She never liked Tuesdays, she found her husband in bed with another woman on a Tuesday, she served him the papers on a Tuesday, and now she's being called to her son's school on a -You guessed it- Tuesday.
She had to leave work early, the school called her when they couldn't reach Darnley. And of course, the one time she needs him, the man is busy. So here she is, walking up the parking lot in heels. On ice. In a pencil skirt.
James got in a fight, a fight. He's eight. What kind of fight was it? Did little Timmy steal an animal cracker out of her kids' lunch box?
The principal's office is empty, except for another girl. Her dark hair is tied up in a ponytail, tight curls falling and bouncing around her back. She doesn't say anything when Mary enters she just takes a seat in a leather chair in front of the big brown desk and waits.
"Lola," a man greets as he walks in, the door shutting behind him, "Mary."
"Where's my son?" The woman, Lola she assumes, is the first to speak.
"The boys are with their teacher." The man hums as he flips open a handbook and thumbs through it and then he's sitting down.
"Is he alright?" Lola asks.
"They're just kids, I highly doubt there was any real damage," Mary says.
"Your son gave my son a bloody nose."
"That..." she shakes her head, "That doesn't sound like James."
"I assure you, we got the right child, Ms. Stuart."
"Well he wouldn't do anything unprovoked, what did the other child do?" Mary asks and Lola glares at her.
"Nothing." She snaps, "John is a good kid, he would never-"
"Lola, we are still trying to sort everything out."
"Stephane." Lola makes a face, a pleading face, "You know John wouldn't-"
"Uuuh-"
"He is a good boy." She tells him.
"Are you implying that my son isn't?" Mary snaps it and now they're looking at each other, "I know my son."
"With all due respect, Mary, I don't see you hurrying to pick him up after school. Have you ever been in this building?"
"Excuse me-"
"As entertaining as this is, please save the catfight for after this matter is settled." Stephane cuts in, it's good he did. Mary was about to choke someone. She settles back in her seat with a sigh, glances at the name tag on the desk. Narcisse. Oh.
She remembers that James is terrified of him. All of the kids are.
"Now," he sighs, "Both kids have never misbehaved like this before. So I am willing to let them off with a warning. Usually things like this warrant a suspension-"
"They're eight," Lola speaks up.
"Eight and first-time offenders. Which is why, if you had let me finish, I'm going to leave it up to their teacher. They will be out the rest of the day, which is why I called you two here. They're waiting in the classroom for you now." Lola seems satisfied with that answer as she leans back with a smirk that Mary wants to smack off her stupid face.
-/-
They walk in silence down the hall, no avoiding having to walk together. Even though her blood is boiling out of her skin at the moment. Lola doesn't even knock before stepping inside the room.
"What happened?" She's asking as she steps inside.
"Good afternoon to you too." Is the sarcastic remark she is given. "It was just a small scuffle." He says as he gets up from his desk.
"He drew blood."
"It's not like the kid got up this morning planning to do it."
"Blood. Francis. Blood." She shakes her head when he shrugs it off.
"Children, Lola, children." He says and then he steps out from in front of Lola, the girls back was in Mary's view and.
Well,
They did not make teachers like that when she went to school. Oh, he's pretty. Oh, he's really pretty. Like take him home to her mom pretty. Sunday dinners with the whole family pretty, sit on the porch and grow old together pretty. He's all blonde hair and gorgeous blue eyes and she wants to run her fingers through his curls until she dies.
"You must be James' mother." He says, "I don't think we've met."
"Uh..." she shakes her head, "No, we haven't." She would remember him. He smiles at her as he extends a hand towards her.
"Francis."
"Mary." She says softly as she closes her fingers around his and his hands are so Soft. They're looking at each other now and for some reason, he looks familiar to her, like she's known him before but she can't place him.
Soulmate, her mind shouts gleefully. Lola's eyes dart between them and she squints.
"Can you guys like...I don't know, fall in love later?"
She let's go of his hand with a hard step back and he rolls his eyes at the girl before turning to head back to his desk.
"Where is James?" Mary asks after a clearing of her throat.
