Just us.

14. Goodbye

Mia walks into the hallway to a very distressed Charlotte. She's facing the wall, biting her nails.
"Hi Charlotte" the woman spins around to face Mia, "sweetheart you don't have to bite all your pretty nails off, it's okay" Mia takes her hand in hers. She traces her fingers across the back of Charlottes hand before letting it go again, "I'm not mad at you"
"How can you not be mad? You just lost your job because of me"
"Because, you finally grew a backbone. Truthfully, I'm happy to have been the one that you did it for" Mia smiles,
"I don't understand you. You're so nice to me, but I overheard what was said in the office. You took money from their dad to torment them" Charlotte says. She could never understand why Mia was nice to her in the first place.

No matter how hard Charlotte tried to hate Mia, she always felt so safe and comfortable around her. Even if she did do horrible things, especially to Autumn and Reece.

"I did. But only because I thought I was going to be getting something in return" Charlotte wonders what Mia could have possibly wanted to put Reece and Autumn through all that, "Roger promised me that if I did what he told me to and came in between them, he would tell me where my dad was"
"Your dad?" Mia hums in reply
"He walked out on me and my mum when I was a child"
"I don't understand. Why would Reece and Autumn's dad know where your dad was?"
"Because my dad ran off with their mum" Charlotte was shook. She didn't know much about the siblings or their parents, but she did know their mum hasn't been in the picture for a very long time.

"I always assumed she was-"
"Dead? To Autumn and Reece she may as well be. They've never forgiven her for what she did. But she's alive and kicking it out there right now. Swanning around with my father" she explains
"Wait, so, all this time you've just been doing what Reece and Autumn's dad's been telling you to do because he promised you information about your dad?" Mia confirms, "but you've been doing this for 20 years. Why, why have you carried on for so long?"
"Is there a time limit on how long you would spend looking for a parent? Particularly if you had a couple of questions for them about why they were so comfortable walking out and braking up a family. Two families. Actually. Because we both know that Autumn and Reece didn't exactly grow up in a happy household"

Charlotte took in all the information, trying to understand it all
"But I heard that you kept braking up with Reece and getting back with him to come between him and Autumn all the time"
"Yeah. Quite a few times I'd break up with Reece and try and find my dad on my own. But I'd always hit a brick wall. I needed information and I needed money. So I'd come crawling back to Roger. He'd only help me if I got Reece on a short leash again" she sighs
"So you're like, Roger's..."
"Puppet? Yeah. That's why he was always getting me out of trouble. So he could keep me close by and I could keep an eye on Autumn and Reece"

"So that's why you said you never actually wanted to be with Reece. But you went through that for all these years?" Charlotte was still trying to wrap her head around it all. She wanted to know why Mia was the way she was and now she does. She just didn't expect that.
"I didn't want to be with Reece anymore than he wanted to be with me. I don't know if you've noticed, but Reece isn't exactly my type"

Charlotte knew exactly what she meant. Mia was far from straight.
"Then why did you crash Marjorie's car? Everyone thought you did that out of jealousy" Charlotte asks
"Jealously? Marjorie's welcome to him. I was just a bit annoyed because if Reece is with Marjorie, he's not with me. If he's not with me, Roger isn't happy. Crashing her car was just, me letting of a little bit of rage" she explains "I'm a little bit toxic like that" she smirks
"A little?"
"Okay a lot" Mia winks.

"So what's gonna happen now? Is Roger gonna give you the details?"
"No. It's taken me a very long time to realise he probably never had the details. He was just using me. I might try and find him on my own"
"And if you do, you'll find..."
"Reece and Autumn's mum. Yeah, I have a few questions for her too. She knew exactly the kind of monster she was leaving her children with when she walked out on them"
"You almost sound like you still care about them"
"I did. I do. Autumn was like my little sister. Reece was my best friend. They were my family. They meant the world to me. Everyone goes on about how awful it was after prom night because Reece and Autumn lost each other. I lost people too that night" Charlotte will admit she did feel guilty and awful for Mia. I guess no one thought about what she lost that night. Or why she became who she is now.

"You confuse me Mia. If you really care so much then why do you do it all? You have done some atrocious things since you've worked here"
"Such as?"
"You just tried to get Jodie fired!"
"Jodie? That buffoon that cannot be left unsupervised around children in case she tries to eat the plastic fruit?" Well, she has a point there Charlotte had to admit.
"Well... she tries?" Honestly, Charlotte didn't know who she was trying to convince. Yes, Jodie does try her hardest but Mia had a point.
"Charlotte do you have any idea how many toy apples we've had to replace? In the end, it got a little bit too exhausting. I got bored of it, so yeah. I tried to get rid of her" Mia folds her arms across her chest
"Okay. What about that little boy who you wouldn't let sit on the chair?" Charlotte reminds her
"I had an argument with Roger that morning so I was in a bad mood. I was just tryna pick a fight with a parent" Charlotte furrows her brows,
"Mia she punched you!"
"I know. Really makes you feel alive" Charlotte sighs. Crossing her own arms before asking her next question about a particular person,
"What about Carly?"
"Ah. You mean when I-"
"Made her feel embarrassed about her period" Charlotte interrupts"Yes"
"I hate Carly" Mia straightforwardly put it
"Why?" Charlotte couldn't believe that anyone could dislike the friendly, bubbly girl
"Because" Mia wasn't sure she wanted to admit why she disliked the seventeen year old, but for Charlotte, she's let it slip once, "I see way to much of myself in her"

This ultimately confused Charlotte,
"Carly is happy and friendly and bubbly. I'm really failing to see how you could see yourself in her"
"Yeah. Exactly how I was at that age. Before Roger got to me" it finally clicked for Charlotte. Mia was just a happy normal teenager before Roger destroyed her. "It's not Carly's fault. It's just... she holds up a mirror I'd rather not look into"

"Oh" there was one more thing Charlotte wondered about. Just a tiny curiosity, "and what about me?"
"I never did anything to hurt you"
"Exactly. You were nice from the start. Why me?" Mia examines Charlottes features before realising,
"You think I had an ulterior motive"
"Can you blame me?" Mia smiles,
"No ulterior motives with you. Char, I just like you" Charlotte hides her blush by looking away for a moment. "But I definitely don't deserve to have you. So I need to work on that" she admits
"Mia, I'm glad that you told me the truth. But what I said before was true too. My life is utterly complicated right now. And you... it's not right. I can't. I have to think about my kids"
"I know what you said Char. But answer me one thing, do you regret it? The time we spent together. Do you regret it?" Charlotte hesitates. She swallows before bracing herself for her answer. She knows the truth. But she knows there's also a right answer. The answer she should give. But just because it feels right, does it make it truly right?
"No. No I don't regret it" the red head just nods, with a small smile
"Goodbye sweetheart"

As Mia opens the door to leave, Charlotte stops her,
"Mia?" She looks back at the brunette, "why didn't you say anything in the office? About my writing the note"
"Truthfully I was proud of you. And I would never do that to you. But Charlotte, if these people that you adore so much actually took the time out of their own lives to look at you, they'd see what I saw"
"What are you talking about?"
"Switching your wedding ring to flirt with me, was the closest you've come to being brave enough to actually taking it off" Charlotte didn't realise that Mia had noticed anything. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. Our little secret" she winks.
"Take care of yourself Charlotte"

...

A/N
And Mia's gone :(
I'm so so sorry I haven't posted it's been my birthday so was occupied:)
Xoxo -I