Guilt

Chapter 23

Emma felt a little uneasy. They were sitting in the restaurant and she thoroughly enjoyed it, but there was something about the waitress that had been taking their orders all night.

She kept looking at her in an unsettling way and Emma didn't really know how to respond to it. She had seen the woman around in Storybrooke a couple of times before, but she didn't know her.

"Where are you with your mind?" Regina asked and looked concerned at Emma. "Is everything alright? Did I do something wrong?" She looked somewhat nervous, so Emma quickly shook her head.

"No, of course not. I'm glad we're doing this," she replied with a smile. It wasn't a lie. She really liked going on an official date with Regina, though it felt rather natural, as if they'd been doing it for years.

"What's bothering you?"

Emma looked down at her plate and shrugged. She didn't know why the behavior of the waitress got to her so much, but it simply felt strange.

"Did you notice that waitress acting strange?" Emma asked quietly, making sure no one but Regina could hear.

Regina looked around, until her eye caught the waitress that was serving another table. The waitress glanced at their table, before she quickly averted her eyes.

"That Mary Margaret woman?" Regina questioned and gestured with her head at the older waitress. "I'm sorry, I haven't really noticed it."

Emma smiled briefly and grabbed Regina's hand. "Well.. it must be me then."

Regina stroked the palm of Emma's hand with her thumb and smiled. "Excuse me," she said, right when Mary Margaret passed their table with an empty tray.

"Is everything to your liking?" Mary Margaret asked and Regina now noticed that she was indeed, staring an awful lot at her date. And not in the way most waiters and waitresses did.

She knew Emma.

"Yes, it is, very much," Emma said and averted her eyes from her plate at the older waitress. The woman smiled at her and Regina furrowed her eyebrows.

"It's delicious, yes," Regina said. She was surprised to see a flicker of contempt on Mary Margaret's face. She'd never seen the woman before in her life, but apparently she was already disliked by her. "I'm sorry, have we met before?" Regina asked.

"Aren't you Regina Mills, Cora's daughter?"

Regina straightened her posture and nodded curtly. How the hell did this woman know who her mother was?

"You look a lot like her," the waitress concluded. It was obvious that it wasn't a compliment and Regina definitely didn't take it as one.

"And who are you?" Regina tried to remain calm, but she heard the frustration in her own voice.

"Mary Margaret Blanchard. Read the name tag," the woman replied and again, it was incredibly obvious that Regina wasn't liked by her.

"And, yes. We have met before."

Emma looked confused at Regina, who had a just as confused expression on her face. She really didn't remember the woman. The tension at the table was high, but Regina nor Emma knew why.

"When?"

Right when Mary Margaret wanted to respond, she got called to another table. She walked away in a haste and Regina looked dumbfounded.

"How did you figure out she knew you?" Emma asked confused.

"I wanted to subtly inquire about you. But then I saw the contemptuous expression on her face when she looked at me, but I haven't seen her before in my life," Regina explained.