A/N My plan is to post this story advent style, a chapter a day, I haven't quite finished writing yet but hope to before I run out of chapters to post.
Any mistakes are my own and without further ado lets begin, I hope you enjoy reading this SQ story as much as I am enjoying writing it!
Christmas, the time for giving, for love and great cheer and the time for Regina's family to give her a never-ending supply of dating advice and set her up on blind dates with completely incompatible men and women when she inevitably arrived home for the holidays single, again.
But not this year, this year Regina finally had someone to bring home with her for Christmas, now all she had to do was invite her.
"So, you're asking her tonight, right?" Regina's best friend Kathryn asked excitedly, her voice sounding a little distant from the phone because she had Regina on loudspeaker while she raced around her house getting herself ready to face the afternoon.
"Well, that's the plan" Regina sighed and leant back in her comfy office chair holding her left hand up to examine her meticulously painted nails, not because she particularly needed to, she already knew they were perfect, not a drop of dark red out of place or a single chip, just like they always were after a trip to her favourite salon, her nails were beautiful. She was just looking at them to distract herself from the anxious knots that were suddenly forming in her stomach as uncertainty began to creep in again.
What if Eve didn't want to come with her to her family home for Christmas? What then? What if Eve suggested staying in New York for the holidays or going to her own family? Could Regina really do that? Not go home for Christmas. Worse still what if Eve just didn't want to spend Christmas with her at all? What would she do then? Maybe she should wait until closer to the time, Eve might have made plans by then at least then the let-down would be easier to bare.
"But what if it's too early to ask Kat?" she found herself saying into the phone.
"Regina, we've been over this like a hundred times already, it's not too early to ask, Christmas is three months away, people need time to make plans to go away for a fortnight over the holidays, this isn't the sort of thing that you just drop on a person a few weeks in advance, she could have made other plans by then."
"I know" Regina sighed "I just thought maybe I should ask next month, or you know… November. Novembers not to close right?"
"Yes, it is" Katheryn spoke kindly but firmly "you're asking her tonight Regina or so help me god I will ask her for you myself, stop avoiding and just get on with it" she commanded leaving no room for argument.
"Fine, fine, I'll do it" Regina conceded knowing that Kathryn was right, and she really should just bite the bullet and ask Eve over for Christmas, plus if she dallied for too long she knew only too well that the fiery blonde would make good on her promise to ask Eve for her and as tempting as that might sound at that second she knew that it wasn't what she really wanted to happen.
"Good" her friend sounded victorious, and though she couldn't see her face, Regina could tell that she was smiling at her win.
"Now I'm really sorry to have to cut you off Regina but I really have to go" Kathryn said her voice growing louder as she moved closer to the phone and then Regina heard the tell-tale sounds of her friend picking up her hand set as she continued to speak.
"I'm interviewing Nanny's this afternoon and the first one is due to arrive at any minute, I'll call you later and you can tell me how it went with Eve."
"Wait a minute, what's happened to Joanne?" Regina asked, enquiring after Kathryn's existing nanny before the blonde on the other end of the phone could hang up on her "I thought you really liked her."
"I do but somethings come up" Kathryn said sounding a little evasive herself now but before Regina could pull her up on it, she heard her the sound of her friend's doorbell echoing through the house followed by Kathryn's hastened movements as she hurried to answer it.
"I'll explain later okay, love you, bye, mwah" Kathryn spoke in a rush and hung up before Regina could reply again.
"Love you too" Regina said into the silent phone her curiosity over the conversation piquing.
But her curiosity would just have to wait until later, a quick glance at the clock on her desk told her that she had allowed herself to be distracted by the unexpected phone call from her best friend for far too long and now she only had thirty minutes to get ready for her two o-clock meeting and even if that wasn't the case it was clear that Kathryn had a busy afternoon ahead of her.
There would be no more questions either asked nor answered about the strange nanny situation until later that evening, so Regina gave herself a mental shake discarded her mobile and reached for the phone sitting in its cradle on her desk instead.
Regina's receptionist answered the phone seconds after she had pressed the call button.
"Has my car for my two-o clock been arranged?" she asked immediately.
"It certainly has Miss Mills" her receptionists sunny tones returned.
"Brilliant, thanks Ashley" Regina smiled, replacing the handset before she headed for her private bathroom to freshen up.
She paused for a second to glance at her reflection then unscrewed the lid from her mascara expertly applying just the right amount to her lashes before turning her attention to her lips.
Her lipstick of choice for that day, her favourite red, subtle yet bold, providing a pop that said she meant business and demanded respect without looking garish or making her look cheap, it wasn't a shade that everyone could carry off but when Regina wore it not only did she pull it off with ease, but she did so with elegance and poise.
Her lips curled up into a knowing curve as she spruced up her hair, picked up her lipstick and hurried out of the room dropping the cosmetic into her handbag as she picked it up and hooked it over her shoulder, finally adding her mobile phone before she exited her office in a hurry.
"I'll be out for a few hours so why don't you take your lunch break now" she said to Ashley as she paused at the hardworking receptionist's desk on her way out.
"I would but I have to get this done by the end of the day" Ashley sighed as she continued to type without even stopping to look up at her boss.
"Whatever it is it can wait an hour" Regina insisted rifling around inside of her bag as she spoke.
"Besides you should have already taken your lunch break by now, I insist you take it now and don't even think about sitting here and working whilst you eat, here take this."
