REGINA.
“Mm. Flattery will get you everywhere with me.” He must have known as much, however. Their relationship spanned a near decade and a half, there was little to Regina that he hadn’t yet comprehended. Other than her reasoning for cutting ties as fervently as she did, nor did he have any inkling of the cowardice which coursed through her veins at the mere thought of him. “You remind me of someone I once knew. Have I mentioned that yet?” Not quite eager enough to end their little charade, she pressed forward. “He never thought much of himself, but to me… He was the most captivating man I’d ever known.” A sliver of honesty as she finally broke their gazes to accept her drink, oh how these masks made removing the one she donned everyday so much simpler. “You must think I’m a sap for admitting that.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, then,” Abel smirks, his eyes dancing with amusement as he captured her gaze. Handing her a drink, he brings his own near his lips, pausing at mention of him reminding her of someone. “Do I now?” Attempting to disguise the worry in his voice, he swallowed the rising lump in his throat. Wondering, then, if she genuinely thought it wasn’t him and he was terrible at disguising it, or she knew it was him. Did she think he was captivating? Was she talking about him? “Are you trying to say that I’m captivating?!” Abel teased, bringing his whiskey readily to his lips, a lengthy sip for a masked conversation that certainly needed liquid confidence. “On the contrary, I think it’s cute. In fact, you remind me of someone I knew..”












