#sorryitslate

The blistering heat from the LA sun burned down on her as soon as she exited the building, she practically ran towards the shadiest place she could find, unsure that she could ever get used to the weather in California. Just as she was about to brave the heat once again so she could reach her car, her cell phone began to buzz. ‘Hello?’ She answered, not bothering to check the caller I.D in her haste to stop the annoying noise.

‘Emma, please tell me you are still on for tonight?’ Her best friend Ruby chimed excitedly down the phone.

‘Oh my God, I completely forgot that concert was tonight. I’m so there. I still can’t believe you managed to get backstage passes!’ Emma  practically squealed, her not so great day was for sure going to turn around completely now that she had been reminded that she was not only going to a Regina Mills concert but she also had backstage passes to a Regina Mills concert.

‘Perks of working at the best recording studios in Downtown LA. I’ll pick you up at 7 okay?’

‘See you then.” Emma grinned and ended the call, the prospects of the evening ahead of her causing her to almost skip to her car, her disastrous audition just minutes ago being all but a distant memory.

To say that Emma Swan was a fan of Regina Mills would be an understatement, in fact she was borderline obsessed with her; not in a creepy stalker way though, more of a cute fangirly way. She never thought she would be into jazz music but Regina Mills had proven her wrong. There was something about her music which took her breath away, as soon as she heard the gentle chime of piano keys she was able to escape to anywhere in the world. She had previously attended a concert of Regina’s and she still described it as being the best night of her life. She may have been sitting at the back row of a sold out venue but she still found the entire experience to be extremely intimate, the way the brunette sang and the passion she showed when she played made you feel like it was just you and her, it was something that could not be replicated by anybody else and from that moment on Emma had known that Regina Mills was more than just any old singer on the radio.

Emma and Ruby had taken their seats at the very front of the balcony which gave them the perfect view of the stage and the glossy black piano which possessed the center of it. Emma was already mesmerised by the instrument in front of her and she stayed there staring at it for longer than would be considered normal much to the amusement of her friend sitting beside her. “You do know it’s not going to start playing by itself, right?”

The blonde was shaken out of her daydream and looked over at Ruby with a sarcastic smile. “Duh, I’m not an idiot.”

Ruby snorted and held back a laugh before taking in Emma’s appearance. She herself had put some effort into her outfit and hair but Emma had really gone all out. Her usually tied back hair was worn in loose waves with an elegant braid framing the crown of her head which alone would’ve taken Emma hours to perfect. She was also wearing more makeup than usual and a beige gown which she recognised was the same one that she had worn to a movie premiere a couple of months ago. The most shocking thing though was the pair of silver heels on her feet, they were definitely new, and she would have for sure borrowed them if she had seen them before. “You look amazing by the way, Em. I’m sure Ms. Mills will appreciate all the effort.” She winked across at the blonde, knowing how big of a crush she had on the singer despite how many times she had denied it.

Emma rolled her eyes in response and shrugged her shoulders like it wasn’t a big deal. “It’s not every day that you get to meet an icon, Rubes.”

Before Ruby had the chance to respond the lights had gone down and a roar from the crowd had escalated throughout the building. Emma’s full attention was once again drawn to the pristine instrument in front of her; a glaring light began to shine on it as the cheering only got louder. She could feel the hairs on her forearms begin to rise just with the anticipation of what was to come. In a matter of seconds her jaw had dropped slightly and her eyes were glued to the perfect figure only feet away. Regina Mills had entered the crowded room with the grace and elegance of a Queen, without having even said a word she had everybody hypnotized.

The brunette welcomed the crowd and took a seat at the piano, her fingers resting on the keys so naturally it was as if they were a second home to her. The room immediately fell silent as the first note played, a sound so gentle it could barely be heard followed by another and another which together sounded like a melody of pure heaven. Emma’s eyes gradually wandered away from Regina’s magical fingers and focused on that glorious face of hers, she looked exactly the same as she did in the magazines yet better if that was at all possible. She had the stature and power of a Greek Goddess yet the softness in her chocolate eyes made her seem unabashedly human. The blonde continued to gaze longingly into the pair of eyes which now seemed so unfairly far away from her and she noticed that with every key change in the music a different emotion would sweep over the singer be it that of love, anger or hurt, the brunette portrayed it perfectly. Emma had always thought it was cliché when artist said that their songs told a story but in Regina’s case this was nothing but the truth and Regina’s stories were the ones that she wanted to hear over and over again.

Before she knew it Regina was saying her goodbyes and thanking the crowd for coming out, Emma shook herself out of her reverie and found herself beaming down at the brunette. She was on her feet just like everybody else was and was applauding with all her might, the pure adoration she had for this woman being clear for all to see. Once the brunette left the stage she couldn’t help but feel disappointed, her ears were now filled with idle chatter and her eyes were insulted by a roomful of bright lights and a dirty curtain which covered the entire stage. Why was it that moments so perfect always passed by so quickly?

Ruby had noted Emma’s behaviour throughout the concert, to be honest she wasn’t the biggest fan of Regina’s music, she preferred something which you could dance and get blind drunk to but she did find it truly beautiful just how much Emma was in love with it. She had noticed the way that Emma’s lips had been drawn into a permanent smile for the full ninety minute show and she had noticed the way that the blonde’s eyes were moist with emotion; she had even noticed the goosebumps which patterned her arm whenever Regina hit any note higher than a B flat.  Yeah, Emma Swan certainly had it bad for Regina Mills. “You ready to go meet your Queen?” She asked her friend excitedly and nudged her arm playfully before digging through her purse to pull out the backstage passes.