She freed her hand from the depths of her handbag to reveal a credit card which she handed to Ashley who accepted it with a slightly confused frown.
As she turned it over in her hands Ashley saw that it was one of the cards for company expenses which only made her all the more confused as to why her boss was handing it to her, did Ms Mills want her to go on some kind of shopping errand for the company? Was that why she was so keen for her out of the office for her break?
"And get out of here for an hour, use it to treat yourself to dinner on me" Regina added answering the questions that swirled inside the receptionist's head "you deserve it Ashley" she insisted smiling sweetly.
"I don't know" Ashley stammered glancing from the card in her hand, to her computer screen and then the lunch box sitting on her desk which she had indeed been planning on digging into while she continued to work through her break.
"I really have to go" Regina said looking at the clock on the wall behind Ashley's head, "But If I find out that you didn't get out of here for an hour, that's a whole hour Ashley" she warned as she started to move away from the desk "I'll have no choice but to sack you when I get back."
It was an empty threat and both women knew it, but it was enough for Ashley to chuckle and call after Regina's rapidly receding back.
"I'll just save this document and then I'll get out of here."
"That's what I like to hear" Regina called back as the nearby elevator doors slid open and she stepped inside turning to smile at her receptionist one last time as she hit the lobby button and waited for the lift to move her down through the building's floors from her offices at the top.
The car was already waiting when she stepped outside and the driver who was out of his seat and standing next to the back door promptly opened it upon seeing Regina exiting the building and held it in place until she was safely seated inside.
It wasn't a long journey but as always in the city a short journey took much longer than it should have so what could have been a five-minute drive easily became a twenty-minute ride instead, but still Regina efficient as always was ten minutes early for her meeting when she stepped into the board room a short while later.
She had set a two-hour slot aside and had expected that the meeting would take at least ninety minutes of that time, so she was very pleasantly surprised when upon getting the introductions out of the way a very efficient young man handed her a stack of paperwork with everything seemingly already perfectly laid out for her.
"I think that you'll find that everything is in order Ms Mills" her corporate client drawled from the head of the table.
"Why don't you let me be the judge of that Mr Jones" Regina replied her brow rising a little as she pointedly turned her attention away from the client and onto the paperwork that she had just been handed.
The man was a total douche bag, she could tell that from the moment that the slimy bastard had begun to introduce himself to her, but he was also a big client and big clients bought with them a lot of money, so she'd work with him, but she didn't have to like it.
After twenty minutes flicking through the paperwork and finding nothing wrong she let out a sigh and looked up to meet Mr Jones piercing blue eyes once more.
"I must admit that I'm impressed Mr Jones" she confessed "It's not often that I meet with a client who shows this level of organisation at our first meeting, you are clearly a man who knows exactly what he wants and how to get it and I must say that my initial findings are very promising, I'll have to get my legal team to look this over of course" she added slipping the paper work into her briefcase and locking it securely "but I think it safe to say that we'll be doing business together soon, I'll be in contact before the end of next week."
"Brilliant" Mr Jones replied looking every bit like the cat that just got the cream "and maybe" he continued, standing up to make his way around the table with his chest slightly puffed out, stopping in front of Regina who had already risen to her feet, "The lady will permit me to take her out for dinner to celebrate our newfound connection."
He leaned in close, far too close for comfort as he spoke those final words so that his breath brushed hotly against Regina's face making her shudder, she tried not to let her repulsion show, forcing her features into a neutral expression, as the stench of rum and stale tobacco filled her nostrils, what was he lacing his coffee with? Regina quietly wondered as she stepped back to create some space between them.
"The lady never mixes business with pleasure" she retorted clutching the handle of her case and taking a second step back "and even if she did, the lady is already spoken for" with that Regina gave a small tight smile, turned her back on the room and stepped through the door letting it to swing closed behind her without even waiting for Mr Jones to reply.
With the meeting over a lot quicker than she had anticipated, Regina suddenly found herself out on the sunny sidewalk with some spare time on her hands.
She could have called for a car to take her back to the office and that's what she probably should have done and if she had her day would have turned out very differently to what it did.
But she didn't call for a car and her day didn't turn out as expected because she was less than a block away from her girlfriend's office with more than an hour to spare, the sun was shining, her favourite coffee shop was practically crying out to her and Regina's feet were already heading towards it.
She walked briskly along the sidewalk to stave off the chill that was in the air despite the suns bright and cheerful presence in the clear blue sky high above the city.
The delicious aroma of coffee enveloping her minutes later filling her nostrils with its familiar and welcoming earthy scent.
Stepping inside of the busy shop she waited in line to place her order and fifteen minutes later she was back outside pounding the sidewalk towards Eve's place of work a steaming beverage in each hand.
She knew that Eve was working from her office that day, and also that she currently had a very busy schedule, but she hoped that her lover would at least be able to spare a few precious minutes to spend with her and if she couldn't, well, then Regina was certain that the coffee would be gratefully received none the less.
She hurried along her smile broadening as the office building with the name of the law firm that Eve worked for stencilled across the top of its door came into view and after a short but impatient wait for a safe moment to cross the road she pushed open the door to the offices with her shoulder, entered the building and began to climb up the staircase inside.
She'd visited Eve at her office several times before, but her previous visits had all been pre-planned and no one here knew the true nature of their relationship.
