[u](Collaboration Post Featuring YoshiSkittlez's Mayor Regina Mills and Major Ursa's Sherry Attar)[/u]

Regina stood in the alleyway between her office and a separate building that had been empty for as long as anyone could remember. Truly it was the best place for Regina to conduct her business without any fear of anyone coming across her. She checked her cellphone one last time, growing impatient with the response time. Usually she was here by now...

Humming a certain melody, the woman continued to unhurriedly to her destination…stopping when she caught sight of the rose bush, Sherry smiled down at a particularly beautiful flower, humming the particularly relevant folksong. It was…well, a really good day—well, not for most, the earthquake wasn’t generally celebrated anywhere. But, such an event gave her plenty to write about; an ambitious journalist’s dream. And while she wasn’t ambitious in the least, in a long run, the activity was [i]good[/i]. The earthquake may have happened, but the roses still smelled sweet, and that was good enough for her.

Continuing along the side walk, past the alley…back pedalling and heading down the alley way…Shoureh mimed the action of checking her watch (she wasn’t wearing one, and it was quite obvious due to her lack of sleeves), her canvas bag swaying a bit, before humming pleasantly as she stepped up to the mayor of this fair town. Nodding politely, one hand held in the other, “Oh, it seems I’m wearing ‘Late’ as my fashion…now, I must tell you, I’ve been quite busy. As you’d expect, I’ve been sorting through more flattering photos of you at the scene of the mine’s collapse—by the way, taking in the rescued child was a stroke of brilliance, I did not see such a twist coming…” And the woman went on and on…

Regina was about to abruptly cut the woman off but stopped when she mentioned the boy...Mason. She couldn't keep this meeting very long, he was at her home, sleeping but alone and that didn't set well with her gut.

"If that's the best you've got for tomorrow, then I suppose you haven't heard what our visitor did to get himself arrested this evening?" Regina said, making her sentence and to the point, the best way, she learned by experience, of getting to her.

Raising an eyebrow at the mention, and then snapping her fingers as the memory resurface, “Oh, lover boy? Yes, kissed the girl, but she was unable to wake from her coma to cry? Strange in the head…I wonder if he thought her sleeping beauty, and himself the charming prince? I suppose…this story is the one you want me to cover, above all, yes?” Humming her distracting folksong…

Regina gave a simple nod yes, tolerant of this woman's ramblings...for now...

Leaning forward, cupping a hand to the side of her mouth for dramatics, a pantomime of secrecy-whispering, “I suppose it best for the written piece that I don’t mention your involvement with this charming Mr Carlyle, am I right?”

"It never happened." Regina replied, her eyes narrowing, growing darker in the shadows of the night, leaving it to no longer be discussed.

Drawing back with only a slight frown, “Pardon me…but this is your mistake, not mine. And…very well, all public, commonly known associates with the man will be marked down as our fair mayor [i]welcoming[/i] this newcomer. Now, you couldn’t have come here just to tell me about what I already know…surely?” Rubbing her smooth hands together, only the lightest sound barely coming from the friction, Sherry tilted her head and gave the mayor an imploring look.

"In regards to your article..." Regina began, her once ill-tempered voice slowly melding into...tolerance. "I want you to humiliate him, make it so that he can never show his face in Storybrooke again. I don't care what you have to put in there, and I don't care how you get your pictures to do so. I want. Him. Gone." She hissed but then quickly withdrew, not wanting to give into her anger, not now. "Gold isn't going to make it easy on you, I'm sure. Still, you do this for me and you'll never want for anything again."

Sherry couldn’t hide her confused expression, blinking a little bit before staring down at her feet, rubbing her bottom lips in nervous though, “Mr Gold and Mr Carlyle—why would the newcomer be protected by Gold? The newcomer went into that shop once before, but…”

Pondering to herself for a while, almost forgetting Regina’s presence, she held a hand up to the mayor with a determined, possibly fired up expression on her face, “I could drag him through the mud, but with Mr Gold involved in this…I’ll have to drag the poor man through the cow dung, too, for good measure. Gold won’t make it easy for me, but I plan on making his own task harder as well. Anyone affiliated with Mr Carlyle, well, I’ll have to get someone to report on some about them too…getting a hand on some genuine pictures would be good, and then photos can be enhanced to suit your needs…”

“As for payment…hmmm…HMMM…” The journalist already had a good job, her pursuit of knowledge, more to write about. Now, what could she possibly want? “How about…the meaning of life? A book of all the world's knowledge? The world’s most perfect man? Any man who can make tea the way I like, I may just settle for that kind of guy…” Tapping her chin, she gave the mayor a playful smile…knowing that this cunty woman wouldn’t play, “How about you tell me how on earth I got started working for you?”

Regina stifled a haughty laugh, considering the description of the things she would want; the woman had no idea that each of those, except for maybe 'the world's most perfect man' was probably locking up his Pawn Shop right now, but the second request kept her mind from such thoughts.

"You came to me. Penniless, jobless, reputation less..." Regina started, repeating the lie that she had implanted into her head long, long ago. "I simply gave you a chance, one chance, and you have yet to disappoint me."

Nodding her head at Regina’s reminder of the sort of life she lived…the woman in her memory seemed a fraction less…Regina-like, in her mind, “You have my gratitude, you always will. Since you seem to know me better than I know myself, tell me…what do I want?”

"You want to do as I say, because if you don't, you will be ruined." Regina replied immediately in a cold threat, her eyes once again narrowing in the dark. "But..." She added on, letting her eyes soften up again. "...you've never given me reason before to doubt you before."

Letting out an exaggerated sigh, Sherry gave the mayor one last smile, though she obviously didn’t seem happy… “You don’t have to make me sound like a slave, sheesh…hmmm…hey; maybe you can do like people of the past do, give me your first born child as payment?” With her tease, she took a step back and gave a sort of sarcastic salute…before turning and making her way out.

Regina couldn't help her reaction, her jaw hung open in complete shock. Not her too! But then, then she realized that the woman was only joking and Regina exhaled a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. Shaking her head, trying to force herself to calm down, she reached into her pocket and dialled Robert's number.

"Hey." She said once he answered. "That wine is getting warm..."