Petal [h.s.]

Chapter 20

Violet.

"Josh, hi." I smiled with when I entered the RSP-building on early Monday morning. I already had a cup of coffee in my hands as I entered the main office and saw the receptionist. 

"Violet! How was your holiday?" Josh leaned back in his seat, putting a pen between his lips as he folded his arms on his chest and looked at me with expectation.

"It was fine. Nothing special, just enjoyed some downtime." I answered, picking up the stack of papers that was waiting for me in my little personal letterbox here. I took a sip of my coffee as I quickly scanned through them, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. They were clean drug tests, files from kids and some evidence of the therapy work they had done during my week off. "I'll see you later." I called out as I left his office and went to the social workers-office a bit further down the hall.

"Violet!" Ian's voice was surprised and keen as he jumped up in the couch upon seeing me. 

"Hi guys!" I greeted, peeking my head into the main living area to see them all half asleep on the couch. My bag was on my shoulder, stack of papers pressed beneath one arm and the coffee mug in my hand. "How've you all been?" I spoke to the half sleeping group, them not being quite awake at this hour on a Monday. I got some mumbles back as I made my way through them.

"Seems like you had a haircut." I patted Ryan's head who smiled sleepily in response, lazily looking up at me before his eyes widened. 

"Holy shit, guess we all know what you were up to on your vacation."

I frowned. "What?"

He pointed to my neck and I quickly reached my hand up, feeling the rough patch on my neck where Harry's teeth and lips had been only days before. I flushed pink slightly, but I had learned a long time ago that in order to stop them gossiping and teasing, I just had to go along with it. 

"Was a fun week." I shrugged before leaving the group and entering the office, seeing Lana behind the computer.

"Hi!" She beamed before her lips parted and her eyes were glued to my throat. "Wow."

I rolled my eyes. "I know. Thought I'd hidden it with make-up but apparently not. How have you been?" I asked, plopping down on the chair next to her and opening up the other computer. I wanted to catch up on some files, seeing how everyone had been doing this past week so I was up to date as soon as possible. Lana chattered a bit, giving me the main updates. 

"It's a big week. Casper's leaving on Friday, Nellie, Ryan and Ian all get to move up a phase. It's Ian's first weekend away this week, he's excited."

I nodded in response, my eyes darting over the letters on the screen as I hurried through the many logbooks from the past week. I was glad that Ian had been doing good, following up with Rebecca on his therapy sessions. I checked the agenda and could see that Louis had a scheduled appointment with her and Ian this afternoon, probably to discuss his first weekend away and how it would be organized.

"We also get a new colleague today, he's coming in at 10."

"New colleague?" I frowned. "I didn't know we were short on staff."

Lana sighed and shrugged. "You know Victor, he's always keen on bringing in more men since most of our residents are boys. He says they bond better."

"How misogynistic of him." I deadpanned while shaking my head. I liked our current team, everyone worked well together and there was no tension or anything between two people. Victor was a bit of a pain in the ass to have as a boss, and he had lost his head a bit when he got promoted. I used to love to work with him when he was just a regular social worker like us.