Eve preferred to keep her sexuality private, and her romantic relationships separate from work and Regina respected that so when they were in communal areas of the office during her visits Regina was just a friend popping by no different than on the occasions when she dropped in to go for lunch with Kathryn on a workday.
But as soon as Eve's office door closed behind them the pretence was dropped and everything changed and as she made her way up the staircase that day a small smile spread across Regina's lips as she thought about what delicious fun might be waiting for her upstairs.
She used her shoulder again to push open the door at the top of the stairs paying careful attention to the large cups of coffee balanced in each hand, then turned to smile at the receptionist as it swung closed behind her.
"Can I help you?" the pleasant woman on the desk asked.
"Yes, I was in the area so thought I'd drop by and say hello to Eve, I've bought her coffee" Regina replied holding up the coffee that she had brought for Eve for the receptionist to see.
"Is she free at the moment or should I just leave it here for her?" Regina asked mentally preparing herself for the disappointment of potentially being this close and still missing out on grabbing a quick moment with her girlfriend.
"Well, she's certainly in the office and I know she'd appreciate the coffee and probably a break too" the receptionist replied.
"I've only just got back from lunch, so just give me a second to double check her schedule for this afternoon, and if she's not in a meeting I'll send you through." She smiled and started to tap away at her computer while Regina stood patiently waiting, hardly daring to allow her hopes to rise.
"She's available" the receptionist smiled broadly as she looked back up at Regina moments later, "do you know which office is hers?" she asked, and Regina nodded.
"In that case I just need to see some ID and then you can go on through, and make sure she takes a little break, she's working herself way to hard at the moment, but don't tell her that I told you that" she added with a cheeky wink.
"Don't worry your secret's safe with me" Regina chuckled as she placed her coffee on top of the receptionist's desk freeing up her hand to take out her ID then with the receptionist satisfied that her job was done she collected the cup again, hurried past the desk, and through the security scanner that would permit her further entry and into the office building.
As she approached Eve's office Regina could see that the door had been left open a crack, so she paused to listen for a few seconds.
When she didn't hear Eve's voice on the other side, she felt certain that the raven-haired beauty inside wasn't in the middle of an important and private phone call with a client or colleague, so she pushed the door fully open and walked straight in with a huge smile on her face, expecting to see Eve smiling back at her in surprise from behind her desk.
Only to be pulled up short when that wasn't the sight that greeted her at all.
She must have been standing in the wrong office, that was the only logical explanation for what Regina was seeing right now. She had been sure that this one was Eve's, but she must have made a mistake, that or they had, had an office shuffle around and Eve hadn't mentioned it yet.
Regina knew that there was an office with a better view which Eve coveted, maybe she should check that one, see if she had finally gotten it, or she could just go back to reception and ask where she could find Eve, this clearly wasn't the right office because the owner of this office was currently locked in a very passionate embrace with another person.
Regina didn't know if the office that she had just stepped into belonged to the woman sitting on the edge of the desk with her stockinged legs wrapped around her muscular partners waist and her arms draped around his neck as he leaned into her, or the man held firmly between her legs, his broad frame preventing Regina from seeing anything more of the woman than what was wrapped around his bare back and the pair of expensive looking shiny black heels, lying on the floor between her and the couple, which had clearly been haphazardly kicked off by the woman currently locked in a fiery kiss far too intimate for Regina to be witnessing but the one thing that had become abundantly clear was that the office didn't belong to Eve.
Mercifully Regina hadn't been noticed yet so as quietly and unobtrusively as possible she began to back out of the room, her plan to escape completely unnoticed by the impassioned couple and gently pull the door back closed again behind her giving them back their privacy and avoiding any further embarrassment for any of them.
She had one foot out of the open door, when the man lowered his lips to his lover's neck and the woman released a pleasurable moan.
The sound immediately stopped Regina in her tracks and feet suddenly frozen in place her eyes darted back to the couple of their own accord, Regina would recognise that moan anywhere, she had heard it enough times before, elicited it from between those lips herself repeatedly, but it couldn't be right? She had to have misheard.
Her eyes were back on the couple now, seeking out the source of that all too familiar sound, desperate to see with her own eyes that what her gut already knew to be true wasn't true at all.
But even as her mind continued to pray that she was wrong, the woman let out a second familiar moan and threw her head back as she enjoyed the attentions of her lover's lips caressing her neck and collar bone, Eve always liked it when Regina did that too.
And now Regina could see her face, eyes closed, mouth open in a small o as she panted blissfully through the man's administrations, her dark silky hair cascading freely down her back and suddenly there was no denying who she was.
Regina let out a loud gasp and promptly dropped both coffee cups to the floor with a clatter that had the couple in front of her springing apart and looking round at her in surprise, she didn't even notice the hot coffee that had splashed up her legs and was already burning her skin through her thin panty hose because her eyes were locked with an even more shocked Eve's.
"What the Hell, doesn't anybody knock around here?" the man grumbled grabbing his shirt from where it had been discarded on top of Eve's desk and hastily pulling it back on, at the same time as a very flustered Eve said.
"Regina, what are you doing here?"
Regina ignoring both of their questions simply narrowed her eyes at Eve and asked the question that was currently burning on the tip of her own tongue even hotter than the coffee that had just been splashed up her legs.
"How long?" she hissed stepping further into the room again.
Eve hastily looked from Regina to the man and back again.
