Inhaler imagines

sunset- EH

TW- neglect/ abandonment

I loved, yet hated my job. I was a nursery teacher, I loved helping young children learn new things, watching their faces light up when they achieved something, or when they saw their grownups coming to collect. the thing that made me hate my job was the parents, the ones who would bring their child in while the kid was ill, the ones who would neglect their children, the ones who would make up lies about staff members, have a go at staff members for phoning while their child needed to go home. the ones who would be late to pick up their children and have no good reason to. Today something rare happened, I had to stay behind after work with the manager because a kid's mum was late to pick up, 20 minutes after closing we had phoned every emergency contact, straight to voice mail. her mum's number had also gone straight to voicemail, so we had no choice but to wait. My heart ached for the girl, she had been crying out for her mum ever since all her friends and peers had left. we closed at 5 and it was now 7:30. I was angry for the girl, but also for myself. I was supposed to be on a date with Eli right now, but I had to do a rain check. Eli completely understood tho, and wished me luck. "right y/n, when the clock strikes 8 and no one's here to collect we have to phone the authorities and report her as abandoned" Edith, my manager, said down the phone. I sighed, "My heart aches for her, I hope someone turns up" I looked at Clair, who was quietly eating some pasta at a table, not having a clue what was going on. "I know, same here. but just keep her distracted until then" she said as she hung up the phone. "y/n" Claire said, curiosity lingering in her voice. "yeah sweetie" I said taking a seat next to the 3-year-old. "do you have a boyfriend?" I smile at her, kids never fail to ask me this. "yeah! why?" she smiles back swallowing her mouthful. "I was just wondering, you're very pretty! but what's his name?" I smile at her compliment, being called pretty from a toddler meant you are pretty, "aw thank you! his name is Elijah" "Is that him on your phone screen?" I mentally cursed at myself as I forgot to put my phone away after messaging Eli. Edith comes over and joins you, "Yeah, that's him" I smile at the picture of him, it's one I took of him on our second date. he took us to the beach and got us both ice cream and he ended up getting some on his nose. I go to put my phone away but Edith stops me, hinting it's okay. "he's very cute! do you love him?" I smile and nod, "I love him very much, and he is quite cute isn't he?" Claire nods her head agreeing with me "You can tell he loves her just as much as she loves him!" Edith pipes in as I take Claire's empty plate to the kitchen. I sigh as I look at the clock in the kitchen, it's 5 to 8 now. still no sign of anyone coming to collect. by the time I had finished the dishes and made my way back to the toddler room, it was 8:01. Edith looked at me, pity in her eyes, and I gave her the same look. "message Eli and tell him to come to get ye, in about half an hour" she says walking past me. I look at Claire, looking at my lock screen. "how long have you and Elijah been together?" she asks as I sit down next to her, "4 years! We started dating at the beginning of 2020" I say, sending a quick message to Eli, asking him to get me in half an hour. "so longer than I've been alive?" Claire asks me, mesmerised by the fact my relationship is older than her. I nod my head, chuckling a bit as Edith comes back in. "police are on their way" she whispers to me as Claire fiddles with my hand. "you have a lot of tattoos" she says tracing them. "yep! That one there I got with my sister" I say revealing the whole tattoo, it was a Saturn tattoo, my sister had a moon tattoo. a hint to the taylor swift song 'Seven' "That's so cool!!" she says poking it. for the next 15 minutes Edith and I distracted Claire with stories, toys and all other things. "y/n, what does Eli do for work?" Claire asks out of the blue. "oh he's in a band! he's the lead singer and also plays the guitar." her eyes widen, pure shock taking over her face. "is he any good?" I hear Edith chuckle, "I'd say he's good! he's just recently home from the tour" I say, watching the young girl process the information. "that's so so cool oh my gosh" Just then, a doorbell rings, and Edith goes to get it. I hoped it was a parent, but I knew it would be the police here for Claire. I didn't want to see the wee one go, as she always made my day. but at the end of the day, it's what's best for her. I keep her busy for a good 15 minutes, also trying to distract myself from the situation "Hey Claire, we're here to take you on a nice little holiday until we can get a hold of your guardians" I hear the female agency officer say, she had the warmest smile. "I'm Officer Green, I'll look after you for a bit," she says crouching down to Claire's level. "she's gonna take you with her and you're going to have so much fun with her! it'll be okay" I say, trying to calm Claire down, I could see fear fill her eyes. "how long till I see mummy again?" she asks, her voice just above a whisper. it broke my heart to see her like that. I knew she would be much safer in foster care, but the poor girl just wanted her mum. "oh I don't know sweetie, but we can have so much fun together" sending her a warm smile, out of the corner of my eye, I see Eli and Edith talking. I relax a bit, knowing I can get a bear hug after this. "okay, did you know y/ns boyfriend is in a band!" Claire says excitedly to Officer Green, the woman looks at me and smiles. "I thought I recognised him. Elijah Hewson right, lead singer of Inhaler?" I nod, looking at the woman, who is a fan. "he's here?" Claire looks around, "Yeah, do you want to meet him?" the girl nods and I go over to Eli, inviting him over.

After what felt like an eternity, I was able to leave work. "you okay?" Eli asks as I relax into his passenger seat. "I don't get why her mum wouldn't just come and get her. she's an angel" I say, turning to look at him. "I know love, the world is cruel sometimes. but you probably have that girl some of the best hours of her life. now, if I remember correctly, you love sunsets?" he says, placing his hand on my thigh. I nod, wondering what he's going to say next. "want to go to the beach and watch the sunset, maybe get some ice cream?" I smiled, "Of course my love" he smiled and we did just that. it was like our second date, watching the sunset on the beach, and Eli getting ice cream on his nose.. again.

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1303 words
I got lazy towards the end
this is inspired by the one and only nursery nurse
Send requests to rosie101xoxo006 on tumblr
Love Rosie 🙂‍↔️