all on the ground floor she took the door next to them instead which took her into the stairwell and out from under Regina's watchful gaze.
It was clear from the second that she stepped through the door that this stairwell was here for emergency use only, unlike the elevators in her dorm building Emma suspected that the ones in Regina's building were serviced regularly and rarely broke down and that if they did they'd be fixed much quicker, which would explain why the interior of the rarely used concrete stairwell had been neglected when put in comparison with the rest of Regina's building.
Emma was used to racing up and down the stairs at uni and was back on ground level and out the door after saying a quick goodbye to Jerry the doorman on her way past within a couple of minutes.
She took the bus part way back to campus and walked the rest of the way making her way to her dorm with thoughts of Regina still whirling around in her head.
Belle was already there when she walked backed into their shared dorm room, sat on her bed with a huge book propped open in her arms.
"Ah just the person I wanted to see" Emma said cheerily as she entered the room.
"Really?" Belle asked looking up from her book curiously.
"Yes really" Emma laughed taking the seat at the desk close to Belle's bed.
"I wanted to ask you a favour…."
Emma went on to explain a bit about Regina's predicament and Belle readily agreed to do the photo edits if they should need them and answered Emma's list of questions regarding things like how much notice she would need, then satisfied that she had all of her answers Emma thanked Belle profusely and got up to move to her bed where she flopped down on top of her messy blankets, phone already in hand.
E- Belle's good for the photo edits, she said how much notice she'll need depends on how many images and how much editing you'd be needing but as a starting point to allow her a week per fifty pictures to give her time to fit the editing in around her schedule.
R- Great and did you agree on a fee.
E- She said that she'd happily edit my face onto any image free of charge *Laughing emoji* but if you insist on paying her then two dollars per image is fine, she'll even accept one if you don't feel it's worth two.
R-Tell your friend that I value her time and services as much as any other employee of mine including you and I'll pay her no less than five dollars per image if I should require her services.
Emma passed the message on to Belle who seeing no sense in arguing just smiled and shook her head slightly in amusement.
E- yeah, she's good with that.
Final message sent Emma double checked that her alarm was set and plugged her phone in to charge, then settled on her bed to do her homework.
Her schedule was so full now that she really couldn't afford to fall behind on it and she'd need to finish today's homework that night if she hoped to stay on schedule.
At some point Emma fell asleep over her book, she knew that because she was waking up in the early hours of the morning with a stiff neck, she sighed, stretched her neck as best as she could and glanced over to her roommate who seemed to have done the same though she looked a lot more comfortable than Emma had been which was probably why the blonde was awake while her brunette roommate still slumbered peacefully.
Emma glanced down at the work around her, she had been so close to finishing when she had dozed off that she decided to finish up quickly before casting her work to one side and getting up to change.
She padded down the brightly lit hallway outside of their dorm to use the communal bathroom then returned more than ready to be back in bed and asleep, but she headed over to Belles side of the room first, eased the heavy book out of her limp arms locating a piece of paper to mark the young woman's page before she closed it with a soft thud and carefully placed it on top of the nearest pile of books that weren't already stacked too high to be able to safely accommodate it without toppling over and possibly causing a book avalanche.
From there she gently removed Belle's crooked glasses folding the arms and placing them on top of her cluttered bedside table, then she eased the brunette into a more horizontal position with her head sinking into plush pillows before she pulled the comforter over her and finally moved to turn off Belle's lamp before padding back over to her own side of the room and climbing into her own bed, reaching to turn off her lamp before she got too comfortable to move again.
Now the only light source in the otherwise dark room filtered through the chink at the bottom of the door from the brightly lit hallway outside of their room but it wasn't enough to bother Emma as she quicky drifted back off to sleep.