A sudden nervousness struck her as she remembered that she actually got to meet Regina Mills. Her legs followed quickly behind Ruby, her mind seemingly dragged behind as she frantically began to think of what to say to her, I mean, what can you say to the person that you’ve admired for the best part of ten years, the person who helped shape you into who you are today and the person that you hold above almost everybody else on this planet? Emma flopped into the back of Ruby as the other woman halted, completely unaware that she had come to a stop. “Uh, sorry. Are we here already?”

“Yeah, it’s backstage not the other side of town. Jeez Em, pull yourself together.” Ruby chuckled and rested her hands on Emma’s shoulders when she noticed just how panicked and frantic she looked. “Hey, you got this.”

A deep breath passed the blonde’s lips as she looked into her friends eyes. “What if I say something stupid?”

“Then I’m sure that she’ll find it charming.” Ruby smiled earnestly, Emma may be an actor but sometimes she wasn’t the best with words. She did have a great smile though which often made even the most ridiculous, random or bizarre thing that she said instantly amiable.

“Oh God, okay. You go first.” Emma said as confidently as she could and nodded her head to bring herself back in the moment. Ruby grinned and held out her pass to the security guard at the stage door, Emma followed her with the exact same motion and the two of them were led to a small room which was lined with a table full of champagne glasses and a fruit bowl which sat in the middle of them, which was weirdly filled with only the reddest of apples.

Ruby helped herself to a glass of champagne whereas Emma decided against it, not trusting her usually clumsy self to be anywhere near anything glass or wet when in the same proximity as her idol. A few moments passed before the door behind them opened and Regina walked into the room in the exact same graceful manner than she had done when she first entered the stage. Emma felt her heart about stop as the star’s eyes met hers and a hearty smile covered her red lips. Ruby noticed Emma’s state of being completely starstruck and bounded over to the singer with an introduction of herself which provided Emma some valuable time to pull herself together.

“And this is my friend, Emma.” Ruby held out her arm between both Regina and Emma and excused herself almost immediately to get some more champagne which is where she remained for the remainder of the two women’s interaction, not wanting to third wheel, so to speak.

“Hi, Emma.” Regina spoke in a rich tone, her voice just as smooth in speech as it was in song.

“Hi.” Emma managed to muster, a smile as big as the moon sweeping over her features.

“Did you enjoy the show?” The brunette asked, her own smile enhancing just from seeing the delight on the blondes face.

The smile on Regina’s lips was possibly the most beautiful sight that Emma had ever seen and strangely it seemed to soothe her nerves, the warm look in those brown eyes was one that she knew she would remember forever. “It was amazing. You are amazing.”

“Thank you dear that is always nice to hear.” Regina let out a chuckle which was like music to Emma’s ears.

“Your music is just. Wow. It’s helped me so much, whenever I need to project a certain emotion into a character or take on another role I always study your songs, each one is just so magical.” Emma bit down on her bottom lip completely aware that if she didn’t she would continue to ramble for hours on end and that was definitely something she did not want to risk doing.

Regina’s eyebrow quirked at the information she had just received and put two and two together. “Oh, you’re an actor? Would I have seen you in anything?” She asked continuing to be in awe of the younger woman’s smile.

“Not unless you study background characters in The Young and the Restless. I’m still breaking into the industry I guess.” Emma laughed, a little embarrassed at her own lack of success when standing in front of a multiple Grammy award winner.

The brunette paused for a moment and began to contemplate an issue in her head before going with the decision that she knew she would not regret. “You know I might be able to help you with that.”

Emma’s eyebrows shot up at what Regina had just said, the simple art of Regina breathing was enough to help her so whatever the brunette had in mind was sure to be out of this world. “You can? Really? I mean I would hate for you to go out of your way.”

Okay, so maybe it was incredibly stupid to be meeting up with a fan outside of work hours but for some reason she seemed gravitated towards the other woman. Like some sort of magical effect was pulling her towards her. She knew that her agent would likely kill her but whatever; some people were worth that risk. “It’s no hassle dear, how about we discuss it over coffee on Monday? I have a no show day so caffeine is allowed. Can you believe I can only drink water most of the time?”

“I… Yes. Oh my God, that would be so cool.” Emma grinned and was half expecting to wake up from a crazy dream right about now.

“May I have your cell phone number? I’ll get my agent to text you, I would do it myself but my security is rather tight and they don’t ever loosen up until at least the third date.” Regina smirked, finding the other woman’s sheer delight to be absolutely adorable.

Emma’s eyes grew to the size of saucepans at Regina’s ‘joke’ and she fumbled in her purse for a piece of paper and a pen to write down her number. Thankfully she found an old receipt in there and she scribbled down her digits as quickly and as neatly as she could before handing the crumpled piece of paper over to the singer. “Thank you so much, Regina.” She found herself saying without her brain even realising, her mind instead doing somersaults at the sudden turn of events.

“You’re welcome; I shall see you on Monday. It was lovely meeting you, Emma.” Regina pulled the blonde into a warm hug before sauntering off back to her dressing room, her hand wrapped tightly around the cell phone number in her hand.