Chapter Text
For as long as she could remember, the offices of Gold & Co. Law had been Regina’s second home. Some of her earliest memories were running through the corridors with her custom-made ‘working girl’ Barbie that dressed ‘just like mommy’. As soon as she started high school, she’d act as her mother’s shadow over spring and summer break, grooming her for Harvard Law where years later she came top of her class. As soon as she graduated, there was a job waiting for her at the firm and that was where she remained a decade later.
Regina didn’t think that was a bad thing, as all her fellow alumni moved from firm to firm. Gold & Co. was her birth right, her mother’s stake to be hers once she retired. It was something she had never argued with, why should she? A definite job at the biggest law firm in Boston with an eventual role as partner wasn’t anything to shake your head at. In fact, she was one of the few people in her class not to have at least one freak out during exams. Her pay was more than satisfactory, her success rate was one of the highest on the east coast, and she was now the proud owner of a top-floor luxury penthouse with its own private pool.
Yet for Regina Mills, it wasn’t enough.
That particular day, she was feeling particularly down. For whatever reason, waking up alone bothered her that morning. It had been…she couldn’t even remember the last time she shared a bed with someone. It had never really bothered her before but when she woke up to an empty bed, empty home, she felt a sudden and crippling sadness.
To make matters worse, the feeling refused to shake. She tried to distract herself, heading out for breakfast instead of making it at home and making it to the office earlier than usual to get on with her case work. But it was still there with every bite of her croissant, every sip of her coffee, and every word of her case notes. It was unescapable.
So for once she was actually relieved to be called up to her mother’s office. She hoped she’d done something wrong, something so small and insignificant that only her mother would find a reason to penalise her for. She hoped her anger would push away the sadness. It would be easier to deal with.
Yet, as she walked into her mother’s office and found both her and Mr Gold sat there waiting for her, she realised her wish would not be granted.
“Regina”, her mother said in her work voice, void of affection or motherly love. “Please take a seat.”
Regina nodded and did as she was told.
“We have a new case for you, dearie”, Gold informed her. “We are handing the Matterson case over to Miss French.”
“What? Why? I’ve been working on that case since day one! You can’t just take it away from me!”
“Regina, please”, her mother huffed. “Just be quiet and listen.”
Regna shot the older woman a glare before crossing her arms and looking to Gold with thin lips.
“As you are aware, Mr Blanchard is at our London office for the next three months. We received a call from him last night informing us that his daughter has found herself involved in a substantial law suit.”
Despite her usual pride in being professional, Regina had no shame in the smile that appeared on her lips.
“Snow White is getting sued?”
“For goodness sake, Regina. You don’t have to look so happy about it.”
Oh but she did. Finally good-two-shoes Mary-Margaret had messed up.
“I’m sorry mother but this is too good.”
“I wouldn’t find this amusing, dearie”, Gold warned her. “You’re now the second chair on her case.”
“Oh you have to be joking.”
“Not at all”, Gold replied. “Miss Blanchard and her partner, David run a community centre across town. During one of the youth nights, a young boy was severely beaten by another. The parents are suing the centre for neglecting their child, claiming that they were both aware of the situation beforehand and failed to prevent the attack from happening.”
“Alright, have they offered a settlement? Does their insurance cover it?”
“It would have”, her mother replied. “If they hadn’t found out who Mary-Margaret’s father is. Now they are asking for $2 million.”
“And of course Leopold doesn’t want that to happen. I’m guessing one of you will be taking first chair?”
“No, neither of us are going to be involved in this case”, Gold informed her. “Apparently Miss Blanchard as her own lawyer and it took a long while for her father to persuade her to even have our firm involved.”
Regina rolled her eyes. Why was she even surprised?
“Okay, who is this fancy lawyer Snow White thinks so much about?”
“She’s freelance”, her mother said, her detest clear in her voice. “She does a lot of small cases within the community. Apparently a good and trusted friend of theirs.”
Intriguing, Regina thought.
“What’s her name?”
Her mother skimmed the surface of her desk before picking up a post-it note, reading the name on it with squinting eyes.
“Emma Swan.”