It's Just Casual

Chapter 24

Working with Regina wasn't as horrible as I thought it'd be. We had a solely professional relationship and though I missed the brief friendship we'd built, we managed to make this work. It wasn't awkward anymore. I'd stopped calling her Regina and "Miss Mills" had fully returned to my vocabulary. She still called me Emma from time to time and I enjoyed that, because that was the only remainder of the bond we used to share.

However, today would be the first day for me to see Regina outside of school. Somehow, we'd managed to avoid that the last few weeks. I usually let Henry walk home alone from Regina's mansion, whenever he'd played there, but my parents were expecting us and I needed to pick him up so we could go together.

I wasn't particularly excited to walk down the pavement, leading to her gigantic house, but I knew I didn't have a choice. I was already late and I still had to do some grocery shopping, which my parents had requested, so I couldn't procrastinate any more.

When I'd finally gained the courage to knock on her door, I felt some stress wash away. All I needed to do was pick up Henry and leave. I didn't even have to speak to Regina. It was easy.

The stress returned when a man dressed in a bathrobe opened the door. "Hi, can I help you?" he asked politely, but I was too baffled to respond. I heard Regina's heels hastily clicking the floor.

"I thought I'd told you not to open the door, August," Regina said, furiously. August slumped and moved away, making room for Regina. "Hi, Emma, Henry is upstairs. Come in."

"No, thank you. I'll be just fine waiting outside," I said and my eyes shifted between Regina and August. I didn't need to be a detective to figure out what had happened between the two of them, but it still sucked. He was walking around in a bathrobe, past noon. He clearly felt really at home there.

Regina stared at me for a long moment, but nodded. "Fine. I'll get Henry downstairs," she said and walked away. August was still standing near the door and he was really uncomfortable.

"Hi, I'm Emma. Henry's mother," I said and held up my hand.

"Oh, that's you! Henry is a great kid. I've met him a couple of times now," August said with a faint smile. He seemed more relaxed already. "I'm August, by the way. Regina's boyfriend."

My eyes widened. "You two are in a relationship?" I could barely hide the shock and confusion. Regina's footsteps became audible again.

"No, we're not," she said from a distance, but I could still very clearly hear it. August chuckled and watched as she approached him, with Henry by her side. He put one arm around her waist and tugged her to her side.

"Well, we basically are," he said and when Regina looked at him, clearly intending to reprimand him - I recognized that look - he leaned in and kissed her.

If there was one thing I hadn't expected nor wanted to see today, it was Regina, my boss, former friend with benefits and mother of my son's best friend, kiss some man that claimed to be her boyfriend.

"Yuck," Henry said with a giggle and I chuckled softly. Henry might be the only person who understood me, even without knowing the story at all. "Hi, mom!" he then said excitedly and I spread my arms.

"How was the sleepover?" I asked as I picked him up and held him close. I waved briefly at Regina, before walking away with Henry.

"Emma, can I talk to you?" I heard Regina ask, but I ignored her and listened to Henry talking. He was telling me all about the sleepover and the games they'd played.

"And Luke's new daddy was there," he said, as I helped him get in the car. "He's really funny. He read to us and he can do really funny voices."

"Oh," I responded. I felt quite conflicted. On the one hand, Regina had every right to do whatever she wanted to do. Everything between us was over and that hadn't been anything but casual. If she wanted to date a man, introduce him to Luke as his dad and build a life with him, she had all the rights to do so.