Finding Her Joy

Her File

*A/N- I am definitely one of those people who prefers the "slow burn" over the other option. I know it sounds strange, but I love the build-up of a RomCom more than anything. The story of how people fall in love warms my heart till the end. Waiting for the couple to actually get together is my favorite part. You learn so much about them, and I love it. Sorry for those of you who aren't a huge fan of it, but this is how Mia and Char's story develops. It just feels like them, ya know? I think that's why it's my favorite.

(MIA POV)
After Charlotte stood her ground with me about the inhaler, I went back to the office. There were only a few hours left in the day, and I had planned on staying in the office for them. Avoiding parents and annoying staff members was my specialty. Plus, I knew if I went out again to try and be friendly with Charlotte, it wasn't going to be a good idea. The perks of being the villain.

Sitting down at my desk, I look back at her file. I tried to find a way to keep myself busy so I wouldn't look at it. Doing billing for parents was just making me bored, and I couldn't stop thinking about what might be in there. It was driving me crazy.

"Stop it, Mia. You don't need to look." I said to myself, grabbing her file and going to put it back where I found it. As my hand reached for the drawer to put it away, I couldn't bring myself to let it go.

I started a conversation with myself, as if I was a cartoon character talking to the little devil on my shoulder. "Just take a peak. Who's it gonna hurt if you do? Roger told you to keep tabs on things. You know how much he hates being left in the dark." The devil on my shoulder said. The thought was so tempting.

"Maybe I should look. I knew most of it anyway. Performance reviews are coming up, too, so I should look at everything. This way, I'm prepared when it comes time." I was trying to convince myself that the reason I wanted to look was for work purposes only, and not for my own agenda.

I put the file down on the desk and took a deep breath before slowly opening it. The first thing I saw was her ID picture. It was clipped to the inside, the same as all the other files. "So pretty," I smiled as I looked at her picture. My eyes stayed there for a moment, just taking in all her features. The deep blue eyes, the freckles across her nose. Her bright smile. I found myself lost in a trance and quickly pulled myself back to reality.

I started reading through the rest of her information. Her paperwork was very neatly filled out. I read the more personal section of her file that showed her education and level of qualification. I'd already known she had children, so I didn't need to read that part. I'm not even sure why we have staff write that in, honestly.

As I skimmed the rest of it, there was a little tick in the married box. I rolled my eyes as I saw it. I thought back to last night as we were leaving. Her playing with her ring. The look on her face as she fiddled with it. Her eyes were sad even though her smile was trying to hide it. That was not the face of someone who was head over heels for their spouse. Something was definitely off there, but I didn't feel it was my place to say anything about it.

I kept going through her file. There were only 2 complaints from parents in there for the last 10 years. Reading through it, it was obvious the parents were just looking for a reason to complain. I got irritated and moved on to the next page.

There were glowing reviews from dozens of parents and from staff that had worked with her. All saying how good she was at her job. How great she was with the children. Even one in there from Autumn saying how she thought Charlotte was a great asset to the team. "That's my girl." I said aloud to myself.

"Who are you talking about?" I heard Charlotte's voice coming from behind me. She'd walked into the office a moment ago, but I didn't notice because I was so wrapped up in the file. I shut it as fast as possible and threw it in the bottom of my desk drawer.

"What? Nothing. I'm just reading a story about a celebrity I like." I said, hoping she hadn't seen what I was really looking at. "Is something wrong, Sweetheart? I'm up to my ears in paperwork and don't really have time to put out a fire right now."

She looked confused for a moment, but she decided to brush it off. Shifting her focus back to why she came in, she says, "Okay then. No, nothing is wrong. I just wanted to make sure everything was fine. Between us, I mean." She had a slight look of worry on her face as I leaned back in my chair and looked up at her.

"Us? What do you mean?" I asked. Was there an us to talk about? My heart was hopeful, but my mind was telling me not to be.

She sat down in the chair next to me and put one of her hands on my desk, the other in her lap. "You know. About me going against what you said in the room." Of course, that's what she meant. "I just wanted to make sure I wasn't getting fired or something over it," she looked down at the floor, clearly getting more nervous as the conversation went on. "I understand if you have to write me up, but I just couldn't sit there and watch the child in the state she was in, knowing I could do something to fix it."

I lean forward again to be closer to her. I instinctively grabbed her hand to comfort her, not realizing what I was doing. "You're not in trouble, Sweetheart." I let her pet name slip twice, and yet she still didn't say anything. Was I reading too much into it? "As long as no one else finds out. We can keep it as our little secret." She looks at me, and then at our hands. She wasn't moving away. She seemed to be in a state of shock. Just having her hand in mine was enough to give me butterflies. I felt like such a little kid in that moment.

I used my thumb to rub the back of her hand for a moment before I let go.

I cleared my throat as I took my hand away. She put both of her hands in her lap and started looking at her wedding band again. Her face didn't change, but the light in her eyes went out again. I could tell something was wrong with her, but I didn't want to come right out and say it. Instead, I asked, "Is there something else you'd like to talk about, or can we both get back to work?"

She turned to me. I could see her mind working, trying to figure out if she was ready to tell someone what was going on. Whatever it might have been was causing her a lot of distress, even if most people couldn't tell at first glance.

As she started to open her mouth to speak, an angry parent walked into the room. I started screaming in my head for the parent to just leave. She was so close to opening up to me, and this parent with the most awful rainbow hair walked in, ruining the moment.

"I'm gonna go back to the room." Charlotte quickly gets up and runs back to work.

I hold my head in my hands for a moment before looking back up at the parent. Feeling very irritated by her timing, I say, "And what complaint can I take note of for you today, Rainbow Dash?"

The parent gasped at me and started to complain about my attitude. Wait, maybe it was her fees? I don't know. I wasn't actually listening.

My mind was still on Charlotte, thinking of what could be wrong between her and her husband.