Behind Closed Doors

Chapter Nine

"How do you feel about Kale salad?" Emma had asked as she recklessly tossed the packaged salad onto the mayor's desk.

"Like someone found some place other than Granny's for takeout," Regina flippantly responded, not once glancing up from her obsessive reading of that damn book again.

"I'm fine with her grilled cheese, but I know it gets to you," she said, so matter of fact, like she knows the woman so damn well.

Because she knows the woman so damn well...

Regina released a heavy sigh, finally granting Emma her attention as she teased, "You eat like a child." However, all too quickly those rich eyes fell to the glasses in Emma's hand. "Is that a root beer?"

"Two, I got you one," Emma declared, proudly showing off the bottles in her hand with that crooked little grin. "I thought you could use a break."

"A break from what? Dead end after dead end..." she trailed off, obviously annoyed by the lack of information she had gathered thus far.

"It's only been a few weeks," the Savior defended, attempting to offer her support.

"Exactly and I've conquered entire realms in less time," Regina smugly retorted, staring directly into Emma's eyes to punctuate her confession.

"Can you conquer these bottles?" Emma teased to lighten the mood, because in all honesty, she was so sick and tired of hearing about the damn book already. Her jealousy over all the attention Robin was receiving from Regina was becoming harder and harder to mask. "I thought they were twist offs," she complained as she waltzed away in search of a bottle opener.

"Do I look like I can pry them off with me teeth?" Regina sassed and Emma had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from snickering. "I'm a Queen and a bit more refined."

She glanced over her shoulder, flashing a quick little smirk because she really was in love with this woman's sass. "Yeah, I got that..." she trailed off, so she could focus on her search.

She went on her way, rummaging through all the drawers, trying to find a bottle opener that she knew her mother had hidden there when she was mayor for all of two days. The moment she neared one specific drawer, she heard Regina frantically jumping up from her desk.

"Wait!" Regina hysterically called to her, but it was too late, green eyes already soaked in the torn up picture that laid on top.

Her heart sank once again, like a brick plummeting into the middle of the ocean. A wave of nausea wracked her body as her eyes roamed over an illustration that seemed to be from Henry's book, that was obviously torn to pieces only to be taped back together again. Truthfully, she wanted to slam that drawer shut and pretend she never discovered it, but to her horror, her hand carefully reached for the page.

Her body filled with vile jealousy as her eyes soaked in every detail of Regina and Robin back in the Enchanted Forest, sharing a kiss in a bar.

She desperately tried to keep her voice in control when she spun around. "What's this?" She investigated as her feet mindlessly shuffled closer to the mayor.

When she finally tore her gaze away from the picture, she was slapped in the face with the horrible sight of an embarrassed and flustered Regina. Those gorgeous brown eyes were shimmering with the tears she was hopelessly trying to fight back while her cheeks were stained with a dust of a rosy hue.

"Did you take it from the book?" Emma proceeded to question, because Regina was hesitant to answer at all.

Regina inhaled sharply, the shame and humiliation evident upon her face and god Emma wished she knew if Regina was feeling this way because she missed Robin so damn much or if maybe she felt guilty of her actions with Emma right there.