Chapter 1

Concrete Angel (Christina Novelli)

Tonight was one of those nights, one of those that stretched for miles and then you suddenly realize you've been living in a continuous loop for days; maybe months, yet the best part of living in a big beautiful city was that at night… everything looked dazzling and enticing, street lights blinked in a blur from afar, tall buildings around you fully alive and you can't help but to wonder about the countless existences evolving around you; strangers walking by people simply living their lives like it's nothing but the smoothest of all rides. Seattle was no different, the city had a certain magic that Emma loved. It wasn't the main reason why she decided to move there when she started engineering school, but it was definitely one of the heavy ones. Still years later even after graduating the woman lingered around; this had become her home and besides the fact of feeling practically dead inside she loved her life, she adored her job but she hated having to go to an empty apartment every night.

It was tough, but she managed… the incredibly attractive blonde was a walking dream that any man or woman would melt and topple over for, her co-workers and best friends Ruby and Neal always ganged up on her and bombarded her with questions of why she would always reject their incessant tries at matching her up with best suitors or so they thought they were, the pair eventually gave up after realizing those few women the blonde did actually go for wouldn't last past a month or two and then be kindly kicked to the curb with a lame excuse.

Emma had always been incredibly kind, and shy for her own detriment; after graduating first of her class she was quickly hired by one of the biggest commercial airlines in the country as an aeronautical engineer, the job was demanding but she simply loved it; the hangers had become her entire life and working on those complex machines was a passion that kept her sane for most of the day until said day was over and she found herself just like tonight, walking down a street near her apartment's district. Hands in pockets, guarding herself from the cold, or perhaps from contact with others, passing by restaurants and small stores that seemed to be alive and thriving independently from the loneliness that raged within her. The blonde stumbled upon a tiny yet modern bistro/café, without paying any mind to the name of it she entered and was quickly welcomed by much needed warmth and that awkward feeling of seeing the place filled with people with other people, talking, mingling living… unlike her alone self. The blonde shrugged the black leather jacket off her shoulders, leaving only a tight black sweater that stuck to her athletic figure like a glove, accentuating her tasteful musculature. Green emerald orbs caught more than a few set of eyes on her; the woman continued as nothing and modestly made her way to an empty booth near the back wall.

Emma sat down and watched a seemingly pleasant girl walk towards her; she had eyes just like hers and a necklace with a ring on it.

Emma smiled shyly and tucked a few strings of hair behind her ear as the young girl smiled kindly.

"Good night ma'm my name is Delilah and I'll be taking care of you tonight, here's our menu can I start you with a drink?"

The blonde eyed the menu and closed it "I have the worst luck at choosing new things to try, what would you recommend?"

The girl smiled amused at the comment and nodded. "I personally love our salads and wraps, you could not go wrong with either one of them… Um, our Italian espresso is excellent too"

Emma shrugged and looked at the girl in the eyes confidently "Surprise me with your favorite meatless wrap and I'll definitely take that espresso please" She finished with a genuine half smile.

The young girl blushed despite the fact that Emma wasn't trying to flirt with her, it was something she managed to do to people on the daily yet never even realized it herself; in this case that old saying applied… the sexiest people don't even have to try and most of them have no idea that they are.

"Of course, I'll put this in and be right back with your coffee" The girl said and turned on her heels.

Emma sat back and began to play with a book of matches that displayed the bistro's logo. Just as the woman began to find comfort the in booth her eyes became enthralled with the woman crossing the street and making her way into the cafe. The blonde swallowed hard as the stunning woman became less blurry and simply more and more vivid. She had silky dark hair that bounced to her shoulder length in perfect waves with pixie ends, her skin was a light olive tone, her lips crimson red, a body to die for; Emma continued to observe the woman casually making conversation with her very own waitress Delilah who was now behind the bar. The blonde noticed they were candidly sharing in an exchange of words as if they knew each other, Regina revealed her ravishing smile and Emma lost it. After placing her order, the woman watched the beautiful stranger sit on an empty table engrossed on her cell phone.

Emma felt her heart race and her palms sweat, the woman broke the play motions with the book of matches and ran her hands on her jeans; trying to control her body's betrayal. Truth be told this never happened to her, it wasn't easy to take her breath away, and in all honesty… right about now Emma's lungs were scraping for air.

