A/N: I do not own any of Fosters Family characters in the story, all rights belong to ABC Family.
Thank you for reading!
Lena walked through the quite passages of Anchor Beach, her footsteps echoing through the halls. She held a stack of files in one hand and her handbag in the other. She internally cursed herself for not pulling her car keys from her handbag before leaving the office. Tucking the files under her arm, she tried digging through her bag for her car keys. She stopped at the door and released a deep breath of air and smiled at herself for managing to yank her keys from the little corner they were tucked in.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?" A loud voice emerged from outside.
Lena raised her head in surprise.
"YOU LEFT MY SON MIKE, YOU LEFT MY SON AT SCHOOL, I CAN'T EVEN..."
Lena opened the door and was greeted to Stef, gesturing with her hands as she stood by the back passenger door of her car, and Mike standing in the parking lot in front of her.
"Stef I'm sorry!" Mike begged, turning his attention to Brandon in the back seat. "B, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!" Mike tried to speak through the window, putting his hand against it in an attempt to connect with his son. Brandon didn't look at his father, he kept his head bowed and turned away from the window.
Stef turned and took a deep breath in an effort to calm herself, pacing up and down in front of the car. "What if Mike, what if something happened to Brandon, then what?"
"He..ah..he was at school, this is a safe school Stef...you said that yourself, that's why we sent him here." Mike tried to defend
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT..." Stef screamed back in disbelief, shoving her finger into Mike's chest and turning her head running her hand through her hair. "You had no idea Mike, no idea who was looking after our son, what he was doing, or if he was even ok!" Stef paced aggressively. "I...I can't believe you, I cannot believe you would leave our son at school!"
"Stef I'm sorry I...I don't know what else to say!" Mike tried but Stef turned and made her way to the drivers' door, opened it but turned suddenly to look at Mike.
"Just tell me one thing, where the hell where you?"
Mike stuttered "Um...ah...I was..."
"You're unbelievable!" Stef turned and got into the driver's seat and slammed the door shut. She reversed the car out the parking lot and drove off, leaving Mike standing alone with the flood light shining directly at him. He ran his hand through his hair, dropped his shoulders and slowly made his way into his car and drove off.
Lena stood by the door with her keys in her hand, stunned at the scene she had just witnessed. She slowly made her way to the car and made her way home.
Lena sat at her dining room table, files spread out and laptop open in front of her, a glass of wine to her right and a plate of cheese she thought she would nibble on while she worked but very quickly discovered she didn't have much of an appetite. As focused as she was on getting through the proposal she had planned for the evening she couldn't help but let her mind wonder to the encounter between Stef and Mike in the parking lot. It wasn't that long ago that she would not have hesitated to call Stef, after what she had witnessed that evening, to make sure she was ok; in fact she would probably ended up at Stef's place so they could talk, and talking mainly consisted of Stef venting about her frustration about Mike and Lena listening. Lena looked over at her phone for a second, she seriously considered picking it up and making the phone call, all she wanted to do was to make sure Stef was ok. Seeing Stef distressed sat heavily on her heart. However Stef had not been taking her calls or responding to her texts, so she just sat and looked at her phone. The frustration of not being able to do anything or say anything to support Stef was eating away at her. She got up from her chair and went into her bedroom, when she remerged an hour later she was wrapped in a bath robe and her hair had been tied up into a ponytail. She walked over to the table and poured herself another glass of wine, the light flickering on her phone caught her eye. She picked the phone up and checked the message, it was from Stef.
'Thank you again for looking after Brandon today, I am truly grateful for what you did.'
Lena filled her chest with air and closed her eyes, maybe all hope wasn't lost. This was the first time Stef had actively engaged with her. She opened her eyes and responded to the text.
'There is no need to thank me, I'm glad I was able to be there for you and Brandon.'
Lena looked at the text, she thought for a moment and started typing again.
'There is no need to thank me, I'm glad I was able to be there for you and Brandon. I still consider you my friend and I am here for you whenever you need.'
Lena looked at the text again; hesitant she scratched her forehead and thought about deleting the last part of that sentence. Recent events had shaken her confidence. She stood in the room anxiously weighing in her mind weather this was the right response or even the appropriate response given what had happened between them. After a long pause she burst out laughing, this was silly she was a grown woman behaving like a school girl. She pressed the send button and walked over to the table, sat down and switched her laptop on. It wasn't long before the phone beeped again. She picked it up and read the message.
'Thank you.'
Lena smiled.
