Thin Walls

Chapter 20

I didn't see Emma again for a week, but we texted more frequently. More frequently meant whenever either of us had the chance to grab our phone and shoot a quick reply.

"You're on your phone a lot," my mother noticed. I was working from home, but Emma constantly distracted me, because whenever I heard my phone buzz, I took the time to check whether it was her or not. More often than not, it was her, and it would just be rude to ignore her.

"Well, I'm in the middle of a divorce. Things need to be taken care of," I replied, but my mother clearly didn't believe it.

"Not when you're working. Put your phone away."

"Mother, I'm not twelve anymore."

"Well, you're acting like you are. You shouldn't be distracting yourself so much. I'm only trying to help here," she said and I knew she was right, but right now, this little device was the only thing granting me a way of communication with Emma, so I had very little choice.

"The person you're texting can wait. Just tell them to catch up another time when you're not at work."

I rolled my eyes, but turned off my phone. "I'm thirty," I muttered as I continued typing on my laptop, emailing a few people about new additions to the local garden. It was something that didn't interest me in the slightest, but with my phone turned off, I couldn't do anything else.

"And I'm still your mother and a Storybrooke citizen, I don't want a mayor who's distracted every ten seconds," she said, with a soft chuckle and sat down beside me. "Was it Emma, you were texting?"

"I thought I wasn't supposed to get distracted anymore," I said with a smirk as I eyed my mother. She raised her eyebrows and grabbed an apple from the big fruit bowl that was standing on the table.

She took a bite and nodded slowly. "Well, if you want to tell me what's going on between you two, I don't mind you taking a break," she said, slyly, and I couldn't help but chuckle at my mother's nosiness.

"Sorry, duty calls," I said, fake apologetically, and continued typing my email. My mother let out an exaggerating sigh and got up from her chair.

"You're no fun," she complained and I laughed.

"That's my mom's fault. She forced me to never let myself get distracted," I remarked as my mother took another bite of her apple. "You're such a hypocrite," I added softly.

"I'm a mom, I'm supposed to be a hypocrite," she said and left the room with those words. I finished the email with a smile on my lips and as soon as I'd hit send, I grabbed my phone and turned it on. Emma had probably replied by now and this was a logical time to take a break from working.

Emma: wanna grab a drink tonight? Rabbit Hole, 9 o'clock?

I smiled when I read her text and immediately responded that I was very interested in going out for a drink. I really needed to leave this house for a second and visit a place that was not my office.

Before I could read her response, my phone got snatched from my fingers. "Work," my mother demanded and I was surprised at how quietly she must've come in. I hadn't heard her enter the room again, at all.

A soft groan left my lips and I gritted my teeth. "Are you always this unproductive?"

"No, of course not. I was just in the middle of a conversation," I said and grabbed some files from my bag. "You're very annoying sometimes, you know that?"

"Of course I am," Cora responded with a smirk as she put my phone on the book shelf, "I'm a mother."

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