Regina's exquisite fingers motioned as she swiped the brightly lit screen of her phone, in Emma's mind maybe she was reading a text message from her boyfriend or husband, in reality the woman was going through her next scheduled classes for the week. After each long day, she went in for her favorite macchiato and took it to go. Every single night.

After a few minutes of what many consider rudely or creepily staring at the woman, Emma saw Regina lift her gaze to meet hers and her stomach shattered, the blonde quickly adverted her eyes as she had been caught ogling. The woman played it cool and reached for her own cellular device. Regina smiled to herself and went back to her task.

Delilah walked towards Emma's booth with her espresso and the blonde felt relieved. She couldn't help but to eye over at the stranger that had taken her, she noticed another waitress handed the brunette a cup with a lid, she left a few bills on the table and walked out the door. She was gone.

After finishing her espresso Emma could not help but to feel completely disappointed, the beautiful stranger was gone and all of the sudden the vibrant brightness of everything had gone back to its usual bland pale. It took the blonde finishing her delicious wrap enough time to work up the courage to ask Delilah about the intriguing woman.

"Can I ask you a rather weird question? I hope you don't think I am out of line or anything…"

Delilah smiled and blushed. "Sure ask… anything"

"That brunette woman who came in earlier, she came up to the bar and was talking to you" Delilah's hopes quickly deflated "She waited for her drink and left… do you know her?"

"Oh yes… that's Regina Mills, she's an acting coach at the theater across the street… she orders the same thing every night, usually pretty distant and most people fear her but I think she's actually pretty nice"

Emma listened to the young girl attentively and nodded with a casual smile as she engraved that name to her brain "What do you mean by people fear her?"

"Well just some of the students that come in here… in my line of work you hear a lot, not say much" The girl finished with wide eyes and a candid smile.

"Thank you Delilah, the wrap was delicious and so was the coffee"

The girl shrugged her shoulders and smiled still flushed. "My pleasure and I hope to see you again…?" The girl cued the other woman expectantly.

"Emma… my name is Emma"

"Nice to meet you Emma… Well… I'll go back to the other table; I think they are giving me the evil eye"

The woman smiled and so did the young waitress as she walked off with a small goodbye.

Emma browsed through her wallet and after leaving a very generous tip she walked off the booth and out of the bistro.

Once outside the blonde looked around the deserted street, there was of course no trace of Regina Mills, she looked at the grand theater and after a few minutes of contemplating the woman walked to where her motorcycle was parked.

After the riveting ride home, it was a bittersweet experience walking through the door and into her apartment, the place was a high end dwelling, her lucrative job kept her bank accounts extremely healthy yet it was dark and lacking another trace of human life. As soon as Emma flipped the light switch on, the fairly neat place was revealed though her loving golden retriever Jackal had been all over her as soon as she opened the door. The definitive accent of the place was the huge glass windows that gave her a fantastic view of Seattle's skyline.

"Hey buddy…" Emma greeted her beloved dog warm heartedly. "Did you miss me?" Emma closed the door behind her and placed the mail on a living room table.

Jackal barked as the woman smiled and thoroughly pet him. The loving animal was very well kept and looked as healthy as a canine could; he had been Emma's companion for the better part of 4 years and counting; baby talk was always a must with her favorite furry dude. "I'll take that as a yes" Emma smiled "Are you hungry?"

The woman went to the kitchen and opened a cabinet where she kept a wide selection of food for Jackal; she placed some on his stainless steel bowl and made sure he had enough water. Caring for him was a task she loved tending to, he was basically all she had in her small circle of people in the city, besides Ruby and Neal. Jackal deviated his attention from Emma to the bowl quickly.

The woman took a deep breath and decided to go through the mail she had just placed on the nearby surface; she opened the refrigerator and retrieved a bottle of water and opened it taking in a big gulp of the crystalline liquid. After scanning the first envelope… bill, junk, bill, bill… coupons God what a waste of trees she mused annoyed, after a few more flips through the batch she found a peculiar envelope with two familiar names on it.

