One Shots 'The nursery nurse'

200

Marjorie placed the last box on her desk. The room now felt almost unfamiliar; many corners had empty spaces where once there had been plants, file folders, or personal mementos. The soft hum of the ceiling lights echoed unusually loud from the bare walls. One final glance at the almost-cleared whiteboard confirmed what she already knew: this was no longer a workplace, now it was just a room.

With a hint of sentimentality, she reached for her nameplate. The small, worn badge had been with her for years. As she picked it up, the door suddenly opened.

"Ah, Siobhan! Good, you're here!" she called out excitedly, turning around and trying to hide the nervousness in her voice. "Are you looking forward to going back to the old building?"

Siobhan, in her usual black blouse and with perfectly styled hair, paused, let her gaze wander through the room, then raised an eyebrow. "If everything goes according to plan," she said coolly. "Any word from Autumn yet?"

"Not yet..." Marjorie admitted, a little sheepishly, as if caught. A hint of embarrassment crept into her smile.

Siobhan sighed almost inaudibly, placed her coffee cup demonstratively on the desk opposite, and sank into the office chair with a near-silent motion. "Then we shouldn't celebrate too soon," she said coldly, pulling out her phone.

Despite the cool remark, Marjorie didn't let herself be discouraged. She wanted to believe that everything would go according to plan. Autumn had left for the head office today, accompanied by Mia and, to everyone's surprise, Janice. A trio that rarely agreed on anything had joined forces to finally push Roger into retirement. Just as Marjorie turned back to her box, the door flew open again.

"Hi!" gasped Carly, bracing herself on the doorframe as if she had run the entire way.

"Carly!" Marjorie's face lit up instantly. She stepped toward her, visibly relieved to have something tangible to celebrate. "How did it go?"

"Passed!" Carly shouted, triumphantly raising both arms, hardly able to believe what she was saying. Her whole body vibrated with excitement.

"Oh, how wonderful!" Marjorie hugged her warmly, a brief, honest moment of affection. Siobhan, who had just taken a sip of coffee, smiled slightly and tapped her cup with two fingers. "Congrats," she said succinctly.

But Carly's joy gradually gave way to a more serious expression. She gently placed her bag on the floor and stepped closer. "I wanted to tell you in person before making it official... I'm going to look for a new job."

Marjorie paused. It wasn't unexpected-but still, it made her throat tighten. "Oh... you mean...?"

"Yes." Carly nodded, with an almost apologetic but determined spark in her eyes. "I want out of my comfort zone. New challenges. New people. I want to see what I can really do."

For a moment, no one said anything. Marjorie took a deep breath, then gave Carly a warm, proud smile. "I'm proud of you. Truly. You've always been ambitious, but never ruthless. Curious, open, you earned all of this yourself."

"And I wouldn't have achieved any of it without you," Carly said softly. "You were always there, for me. You let me grow."

A subtle tremble went through Marjorie's hands as she looked at Carly once more. In that moment, she felt that another chapter was ending-not with sadness, but with the feeling that something had been done right.

The door opened again. This time, slower. Autumn entered, her posture upright, her face calm, almost too calm. But in her eyes sparkled a look that Marjorie recognized instantly: triumph, carefully restrained.

"It's done," she said simply, stepping into the middle of the room as if it already belonged to her.

Marjorie straightened up, still holding the nameplate. "Really? It worked?"