Henry had spent the afternoon with Nicholas. Apparently they had a big project to work on discovering the secrets of medieval castles. Henry was so enthusiastic he didn't want his mother to know anything about it. He and Nicholas needed to present it to their class at the end of the month and he wanted to practice on his Ma. He thought she'd enjoy it more if she didn't know what they were working on. Nicholas' dad said he would drop Henry to the diner later that evening so he could spend the night with Granny, which he was still very much eager to do. This suited Emma enormously as it meant she had time to catch up with Regina, they agreed to spend the afternoon getting ready together.
It was 4pm now and they were due to meet the girls at the club at 7. Emma would have loved to have spent more time with Regina, but apparently Regina had things to do. She felt ridiculous as she stood on the stoop of her neighbours house, patting down her clothing, which was a pointless endeavour anyway seen as she had her clothes to change into with her. Her stomach was in knots and she couldn't work out whether she was excited or terrified. She pulled herself together and rang the bell. She noticed a flashing blue light from behind some of the windows. She assumed Leopold had installed the new visual security device. She was still watching the flashing as it suddenly stopped and she realised the door had been opened. Her breath hitched so much she almost whimpered as Regina stood before her in, what she assumed was nothing but a short, silken grey robe. She couldn't decide which shimmered more, her legs or the silk. Her knees almost buckled as she found herself wanting to do nothing other than run her hands up and down them.
"Ahem, Ms Swan. Did you want to come in?" Emma looked up to notice the smirk on Regina's face. It was clear she knew exactly what she was doing and she was loving it. Emma felt as though she needed to regain some semblance of control. She walked up to Regina fully expecting her to step out of the way to let her in the house, but was surprised when she merely removed her hands from the door frame and didn't leave much room. Emma raised her eyebrow. Two could play at this game. She placed her hands to Regina's hips and slowly sidled past, ensuring she brushed her breasts against the brunette as her hands moved around her waist, until she walked off and into the house. Now it was Regina's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"So, what was so important we couldn't meet earlier?" Wondered Emma.
"Come see, and you will come to understand, Ms Swan that, normally, I do not allow any food or drink in the bedrooms?" Regina offered her hand and Emma grabbed it like a giddy child as she followed Regina up the stairs. Her face was perfectly level with the brunette's arse as she followed her quickly up the stairs. She could feel her wetness begin to pool and she began to throb whilst watching Regina's arse wobble. It took everything she had not to just grab it and plunge her face in. She was so grateful Regina could not see her face right now.
Before she knew it they were entering the bedroom. It was a spare one at the end of the corridor. She noted Regina had picked the furthest one from the master bedroom. Her face lit up as she noticed what Regina had done. There was a huge buffet spread over the floor and a bottle of what looked to be some kind of cocktail in a bucket on the side.
"I figured we don't get out often. If we are going to do this, let's do it properly. I also figured we'd need to eat a lot if we are going to be drinking, but we could also take our time to get ready and catch up. Does this meet with your approval?"
"Are you kidding me, this is phenomenal. I mean, if you don't want to go out that is more than fine, we've got everything here we need... Argh! I feel like a teenager again – minus the food I guess. Teenagers would never be sensible enough to fill up the tank on solids; it would be a liquid diet all the way." Regina giggled at Emma's strange logic as she handed her a plate and began pouring the cocktail. She didn't have much of a clue about these sort of things she figured It would either taste good, or it wouldn't.
"It's non-alcoholic." Why she seemed embarrassed by this Emma had no idea. "I promised Leo I wouldn't drink in the house as he is refraining."
Emma placed her hands to Regina's shoulders. "Hey, it's perfect, understand?" Regina looked into her eyes and smiled, thankful she understood.
"So tell me, how is Killian getting on in his new job?"
"I wouldn't have a clue, he rarely tells me anything, he just expects things now, he expects his food on the table and the house to be taken care of. He even… never mind." Emma lowered her eyes and began playing with her glass. Regina instantly placed her hand over Emma's and encouraged her to look up.
"Hey, don't go all quiet on me, what's up?"
"I managed to get some money for tonight." Emma tried to sound happy about it whilst she took a swig.
"O…kay! What do you mean by managed?" Emma sighed, but avoided dropping her head, knowing Regina would struggle to hear.
"He said he'd more than happily give me the money if I… if I performed certain things for him." Emma noticed Regina's jaw clench the moment she said that and her eyes darkened drastically.
"What do you mean Emma?"
"Let's just say he has some interesting fetish's"
"He... he didn't force you to do anything… did he?" Regina quietly and cautiously asked. Emma shook her head.
"No, but I kind of felt like I had to go along with it."
"Emma! You cannot prostitute yourself to your husband, and he can't demand these things of you for money!" She quietened again. "What… what do you think he'd have done had you said no?"
"I don't think he'd have done anything drastic. We'd probably just have had regular sex and I'd not have gotten any money." Regina's head fell into her hands at her friend's revelation.
"God, Emma! Promise me you won't do that again. I mean it; I said you could come to me for anything. Don't make me angry by ignoring that offer. Okay?" Emma just nodded solemnly.
"Did you want to talk about it?" Emma quickly shook her head.