"Look can we talk about this later?" she asked desperately.
"No, I want to know how long this little affair of yours has been going on for?" Regina demanded without a hint of regret over putting Eve in a situation that obviously made her feel uncomfortable not after she had betrayed Regina this way.
"Affair" the man whom Regina had managed to completely ignore up until this point scoffed.
"What are you talking about? This isn't an affair, I'm Eve's husband!"
That did capture Regina's attention and she finally turned to face the man in the room, he, she thought was very easy on the eye, with dark intelligent eyes set in a tanned face just the right distance apart, a strong chiselled jaw speckled with just the right amount of stubble to make him look sexy rather than scruffy and a full head of floppy jet black hair that looked thoroughly tousled by his interrupted encounter with Eve which only served to make him look even more attractive.
He was tall and heavy set in a very muscular way, but Regina was neither intimidated nor particularly impressed by any of that.
"Her husband" she repeated shaking her head in disbelief "all this time" she added turning back to Eve who was eyeing her husband and desperately shaking her head behind his back, but Regina wasn't about to go quietly.
"Well, I guess that explains why you wanted to keep me a secret from your co-workers" she said purposely rising her voice loud enough for the receptionist and a few other members of staff to overhear.
"It had nothing to do with wanting to keep your sexuality a secret did it, Eve? It was because they all know that you're married to him!" She hurled the words at Eve each one dripping with more venom than the one before it then she turned away from the shocked face of the woman whom she had so foolishly thought that she might have had a future with to meet the dark eyes of Eve's husband whose skin had rapidly paled in shock instead.
"I'm very sorry" Regina said speaking barely above a whisper now "I guess it was really me who was the affair" she sighed and looked one last time at her still silently gaping ex-lover.
"To think I was actually going to invite you over to my family's home for Christmas at our date tonight" Regina sighed again and shook her head anew while Eve looked if anything even more stricken.
"I wonder what excuse you would have given me to turn me down" Regina chuckled a little sadly, "I guess we'll never know now, Goodbye Eve and thanks a lot for wasting the last six months of my life" she said turning on her heel to leave.
"Oh, and enjoy your coffee" she added sarcastically as she left the room narrowly avoiding the sizeable puddle that the two cups of coffee had created on the carpet when they had crashed to Eve's office floor.
She saw a few shocked faces sticking out of nearby doorways, felt their eyes on her as she left, saw the look on the astonished receptionists face as she passed her by and she was glad, now they all knew who Eve really was and what she had done to Regina.
She even heard the booming voice of Eve's husband echoing through the building as an argument broke out behind her, but Regina just walked on, blinking back tears as she ignored her stinging legs and kept her head held high, without a single glance back.
As soon as she was outside she stepped into the nearest alleyway to throw up, her sobs finally escaping and continuing long after the retching had ended, she only stopped crying when she heard Eve and her husbands raised voices in the street, apparently they too had left the building and Regina didn't want to be caught by either of them here and in this state so she hurriedly retreated further into the alley hiding behind one of the huge trash cans there to wait until the coast was clear.
She heard a car door slam and an engine fire to life then the sound of a powerful car roaring away closely followed by an angry Eve yelling.
"Damn you Regina" seconds before Regina's phone started to ring, hastily pulling the phone from her pocket Regina cut the call from Eve off and switched her phone to silent.
"Regina?" an uncertain voice called from entrance of the alley way "are you in there?"
'Shit' Regina cussed herself internally as her phone began to vibrate and Eve's name appeared again and she quickly cut her off a second time knowing that Eve must have heard the phone ringing the first time, but she didn't sound too certain so Regina stayed out of sight and kept quiet hoping that Eve would leave and soon because her legs were really beginning to hurt now and Regina was starting to think that they might actually need some medical attention and that hiding behind trash in a dirty alley really wasn't an ideal place for her to be right now, or well ever.
After two further calls each cut short by Regina, Eve seemed to give up and walk away and a few minutes after that Regina finally built up the courage to creep back out of her hiding place and take a peek around.
Seeing that Eve really was gone she wasted no time hurrying across the road and heading back in the direction that she had originally come from, calling for her car along the way and arranging for them to pick her up to take her to the nearest treatment room where someone would be able to take care of her scalded legs.
She texted Kathryn with her sorry news as she sat in the car on the way to the treatment room, assuming that her best friend was still busy interviewing nanny's when she didn't immediately text back or try to call.
Had they really been having that conversation just a couple of short hours ago? Because it truly felt like a very long time had passed since Kathryn had piqued Regina's curiosity over her sudden nanny issue.
"Regina Mills" a male voice called out pulling Regina's attention away from the leaflet she had been discretely reading on the wall advertising the services of a nearby drop-in sexual health clinic which with a growing dread weighing heavy in the pits of her stomach Regina realised that she was going to have to pay that place visit too after she was done here.
"Yes, that's me" she replied standing up and slowly walking over to the doctor who had a kind face and a shock of short bleach blonde hair.
"My names Dr Whale" he introduced himself as he led Regina into his examination room where a nurse waited to help her get settled on the bed.
"Now" Dr Whale continued as he took the seat beside her and scanned his eyes over his notes "according to this you're here for burns to you lower legs" he said sounding concerned.
"That's right" Regina nodded "I received a shock that caused me to drop hot coffee on myself" she explained.
