The Life We Left Behind

Privacy? Not here...

All heads jerked around as soon as he walked through the door, which gave him pause. Slowly, he walked over to one of the free tables by the window. The other guests didn't even try to make it appear as if they were not watching his every move. He sighed as he sat down and pulled the menu towards himself across the table with the tip of his hook. Not that he didn't already know it by heart by now, just like every citizen of Storybrooke, but at least it kept him occupied as he was waiting for her to show up. His phone buzzed.

„Bloody hell...", he mumbled to himself. She was running late.

A simple and quiet lunch date with his girlfriend at Granny's, without any fuss – was that too much to ask for?

When she finally opened the door to the diner, her eyes found his instantly, but her beaming smile died soon as she was met by the very same reaction as he had been before. She looked around and started to frown. All of sudden, you could have heard a pin drop and her stiletto heeled steps echoed off the floor.

„Sorry I'm late, I just can't seem to catch a break at the town hall these days."

„Don't worry, love! This town is in desperate need of a more distracting spectacle than us having lunch", he whispered with a shrug after she had sat down.

„Well, I'm not sure there is any! Their mayor, or... queen, whichever political camp you're in, is dating the mysterious pirate from a ‚fake' realm? That's front page material!", she turned around and said in the most menacing tone that she could still master, as happily in love as she was, „There is nothing to see here! Now, all of you, stop staring or I'll turn your eyes into marbles!"

Everyone winced, turning back away from them as fast as they could, pretending nothing ever happened. Regina rolled her eyes and reached for the menu.

„That's exactly what I was afraid of."

He nodded. „Give them a week. I'm sure it'll die down."

„For sure it will, I'm just not sure my patience will last that long. Whatcha having?"

„I think I'll go for the club sandwich. You?"

„I think I'll just have a salad. Don't want to fill up too much before dinner", she smiled at him, „You're still up for Tony's tonight?"

„Of course!", he took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on it, then looked her deep in the eyes, „I'd never pass on an evening at Tony's with you. I'll skip the side of fries then."

„The chicken salad for me and a club sandwich for the handsome gentleman, please", she said as their order was taken, „with a side of fries."

He looked at her confused. „But I said I didn't want any fries?"

She raised an eyebrow and put the menu down. „You really don't know much about having a girlfriend, do you?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It was their first proper date, just the two of them, since they became a real couple, so they put in the appropriate amount of effort. While he was donning an elegant suit to take out his queen, she chose a knee length dress in red, of course, with a tight pencil skirt and a neckholder top with a plunging neckline, showing not just a juicy bit of cleavage, but also her slender back and shoulders that he was so crazy about. Of course, he loved her face, her eyes, her smile, but he might love her backside, her neck and everything in between even more. Everything about her was absolutely exquisite, exactly where it should be, and just the right amount – not too much and not too little.

Arm in arm they entered the restaurant and received a friendly greeting from Tony himself. Even though the restaurant was completely booked out tonight, he had reserved them the best table inside a little nook with windows all around. Thankfully, the other guests seemed to care about them way less than the folks at Granny's earlier today. Maybe they could finally catch a break...