One Shots 'The nursery nurse'

Guilt

The door slammed shut, and Charlotte took a deep breath. What a day. She put her bag down by the door and followed the soft humming coming from the kitchen.

Mia was sitting at the kitchen island drinking tea. Her green eyes shot up when she saw Charlotte.

"Hey baby." She raised her eyebrow slightly. "Rough day?"

" You could say that..." Charlotte mumbled.

The redhead stood up and went to her. She put her arm around her and gave her a gentle kiss. "You're off work now, relax," Charlotte hummed softly. Mia gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and then pulled away from the embrace. "You must be hungry. Have a seat."

Charlotte took a seat at the kitchen island while Mia started cooking.

" So baby, do you want to talk about why it was such a stressful day?"

The brunette thought for a moment. Why was it so bad today? Her head was kind of empty, as if she was just living in the moment. "To be honest, I don't know anymore."

" Really? That's funny, you don't normally forget anything," said Mia, looking over her shoulder.

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders. Maybe it was for the best. She just wanted to enjoy this moment with her girlfriend. She glanced around the kitchen. Mia must have tidied up, everything was spotless.
"What did you do today?"

Mia laughed softly. " Waiting for you, sweetheart. What else?"

Now Charlotte raised her eyebrow sceptically. What a strange statement. She took Mia's cup to have a sip. But the tea was cold.

When she put the cup down again, she noticed that the kitchen clock had stopped. What time was it actually?

She looked at the watch on her wrist, but it had also stopped.

" Strange..." Charlotte murmured quietly.

" Is something wrong, sweetheart?"

" All the watches have stopped."

Mia turned to her. " That's how it is when you live in your thoughts."

A queasy feeling spread through Charlotte, immediately followed by a deep, all-pervading sense of guilt.

Mia was now staring her right in the eye. "Do you blame yourself?

All Charlotte could say was a quiet one." What?"

"Well, it's quite common for people to develop a certain sense of guilt in situations like this." Mia's voice was cold, robotic.

"What kind of situations? Mia, what are you talking about?"

"When the truth came to light."

It was like a blow that went through and through. Charlotte felt sick. It was as if Mia had just triggered a memory that she was trying to suppress.

Charlotte heard the sound of muffled screams behind her. She turned around reflexively. Where the corridor to her front door normally was.

Was now the Nursery car park. She could recognise herself being shouted at by an angry Marjorie. Behind the manager was Reece, who just looked at her in disappointment.

Charlotte didn't understand what was happening around her when Mia's voice cut through the chaos in her head. "It's not unusual to feel a guilt so strongly that you want to switch off everything around you."

Charlotte turned back to the redhead, who was still standing in front of her at the kitchen counter.

"But you must start to realise the reality. It was beyond your control."

Charlotte eyes snapped open, she sat up in bed, her heart hammering against her chest.

She looked next to her, but Mia's side was empty. The tears came immediately.

She was alone, everyone had turned their backs on her. But what had she expected, when they all learnt the truth, of who she really was.

Roger's little spy.