Finding Her Joy

Selfish Marjorie

I walked over to Marjorie as she was getting out of her car. She had an irritated expression that was about to get a lot worse. "Hello, Marjorie."

She stepped back and crossed her arms. She furrowed her brow and asked, "Mia, what are you doing here?"

I set my hands on my hips, trying to remember that Char had asked me to try and be nice. "I'm dropping Char to work."

She gasped, "Why are you -"

"No, Marjorie," I said, interrupting her, "I'm not going to explain why. You haven't taken a single interest in Charlotte these past few weeks. Why do you suddenly care now?" I glared at her, waiting for an explanation.

"Excuse me," she leaned forward, trying to intimidate me, but it wasn't working, "I care about all my staff."

It was hard to hold in a laugh as she said that. "Really? Do you care about your staff?" I said, mocking her. "Tell me then, Marjorie. What's been going on with Char?"

"As a matter of fact, I actually came here yesterday to not only apologize but to actually find out what was going on with her." She sounded like she actually believed that.

"Some apology that was. You found out the flowers were from me, told her you felt sick, and then that you didn't want to see her anymore." Just thinking about it made my blood boil. "You were going to punish her for something I did."

She didn't miss a beat before saying, "Because I was disappointed to find out that she was associated with the likes of you. Okay? I expected so much more of her."

I couldn't help but glare at her again. It was taking everything in me not to hit her. "I'm sure she expected more of you too."

Marjorie looked offended by my comment, "What's that supposed to mean?"

It's time to knock her down a peg, even if I wasn't allowed to knock her out. "Char did say if I saw you, that I was allowed to tell you," I paused for dramatic effect, "she's been going through a separation these past few months."

Marjorie's expression fell, and she dropped her arms. She almost looked I'll when she said, "What...?"

"Yeah. She's been trying to process it these last few months completely by herself. Anytime she tried to reach out to someone for help, they were so wrapped up in themselves that they didn't even give her the time of day to listen," I gestured to her hoping she would get the hint.

"Wh- why didn't she tell me?" She stuttered, realizing how wrong she had been about the situation.

I rolled my eyes and raised my voice slightly, "Marjorie, Char has been a walking cry for help for WEEKS. She was shouting at parents, breaking down in the classroom. Rather than reaching out to her and trying to help her, you cut her off and sent her to another nursery." I had to breathe before finishing, "Is that so you wouldn't have to deal with her?"

Marjorie threw her arms in frustration, "I didn't know she was going through all that, okay? When I found out about th- the flowers and the flirting, I thought maybe she had just been influenced by you and was turning into you." She was yelling, but I'm not sure if it was directed at me or her lack of knowledge with everything going on.

"That wasn't her turning into me. Marjorie, that was Char imploding!" I crossed my arms, "It was the only coping mechanism she had! You are so blinded by your hatred for me that it was easier for you to just say that she was turning into me. Rather than acknowledge, she might actually have problems on her own. Is that why you wrote her off so quickly?" I was screaming at her in my head to just listen.

She was speechless and rightfully so. Maybe my words were finally getting through her thick skull. After a moment, she finally said, "You're not wrong. It's true I do hate you."