In the Chaos and calm

Dead Flowers in Her Wake

"Hello, sweetheart."

Char clenched her teeth, biting back the groan of frustration. Six days until Marjorie was back. Only six more days.

Turning from where she was wiping down the breakfast table prior to the children's arrival, Charlotte plastered on a smile that she knew didn't look genuine. She was far too tired to play pretend. Not here, not for her.

"Need something?" she asked, folding the rag nervously between her hands to hide the tremble in them.

Char was no stranger to villains. Her ten years at the nursery had seen her victim to many a cruel parent or staff member, but none seemed to get under her skin the same way this woman did.

"You look tired. Late night with the hubby?"  Mia quipped, her eyes bright and mischievous. For some reason, this was a look she reserved only for Char. Sure, she tortured Marjorie and Autumn and Carly more than she ever did Charlotte, but it was always with the same tired resignation as though she was just going through the motions. Giving the people what they expected. When she turned her sharp eyes on Char, something softened at the edges of her tight smile though. The pokes and prods became nudges and winks, little glimpses of the woman underneath like flickers of candlelight.

"No, nothing like that, just my daughter. She's going through...."

"Through?" Mia prompted, tilting her head just enough to send a single strand of auburn hair into her face.

Charlotte wanted to brush it away, tuck it behind Mia's ear and figure out if her hair was as soft as it looked.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, she sputtered out something about a phase. It was more than a phase, but Mia was not the first person Char would be confiding in about her divorce. A phase was safe, temporary, something everyone went through. Something everyone got through. If this was a phase, she could get through it. Her and the children.

Mia didn't say anything more, only hummed in a vague way that made something twist in Charlotte's chest, as though the woman knew she was lying. But no, that assessing glare wasn't reading Charlotte's deepest secrets and finding the cracks in her facade. Mia didn't know Charlotte, and if even Marjorie and Carly remained unaware, this woman definitely wouldn't notice something amiss.

Sometimes, she wished she wasn't so good at hiding it. Having the support of someone, anyone, through this would be a blessing. But to speak it aloud was to acknowledge it. The moment the words fell from her lips, she wouldn't be able to take them back. It would mean the end of something she wasn't ready to let go of. Not yet.

Even if there was nothing left to hold on to.

Turning back to the table, Char wiped it half-heartedly with the rag, feeling Mia's eyes on her even as the sting of tears wet her lashes.

The other woman was strangely quiet while Charlotte composed herself, stubbornly refusing to allow any tears to fall. She was grateful her back was to Mia, even a self-absorbed shrew like her would notice the way her lip trembled. God only knew what Mia would do if she could get her claws into someone in a vulnerable moment.

The chime of a bell signaled the arrival of the first parents, and Charlotte took a deep breath before straightening herself, trying to wipe any sorrow from her face before she had to face her day.

"I'll get it, you missed a spot anyway," Mia chided before Char could turn around, but she didn't need to see her to know she was wearing that smug little smile of hers.

Whatever, another few moments was all she needed to collect herself before she managed to plant a real smile on her face just in time for her first child to come rushing through the door.