Reset

Regina took a deep breath and then let it out and then returned to her newspaper. More silence passed until Regina spoke up again, “how is.. work?”

“Are you trying to make small talk with me?” Emma asked.

“Isn’t that what friends do over breakfast?” Regina asked with a shrugged.

“Maybe, but we’re not friends,” Emma pointed out.

Regina paused momentarily before replying, “no, no.. of course not,” she returned to her newspaper.

“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for,” Emma winced, “sorry, Regina.”

“No, it’s quite all right, I have no idea why I’m being civil to you anyway,” Regina sniffed as she made a show of being interested in her paper.

“I don’t know either,” Emma admitted, “but I’m really grateful.. I’ve been in a bit of a bad place for a while and I’ve.. I’ve been trying to go it alone, you know?”

Regina’s eyes flicked up to meet Emma’s and she nodded carefully.

“So it’s been a bit of a surprise, waking up here and.. having a nice breakfast with someone who just.. accepts me. Someone who doesn’t have any expectations of me,” Emma said quietly as she played with the remains of the jam on her plate with a silver knife, “someone who used to strike fear and terror into people and certainly wouldn’t mistake a cat in the garden for a potential intruder.”

Regina smirked and inclined her head, “indeed.”

“But,” Emma said firmly as she looked intently down at her plate, “this doesn’t mean I want to talk about what’s bothering me.”

“I understand,” Regina replied with a nod, “I will make a deal with you, Emma.”

Emma raised an eyebrow, “a deal?”

“Yes,” Regina said as she folded her hands neatly in front of her and addressed Emma as if she were negotiating a business contract, “I will not pester you about what is bothering you as long as you make an attempt at returning to a normal eating and sleeping pattern. You have lost a lot of weight, when you didn’t have any to lose I might add. And you’re driving around this town like a zombie, you’re going to hurt yourself, or someone else. You are welcome to come here whenever you like, we can talk about weather climates in Borneo or simply sit in silence, if you wish to discuss whatever is troubling you then I will listen but I will not intrude. But please, take care of yourself.”

Whatever Emma had been expecting it certainly hadn’t been that and tears began to form in her eyes and she nodded silently. Regina nodded and stood up and began to clear the breakfast items away but as she reached forward for the milk jug the ground shook and both women jolted forward suddenly and held onto the table for support.

The sudden movement shocked Grace awake and she began to cry and Regina picked up her up and held her close to her chest.

“What the hell was that?” Emma said as she looked out of the window to see what might have happened, “was that an earthquake?”

“I don’t think so,” Regina replied as she soothed the baby, “it was like an explosion.”

In the distance a phone rang and Emma raced into the living room and searched through her winter coat pockets until she pulled out her mobile phone, “Swan,” she answered tersely.

Regina had calmed Grace again and appeared in the entrance to the living room with her brow knitted as she watched Emma listen to the call, “okay, I’ll be right there,” she said as she hung up.

She grabbed her coat and pulled it on and picked up her hat, “one of the apartment buildings being built has half sunk into the ground,” she told Regina.

“Was anyone hurt?” Regina asked as Emma hurried towards the door.

“I don’t know, it’s too early to say.. I’ll let you know what’s going on when I know more,” she promised as she opened the front door. She paused and looked at Regina who was standing at the top of the foyer with Grace in her arms, “thank you, Regina, I really mean that.”

Regina nodded and gave a small smile, “be safe, Sheriff,” she said as Emma closed the door.

Chapter 25

As Emma arrived at the apartments she could immediately see the problem, half of the large structure had sunk several metres into the ground. Luckily the apartments had been built away from other structures and were in a clearing near one of the many wooded areas around Storybrooke.

Doc stood in front of the building with blueprints in one hand and scratching his head with the other, it looked truly ridiculous and Emma would have laughed if not for the seriousness of the situation. She got out of the car and approached him.

“What’s up, Do..” she paused and he looked at her with a frown to show that he didn’t understand her pause, “erm, Doc?”

“Luckily no one was in or around the structure as far as I can make out,” the older man continued to scratch his head in confusion, “it’s as if half of the foundations have sunk into something.”