Chapter Text
“I’m sorry, I’m going to need you to repeat that.” Two perfectly shaped eyebrows that had slowly been creeping upward throughout the last five minutes of conversation suddenly furrowed over narrowed eyes. There was no way she had heard that last statement correctly.
Gold leaned back in his chair and regarded the unsettled woman with an amused condescension that made her want to smack him. “Come now, Regina. I’m not asking you to rob a bank.”
“Oh, well excuse me, no. This is an entirely different category of felony.”
“Only if you get caught, and there’s no chance of that; I’ll make sure of it. Trust me.”
If her stomach hadn’t been twisting in knots and her mind hadn’t been spinning, she might have actually laughed at that statement. Trust him? That was a word that didn’t belong in the same sentence with the name Nathan Gold.
She had known him for years. When she graduated from Boston University with her M.A. in journalism, Regina applied to dozens of jobs in both Boston and New York. Her mother’s influence could have landed her almost any position she wanted at the time in any of the three publishing companies she had her hooks in, but Regina was never one to take the easy road and she’d be damned if she was going to owe her first job to her mother’s connections and not her own merit.
So when offered the job in New York as a junior editor for AGAU Publishing House, she jumped at the chance to prove herself despite the lower position and pay scale. And prove herself she had. Gold was shrewd and calculating in a similar way to her mother, but without the preconceived power trip over her. He saw her potential and knew how to get the best out of his employees. Providing her with the opportunities and projects that best suited her abilities, she worked her way up to executive editor in just five years and was thriving in the company. And when she decided to leave the company, he made her a deal she couldn’t refuse. Of course, in true Nathan Gold form, it came with some rather thick strings attached.
Regina sighed. “Alright, just run me through this again.”
********************
“So that’s it then? There’s nothing else?” Regina stood outside the courthouse with the blonde who according to the crumpled marriage certificate in her hand was just a little more than three years younger than her. Emma Swan. Or...Emma Swan-Mills now she supposed, although she doubted the woman would bother changing her name since she planned to never see her again after today.
“Um...yeah, I guess. I’ll uh mail you a copy of this and see you around, I guess.” The blonde kicked an imaginary pebble on the sidewalk and seemed to want to say something else.
Jeans. She wore jeans to their wedding. Why on earth did that bother Regina so much? It’s not like she expected the woman to wear a wedding dress but at least she had had the common decency to dress the part in a smart black fitted suit with a deep cerulean blouse. Jeans.
Regina rolled her eyes and shook her head at the woman. “Mm. I’d guess ...not.” Giving a curt nod, she turned to leave. “Good luck then, Miss Swan.”
The sound of a throat being cleared loudly behind them gave her pause. “You mean, Mrs. Swan, no? Or will it be Swan-Mills? Eh, it doesn’t really matter, does it?” Gold waved a dismissive hand at the conversation as he came down the courthouse steps and slid his arm around Regina’s shoulders, pulling her back in. “Such a lovely little ceremony, don’t you think?” He was talking as if what had just happened were a totally normal everyday thing.
“Really Regina, we just cannot thank you enough. With Emma’s travel visa expiring next week this is the perfect way to keep her in the country and get that new novel of hers written and published.”
As Gold went on about the book this Emma Swan, Swan-Mills. Shut up. was apparently going to be writing for him, and by the look in his eye making him tons of money on, a panicked thought flashed into Regina’s mind.
" You’re not going to be writing under Swan-Mills are you?” Her voice just a little too loud to seem casual.
Emma opened her mouth to answer but Gold steamrolled over her with a laugh. “Well, as much as I like the sound of that, you have nothing to worry about Regina. Emma will be ghostwriting her novel due to ah… well it doesn’t really matter does it?” He waved that same dismissive hand he used so often when he wanted to gloss over the sordid details of something he deemed unpleasant.
Regina’s lips turned a slight frown before deciding he was right. She really didn’t want to know any more about the woman than she had to. According to Gold, once the dust settled on their marriage and the novel was written and published, Emma’s green card status would be approved and they could divorce. Six months tops he had promised and it wasn’t like she would have to see her at all during that time either.
