Second Ave Offices: The Time In Between (WLW)

Chapter Two

Fiona hung up her phone with a groan and crossed out the name of yet another art teacher who wasn't taking on new clients. It was as if every art instructor in Seattle had banded together to make her job of finding them for Chloe absolutely ridiculous. Are they all conspiring against her...? Fiona sure felt like it as they were all booked for the next few months at nearly every location and those who weren't didn't exactly meet the requirements for taking on Chloe as their student. That and some just wouldn't accommodate her autism, which was beginning to truly infuriate Fiona. It was just...wrong.

Was it really so hard for people to put in just a bit more effort? Chloe was a delight to be around and brightened Fiona's day when she needed it most, so what was wrong with others for not wanting that in their lives? As she locked her office door and tucked her phone away in her purse, she recalled the one person who'd been enthusiastic about instructing Chloe's emergent skills. She works in this building, right? So, maybe the lawyer suites or the comic book company are her employers...?

As Fiona remembered Kanda's kind eyes, she shook her head and made her way to the elevator. There was no way she would take her up on her offer. She just couldn't. Fiona was happy. She had a flourishing practice, a caring family and a schedule she knew and loved with all her might. There was no room for change and that would definitely be what happened the moment she allowed Kanda inside. In fact, she knew without a doubt the woman would completely absorb her, even if her attraction didn't match her own.

Fiona hadn't dated since she was in her early twenties and found it to be a hassle more days than not for one particular reason beyond all others. She had an acute anxiety disorder that was triggered by changes too large and other small things she hated listing to the women of her past. And yes, they were all women. There was no argument of Fiona's sexuality and her parents were nothing short of supportive from day one of her coming out. In fact, they had been even longer before then as they'd figured it out far before she had told them, which still amazed her considering her clients' many stories of woe when disclosing their sexuality to their parents.

You see, Fiona was a specific psychologist, only treating those on two spectrums; the LGBT and autistic. Growing up in such a loving family, and then finding out it wasn't always the same for others in college, she specifically studied the effects of coming out in religious or conservative families along with the difficulties that stemmed from growing up on the autism spectrum. After getting her masters, she began her own practice and so many came knocking on her door.

Originally, she was flabbergasted by the sheer number of people whose parents were just plain horrifying, but the more she heard of it from her patients, the more grateful she grew for her own family. After years of practice, she was stuck in her ways. Fiona didn't want to deviate from her current path. She didn't want the introduction of new terrain or to find new ways to navigate the romantic feelings that would come with Kanda in her world more often than not. However, most of all she didn't want to have to explain her anxiety disorder to another person who would ultimately leave because of it.

Just like Jen... The one woman she'd dated in college ended their relationship on a less than savory note and Fiona had vowed to never open her heart to that turmoil ever again at all costs. That being said, was letting her niece down really a cost she could truly afford? Fiona never desired disappointing her family and had yet to do so, always dropping everything for them without hesitation, but there were two things that plagued her mind as she thought more of her predicament and made her way to the elevator.

The first was her mother's words to find a woman with whom she could grow old. Her father wanted this for her as well, but he didn't stress it as often as her mother who obviously feared she may one day end up without a companion. It was odd, actually. Her mother had always pushed the importance of not being alone, but lately she'd brought it up at every opportunity. It couldn't have been with grandchildren in mind considering she'd never shown a desire to have children, yet for the life of her, Fiona couldn't discern why it was so important to her mother now than it had ever been in the past.