You Confuse Me {mialotte}

✧˖° 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒 - 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤

CHARLOTTE'S POV:
~ I really wish I didn't have to cover here all of this week. Oh well, I guess there's only one more day left. Mia makes this place a nightmare to work at. Although, not for the reason you'd think; I don't hate her. She confuses me - I've no idea how to feel about her. She's so nice to me, yet so horrible to all the people I care about. She's jealous of Reece and Marjorie, she's such a bully to Carly, she takes advantage of Jodie all the time... at least from what I've heard anyway. I've never seen her do anything like that. She treats me so nicely. She always smiles at me, says hi, talks to me... It makes me so conflicted. I keep spending my entire shifts thinking about the interactions we have. I don't know what to think of her, it stresses me out.

MIA'S POV:
~ After the end of this week, Charlotte's back to the other nursery. I've enjoyed her covering here so much. She's the sweetest, honestly. When I talk to her she's so nice, even though I'm pretty sure she can't stand me. She always smiles and engages in the conversation.
I've been going up to the staff room every day to chat to her. I'm certain she only talks to me out of pity... but the fact she pities me even though she definitely doesn't like me is so sweet. One thing I've noticed, though, is that my first impression of her was spot on; she is definitely a pushover. She's too scared to stand up for herself against ANYTHING. She takes so much crap from the parents, it's unbelievable. She doesn't deserve all the shit she gets; she's so positive and kind and sweet. She's great... I just wish she wasn't married.

CHARLOTTE'S POV:
~ I sit and scroll on my phone as I eat my lunch. Is it bad that I'm kind of waiting for Mia to come and talk to me? I mean, we never talk for long, she doesn't even sit down. She just comes and says hi, and we have a little chat for a minute while she grabs her lunch from the fridge.
Over the past few days I've gotten used to it. The social interaction on my lunch break is nice. With Carly not here to chew my ear off, eating lunch feels kind of empty. That brief conversation with Mia helps, even if it is... well, Mia.

MIA'S POV:
~ Today I think I'm going to stay and eat lunch in the staff room with Charlotte. I want to ask her a few things, just about her life. I want to know more about her. I think sitting and eating with her might break the ice a bit. I've been psyching myself up for a few days now. The most we speak is when I go up to the staff room and grab my lunch from the fridge ( which I only keep in there now, so that I can purposely go and get it when Charlotte's on her break. ) There's literally a mini fridge in the office... but she doesn't know that. And she doesn't have to.
I've been too nervous to actually sit and chat to her, so I always just drag the action of taking something out the fridge to last for at least 30 seconds longer than it should. Today I just need to ask to sit with her.

CHARLOTTE'S POV:
~ I hear footsteps approach the door and I put my phone down. I should not be looking forward to talking to Mia like this, gosh.
The door opens.
"Morning, Charlotte"
"Hey, Mia." I don't tend to look her in the eyes when I talk to her. The eye contact scares me... I don't know why. Eye contact is never a thing I usually struggle with. Mia's just an intense person, I suppose.
She opens the fridge and takes out a tupperware container. Then she grabs a fork from the cutlery drawer. She turns to look at me.
"Mind if I eat in here with you today? Reece and Marjorie are on the phone, and the conversations getting a bit... Uh, PG-13."
I get slightly nervous. Our conversations never last longer than a minute or two, but there's a good ten left of my lunch break.
Even so, I tell her "Sure." and she pulls out a chair to sit down. I look at her and she smiles at me as she sets her lunch on the table.
"So how's the hubby?" She says, gesturing at my ring.
I go to speak but then she says.. "Or wife."
... I must look visibly shocked, because she laughs slightly and says, "I didn't want to just assume, sweetheart. Don't look so scared."
"He's.. uh, a he." I awkwardly mutter.
"Have you been married long?"
"Yeah. 11 years." I say, in a way that makes it seem like it's been the happiest 11 years ever.
"Awh that's lovely. I bet you guys are such goals. He must treat you well. I'm sure he wouldn't wanna loose a girl like you." She says, winking at me, and opening her lunch. I'm immediately hit with the vinegary smell of salad dressing.
That comment really stung. I wish he treated me well. We honestly hardly speak to each other. The kids are the only thing holding our marriage together at this point, and we're BARLEY hanging on.
"Uh.. yeah." I awkwardly laugh. "It's... alright. It's nothing... like, special... after... so long, y'know."
Mia looks at me and rolls her eyes - playfully, though, not in an irritated way.
"Guess he just doesn't realise how lucky he is. It should always be special." She smiles.
I exhale sharply, and smile back, pretending I'm amused. But, again, that comment stung.
I hate when people bring up my marriage.