Besides it wasn’t like Regina was getting nothing out of this. In fact, looking at her watch, she noticed it was coming on one o’clock already and her appointment was at two. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got something I need to attend to.”
Gold smiled knowingly. “I’m sure you’re going to do just fine, dearie. Nothing to worry about now that you meet the requirements. And just think in a few months you’ll be swimming in donations as Director of Donor Relations... if you can get that little project of yours up and running first, of course.”
As Regina turned to leave Emma suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her back causing her to stumble into the blonde. Emma smoothly caught the flailing brunette who immediately stiffened and yanked free from her grasp. Frowning and cocking her head sideways as Regina seemed so ruffled by the innocent mistake, she shrugged it off and proceeded to slip the platinum colored ring from her finger and hand it to Regina. Gold had purchased the rings, but Emma had picked them out for them. Hers contained a bright blue band inlaid amongst the white gold and Regina’s with deep purple and she felt it only fair that Regina get to keep them or sell them now, as a kind of thank you, since neither one of them would be needing them again.
********************
Regina shifted nervously in her seat feeling akin to a bug under a microscope. She knew the interview for the apartment was going to be tough but this was ridiculous. Gold assured her he had set the whole thing up but you’d never know it with the barrage of questions the board was throwing at her. Board. Regina scoffed in her own head. The three octogenarians who sat across from her, peering down their noses through cataract-riddled eyes hardly made up a board.
Regardless of their cloudy vision, they had to see that she-- they were the perfect candidates for tenancy. Emma Swan had been the final check box for application. The high rise did not accept single people regardless of income or pedigree. Apparently, they didn’t approve of the comings and goings of single people and now that she had met the board, she could see why. The last time these three had been on the dating scene, Roosevelt had been in office.
“And you said that your wife is an author?” the wrinkled woman asked for what was probably the third time in the last forty minutes.
“Yes. She writes…” Shit. What the heck does she write?”
“She writes what, dear? I hope it’s not one of those horrid internet blorgs.”
“Blocks, Miriam. I think they're called internet blocks.” the man who had introduced himself as Leonard corrected her.
“They’re called blogs , and no. Emma is a novelist,” Regina interjected.
Regarding her with suspicion, Miriam repeated the word like it left a bad taste in her mouth. “Blogs? Well that doesn’t sound right.” Waving her hand dismissively she didn’t wait for an argument. “Pish posh, it doesn’t matter. She’s not one of those temperamental writers, is she? Keeping strange hours and having her friends popping in at all times of the day? I know how those artistic types can be, you know.”
"I can assure you, Ma’am, you won’t even know she’s here.” Because she won’t be... Regina inwardly smirked at her own joke.
The three scoffed almost in unison. Well...two scoffed the other may have snored a bit as Regina was unsure if he was actually awake at this point or not. If he was, he seemed to be finding something fascinating in his own lap for the last ten minutes or so.
“And what is it that you do exactly, dear?” Miriam shuffled through the extensive application in front of her as if she could read anything with her glasses balanced on the last centimeter of her nose. “You’ve listed your assets here and they are impressive but under occupation it just says non-profit philanthropist. Does that mean you survive solely on other people’s money? We can’t have people wandering about the building looking for handouts all the time, you know.”
Clearing her throat to hide her annoyance at the woman’s implications that she was some sort of freeloader, Regina quickly explained her employment situation. She had recently left a job as a senior editor at AGAU and was now working toward heading their community relations and charitable donations department. She had plenty of money to tide her over while she made the career shift, leaving out the part where if she didn’t get the local community library project up and running with multiple generous donations from various sources, the job would not exist and she’d have left her six-figure salary for nothing.
Regina couldn’t help but go further into depth about the community library than was probably necessary, but as Leonard and Miriam seemed keen on knowing everything about her and Emma down to the toilet paper they used due to the sensitive pipes in the building, (eye-roll) Regina decided to overload them with details.
