It's Just Casual

Chapter 10

Regina's friends were perhaps the worst people I'd ever met and I hadn't even spoken to them yet. She pointed to four women in elegant dresses, who did nothing but hold their champagne glasses and glance around. One of them I recognized. That was Mal.

She was dressed in a grey skirt and black blouse. Her blonde hair was tied in a low bun and her full lips were painted a deep shade of red. She was actually very pretty and though I knew Regina and she weren't good together, they'd be a very hot couple. Appearance wise, that is.

Regina's personality sucked and from what I'd heard and seen, Mal sucked just as much.

"I can't promise I'm going to refrain from alcohol all night, Swan," Regina said and shot me a glance. I chuckled and shook my head. There was no way I was going to let her drink any alcohol.

"Then I'd have to kiss you again. Keep that in mind, that'll be enough to prevent you from drinking."

"Right now, even that seems more appealing that meeting with them," Regina said with a grunt as we slowly approached the group of friends. I could tell Regina was dreading it, but she was the host's mother and there were still a lot of people present. She had to be there as well.

"Seems like a wonderful friendship," I uttered and Regina briefly rolled her eyes. She didn't respond though, because we were within hearing distance of her friends. I saw Regina put on a fake smile and adjust her hair. "Hi, lovelies."

Yuck.

Everyone turned around and gasped when they saw Regina. "Oh, God, Regina dear, you look absolutely stunning," one of them said. She had blonde hair and was wearing a pale dress.

"Yes, an absolute vision," another said as she checked out Regina's outfit. "And we heard congratulations are in order!"

"You're pretty far along, aren't you?" The third said. Mal was the only one who didn't say anything. She just looked at me and I was trying my best to ignore her. I put my hand on Regina's shoulder and moved my lips to her ear.

"Don't listen to them," I said and I could feel Regina inhale deeply, "honey bear."

She pushed me away and glared angrily at me. Mal quirked an eyebrow and Regina noticed, so to make up for the rude movement seconds before, she grabbed my hand and pulled me closer.

"Are you pregnant, Regina? Because you recently made it seem like she was the pregnant one," Mal remarked and I swallowed thickly. I wasn't a good liar, but when I was stressed out, I sometimes managed to seem very natural while spitting out lies.

"We're both.. pregnant. We got insiminated at the same time, but Regina's pregnancy isn't going as smoothly as we'd hoped, so we'd rather not talk about it," I said. Regina offered me a grateful smile, but I ignored it and kept looking at Mal.

The other three women just listened curiously. They didn't say anything and I was glad they didn't, because with every word they spoke I started to like them less.

"I don't buy this, at all," Mal said and pointed at the two of us. "When I talked to Cora about your engagement, she seemed incredibly surprised. Am I to believe that you told me about your engagement sooner than you told your mother?" Mal folded her arms and seemed pretty convinced of herself.

I put my arm around Regina. "You talked to my mother?!" she asked, clearly trying to hold back her anger. Mal smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Because it's a lie. You're not engaged. You're not even pregnant, I'm sure. You said you'd never want another child with anyone and I don't know who Emma is, but she's not your girlfriend."

I tugged Regina closer to my side and swallowed. "Looks like your jealousy is showing, Mal. We wanted to tell Cora. Tomorrow, at lunch, but you ruined the surprise and that's an awful thing to do." I showed her my hand. I always wore my mother's engagement ring and I'd never thought it'd come in handy. "Regina proposed to me and it was wonderful. Accept it and get over it."