MIA'S POV:
~ I walk into the staff room and grab my lunch as usual. I say hi to Charlotte, But instead of just lingering around this time, I ask "Mind if I eat in here with you today?"
I make up a lie about Reece and Marjorie being on the phone, just to make the question less forward, I guess.
She says "Sure." And I grab a chair. When I pull it out from the table, I move it closer to Charlotte. I hope she didn't notice that.
I sit down, and see her wedding ring again. Now is a great time to bring up her husband.
I point to the ring, "So how's the hubby?"
I smirk to myself as I realise this could be an opportunity to bring up something else as well. "Or wife." I say, eyeing her somewhat.
She doesn't have a wife, I know she has a husband and two little girls, but she isn't aware that I know that. I've overheard her talking about them before.
I think I definitely caught her by surprise, though. she looks very startled at the wife comment. I don't want to make it awkward. I try and play it off, and say I didn't want to 'just assume'. She extremely awkwardly tells me that "He's a he."
I ask if they've been married long.
"Yeah. 11 years."     That's sweet...
I can still sense a bit of awkwardness in the air so I try and lighten the mood a bit.
"Awh that's lovely. I bet you guys are such goals. He must treat you well. I'm sure he wouldn't wanna loose a girl like you."   I laugh and wink at her. I open my salad and pick up my fork.
I look at Charlotte, she looks uncomfortable. Did I make her uncomfortable?
"Uh.. yeah."   She laughs a little. That's the fakest laugh I've ever heard.   "It's... alright. It's nothing, like, special... after .. so long, y'know."
Oh.. I didn't make her uncomfortable. The mention of her husband did. Maybe I have more of a chance with her than I thought. I didn't want to pry though, so I make a quick comment about how he must just not realise how lucky he is, smile, and change the subject.

CHARLOTTE'S POV:
~ "How's your day been, then? Any crap from the parents at handover?"  
Thank god she moved onto something else.
"No more than usual."    I reply, jokingly rolling my eyes.
"Sweetheart, you know it wouldn't hurt to stand up for yourself sometimes. People can be really unreasonable. You don't have to just take it."
It's so sweet that she noticed I never stand up for myself. I laugh and say
"Just who I am, I guess. Total pushover." 
"Not necessarily. You stood up to me, remember. With Sylvia's inhaler."
How does she even remember that? It was weeks ago. And anyway, I only 'stood up for myself'  through sheer panic; she was having an asthma attack.
"Mia.. she couldn't breathe. There's a difference between standing up for myself and pure fight or flight."   
Mia smiles at me.  "And, y'know what. The fact your response was fight tells you all you need to know, sweetheart. It really wouldn't kill you to grow a bit of a backbone."
She's being so sweet. Why's she so nice to me? The way people talk about her, I was expecting her to be some kind of horrible monster. And, I mean, I THOUGHT she was. But she's sat here talking to me, and I'm really failing to see that evil witch that everyone paints her to be.
I smile at her. She smiles back, and I feel really happy all of a sudden. This is the longest I've ever kept eye contact with her. It feels strangely comforting. I just allow myself to live in the moment before I snap out of it. I immediately look away... I was so zoned out just staring at Mia. What the hell just happened to me?

MIA'S POV:
~ I ask how her day has been. There's no better way to change the subject than that. "Any crap from the parents at handover?"
"No more than usual."  She replies, rolling her eyes and laughing slightly.
I know she was just joking but it makes me feel bad for her, the fact she's so used to it.
"Sweetheart, you know it wouldn't hurt to stand up for yourself sometimes. People can be really unreasonable. You don't have to just take it."
Charlotte replies that it's 'just who she is'. And I remind her of when she stood up to me with Sylvia's inhaler.
"Mia.. she couldn't breathe. There's a difference between standing up for myself and pure fight or flight."
She has a point. But then, her natural response to that situation was fight. Which is exactly what I say to her. "It really wouldn't kill you to grow a bit of a backbone."
She softly smiles at me and I smile back. I just look into her eyes and get lost in them straight away. She's so beautiful. We sit in silence, just looking at each other for a good 5 seconds. It feels like forever. Then she breaks eye contact, awkwardly looking down at her lunch.
I know she just felt something, I can tell.
It scared her.