"The boys went to the restroom." He tells her and Lola runs her hands over her face.
"You let them go together?!"
"...yeah?"
"After they got in a fight?" Lola folds her arms over her chest as she glares at him.
"Lola-"
"What if that James kid attacks our son again?" She asks on a harsh snap.
"Attacks?" Mary snaps back, "Wait- our?"
"One-night stand." Lola supplies with a dismissive wave of her hand before turning back to Francis. "You left two boys who just got in a fight alone together."
"James didn't attack your son, he's eight, not a goddamn serial killer." Mary snaps as she turns to Lola.
"Listen, lady, John has never once in his life raised a hand to any other kid as long as he has been in this school."
"And James hasn't either."
"Then who started it?"
"I don't know, but it wasn't my kid." She snaps again, she's been doing that a lot lately, but this woman is getting on her last nerve. Lola's closer to her now, glaring and Mary is just begging for something to punch after the week she's had.
"Okay," Francis moves now, "Let's be adults here."
"Where's your husband?" Lola asks, "He had to be really busy to get you down here."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means." She steps a little bit closer, "Maybe James isn't getting enough attention from mom at home." Mary's hand rises after that but before it can meet flesh, it's caught.
"That. Is. Enough." Francis' voice is stern and firm and it is absolutely doing things to her insides but she's too angry, she just twists her wrist out of his grasp and takes a step back. "Lola, apologize."
"No-"
"Now." Okay, hi, she never wants to be on the receiving end of that tone. Lola sighs and rubs at her eyes.
"You're right." She sighs, "I'm just angry about the situation. I didn't mean to imply that you're...negligent. I'm sorry." She wants to understand, Lola has had a difficult day too and she's sure it's out of character for John to get in trouble like this. She's finding it hard to be sympathetic though, as her being negligent is the one thing Darnley loves to throw in her face when they're in the throes of a loud, nasty, fight.
It's not okay, it hurts, but on the benefit of not being the recipient of Francis' dad voice. She nods.
"It's...I accept your apology." She says softly around a hard swallow.
"Great." Francis seems to have cooled down but he shakes his head at Lola as he heads back to his desk, "here are folders with the rest of today's assignments inside. They're due tomorrow." He says and he hands Lola a red folder with their sons' name on it and Mary a yellow folder with James' name on it. "Their books are in their backpacks."
-/-
"You wanna tell me what happened?" Mary asks as she watches James pick at his food. He doesn't look at her, he just keeps his eyes cast down. "James? Was that boy picking on you?"
He shakes his head.
"John is nice." He says softly.
"Then why were you guys fighting?" He shrugs and she thinks this is all she'll be getting out of him tonight. She sighs heavily, "Okay, go get ready for bed." He jumps down from the kitchen table.
"Brush your teeth!" She shouts after him as he disappears down the hall.
"Darnley it was just a small fight." She's explaining over the phone, she figured she should probably call him and tell him what's going on. James is in bed and she's tucked herself on the couch, flipping through channels.
"Did you find out what the other kid did?" He asks and he sounds annoyed, angry, a little bit drunk. He's always drunk so, she isn't surprised at that.
"I-"
"He had to have been picking on him." That's what she said but James isn't saying anything and she sighs again as she tosses the remote down and kicks off her heels. Her feet hurt and she wonders if the job is really worth it, but then she remembers she has no other way to pay for this house. It pays well enough, even if it will cost her her toes one day.
"Yeah well. James isn't talking, so." She says softly, maybe he's taking all of this harder than she thought. Since she left Darnley a month ago and moved not long after that. Her mom bought her this house and she's been taking extra shifts at the coffee house with Greer on the weekends to help pay her back.
And then she's an editor at a publishing company an hour away.
Going through a divorce. Becoming a single mom almost overnight. James is too young to understand any of this and maybe it's taking a toll on him too. She finds she looks more tired than she used to, there are more bags under her eyes than there used to be. Everything she does feels like it takes energy she doesn't have anymore. She isn't even thirty and yet she feels like she's reaching fifty.
"I told you it was too soon."