"I see" the Doctor hummed sympathetically "you'd be surprised how many accidents of this nature that I see" he said, "now let's just have a little look and see what we need to do here."
He used his feet to move his wheeled chair towards to the end of the bed so that he could take a look at Regina's injuries, then he moved back up to Regina's head end without touching her.
"The good news is that I think it's only superficial, it'll sting for a while but it will heal quite quickly, now if you'll excuse me for a moment I just need to wash up and ready myself to treat this for you and in the meantime my nurse is going to help get your pantyhose off, I'm afraid they are going to have to be cut" he added looking up at the nurse who nodded and moved to begin.
"I'm sorry sweetheart I know it's sore" the nurse soothed as she began to gently separate pieces of pantyhose from the burn causing Regina to wince.
"It's okay" Regina hissed "just get it over with."
The concerned nurse nodded her understanding and quickly continued with her work until the burns on Regina's legs were completely free of nylon.
As soon as it was over, she stepped away leaving Regina wearing the remainders of her pantyhose which were now cut above the knee, the Doctor returned and looked her legs over again now that they were free of their relatively transparent confines and nodded a satisfied nod.
"You've been very lucky" he smiled "I'll clean it up and dress it for you, but you won't have to keep the dressings on for long, I'm confident that this will heal quickly and that you won't even scar" he assured her as he turned his attention to cleaning the remaining coffee from Regina's legs.
"I don't feel very lucky" Regina winced again under his touch.
"Yes, I'm sure you don't right now" Dr Whale replied sympathetically not fully understanding what Regina was truly referring to.
"I'd like to see you again in week, just to check your progress" the doctor informed Regina after he had given her care instructions for her burns and a prescription for some cream
"But if you have any concerns in the meantime don't hesitate to come back sooner" he added with a nod as he moved to show Regina who was only too eager to escape, out of his examination room.
Now she just had to face the utter humiliation of visiting a sexual health clinic at her age! She could easily picture her mother's reaction if she ever heard about this.
"Regina Mills you're not a teenager you're thirty years old when will you start acting it and make better decisions!" her sister would cackle relentlessly in the background as her mother openly scolded her as though she really were a child all over again then the redhead with her perfect life and her perfect family would never let her live it down, not in this lifetime or the next she thought with a shudder.
But she had to be sure because if Eve was sleeping with Regina behind her husband's back then how many others could there have been? Men or women alike.
She remembered the pained look on Eve's face when she had told her of her plans to invite her to spend Christmas with her and her family and she wanted to believe that she was the only one but how could she trust that after what Eve had done? How could she take that chance with her health? She had to protect herself and any future partners not that she could think about another relationship at that moment in time.
At least she thought, her appointment would be in complete confidence, nobody would hear of it outside of herself and maybe Kathryn if the blonde got her drunk enough to lower her inhibitions enough to relive the humiliation she was about to endure, then they'd laugh about it together and she'd never repeat it to anybody, she and Kathryn would go to the grave with each other's secrets of that Regina felt certain.
She settled into the back seat of the car and instructed the driver to drop her at a respectful restaurant a block away from the clinic that she had seen advertised on the waiting room wall, telling the driver that she would call when she wanted to be collected as she took out her phone to checked for messages.
A smile slowly creeping across her lips as she saw that she had received a reply from Kathryn while she had been being treated.
K: That total bitch! I'm so sorry babe, wish I could call you, but I can't talk right now, I'll be over later though and I'm bringing the wine, no arguments! x
R: No arguments here, I can't wait to hear how things went with your interviews today x.
Kathryn's final reply was just an eye rolling emoji alongside a palm in face emoji and a kiss, and Regina let out a small chuckle as she slid her phone back into her bag, it looked like she wasn't the only having a bad day today she thought as she diverted her gaze out through the window, Kathryn didn't seem to be fairing much better either.
"Lena" a red headed woman called out, glancing up from the clip board that she was holding.
"Lena" she tried again when nobody answered her call.
Regina not wanting her real name called out in the waiting room of the sexual health clinic gave a false name when she arrived which is why it took three call outs for her to realise that it was her being called and for her to respond.
"Lena" the red head called out for the third time and Regina finally clicked.
"Yes, sorry that's me" she said standing up to follow the woman who was calling her, looking a little sheepish.
"Don't worry you'll find no judgement here" the young woman kindly reassured the brunette, her voice warm and thick with a Scottish accent.
"I should hope not" Regina retorted a lot more brashly than she had intended.
"Sorry" she said again her eyes dropping to the floor when she saw the woman wince at her tone, "It's been a really bad day, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you."
"It's quite alright" the woman smiled brightly as Regina took a seat in the room that they had just entered, and she turned to close the door behind them.
"How about we start again" she said smile still in place, warm and genuine, reaching hazel eyes, as she took her own seat facing Regina the fiery red curls that framed her face bouncing every time she moved her head as though they had a life all of their own.
"My names Meridith" she introduced herself extending her hand towards the brunette.
"Regina" Regina replied accepting the offered hand and giving It a firm shake with a small grateful smile of her own.
"Ahh so that explains why you didn't answer to Lena when I called you the first two times" she said with a knowing twinkle in her eye as Regina first gaped silently back at her and then snapped her jaw shut and blushed deeply having forgotten for a moment that she had given a false name when she had arrived.
"Don't worry you aren't the first to give a fake name at reception and you won't be the last, I get it" Meredith shrugged "So any reason you chose Lena?" she asked.