She quickly opened it and lost all her colors, the shift was quick because she felt instantly pissed, her cheeks flushed as they did when she was truly mad. Emma took the envelope and its contents and plummeted on the couch, she could simply not believe her eyes. She loved her family, and contact with some of her family members wasn't always a joyful ride. Her mother Mary Margaret always made her life simply difficult; nothing was ever enough… no matter how hard Emma tried to make her mother happy nothing ever measured to her standards or expectations from her only daughter, Killian on the other hand had always been the star child, her favorite from the pair and Emma's only brother and fraternal twin. David her father had Married Mary Margaret a year after she had the twins, the loving man adopted them and raised them as his own, David was the only parent Emma felt a true connection with besides her colorful and amazing grandmother Lila, she had been more of a mother to her than Mary Margaret ever was, Emma was the center of Lila's universe and the old woman was not shy about it.

"Killian Swan & Belle French would like to cordially invite you to their wedding taking place on February 14th please kindly acknowledge this invitation to our special day and let us know if you will be attending with a guest or alone". Emma's eyes faintly filled with tears she refused to shed as she observed the two options as if they were mocking her "Attending with a guest next to a blank box… attending alone next to another blank box" She threw the invitation on the coffee table and walked off.

A couple of days had passed, the blonde had been haunted by the impromptu invitation all weekend; after she got over the hurt at the fact that she found out about her twin brother getting married by a paper invitation was a slap in face, she knew Killian had a bit of a selfish side and this didn't surprise her much; now the whole attending deal was a completely different subject. She was expected to of course go alone, which meant an endless weekend of bullshit comments and cruel taunts from her mother, the blonde wasn't in the mood but she couldn't let down her father and at the end of the day, Killian was still her twin brother. It was a drag, a fucking drag at that… having to give her mother and her friends the satisfaction of bullying her into annoyance and leaving before the set time as always was not in her plans.

Emma was working on the cockpit of an airbus A – 380, the plane was a sight that would have terrified anyone afraid of flying as in it nakedness it displayed the tiny and complex parts that held it together.

Emma looked concentrated and deeply annoyed, Ruby noticed and walked closer to the woman standing on a high platform.

"Ugh come off piece of shit!" Emma growled at a small cap screw located in a very hard to reach place.

"Easy there tiger… what the hell is up with you today?" Ruby asked her friend as she extended her hand motioning Emma to hand her the tool she was using to undo the screw. Emma sighed; her face flushed and her eyes filled with annoyance, seeing a familiar face was very comforting; the blonde handed the tall blue eyed brunette the requested tool.

Ruby easily tweaked and removed the cap screw that had been eating at Emma for the past fifteen minutes. "Nothing… I'm fine"

"Bullshit" Ruby quickly called her friend's bluff. "I know you better than my tits Emma spill it… or I'll put this screw back on I swear to God"

Emma let out a small laugh, this woman was her filter-less best friend and she always knew how to make any moment lighter in about two seconds with a curse word and perhaps an awkward and unique comment like the one she had just let out. "I got an invitation in the mail to my brother's wedding"

Ruby furrowed her brows "What the fuck? Killian is getting married? I didn't even know he was engaged"

Emma rolled her eyes; thinking of the facts angered her all over again. "Well that makes two of us"

The brunette's eyes widened "What?! The prick never told you he was getting married before this?"

"Nope"

"I swear Emma… either he or you had to have been picked up from the side of a highway… you guys are so different it's fucking scary I mean what kind of person does that kind of shit to their sibling?"

"Killian does"

"Who's the lucky girl?" Ruby asked sarcastically.

Emma let out a small sigh of disbelief as she bit the inside of her cheek "Belle…"

"What?!" Ruby's eyes almost popped out of her perfect face "Oh hell no he didn't Emma are you serious?"

"Dead serious"

The woman threw the metal tool with the rest and wiped her greasy hand on her uniform. "What a fucking douche I mean what the hell is this, a competition?"

"Quite frankly Ruby I don't care… I'm just dreading having to go and spend a weekend with my mother throwing this wedding on my face"

"You don't wanna go alone… Shit Em…" She realized as she looked into her friend's kind eyes, Ruby loved Emma like a sister and seeing people hurt her drove her to the edge "You know what? Fuck him I'll be your date, take me I clean up pretty damn well" She winked playfully.

