Summary - Charlotte gets hurt at work and Marjorie and Winter finally understand why Mia and Charlotte are so good together.
"You are absolutely ridiculous. I hate doing pick ups with you, you've always got some kind of stupid problem." The man was yelling, waving his hands around aggressively.
Charlottes heart was pounding as she watched Christina's Dad being so aggressive to her. She was only trying to tell him that Christina had fought with another child that day, it was nothing major, the kids had little spats all the time. As she opened her mouth to reply, she felt someone standing beside her, then she heard Winters voice.
"I'm not sure what's happened here, but please calm down. You are acting very aggressively and I think you can see that you are intimidating Charlotte. Please step back." Winter went to stand in front of her, but at that moment the Dad lurched forward and roughly shoved her backwards. Charlottes lower back slammed into the corner of the bookshelf behind her and she felt a searing pain that made her see stars. The pain was so intense that for several seconds it was all she could focus on.
She felt a hand gently grab her arm and once again she heard Winters voice. "Charlotte are you alright?" He was pulling her forwards "come with me love."
When they got to Marjorie's office Winter made sure Charlotte was sat down before telling Marjorie what had just happened. Christina's Dad had scooped his daughter up and fled as soon as he realised he'd just assaulted Charlotte over absolutely nothing. Marjorie called 101 to report the incident, pulling his address up on the system to pass on to the Police.
As the shock had worn off Charlotte had become distraught. She'd not had the best couple of weeks at work, so many arguments with parents had taken their toll, and now this. Seeing her like this was breaking Winters heart and he was angry with himself that he hadn't managed to get between Charlotte and that oaf in time. While Marjorie was speaking to 101 he stepped outside and called the one person he knew Charlotte needed right now.
"Charlotte I'm so sorry darling, I can't believe this has happened." Marjorie held the brunettes hand tightly, her heart aching as she listened to her friend sobbing. Poor Charlotte could never catch a break, she thought. At that moment the office door burst open revealing a distraught looking Mia. The red head immediately threw herself onto her knees in front of Charlotte, grabbing the hand Marjorie wasn't holding.
Marjorie watched in amazement as Charlottes sobs became less intense almost immediately. Her breathing became calmer as she looked into Mia's eyes and for a second a tiny smile fluttered across her face. Wow, Marjorie thought, that was so sweet.
"Sweetheart are you alright? Winter told me what happened, I'm so sorry." Mia's voice was quivering and as Marjorie looked at her face she could see tears falling gently. She never thought she'd see Mia crying - she didn't think she was capable of it in all honesty.
Marjorie got up and stood beside Winter to let Mia and Charlotte have their moment. Both Winter and Marjorie had wondered why Charlotte had fallen for Mia - in their minds, while yes, the two woman looked beautiful together - they were an odd match. They would wonder no longer however after seeing first hand how much Mia loved Charlotte. They watched as the mean, cold, heartless woman as they knew her, fell apart witnessing Charlotte in so much pain. Winter thought of the way he loved Autumn with every fibre of his being and for the first time he found himself relating to the odd couple before him. He knew that when he and Autumn had started dating many people had wondered why he'd even go near a woman like that. It wasn't as if he could control it - when you find your soulmate, you simply have no choice.
Winter wasn't really sure what souls were made of. But in that moment, he was absolutely positive of one thing. Whatever they're made of, Charlotte and Mia's were the same.
