{ storybrooke }

8. { desperate souls }

Emma arrives at Mr. Gold's shop and enters, causing the bell by the front door to jingle. She looks around, but she didn't see Mr. Gold. Strange, since he was the one to call her and ask her to come to the shop. Emma yells his name.

"Gold? You in here?"

Someone peeps around the corner from behind a shelf, but it was not Mr. Gold.

"Oh, hey Winter. Is Gold around here somewhere?" The brunette steps away from the shelf. She dusts off her dress with a floral print and wipes her hands on a cloth that was laying on the glass desk by the cash register. She gifts the deputy a sweet smile.

"He is in the back if you need him. Through the curtain over there," she says. With her head she signals to a cream coloured curtain with a print of vines in the colour gold.

Emma mumbles a thank you and walks towards the back of the shop. The moment she enters and the awful smell hits her, her face scrunches up. "Whoa. What is that," she asks with clear disgust on her face.

Mr. Gold looks up from his work. "Oh, this is lanolin. Used for waterproofing," he explains to her. "It smells like livestock." Emma keeps the disgusted look on her face and did not dare take a step closer towards the table with the devilish stuff that smells worse than rotten eggs.

"Well, it is the reason why sheeps' wool repels water," the man behind the table elaborates as he spreads out the lanolin over the cloth in front of him. He didn't seem bothered with the smell at all.

"It stinks," Emma complains. "Um, if there was a reason you called the sheriff's department, if you want to talk about that quickly or outside-" Mr. Gold pulls off his gloves and stands up from his seat. With the help of his cane he approaches the deputy. "Yes, I just wanted to, uh, express my condolences, really. From both Winter and I. The sheriff was a good man."

Emma inhales deeply and tries not to show how sad she still was. Graham's death was a very sore spot for her, especially as he died in her arms just after she dared to let him in her heart.

Mr. Gold looks Emma up and down and notices something on her belt. "You're still wearing the deputy's badge." The blonde looks down at her belt and realises that was true. She hadn't even really thought about it. "Well, he's been gone two weeks now. And I believe that after two weeks of acting as sheriff, the job becomes yours," he remarks.

Emma stays silent as Mr. Gold continues. "You'll have to wear the real badge." She looks down at the deputy's badge again and begin to think his words through. 

"Yeah, I guess. I'm just not in a hurry. So, uhm, thank you for the kind words." She turns around and makes her way out of the back of the shop and the awful smell.

Mr. Gold follows her back to the front, still wearing the apron to protect his clothes. "I have his things." Emma stops and turns around abruptly. "What?"

Gold walks over to the register. "The sheriff. He rented an apartment that I own. Another reason for my call, really. I want to offer you a keepsake." The blonde stays where she was and looks hesitant. "I don't need anything." Gold shrugs. "As you wish."

Emma resumes her way out when Mr. Gold's next words stop her again. "I'll give them to Mayor Mills. It seems like she was the closest thing he had to family." Emma approaches the cash register, her tone a lot harsher as she says that she was not that sure about that.

"No love lost there, I see," Mr. Gold remarks. He explains that he fears all of Graham's stuff is directly headed for the trash bin and that she should really take something.

The man takes the lid off the cardboard box that contain Graham's belongings. He takes the sheriff's jacket from the box and holds it up for Emma to see. "Look, his jacket." Emma shakes her head and responds no. Having his jacket was too intimate and the wounds on her were too fresh.