“So, you can see why I’m so pleased that you accepted my-- our application to live here as your vast private library is of great interest to me-- to us, both of us, my wife and I, Emma, Emma Swan, Swan-Mills I mean…” Regina felt her cheeks flushing with nerves. She needed to get a grip. This was no big deal. She had explained Emma was a bit of a recluse due to the writing already and if anyone ever inquired where she was, she could just say she was away on a writer’s retreat. No one was going to ask anyway. Who on earth would even care?
“We’ll let you know.” Miriam stared at her like she had three heads while Regina flashed her brightest smile.
“Oh, don’t be such a stick in the mud Miriam,” Sleepy suddenly chimed in. So he had been awake! “ Just give the lovely young woman the apartment. You know we don’t have anyone better and she seems perfectly lovely.”
“You said that twice.”
“What?”
“You said she’s lovely, twice.” Miriam gave him a withering look and Regina suddenly got the feeling that Mr. Sleepy was actually Mr. and Mrs. Sleepy.
“Well it bared repeating.” He chuckled and threw Regina a watery-eyed wink. “Besides, that library is a mess and I just know this lovely lady and her wife will be the ones to spruce it back up for us, won’t you, dear?”
Regina blinked a few times at the sudden added workload of organizing the entire library for the building but managed to sputter out an enthusiastic response. “Wha...yes...yes! Of course. I... W e… would love to help out the building and work on the library!”
"We can’t pay you for your time,” Miriam stated flatly, not even looking at Regina as she was busy giving her husband the stink eye.
“Oh I would never want to be paid. Please consider it my thank you for granting me residence. Us. Both of us. Residence.” Shut up, Regina.
“It’s settled then.” Mr. Sleepy ignored his wife’s pinched expression. “First and last month’s rent are due on the first and you can begin moving in as early as Friday if you’d like. Welcome to the building. I’m sure you’ll find it... lovely.” He emphasized the final word with another wink that earned him a smack on the arm from Miriam this time. Regina said a quick thank you to all three and headed for the door stifling a laugh to the fading sound of Miriam scolding her husband for his “flirting”.
********************
Two weeks later, Regina was loving life. Almost all the boxes were unpacked in the apartment and the building library was everything she’d hoped it would be. The four-story, shelf-lined room was in the center of the building almost like a courtyard but instead of plants it housed thousands of books that had all come from previous tenants and two small city libraries that had closed sometime in the past. The collection was vast in genre and scope. The only issue was that Mr. Sleepy, or Frank, as she had come to put together from the mailboxes downstairs, was right. It was a complete disorganized mess.
Fortunately, Regina didn’t mind at all organizing and alphabetizing each section. She loved books of all types, the way they felt, the way they smelled, the way they could take you anywhere in the world you wanted to go, away from anything you didn’t want to face even if it were just for a little while.
When Regina wasn’t down at the community center or on the phone speaking with potential donors and the city council, she often found herself wandering down to the books again to putz around and take her mind off other things. She had stress, and there was always the looming worry that she wouldn’t be able to get the project for the city off the ground but despite that, she was happy and for the first time, at peace with her decision to make a drastic left turn off her chosen path in life.
The one part of her life that seemed to be consistent outside of her books was Richard. They had been dating for almost a year and things were going well. Well...things were going...consistently. They weren’t really going forward but Regina was fine with that. Richard was calm and predictable and he seemed fine with their relationship where it was for the most part. Although, she would admit he sometimes pushed for more physically from her, he didn’t make too big a deal about her holding him off a bit. Before meeting Richard through a friend from the publishing house, and then subsequently helping him get a job there in the research department, Regina hadn’t been in a relationship for many years and she told herself that’s why she wanted to take things slow. As they stood now, it was nice to have someone to go to dinner with on weekends and catch a movie with and she was fine with that.
Knee deep in her latest conquest, the autobiography section, Regina’s phone rang. Almost ignoring the call, persuaded only by her finishing sorting through the stack in front of her, she glanced at the screen and saw the jolly face of Robin Hood staring up at her. It was Neal, the leader of the city rec department. Regina had playfully dubbed him Robin Hood in her phone as he had a certain knack for using his charm and good looks to convince the cities wealthiest individuals to feel just guilty enough to donate to whatever his latest cause was and just special enough to keep them coming back to all his events.