Emma let out a small laugh "I love you Rubes but wouldn't that be considered to be like incest or something?"

Ruby smirked "Take Neal" Emma looked at her "Yeap sorry… I had a momentary brain fart"

"I'll figure something out, I still have two weeks, I'll think of something"

"Ahhh! Asshole!" Ruby shouted and threw another tool at a wall; a few other mechanics turned around. The woman shrugged and smiled.

Even though the whole wedding fiasco had taken a huge chunk of her thoughts the past few days, Emma could not stop thinking about the beautiful stranger that swept the rug right from under her. After finishing her shift, the woman changed into a black tank top and her burgundy jacket, a pair of jeans and her usual boots. Once arriving to the theater Emma easily parked the sexy motorcycle near the sidewalk in a small spot between two cars, this was one of the benefits of riding solo, no hassle, no traffic and always being able to find a place to park. The woman removed the black helmet and her golden mane cascaded down her shoulders, back and finally her waist.

The truth was; Emma felt curious… she wanted more of this woman; she wanted to know what her voice sounded like, she needed to see her up close… engrave every detail about her in her brain just as she had done with her regal name Regina Mills.

Emma walked inside the opulent looking theater and found an old man carefully polishing some antique looking accents on the entrance of the grand place, the man seemed to be completing his task with care, as if he had been doing it for years and the theater's life depended on it. The Tchaikovsky theater had been a gem and landmark in the city for years, one of the oldest and most acclaimed theaters in Seattle.

"Um… Excuse me Sir…"

The man was in his late seventies, hair white as snow and his eyes kind as a child's

"Yes dear? How can I be of service?"

"Thank you… I am actually looking for a teacher here, Regina Mills"

"Ah yes… Miss Mills is in a session at the moment, but you may find her right down that hall to the right… main stage"

Emma smiled and nodded "Thank you Sir"

"Oh well it is my pleasure dear"

The man continued with his task. And Emma turned to explore the cool place trying to find the woman who had been occupying her mind for the last three days.

Emma was nervous and her stomach felt as if it were full of eagles instead of tender butterflies, curiosity was simply killing her and the desire to know this woman was stronger that any coherent thought her mind was throwing at her trying to stop her from making a complete fool of herself or coming across as a crazy stalker.

The woman found the main stage and before she entered, she braced herself, she felt like she wanted to throw up and her hands were as sweaty as her mouth was dry, she could hear voices coming from the inside, echoing and getting lost in a mild reverb. Emma peeked in and saw a man and a woman on stage playing a scene, it seemed to be a love scene of some sort, and sitting across from them was the beautiful stranger, legs crossed majestic as a judge. This woman was hands down the most stunning human she had ever encountered and she hadn't even seen her up close. The blonde stood there and watched.

"Why didn't you write me? Why?!" The short beautiful girl with green eyes said with intensity that reached Emma, the blonde was instantly hooked on this girl's acting. "It wasn't over for me! I waited for you for seven years… and now it's too late" She finished with emotion.

"I wrote you three hundred and sixty-five letters… I wrote you every day for a year" The tall handsome man tried blandly.

"Ok. Stop"

Emma swallowed hard as she heard Regina's dark and seductive tone of voice, it was silky and deep made her hands sweat even more, the blonde wiped them on her jeans.

"Sebastian that was atrocious" The poised woman said and the man on the stage seemed annoyed and intimidated at the same time. "We have been stuck on this scene for forty five minutes, would you like to see me cry? Or perhaps beg? You're not listening to a word I've been saying so please behave like a professional and stop wasting my time!"

The woman stood from her chair and walked closer to the stage; the air got uncomfortable quickly yet Emma continued to spy on them.

"You have to make me feel like you mean it, let the moment play you. Eva you're doing well… again"

Whoa, Emma thought the girl's acting had been fantastic; perhaps Regina was one of those teachers who did not make it easy to get praise out of her.

"Why didn't you write me? Why?! It wasn't over for me! I waited for you for seven years… and now it's too late"

"I wrote you three hundred and sixty-five letters… I wrote you every day for a year"

"Ugh… how daunting Sebastian, you make me want to kill myself or get on stage and punch you in the face for making me waste 300 dollars on a ticket to watch you murder this part"

The woman walked to them and cued Eva to recite her lines again. She brushed passed the man and took over the entire place, her presence alone was muting.