Stef sat in the boardroom waiting patiently; the room was the same peach colour she saw when walking through the corridors. It wasn't a very big room, eight chairs were arranged around a table, it had a screen, a projector and a side table lined with coffee cups. Stef reached out in front of her and grabbed the glass of water she had been offered on arrival; she took a sip and placed it back on the coaster.
"Mrs Foster, I am so sorry to have kept you waiting." The voice spoke from behind Stef. Stef turned to face the woman and was surprised when she was greeted by both Mrs Sanchez and Lena. When the school phoned and requested a meeting between Stef and the principal the thought that Lena might attend the meeting didn't cross her mind.
"I haven't been waiting long." Stef replied, looking at Lena
Sanchez stretched out her arm to shake Stef's hand. "And you know our Assistant Vice Principal Ms Adams?"
"Ah yes, of course." Stef muttered out, turning towards Lena and reaching over to shake Lena's hand. Lena didn't think the formality was required and was caught off guard when Stef extended her hand. She graciously took Stef's hand in hers. Their eyes connected in a way that only two people who knew each other intimately could. Stef's face flushed as she looked at Lena, her eyes immediately hit the floor as a wave of unexpected emotions cursed through her body. When she had collected Brandon from Lena's office the other day, she was just so relieved that Brandon was ok and unharmed that she didn't stop to reflect on the fact that she hadn't seen Lena since the night at her house. Her focus in that moment had been singular; making sure Brandon was unharmed and safe at home. If Stef was being truly honest with herself, she was incredibly relieved that Brandon had ended up with Lena, someone he knew and was comfortable with, she had been so happy to see Lena with Brandon nothing else seemed to matter. But seeing Lena now brought forth memories of that night and everything that had occurred. Stef very quickly became self conscious and that night consumed her thoughts, the guilt hit her like a wave from the ocean. Every single muscle in her body tensed up, the temperature in the room began to change and all of a sudden she was finding it hard to breath.
Lena saw the change in Stef's body language, which unsettled her deeply. She had hoped that after their meeting the other day and the text exchange would have eased tensions between them but seeing Stef's reaction to her caught her off guard. She didn't know how to read Stef in that moment was she just unnerved by the meeting or was she unhappy to see her.
Sanchez remained completely oblivious to the energy exchange between the two women as they all made their way to the table and sat down. Sanchez took a seat opposite Stef; Lena sat next to Sanchez.
"Mrs Foster, will your husband be joining us?"
"Aahh, no, he couldn't make it."
"Ok shall we begin?" Sanchez didn't bother waiting for a response and barrelled right in. "Mrs Foster, we've asked you in today to discuss what happened with Brandon the other day. We are obviously very concerned that Brandon was not collected as was arranged, and we wanted to make sure that both you and he are doing ok?"
"We" Stef repeated, looking at Lena eyes wide in utter disbelief. Lena immediately felt the accusation in Stef's eyes and dropped her head. Stef straightened her shoulders and looked Sanchez dead in the eye. "Brandon and I are fine thank you; I really don't think there is cause for concern."
Sanchez leaned into the table "Mrs Foster, some of Brandon's teachers have raised concerns with us that Brandon has been...withdrawn in class and...not his normal self. Then off course when something like the other day occur it raises alarm bells for us."
Stef hadn't noticed anything unusual about Brandon lately, yes he was upset about the other day but that was to be expected but if there was something seriously wrong with her son she would know about it. "Brandon is fine, I don't know what your teachers have told you Mrs Sanchez, but I know my son and he's doing just fine."
"So you haven't noticed any unusual behaviour from Brandon, he hasn't seemed withdrawn to you at all?" Sanchez looked at Stef encouraging her to think back.
"No, I haven't!" Stef defended
Sanchez nodded her head. "Have there been any drastic changes in Brandon's environment that may be affecting him?"
Stef turned to look at Lena again; Lena sighed deeply and looked at Stef with remorse.
Stef adjusted her position in her chair. "Aahh..." She hesitated and closed her eyes to gather herself. "Brandon's father and I...separated a few months ago and that has been tough on Brandon." Stef reopened her eyes. "But I have been speaking to Brandon and checking in on him, it's been an adjustment but he's doing well considering the change."
Sanchez leaned back in her chair in an almost self congratulatory manor. "I see, well sometimes kids hide their emotions from their parents in an effort to try and protect them. But I want you to know that we at Anchor Beach are here to support you in any way that you or Brandon may need." Sanchez's tone became very sympathetic.
"Thank you, but like I said Brandon and I are fine. What happened the other day was an isolated event and it won't ever happen again."