“Please tell me you’ve got news.”
“And a fine good morning to you, my lady. I see we’re not in the mood for pleasantries today.” Neal’s amusement was obvious in his tone. For reasons beyond Regina’s comprehension he found almost everything in his life amusing to some degree. Most people with the same disposition annoyed her endlessly but Neal somehow got away with it. She supposed that charm was why he was so good at his job. “What are you doing tonight?”
With an audible smirk in her tone, Regina asked, “Why? Are you asking me out? What happened to Melinda? Or is it Marilynn… Mirabelle?”
“Her name is Marian, and you darn well know that; keep the peanut gallery comments to a minimum please.”
“Just what are the chances that Robin Hood would meet and fall madly in love with Maid Marian, do you think? Although I wonder if she knows how many ladies-in-waiting have come before her…” Regina laughed out loud as Neal pretended to be offended by her comment.
“Remind me again why I called you.”
“I believe you asked me to dinner. Hmm…short term memory loss. It must be love.”
“Dinner! Yes!” Neal switched gears, letting her last comment go unaddressed. “Tonight. I need you to be ready at eight. I’ll pick you up.”
“Neal I--...” The triple beep of the line going dead cut her off in mid-question. Three seconds later as she was about to call him back, the phone double buzzed in her hand with a text.
Shit! Sorry, Reg! Totally forgot
the details. Meeting top
execs from local law firm. Looking
for charitable donations for tax
write-offs. Turn on the charm and
wear something slutty. 😉
********************
“Is this slutty enough for you and your pig friends?” Regina dropped her coat with the concierge at the front door of the restaurant and turned to face Neal whose jaw dropped to the ground.
“Damn, woman. No one in their right mind would call you a slut in that, you look like a goddess.”
Regina’s black dress hugged every one of her curves like it was made for her. The reason for that of course, besides daily yoga and strength training, was that it was. It had been one of her first gifts to herself upon landing the promotion to senior editor just a few years ago. The neckline of the dress stopped just short of indecent and was matched in daring by the equally high slit up the side.
Regina stepped toward Neal and assisted him with a finger placed under his chin. “Close your mouth, dear. I’m not on the menu tonight or for that matter, any night for you.”
“God, Regina, are you sure you’re taken cause…” Neal bit his lip and visibly swooned.
“Yes, dear, and Richard will be joining us shortly. He’s coming from work.”
“Ugh, you invited him?” Neal didn’t attempt to hide the disappointment on his face.
“He’s my boyfriend, so yes and he was more than happy to accept your invitation, since you’re paying.” Regina laughed at him as he stuck his tongue out. “Let’s go, Hood. Focus on stealing some money from the rich tonight and keep your tongue to yourself. If Richard sees you gawking at me like that, you’ll have an arrow in your ass for sure.” Regina winked and headed for the main dining room to meet their potential donors.
The maître d' brought them to their table and assured them their waiter would be right over to take their order. Neal was right, from the moment they greeted the executives it was obvious the dress had been a great idea. Both men couldn’t take their eyes off Regina. These two were going to be a piece of cake.
“Can I take your order, sir?” Regina didn’t look up from her menu as their server took the orders of the executives at the table first. Richard was late and they had decided not to wait for him. “And for you Miss? Or is it Mrs .?”
At the posing of the slightly odd question, Regina’s eyes finally flicked up to the waitress. “I’ll have the--” Regina’s voice caught in her throat and her eyes began blinking rapidly staring up into the blonde’s face. Emma!
Emma didn’t miss a beat. Although she was as shocked to see Regina as Regina was to see her, she had the advantage of having spotted her from across the room, because how could you not notice the woman in that dress, and had already had a chance to digest the situation. “I’d recommend the salmon, if you’re undecided, ma’am.”
Regina attempted to recover quickly without drawing the attention of her dinner mates. “I--”
”I’m sorry I’m late, babe. Traffic was killer coming crosstown and you know how those cab drivers can be.” Richard slid into the seat next to Regina and brushed a quick kiss across her cheek that Regina visibly flinched at but thankfully he didn’t seem to notice as he was already picking up the menu and looking over the selection.
