Shattered Perfection

Three

Vivian drove to the hospital thinking about her last talk with Siobhan. Mr Relentless was obviously controlling. He always wanted to know where she was and what she was doing. Vivian had been there and bought the t-shirt. Her ex had made her life a misery. She had managed to escape that situation but only with help from her friends. She had moved her beautiful boy away from everyone they knew in order to keep him and her safe. Siobhan had been cut off from everyone. She didn't have any friends, thanks in part to her icy demeanour but Vivian knew Roger would have separated her from anyone who could help.

Speaking with Steven she had heard about the Ice Queen who controlled the nursery with an iron fist. From what he had said she expected to see her swanning around the nurseries with a smirk on her face. But what she saw wasn't the Ice Queen at all but a beautifully, fragile and sad woman who was desperately hiding behind a mask of indifference. Vivian wondered if he was just controlling or if had gone further. She was surprised no one else had realised the situation and had tried reaching out. She suspected the response from Siobhan put them off. The brick wall she had built around herself was helping Roger to separate her from anyone who cared about her. Vivian wasn't going to let that happen.

Siobhan slipped into the bedroom and tucked the piece of paper into the back of her dresser. There was a warm glow in her chest when she thought about Vivian which confused her. She wasn't used to anyone caring about her or wanting to be her friend. She thought about how Vivian looked at her, the way her eyes swept from head to toe and it caused her to shiver and her breath to quicken. She hadn't had that feeling in a long time, if ever. How could a woman prompt these feelings? As a young teenager, Siobhan had crushes on female teachers but dismissed them as her hormones being all over the place. She had been told same sex relationships were wrong and disgusting. But the thought of Vivian made those thoughts leave her head. She wanted to see how soft her skin was, Siobhan already knew how amazing she smelled. The front door slammed shut making her jump. She had been sat daydreaming for quite a while, dinner wasn't on and she was going to be in trouble.

Siobhan quickly walked down the stairs and found Roger in the kitchen. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before starting to cook dinner. Roger sat with a whiskey and watched her as she moved around the room. She couldn't judge what sort of mood he was in. This worried her. She told him about her discussion with Autumn, insisting the message of signing up more children had been heard and understood. Roger watched her coolly. Eventually she placed the food in front of him.

'There you go darling,' she tried to keep it light. They ate in a tense silence. Siobhan barely ate anything, pushing the food around her plate. Eventually, he pushed his plate away.

'The merger will be happening soon. Janice has found the perfect building which is being refurbished. I don't understand why you couldn't have found it.'

Siobhan closed her eyes for a moment, she had been hearing about how wonderful Janice was for a while. None of the nursery staff know about the upcoming merger with Janice's nursery. She was sworn to secrecy.

'That's wonderful darling,' she sipped her wine ignoring the jab from him, 'are the renovations going well?'

'Yes, Janice is overseeing them.' He replied.

'Who will be managing the nursery when the three are merged?' she asked curiously although she suspected the answer.

He smirked, 'Oh they will have to fight for it but I know who my money is on.' Siobhan internally rolled her eyes. He would love Marjorie and Janice fighting over the role. She stood to clear the plates. As she went to pick up his plate he grasped her wrist. 'Remember, not a word to anyone at the nursery.' She winced as he squeezed her wrist.

'Oh course, you said not to.' He looked at her for a while before letting her go. Once she had put the plates in the dishwasher, she rubbed her throbbing wrist. She was already planning what to wear tomorrow to cover her wrist when she went into the nursery. The kitchen door creaked open.

'Siobhan, upstairs now.' Her heart sank.