The Bet

Chapter 3

Rocinante had given birth to four naked, bloody kittens and they looked disgusting, but I was very proud of her. Emma had been with me when it all happened and she'd only seemed to adore the process, whereas I'd found it very creepy how such a small creature pushed living things out of herself.

We'd both been a little anxious to leave the mother behind with the babies, but once we'd dressed up for our date, everything seemed to be going well with the five of them, so we decided to give them the rest they needed.

"This dress still looks so good on you," I said. Emma had spent the entire day with me and frankly, I'd enjoyed her company. She was easygoing, relaxed and very, very smart.

I'd learned that she was twenty four years old and she'd just gotten an internship at Dr. Hopper's office. He was a psychologist and she strived to be one as well. She was in her last year of SBU - Storybrooke University - and lived off campus.

She'd grown up an only child, with two parents whom she seemed to love very much. I wondered what that was like - being genuinely happy in the house you grow up in. She'd lived in Storybrooke quite a few years now, as had I, but we'd never crossed paths before.

Though it was but a small town, it surprised me every day just how many people were a citizen of Storybrooke. At least once a day, someone I'd never seen before entered the small clothing shop.

I was finishing my makeup, applying a thick layer of dark red lipstick to perfectionate my look. I was looking at Emma through the mirror, but she didn't respond to my compliment. It was a compliment, but maybe it hadn't come across that way. Sometimes, I tended to say things in a demeaning manner, though I meant for them to be nice.

Emma stared at me and kept staring when I turned around. She didn't even try to be subtle. Her eyes were wandering over my body and I immediately knew I'd chosen the right dress.

It was tight and showed my curves, but overall it was very modest. The dress didn't show any cleavage and reached just below my knees. All I had to do was continue carrying myself in an elegant way and I'd have her wonder about the way my body moved in the bedroom. It was as simple as that.

"Shall we go?" I asked, as Emma kept gawking at me. She immediately redeemed herself and forced a smile. I hooked my arm through hers, left the small bathroom and gave Rocinante one last pat on her nose, before we left my small apartment together.

"You look great, Regina," Emma said, once we were outside. Finally, she'd found some words. I felt her glancing at me, but I pretended not to notice and excitedly stepped forward.

Emma and I were going on a "date" and I would make sure it was going to be amazing, so that no matter how good Killian had prepared himself for their date, she'd keep thinking about me.

"Thank you," I replied and shot her a brief smile. "Like I said, as do you. Honestly. You may not feel comfortable in a dress, but you're rocking it."

"I feel like a deer learning how to walk, in these heels," Emma complained and though she seemed to carry herself just fine, I could see that she didn't wear heels often.

"You know," I said and glanced at her feet as we kept on walking, "if you discover tonight that wearing all this is just not worth it, that's totally fine too. The most important thing is that you feel comfortable. After all, if things work out, he won't see you in a dress every day, so you might as well skip that part."

A soft chuckle came from her and I looked at her. We'd arrived at the restaurant and I wanted to make sure she'd taken my words seriously. Me showing that she should be herself was supposed to win me some points, but I wasn't sure whether she appreciated the words.