"Ok. If there is anything we can do, please don't hesitate to let us know."
"Thank you." Stef tried to be polite but inside her blood was ready to explode.
"Well that's all from me. Ms Adams, do you have anything you would like to add?" Sanchez turned to look at Lena.
"No...no, nothing from me." Lena stumbled, feeling Stef's harsh glare.
"Mrs. Foster, is there anything from your side?
"No thank you!" Stef's voice was cold and harsh.
"Ok. Well if that is all then I think we are done."
They all stood up. "Mrs Foster, thank you very much for coming into meet us."
"Of course" Stef extended her hand.
Sanchez made her way to the door. "It was good to see you again Mrs Foster."
"And you Mrs Sanchez" Stef replied.
Sanchez exited the room leaving Lena behind. Lena stepped towards Stef.
"I'm so sorry about that, I had no idea that was going to happen." Lena looked at Stef.
"I trusted you." Stef body language was unwelcoming. "What the hell was that, Lena?" the anger in Stef's voice was biting.
"I'm sorry Stef I honestly didn't know..." Stef wasn't listening; she was caught up in her own emotions to pay attention to what Lena was trying to tell her. "You had no right to share personal details about my life or my family with anyone Lena."
Lena pulled Stef's arm to close the gap between them and looked her directly in the eye. "Sanchez ambushed me in the corridor, I didn't know a thing about this meeting, she asked me to come with her to a meeting with a parent, I had no idea you were the parent or that this was about Brandon." Their eyes locked into each other, the tension between them palpable.
"So all of this was what?"
"I don't know what it was from Sanchez, but I had nothing to do with it!" Lena slid her hand from Stef's wrist to her palm and griped her hand. "You know me Stef, I would never, I could never."
Stef starred into Lena's brown orbs, searching for something, for anything she could believe in. "How do I believe that Lena, how can I trust you after what happened?"
"Because you know me Stef, you know me better than anyone has ever known me." Lena looked directly into Stef's eyes, determination all over her face.
They stood in the middle of the room; Lena squeezed Stef's hand in an attempt to reassure her of her honesty. The silence that fell on the room echoed through every corner of the room, bouncing back and forth, screaming to be heard. Their eyes softened on each other.
"Stef I am sorry about what happened between us, it was not my intention to deceive you..."
The door swung open unexpectedly and a young looking woman stood at the threshold. Stef and Lena stepped away from each other. "I'm sorry Ms Adams but your 10.30 meeting is waiting for you in your office."
"Tell her I'll be there in a minute, thanks Carin" Lena responded. Carin nodded in Lena's direction before taking a step backwards and closing the door.
Lena turned to look back at Stef. "I have to go but can we maybe get together and talk...please!"
Stef filled her lungs to the brim and closed her eyes. Her stomach turned with conflicting emotions. In a very short space of time Lena had become such an important part of life, such that Stef doesn't quite know how her life even made sense before Lena was in it. Stef had shared parts of herself with Lena she had never shared with another human being ever before, parts of her she didn't know existed before Lena came into her existence. So to have this distance between them felt unnatural and alien to her. She felt anchorless, drifting at sea with no direction, everything looked the same, and nothing felt like it should. But...but, she was angry, she was hurt, she thought they shared something special, something unique – she had trusted Lena unconditionally. So when that trust was broken she was broken, shattered, this woman who had become the rock in her life had let her down in a way that gutted her. But in the midst of all of that, in the midst of all of those emotions she felt embarrassed and ashamed at her own behaviour. She wasn't that person; she didn't want to be that person. Stef's emotions overpowered her, unsure for what to do or how to respond.
"Stef" Lena tried to push for a response.
"Ok" Stef spoke, her heart pounding in her stomach. She reopened her eyes and a gentle smile broke on Lena's face "Ok, maybe we can meet for dinner?"
"Ok" Every inch of Stef wanted to say no, but Lena had magnetism about her that Stef couldn't deny.
"Ok, I'll text you." Lena looked at Stef, whose face was withdrawn and distressed.
"Ok" was all Stef could muster
Lena reached for the door handle "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine" Stef ran her hand through her hair
"Ok" Lena responded softly. This was progress; for so long they were stagnant, in no man's land, but this was a step forward, a step in the right direction.
Lena opened the door, both women exited the room and stood in the corridor, they exchanged goodbyes and walked off in opposite directions and despite the distance between them, they were closer than they had been since that night.
A/N: Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to read this story, an even bigger thank you to everyone that has taken the time to post a review. I read every review, take your notes and am encouraged by your support. Thank you!