"What was I supposed to do? Stay in an unhappy marriage? Is that the environment you want to raise our child in?"
"It's not too late to try and salvage this," Darnley tells her and she sighs. She doesn't want to salvage it, she wants it to be over and moving James again would only mean more change.
"Salvage it." She rolls her eyes, "Be happy for a month until you come stumbling home with some girls lipstick on your neck?"
"Mary-"
"We're supposed to be talking about James." She says dryly. "He's acting out, quiet."
"That's what happens when you leave overnight, Mary. There are too many changes and he's just a boy if you had just stayed this wouldn't be happening." He hangs up after that and she groans as she sets her phone down. It's her fault, it's always her fault. Nevermind the fact that if he hadn't cheated on her, she wouldn't have left.
"Mom?" She didn't hear him come down the stairs but now she turns to the small voice at the end of the hall. She sets her glass down and stands.
"What are you doing up?" She asks as she walks to him, combing her fingers through his brown curls. He's the spitting image of Mary when she was little. Same brown curls, same dimpled smile, but he has blue eyes. She wonders where he got them from, maybe from somewhere in Darnley's genes.
"I forgot to do my homework." He confesses softly and she glances at the clock, it's almost eleven-thirty, way too late for him to be up.
But she remembers that Francis did say no exceptions and she doesn't want him to be in any more trouble. And if she's honest, she forgot about it too.
"Okay." She nods, "Well let's see how much we have to do." She says softly.
They spend twenty minutes looking for the damn folder with his assignments in it, before she remembers that she left it in her car and then they get halfway through the first one before James is starting to fall asleep at the table. She's half tempted to just do it for him but, that's not a good precedent to set so she just pokes him with the eraser end of a pencil.
"James." She says softly, he opens his eyes, barely but they're open. She sighs heavily before just taking the half-finished paper and sticking it in the folder with the rest of the unfinished assignments.
She tucks him back into bed a moment later thinking she'll just have to talk to Francis tomorrow morning.
She tries to tell herself the knots that form in her stomach don't mean anything.
-/-
They leave earlier than usual that morning and instead of dropping him off at the bus stop like she usually does, she keeps going. His school isn't far but she will be late for work if she isn't careful.
There aren't many cars in the parking lot, it looks mostly empty and she and James walk hand in hand inside. She's a little worried that he isn't here yet, but the light is on and the door is cracked.
She knocks lightly before going in and there he is, sitting at his desk with his feet propped up, the morning news playing on his laptop.
"Uh...hey." She says softly.
"Oh." He jumps like she startled him, his feet are off his desk and he sits up a second later. His face twists in confusion as James runs in the room. "Class doesn't start for another hour."
"I know." She fidgets, twisting her rings around her finger as she watches James hang his backpack, "Uh..." she sees that John is here too and James sits next to the boy with hair even blonder than Francis' it's almost white and curls slightly. She wonders how she didn't notice it before, the boy looks just like him.
"Do you need something?" Francis asks and she turns her head to look at him again.
"Well, it's my fault." She tells him, "James didn't finish the work you sent home with him and...honestly, I forgot about it too." She says softly, "So, don't be mad at him. I got in a fight with my husband, soon to be ex-husband and I just-" she stops because he really didn't need to know that part but she can't seem to shut up. And she's oversharing. And he's looking at her like he's sad for her, pity.
"It's alright, Mary." He says, "He can finish it right now actually. John didn't do it either."
"Oh." She nods, that's surprising, "That's surprising." Stop talking.
"Why?" He tilts his head at her like he's genuinely curious.
"Well, you're...you're his teacher and his father..." shutupshutupshutup, "so..."
"Lola has him this week." He tells her with a smirk that succeeds in turning her insides into mush and she looks away quickly.
"I...I should go." She says with a step back when he stands, "before I'm late for work."
"Have a good day."
"You too." She says with a small smile and then she says a quick goodbye to James and leaves.
A/N: I wasn't planning on uploading this so soon after the last one but I just...really wanted to. This story is still in the developing stages so updates will probably be slow until I find my footing.