"Not really" Regina shrugged "I was thinking about my sister on the way here, those are the last four letters of her name, and it worked."
"As good a reason as any" Meredith smiled, "Now do you want to tell me what's bought you here today?"
Regina sighed and launched her explanation.
"Ouch" Meredith sympathized when she reached the end of her sorry tale and fell silent "you're better off without her and though it doesn't feel like it now its best you found out now and not later" she added, Regina just sniffed and nodded a few stray tears leaking from her eyes, so Meredith handed her some tissues and gave her a minute to pull herself together before she started to go through the tests they would be running.
"Would you prefer to get the swabs over with first or do them last so that you can escape straight after?" Meredith asked.
"First" Regina replied decisively.
"Okay, why don't you go get yourself ready and hop up onto the bed while get everything we're going to need.
Regina did as she was asked, pulling the privacy curtain around the bed and borrowing a pair of scissors that she spotted to cut the rest of her pantyhose off making it far easier to remove them than trying to peel them off over her bandaged legs would have been.
Next she stepped out of her knickers the humiliation burning hot in her cheeks as she shifted onto the bed and led down covering her modesty with the fresh strip of paper roll that had been left across the bed for that purpose.
"Is it okay if come in?" Meredith called from the other side of the curtain, easing her way in when Regina confirmed it was, without pushing it open to protect Regina's privacy should anyone enter the room unexpectedly during the exam.
"Would you like me to do the swab, or would you prefer to do it yourself?" Meredith asked.
"Would you mind doing it?" Regina asked quietly, she didn't say but she was worried she might do something wrong that would mess the results up.
Meredith didn't say anything either she just moved towards the foot of Regina's bed taking a sterile swab out of its packet with gloved hands as she went.
The vaginal swab was done in seconds and Regina barely noticed It then she was left to get dressed again while Meredith bagged up the completed testing for sending off.
Next they did the throat swab and finally Meredith pricked Regina's finger squeezing her blood into an open vial.
"And that's it" Meredith smiled placing the vial of Regina's blood inside of a labelled bag ready to be sent off for testing.
"You'll get your results via text when they are back, for the HIV one that should be in a couple of hours but if you haven't had a text by tomorrow afternoon call me and I'll chase it up for you, same applies to the others but allow two weeks for those to come back , other than that you won't need to return or contact us for another three months unless any of your tests come back positive" She explained with a small reassuring smile.
Regina nodded and gulped her face visibly paling.
"Try not to worry Regina" Meredith tried to reassure her "your chances of contracting HIV from another woman are very low and hopefully she'll have only been intimate with you and her husband, now I'm sure that you're keen to get out here so if you don't have any further questions I'll sort you out with a precautionary course of antibiotics, please take the full course as prescribed, hopefully you're tests will all come back negative but on the off chance they don't starting treatment early is best, please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions and we'll see you in three months for a repeat on the HIV test."
"I have to have another test in three months?" Regina asked in a small voice.
"Yes just another standard precaution because occasionality it can take a while from exposure for it to show up in your blood so say you were exposed for the first time last week then it might not show up in this test yet but if you had contracted HIV then it would be showing by the time you have your repeat test in three months' time." Meredith explained, "And you know they really are just that, precautions there is every chance that Eve is clean, and you haven't been exposed at all."
Regina nodded, thanked the nurse hoping with all of her heart that she was right about Eve being clean, she knew she could have tried asking Eve but how could she trust her to be honest with her? And this whole process was already embarrassing enough for her. Nothing but these test results could lay this to bed once and for all and Regina knew it.
She sighed as she stepped back out onto the sidewalk and headed back to the restaurant to meet her lift unanswered questions rushing around her head at a thousand miles per hour.
The car arrived minutes after she did just as she had planned and though she should have really gone back to work she didn't have It in her to do so, so as she settled into the back seat she took out her phone and instructed the driver take her home instead.
Ashley answered on the third ring.
"Could you cancel my appointments for the rest of the day please, I need to go home early."
"Of course, I'll see to it right away but are you okay?" a concerned Ashley asked.
"I'll be fine just a headache nothing a good night's sleep won't fix, but I just can't focus on anything right now" Regina replied, and it wasn't even entirely a lie, because she really did have a headache forming and her legs were hurting but that wasn't what was making her feel unable to focus she just didn't want to tell Ashley that.
Once she got home she almost wished she'd gone to work, sure she wouldn't have been terribly productive but at least she would have had company to distract her.
She opened her laptop and tried to distract herself by doing some work from home, only to find herself sighing at the clock a little while later, thirty minutes had gone by, and she hadn't done anything at all.
Slamming down the laptop lid she left it on the coffee table in the lounge and moved into her office instead, once in there and scanned the documents that Mr Jones had given her earlier that afternoon though it felt much longer ago than that and when she was done she emailed everything over to her companies' legal team instructing them to go over it all with a fine-tooth comb then get back to her with their thoughts.
Then she looked at her phone again, still no text.
Did she really have to wait until the morning to chase it up with the clinic?
She sighed again resisting the urge to throw her uselessly silent phone at a wall then moved back into the lounge this time trying to find something good to watch on the tv.
She had been staring blankly at a documentary about lions not taking anything in at all when a ping shocked her out of her daze.
"Finally," she murmured grabbing her phone.
