The List

Chapter 4

I hadn't told anyone about last night. It seemed too unreal to talk about. Regina Mills was in Storybrooke and we'd spent the night talking in Granny's Diner. I had told Granny there had been a late arrival of a guest last night, whom I'd given the keys to room 4.

Granny didn't mind, she was glad I'd taken it upon myself to lead her to a room. She wasn't familiar with Regina Mills anyway, so I wasn't scared she'd tell a journalist Regina's whereabouts.

Regina hadn't asked me to keep to myself that she was staying here, but it seemed like a polite thing to do. Also, I didn't want Storybrooke to become a touristic attraction. It was bad enough people knew they were shooting here. I liked the calmness of the town. I didn't need millions of people knowing it existed.

It was a Thursday. I hadn't seen Regina leave or enter Granny's all day, but I suspected she was either in her room or exploring the town at night. For a second, I started thinking I'd dreamt it all.

I was chopping some tomatoes and I had yet to decide what I could do with them. Sometimes, I just started chopping in the hopes a recipe would present itself.

Some days, that worked like a charm, but today, I had no inspiration. The last waitress had left about an hour ago, after having cleaned everything and I still had no idea what to make.

I decided not to pressure myself and make a salad. There were some leftover plums and I'd heard they made an excellent combination, so I decided to combine the two. I was starting to get excited and tried other combinations, with different dressings and other spices. Eventually, I managed to create something decent.

Always when my meals were finished, I took them home. I barely bought my own groceries for dinner, because I often had enough food for myself and maybe Killian that I made here. Like Regina had said last night, it really was the perfect solution to a lot of problems.

I managed to be creative which I adored, I didn't have to buy my own dinner and Granny could keep up a reputation of the restaurant that had the least waste of food in Storybrooke. Everything I used would've been thrown out if it hadn't been for me. Not because it was poisonous to eat, but because diners required fresher food that necessary for people to survive. It was just one of the rules of inspection.

The salad was finished and I was just about to try it, when I heard the door jingle. My heart started pounding loudly again. Not because I was afraid of an intruder, but because I hoped for a very specific someone.

I left the kitchen and immediately recognized her. She looked fresher than last night, well rested and with a smile on her lips. "Hey," she greeted me, but kept standing near the door.

"Hi," I replied and walked to the counter. I didn't want to assume we were going to talk all night, so I kept standing. "How was your first day of seeing Storybrooke in sunlight?"

Regina laughed softly and nodded. "Great," she said. "It's a bit.. curious, isn't it? The people, the location, the atmosphere?"

I knew what she meant. I hadn't lived my entire life in Storybrooke. I wasn't even born here. My first foster family had lived here, but they'd moved to Boston for a job opportunity and they kicked me out in the process. I'd always longed to go back here and, surprisingly enough, they had a great culinary school here. My year was the last they taught, because there weren't enough people applying.

Ruby I'd met during High School, but because her grandmother lived here, she often visited. We kept hanging out together and she was the one who'd actually encouraged me to become a chef at Granny's. Now, we'd both lived here for almost four years, but I remembered needing some time to adjust.

It wasn't something in particular that made this town odd. It was a regular town, but it still didn't feel like a regular town. Everyone was a just a little kinder, the stories going around were taken just a tad more seriously and it was actually in the middle of nowhere. This whole town was in the middle of nowhere, barely even drawn on all the maps.