Eva looked down and took a deep breath, she was about to play romantic opposite to Regina Mills, she didn't know if she wanted to cum or pass out from sheer intimidation. The girl composed herself and began.

"Why didn't you write me? Why?!" Her green eyes pierced Regina's dark brown ones "It wasn't over for me! I waited for you for seven years… and now it's too late" She finished perfectly and full of emotion, tears pooling in her eyes.

"I wrote you three hundred and sixty-five letters…" Regina knew the lines by heart, no need to look at the script and she was fucking good. "I wrote you every day for a year" The woman walked closer to Eva and invaded her space now mere inches from her face completely in character.

"You wrote me?"

"Yes"

"It wasn't over…" Regina said her breathing beginning to race. "It still isn't over" The woman finished fervently and placed both her hands on each side of Eva's face and kissed her passionately.

Emma's green eyes were lost in the emotion of the romantic scene that had been perfectly executed. Yes they guy sucked and Regina and Eva were astounding. "Shit…" Emma breathed out as an idea hit her like lightning.

Regina broke the kiss and Eva's face had turned a deep shade of vermillion by this time.

"See Sebastian… was that too difficult?" The brunette said as if ordering fries from a drive thru while the other actress wanted to plummet or excuse herself; go to the restroom and definitely cum on her panties. "Not only is your audience paying a lot of money and taking time from their lives to come and have a good time, but this is your craft, for Christ sake go home and please read my notes" The woman finished annoyed and cold as ice; Emma quickly understood what Delilah had meant by people fearing her, this woman was as intimidating as it got.

She watched the two actors walk away into the back stage and Regina turned and walked off the stage to gather her belongings.

Emma braced herself, there was no turning back and well this was it. She controlled herself and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans one more time. Regina was now walking up the red carpeted stairs and her face grew puzzled as she saw the blonde woman standing there.

"Can I help you? You must certainly be lost" Regina asked making Emma feel like an intruder.

"Oh no no… I'm not lost, I um I actually was looking for you…" The blonde looked around awkwardly looking for a word to call the woman "Ma'm"

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Emma… Emma Swan" The blonde smiled and couldn't believe she was extending her hand to this gorgeous but seemingly irritating woman.

Regina looked at the blonde's extended limb and decided to comply.

"Regina Mills… Well what can I do for you Miss Swan?"

"I don't know if this is the right place… I mean maybe we could go some place and talk?"

Regina smirked and blinked rapidly "I don't know who you are, for all I know you're a psychopath, why would I go anywhere with a complete stranger?"

Emma buried her hands in her pockets, damn it this woman was making her sweat it. She let out a small laugh "I am completely harmless I promise, I mean I don't even eat animals… really far from a psychopathic profile"

Regina observed the woman with a sardonic expression.

"Look… I just, I was watching you" The blonde pointed at the stage "You're an amazing actress"

"I am not an actress Miss Swan I am an acting coach"

"Well you were awesome… I mean" The woman tried to struggle through this but God was she desperate.

"How does this pertain to your interest in reaching me?"

"Actually I am in need of your services"

Regina let out a scoff "Excuse me?"

"As… an.. actress" The blonde looked around uncomfortably again "Your services as an actress, I would pay you extremely well I promise"

"I just told you Miss Swan I am not an actress... am i not saying it right?"

"Oh but you're amazing at it I mean that scene was incredible, you would be perfect for what I have in mind"

Emma didn't mean it but it sure as hell sounded kind of dirty, Regina looked at Emma suspiciously and deeply confused.

"One cup of coffee and I'll explain everything, If you're not interested then we can forget about it… nothing ever happened"

Regina looked at Emma and the blonde simply couldn't read her.

"Please?" And there it was… Emma's charm flourishing.

"Alright… one cup of coffee and you better be brief, I have a date to attend to"

Emma was instantly bummed but it wasn't as if she had any hopes with this woman, this would be a business transaction and perhaps a chance to be in Eva's shoes for a weekend.

A/N: There it is! Let me know what you think would you like more?

Yes! the scene played in the theater is from the notebook :)