Illusions

Chapter Eight

She thanks the heavens above this morning that she stopped drinking when she did, because she knows she would have inevitably had her head spinning around the toilet if she continued like the mayor. Yet, despite the glossy haze in the woman's dark eyes, she still maintained her proper etiquette and composure. Emma would be blatantly lying to herself if she said she wasn't a little disappointed. She was waiting on pins and needles to see this woman throw caution to the wind and bring down those stern castle walls protecting her true identity, but it never came.

Emma easily lied her way through the evening, briefly discussing Milo as her younger brother, who apparently now is a teacher. She breezed over her fake parents, recalling the information she had previously told Ruby about their careers as a veterinarian and school teacher, but she was quick to turn the spotlight back on the proper woman before her.

Regina vaguely discussed her career and purposely skipped over why she became mayor, which instantly amplified Emma's interest. She knows her mother possessed the role before she suddenly didn't and Regina had to step in and because the mayor refused to speak on the matter, it enthralled Emma all the more. Regina also avoided topics concerning her sister, but raved about her niece who is a senior in college, studying to be a photographer. She even pointed out some beautiful black and white pictures around her home that Robin has captured.

Most of the images were stunning landscapes and busy inner city life, but there were a few photographs of Regina and Henry, when he was younger. Each picture was captured in secret, when Regina and Henry were too busy with the joy's of life to even notice Robin's presence and the genuine happiness illuminating from both their faces, broke Emma's heart.

There was a time that he was happy and he adored his mother and she peered down at him like nothing else in life mattered and Emma felt this need to storm upstairs, wake the kid up and shake him for being so cruel to his mother because for fuck's sake, at least he had someone who actually cared. She would give anything for Regina's strict and motherly ways instead of the wicked witches she was sent off to live with.

Anyways, the rest of the evening Regina shared stories of Henry's childhood. The more alcohol the woman consumed, the more she laughed at her own silly stories of Henry's firsts; like his first jar of food or the mishaps of his first time using a "big boy potty" as Regina called it or his first steps and Emma actually found herself smiling and laughing along. She wishes she could have coaxed a little more out of the mayor, but the woman was very conscious of her behavior around a stranger and it wasn't long before she was escorting Emma to the door.

This morning, Emma is feeling extra hungry from the slight buzz she felt the previous night and she could not wait for some good old greasy diner food. She steps into the overly crowded restaurant and immediately regrets her decision because it's Sunday morning and the place is jammed packed. Her eyes rapidly scan the area, taking in that grumpy man that always shovels his food into his mouth, to the lonely balding man who always appears to be on the verge of tears, and then comes the suspicious fellow always wrapped in some kind of leather, there's that young picture-perfect couple with their screaming baby and then her eyes land upon sleek ebony locks shining brightly in the morning sun.

Maybe it's just coincidence or maybe the woman senses her gaze, but those bewitching warm swirls of cocoa orbs flick to her eyes in an instant. The mayor offers a tight knit smile while Emma's grin spreads wildly into her cheeks. She struts confidently across the room as the woman eyes her carefully over her coffee mug and Henry's head is hanging low, avoiding his mother.

"Good morning," she greets mother and son, and slides the infamous book from dangling at her side to rest against her chest, hoping to catch Henry's attention.