“So, the salmon for you, ma’am?” Emma plastered a smile on her face and asked between clenched teeth. A boyfriend. Why on earth did that rub Emma the wrong way? There was no reason for her to have suspected Regina wasn’t in a relationship and it actually made perfect sense that she was willing to go through with Gold’s arrangement. It was business after all. It’s not like she had ever planned to see her again anyway. This was pure coincidence and yet...she didn’t like him already.
“Oh no, Miss. We’re both strictly vegan.” Richard answered the question posed to Regina and Emma couldn’t help but notice a flicker of a frown across Regina’s face. “I’m sure there must be something in the kitchen that would be appropriate. Be a dear and run and ask the chef if he can whip up this Mediterranean lamb dish with some chickpeas instead would you?” Turning to Regina and rolling his eyes he added, “You’d think in this day and age, a place like this would have something on the menu for the health conscious.”
“You sure your chick wants chickpeas, dude?” Emma couldn’t help herself.
“What?” Richard seemed confused that Emma was still there. “My chick-- oh…uh...sorry, babe.” He turned to Regina and placed his hand over hers. “You like chickpeas, don’t you?”
Regina kept her eyes on the table for a half a beat and then seemed to collect herself. She was not going to let Emma Swan ruin this evening for her and Neal and she certainly wasn’t going to entertain her own nerves any further. She was being ridiculous. Meeting Emma’s gaze with a cool smile she responded with confidence. “You heard the gentleman, dear. We’ll have the chickpeas.” God, she hated chickpeas.
********************
“So, what do you think, babe? I think Neal really knocked ‘em dead tonight. Plus, you know, they were just looking for somewhere to dump their money.” Richard didn’t seem to notice as Regina suddenly released his hand and placed it on her lap. The cab ride back to her apartment took him quite a bit out of his way but he had insisted on sharing the ride with her. He was good like that. “I mean not to indicate that his little library project isn’t worth it but I just mean--”
“Our.”
“What’s that?”
“ Our little library project. And I’d appreciate you not belittling it.” Regina bristled enough to get his attention this time.
“Oh! Oh, babe. That’s totally not what I meant. I’m sorry, I keep forgetting this is more than just a pet project for you now. I totally get that it’s important to you… and to the community, of course!” He wasn’t trying to be condescending but sometimes Regina felt like he wasn’t even aware of how his choice of words came off.
“It’s fine, Richard.” Regina managed a small smile and squeezed his hand again. She knew he didn’t mean to come off like an ass.
As the cab pulled up in front of the apartment building, Richard got out and offered a hand to Regina. “Let me come up.” A hopeful eyebrow arched in her direction as he wrapped his arms around her waist and brushed his lips across hers.
Regina sighed and kissed him back. “Another time, alright, darling? It’s late and I’m exhausted and you know I have to meet Neal early tomorrow at the law office to get the donation.”
Richard frowned over her shoulder as he pulled her into a hug. He didn’t know why she had agreed to meet Neal in the first place. Why did he need Regina to hold his hand to go pick up a check anyway? He knew he was harmless but he also hated the way Neal never even bothered to hide his open flirting with Regina right in front of him. If this little library project wasn’t so damn important to Regina that he still couldn’t for the life of himself figure out what had possessed her to leave a six-figure salary for, Richard would have demanded she have nothing to do with him.
The honk of the impatient cabbie broke Richard’s train of thought and their embrace. “Call me tomorrow then, babe?”
“I’ll try. I have a late meeting and you know how things can get down at the community center…”
Richard frowned again and huffed out a sigh. Regina took the hint and leaned in to soften the blow, brushing a kiss across his cheek. “Definitely this weekend, okay? We’ll go to that new Thai place you wanted to try.”
“Hey, buddy! Meter’s still running and time is money! You in or you out?” The cabbie yelled through the open passenger window saving Regina from what looked like the beginning of one of Richard’s “talks” as he released a breath in another sigh and slid into the back seat of the cab without further comment.