"Or not" she groaned when she opened the phone to see a picture taken in Kathryn's wine cellar with the caption 'however will I choose' typed underneath.
She sent back a red wine glass emoji with a heart and a wink then moved to put the phone back down.
But another ping announced Kathryn's reply, just a laughing face and a thumbs up, before she had a chance to answer that one a third ping sounded bringing with it the text that she had been waiting.
She swallowed her hands shaking as she stared blankly at the phone for a few a few seconds and then slowly her finger reached out to tap the message open.
Her eyes closed of their own accord before she could read and though she wasn't particularly religious she found herself sending up a silent prayer before she forced them open again and looked down at her phone.
The letters were all jumbled and not making sense, but one word stood out in bold black capital letters.
Tears began to flow from Regina's eyes, and she choked out a sob as she read it over and over again.
NEGATIVE.
Relief coursed through her veins but still her body shook with unsuppressed sobs as the enormity of what she had just been through and how much fear she had been masking finally set in, part of her felt stupid after all Meredith had said the risk was low so why had she been so worried, why could she now not stop crying?
Maybe it was just the emotion of the day catching up with her she reasoned as she finally pulled herself together and headed for the kitchen to make herself a coffee trying not to think about the fact that she had to return for a retest in three's months' time.
A broad smile instantly graced her lips and what remained of Regina's worries were momentarily forgotten when she heard the bell jingle through her apartment later that evening, she could list the people that Jerry the door man would allow to pass through the building without his calling up to alert her to their presence first on one hand and of those few Kathryn was the only one whom she was expecting that evening, Kathryn and hopefully a very nice bottle of red.
Despite being almost certain of the identity of her visitor who was now ringing the bell a second time in typical impatient Kathryn fashion Regina still paused in the hallway to double check the camera system that allowed her to see into the landing outside of her front door and hear what was happening without ever identifying to the visitor that she was home.
She chuckled as she saw her best friend holding an expensive bottle of red in each hand and tapping her foot impatiently as she waited to be let in, then turning off the device installed in her hallway wall Regina moved to open the front door.
"About time!" Kathryn exclaimed throwing her hair back in an exaggerated manner.
"Here take one of these and get it in a glass I'm gasping, out here" she thrusted one of the bottles into Regina's empty hand as she stepped across the threshold of the open door pulling it closed behind her before using her newly freed hand to pull Regina into a quick but fierce one-armed embrace.
As soon as she released the brunette, she kicked her heels off then followed her through to the kitchen where Regina already had two glasses and a corkscrew sat waiting for her arrival.
Regina popped open the first bottle and filled the waiting glasses, taking one for herself and leaving the other for Kathryn to take while she carried the rest of the bottle through to comfier quarters with Kathryn continuing to follow.
Regina set the bottle on the table and the two women settled themselves on opposite ends of the couch Kathryn curling her feet underneath herself while Regina who normally would have done the same stretched her sore legs out and rested her feet in Kathryn's lap instead, Kathryn who had already been filled in on Regina's accident with the hot coffee made no comment as the brunette shuffled about to make herself more comfortable.
"So" Kathryn grimaced a little as she opened the conversation "Eve has a husband huh, I have to admit I didn't see that one coming at all." She confessed.
"Me neither" Regina sighed taking a deep swig from her glass and closing her eyes as the warmth of the rich red wine washed over her welcoming taste buds and settled comfortingly in her stomach.
"And he really didn't have any idea about you either?" Kathryn asked.
"Not unless he was a very good actor" Regina replied opening her eyes to look at her friend again.
"He certainly seemed very surprised, when I accused Eve of cheating on me with him after I walked into her office and caught them in a precarious position over her desk and then of course there was the shouting that began the second that I left the room followed by the very angry husband in question leaving in a hurry and Eve cursing my name as she tried to call me while I hid in the stinky alley next to her building with vomit breath and hot coffee splashed up my legs" Regina sighed again and finished her first glass of wine in one.
"All in all, it's been a very bad day for me" she said as she moved with a wince to place her glass on the table so that she could refill it all while fighting to hold back the tears that were suddenly threatening to overwhelm her all over again.
"And to top it all off I already told my mother that I was hoping to bring a date home for Christmas this year" she commiserated as she sat back with her newly filled glass in hand.
"Ouch" Kathryn sympathised "if it makes you feel any better my day hasn't been much better" she added.
"Oh yes, tell be about your Nanny issues" Regina said eager for the conversation to move into a different direction, "We've been talking about me, but you still haven't told me what's happened to Joanne."
"Poor Joanne" Kathryn shook her head a little and sighed, then seeing the alarmed look of worry at her reaction reflected in Regina's eyes she quickly amended.
"It's okay she's fine, well she's sort of fine and she's going to be totally fine again soon" she babbled, Regina's brow arched questioningly in response.
"It was stupid thing really, there was a bit of an accident at home, Jensen left a toy car on the stairs" Kathryn started to explain, referencing one of her young twins.
"Joanne was carrying laundry, didn't see it, stood on it and now, well now she's laid up in hospital, but they tell me she's going to make a full recovery she just needs some rest and recuperation. I just came from the hospital actually I went to see her after my disastrous Nanny interviews today and I swear she broke a few more ribs laughing at my expense" Kathryn added with a roll of her eyes that made Regina chuckle.
"Don't you start, it was a nightmare, I don't know how we're going to find someone before next week" she sighed.