"It was nothing to bad, just unusual; he appears to be a bit pirate obsessed. Hell, with the right person I guess it could have been quite fun, it was more the way it was done that made it all odd." There were a few moments of contemplative silence between them.
"On a lighter note, Leo seems to be taking this matter of your husband's business very seriously. He's been doing a lot of snooping and is expecting a report on Tuesday from Killian himself detailing his business dealings, or at least everything he wants him to see regarding his business anyway. Leo is pretty sure he's shady and is determined not to allow the town to be blemished, though it may not be an easy thing to prove. He thinks this is a far bigger operation than we first realised."
"Oh!" That achieved the opposite of lightening her mood.
"What is it?" Regina asked as tears formed in Emma's eyes.
"I just... i just feel like the bigger this becomes the more trapped I'm becoming."
"Hey." Regina scooted closer and wiped away the falling tears with her thumbs. She slowly placed her forehead to Emma's. "I promised we will get you out of this and I mean it. Look, I've split from Leo now. Whilst it would be nice to take Killian down, if this gets too much we'll just run okay." Emma looked into her eyes and saw the hope deep in the shiny, brown wells.
"You would run with me?"
"If we had too, yes, absolutely." Their breath was so close they could taste the fruity concoction between them. Regina slowly pulled away.
"Come on, enough of this, let's forget about everything for tonight and just enjoy ourselves." The both continued to eat and chat as the drink kept flowing.
"Shit!"
"What?" Exclaimed Emma.
"It's 5:30, the taxi is coming in an hour and we've barely begun to get ready." Emma doubled over with laughter. "What! What's so funny Ms Swan?" Said Regina whilst swatting at Emma's arm. It took her a moment to compose herself.
"Its… it's just, honestly, I thought you'd seen a ghost or where terrified of spiders and one was climbing up your leg or something…" Regina looked almost insulted.
"What do you mean?" Emma looked bemused that Regina genuinely seemed butt hurt.
"Seriously? How long does it take you to get ready?" Regina tried to look offended but couldn't manage it.
"At least an hour, come on." With that the two women busied themselves doing their make-up and hair. Regina chose to flick hers out at the different layer ends until her hair ended just below her shoulder. Emma chose to apply loose curls and both used a copious amount of hairspray. Regina went with a smoky eye and her signature bright red lip and Emma also applied a smoky eye. The truth was she wasn't the best with makeup, so she'd watched what Regina had done and attempted to copy. Regina clearly knew what she was up to however, the smirks accompanied by side eyes were a dead giveaway. She had chosen a lighter, far more subtle lip than Regina though. She'd also noticed Regina do things with blusher and foundation that she'd never seen before. That was like a foreign language to her. She just plonked two dots on her cheeks instead.
"You look beautiful," reassured Regina, as she noticed Emma seemed unsure about what she had done.
"Really! I'm not overly used to all this stuff on my face."
"Really you do, just come here." Emma walked up to Regina who then gently rubbed her thumbs, blending in small areas of shadow and blush. "Beautiful." Regina Re-iterated. "Now, do you want to dress first, or should I?" Emma appeared confused and Regina pointed towards the bathroom.
"Oh! You first." Emma sat on the end of the bed. It felt like an age since Regina had entered the bathroom, in reality it was a little over five minutes, then she heard the door open. There was no way she was going to stop it. Her jaw hit her floor. Regina stepped out in a skin tight, mid-thigh length black dress. It had thin straps and black lace trailing down the arms ending in a V-shape. The asymmetrical bust support left little to the imagination, though it managed to remain tasteful. "You look… seriously, you are the sexiest, most beautiful woman I have ever seen." Regina went surprisingly shy and coy. "You know, I've heard the rumours now that you guys have separated. I'm assuming Leopold told a few folk as a show of trust. You're not looking to pull tonight are you?" Whilst it came out as a joke, she was slightly worried, she hoped she'd hidden it though.
"No Emma, I am not looking to pull. I just want to be able to go out and enjoy myself whilst looking good for me. Is that okay?"
"That… that sounds perfect." Emma relaxed and stood up. "Guess it's my turn. I think I should have changed first though." She entered the bathroom as Regina perched on the end of the bed, awkwardly; not wanting to crease her dress before they'd even left the house. She didn't have to wait for more than a few moments though before the door creaked open. Regina's eyes couldn't have opened wider as she sat, transfixed by the blonde.
"Is it okay?" Emma timidly asked.
"You're kidding me," declared Regina as Emma looked even more worried. "It has to be wrong to look that good." Emma wore a similar length dress to Regina's, though it was red and had a portrait neckline. It was strapless and long sleeved. "Emma, you look stunning," affirmed Regina as she took Emma by the hands and walked her forward.
"Really, you're sure?" Regina was slightly surprised by the low level of self-esteem Emma was displaying right now, though it then occurred to her that Killian was probably sucking it slowly from her. She had to get her away from him.
"Emma, honestly, if you looked terrible, believe me, I would let you know." She cupped her face in her hands to try and get the point across. "Emma, you are Gorgeous!" After a moment of gazing at one another, Regina pulled away again. "Now, come on, the taxi will be here any minute. Let's go!" Regina grabbed her purse, Emma's hand and led her from the room.