Tantrum

Ch 3. Help You

*** Spencer's POV ***

I'm beating myself up because of how poorly I reacted to my first case this morning. Maybe I'm not ready to be back. I audibly groan as I think through the numerous mistakes I made.

"Spence?" I hear a chirpy voice ask. I look up to see a familiar face from graduate school. To be more accurate, Mandy Green was an amazing classmate. Friendly, empathetic, and genuinely a good person. I always thought she was kind of cute too, but she was engaged so off limits.

I lift my head and feel my lips form an authentic smile despite my shit morning. She surprises me by throwing her arms around me. She smells like lavendar and honey. As creepy as it is, I inhale deeply and let this chance meeting transport me out of my situation for a moment.

"I thought that was you! How have you been?" She asks enthusiastic as always.

"Oh, you know." I evade. They warned us in school about the burnout rates in our profession and the need to develop a thick skin and healthy coping mechanisms. "How about you? You look amazing!"

She gives me a coy smile and bites her lip. "I love my job! I'm at Glenfield Children's."

Mandy went into health-focused social work, specifically as a child life specialist. I started down that path too, but didn't feel I would have the same impact as I would working for CPS. If only I had known what would happen, maybe I would have chosen differently. Hell, my therapist even suggested I look into completing the child life specialist credentialing to avoid returning to CPS after the case that forced me to take a year-long hiatus.

But I'm no quitter. Although my performance this morning suggests that maybe I should. Maybe I've lost my knack for it. Or maybe just my nerve.

I realize I never responded to Mandy's news. "Glenfield? That's like a dream come true, right? Although if memory serves me correct, weren't you moving across the country after graduation?"

Mandy grimaces then recovers with a shy smile. "Oh that. Yeah, Kellan and I broke up."

My jaw drops. Totally didn't see that coming. "Whoa. What stupid thing did he do?"

She giggles and nudges me. "What makes you think it was something he did?"

"Because you're perfect." I blurt out. I laugh nervously and look away. I can't believe I just said that. I'm all impulse today, apparently.

"Well, thank you, but it was mutual. We just were never going to come together on some things." She shakes her head. I hear someone call her name. "I gotta go, but I'd love it if we could connect again soon."

Her brown eyes are round and hopeful. There's no way in hell I'm turning down her request. "Is your number still the same? I think I have it from a group project or something."

She eagerly nods. "Text me and we'll hook up."

I figure she means connect and not hook up as in like have sex, but I can't help that my mind goes to having sex. My cheeks warm. She palms her forehead. "I'm so sorry! That sounded dirtier than I intended!"

"I don't mind." I reply.

Now she's blushing as we stare at each other for a moment. Whoever she's with breaks the spell by calling her again. She reaches out and gives my arm a squeeze. "Talk to you soon, huh?"