"It can't have been that bad" Regina replied, "surely there was somebody that could have been suitable."
"Not that bad?" Kathryn groaned "It was worse than not that bad, I conducted three interviews today and they just kept getting worse" she sighed again, and this time it was her turn to up end her wine glass into her mouth while Regina feeling intrigued said.
"Tell me about them."
"Well," Kathryn started as she reached for the wine bottle, only to eager to regale her friend with her tales of disaster.
"I thought the first one sounded promising on paper, that's mostly why I chose to interview her first, I was sure she'd end up with the job and I wouldn't even need to interview the other two, she was English you see, same as my Joanne." She said a little wistfully.
"Right" Regina replied wondering where this was going "I'm going to hazard a guess and say that she wasn't like Joanne at all when she arrived" she said.
"If you had met her, you would know just how much of an understatement that was, I swear Regina she would have been a stereotype Nanny in Victorian Britain. When I first saw her, I thought I'd opened the door to Mary freaking Poppins".
"Well, that's not so bad is it?" Regina laughed "Mary Poppins was a lovely Nanny, right? And maybe Jared and Jensen could benefit from a firmer hand. Isn't that what you're always saying to Joanne?"
"Yes, but could you imagine taking her on the beach in Miami, wearing that get up? And anyway, she may have looked like Mary Poppins but trust me when I say that that was where their similarities both started and ended, from there on out she was more scary than Mary."
Regina snorted into her wine at that.
"I'm being serious Regina" Kathryn shuddered "I've never met a more intimidating woman in my life and I'm best friends with you!" Regina laughed again beginning to feel much better as Kathryn continued.
"She had this cane Regina, an actual cane and I really don't think she needed it for walking" she shuddered anew "I want someone to look after my boys not traumatise them for life" she added.
"Okay so what was wrong with number two?" Regina asked fighting to hold back yet more laughter.
"Well, I reckon he must have bumped into Scary Poppins on his way in because he was a total non-starter, poor guy looked terrified, took him twenty minutes just to be able to tell me his name. Then the boys got home halfway through his interview, so I paused it to get them their afternoon drink and snack and by the time I got back number two had scarpered."
Regina really did start laughing at that and her friend couldn't help but smile too as she continued.
"Number three had confidence in abundance, I'm still not convinced that she didn't lie about her age on the application though, she said she was twenty-three, but I swear that she didn't look a day over sixteen, she arrived certain that she already had the job and that the interview was just some kind of formality" Kathryn rolled her eyes at that as she continued.
"She even showed me some video on her influencer page, showing off this new bathing suit she'd already purchased for the trip, personally I think bathing suit was a bit of an over statement for that stringkini" Kathryn laughed.
"I mean you know I'm not adverse to a skimpy bikini Regina, especially when I'm working on my tan lines." Regina nodded because it was true, and Kathryn continued.
"But this was literally strings and two triangles of fabric that just about covered her nipples and the bottoms weren't a lot better, they didn't cover up nearly enough to be considered anything close to decent on a public family beach, not even by my standards" she exclaimed, and Regina shook with unsuppressed laughter at that statement.
"But the thing that really got me was all her chatter about how excited she was to be getting to make content in Miami and how her followers were going to love it.
Then when I pointed out that she wouldn't have time to make much content because she'd be far too busy taking care of the boys and keeping them safe by the sea, the cheeky madam said she'd have plenty of time to create her content on her days off!
That's days Regina as in plural, every other day in fact, we're only going for a week, and she was expecting every other day off.
Never mind that Fred and I would be paying all of her expenses, flying her first class, putting her up in a high-end hotel, buying her all of her meals and paying her above the average nannying wage, she wants every other day off too.
When I said the contract was for six days out of the seven with the one day off midweek she flounced too, and I said good riddance!"
Kathryn took a deep breath and a long drink of wine then while Regina laughed heartily, she really did feel so much better and was glad that Kathryn had come over.
"What about that babysitter you sometimes use on Joanne's nights off?" Regina asked taking a much smaller sip from her own glass "couldn't she help you out for your holiday, like you said it's only a week and the pays good."
"Ugh I wish" Kathryn groaned "But I asked Emma already, she's due to start a new job the week we leave, and she can't afford to lose it, I can't blame her that job will see her through until the new year and all said and done will pay her more in total than a week In Miami with us especially when she adds tips over the festive period and she's paying her own way through Uni, but man would she have been the answer to all of my problems" Kathryn sighed and topped up hers and Regina's drink finishing off the first bottle.
"I wish I could find a solution to my new problem" Regina sighed, and Kathryn looked at her questioningly.
"Christmas with my family, they are expecting me to bring a partner this year, but now after all this with Eve, it'll be back to the usual attempts to set me up on blind dates and marry me off, only it'll be amped up ten-fold with questions about my latest broken-down relationship"
Regina sighed again her shoulders sagging glumly, but Kathryn had paused with her newly topped up glass halfway up to her lips and a strange sparkle in her eye as she looked at her brunette friend.
"Why do I suddenly find myself not liking the way that you're looking at me?" Regina asked suspiciously.
"Emma" Kathryn replied simply.
"What about her?" Regina asked.
"She might just be the answer to both of our problems" Kathryn exclaimed eyes wide and shiny with excitement over her own perceived genius, meanwhile a truly perplexed Regina blinked blankly back at her wondering what the hell she was going on about.