Maggie was running late again. She quickly clocked out and furiously gathered all of her belongings as she ran to her car, jumping in and starting the car. The builder drove off, rushing through traffic to get to her daughter's school. She stopped in front of the elementary school and hopped out of her cheap blue four door sedan. Maggie then jogged up the steps of the school, bursting through the door of the recently ended day and went to Jamie's classroom. She exhaled lightly and knocked on the door, pulling her hair back in a neat ponytail. The door opened, revealing a teacher not much younger than herself. She had slightly reddish auburn hair that came down to her jaw. She wore a black pencil skirt and a cute pink button-up shirt decorated with pastel coloured ducks. They looked at each other for a moment.

"Sorry, hi, I'm Maggie Sawyer, Jamie's mom." Maggie quickly introduced.

"Oh yeah. She's in the back." Alex smiled letting the latina in. "I'm Alex."

"Nice to meet you. I'm sorry I was so late. Work times have changed and there's no one else, so I have to rush here later. Hey, Jamie!" Maggie said as her daughter looked up at her.

"MOMMY!" She excitedly called running into her mom's arms.

"Hey sweetie!" She said picking up her 4 year old daughter. "You ready to go home?"

"Yeah!"

Maggie smiled and hugged her. "Okay. Thank you again for taking care of her."

"No problem, not at all. She's absolutely amazing. Smarter than any of the other kids as well as very independent."

"She' always been like that. In her curiosity, she never looks back but always holds on." Maggie said looking at her daughter. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you Alex, see you around."

"You, too." Alex said as she watched the two walk away. As they got into their car, the teacher called Maggie. "Oh, and if you ever need someone to watch over her while you're at work, you can always call me, just look up my email on the school website."

"Thank you. I'll take that into consideration." Maggie said smiling before she got in and drove away.

Alex bit her lip and smiled. "She was cute."

Maggie drove home, wondering if she should take up the teacher's offer while she helped her daughter with the small amount of homework she'd had, all of which were too easy for her. As the day progressed, the single mother did all that she could, watching her daughter practice the piano, correcting her and helping her during that hour. Once the sun set, Jamie finally got ready for bed. Maggie sat next to her daughter's bed and tucked her in, looking at her small frail form under the thick sheets that were brought out during the winter. She smiled and looked away, walking out of the room. The worker walked to her desk, opening her laptop and trying to find Alex's email address. She bit the inside of her cheek and weighed her options, furrowing her eyebrows and clicking on the link. The young worker typed a quick email, wanting to get together for coffee the following Saturday. She then turned everything off, going to bed on the futon in the living room.

Alex opened her computer while she got ready for the new day of work. She fixed her hair and put on her glasses, feeling too lazy to wear contacts for that day. An e-mail popped up in her notifications, causing her to stop and open it. She read it and quickly answered back, taking time to read through it to make sure it didn't give off any… vibes before sending it to Maggie. She heard the bell ring, disrupting her thoughts when she had to get up and open the door for her students. She smiled and greeted the children as they entered. She saw Jamie and smiled as she instantly began to chatter with her friends, patiently sitting on the ground with the rest of the kids.

Maggie looked in the rearview mirror to glance at her daughter before she had to hand her over to her ex-boyfriend. She pulled up to the apartment complex and walked up with Jamie to her dad's flat. The young woman knocked on the door, being greeted by her ex, Jim. He smiled at her and looked at their daughter. Jim stood 3 inches taller her, his black hair was cut short as it always was.

"So, how has everything been?" He asked her.

"It's been good. Work's been pretty easy."

"Yeah. Hey, thanks for keeping me in the loop, Mags." He said with a genuine smile.

"Thank you as well. How's your nanay and tatay?"

"They're good. They worry about you, don't hear from you that often."

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry. It's been hectic. I can barely see Jamie except after school and her programs."

"That's okay. I'll tell them you're okay." Jim told her. He then turned to their daughter. "Okay, Jay-jay, say bye to mommy."

"Bye mommy, I love you!" She said waving at Maggie.

"Bye, sweetie." She said, smiling at her daughter before leaving.

Maggie sighed, biting her tongue. Once she reached her car, the worker rested her head on the wheel, trying to calm herself down. She sighed and began to drive to the cafe for her coffee date with Alex. Her blue car pulled out of the gravel parking lot and sped across to the town center. She walked to Le Café des Etats-Unis, searching for the teacher. She felt someone tap on her shoulder.

"Hi Ms. Sawyer."

"Oh, Alex. Sorry, how are you?"

"Great, thank you for asking. You?"

"Great. So, where should we sit?" Maggie asked looking around the room.

"How about over there?" Alex suggested, pointing over to a table in the corner of the small restaurant.

Maggie walked over to the table with Alex and sat down, looking at the menu on the board. She took some time to think before walking over to the counter and ordering her food. Alex stood behind her, waiting to order as well.

"So what are you getting?" Alex whispered to her as they waited for the barista.

"Um… the… the Capri, you?"

"Capri? Oh, that does look good. Hmm. Give me a sec." Alex said leaning back.

The barista came up, apologizing before she took Maggie's order, then taking Alex's soon after. The two went back to their table, waiting for their food to be ready.

"So, you e-mailed me about picking up Jamie?" Alex asked.

"Yes, that would be amazing. She absolutely loves you and I think you'd be a great influence for her while she's growing up. She's always been very comfortable with adults."

"I'd be my pleasure, she's actually given me insight on how to help some of the kids who are not as extroverted. She's going to be a very smart person when she grows up." Maggie chuckled and looked down. "So where's Jamie now?"

"Oh, at her Dad's place."

"Oh, I didn't know you were separated, my condolences."

"No, it's actually okay. Things happened and we knew we couldn't be together because of reasons, so we decided to split our time because we both wanted to be in her life. We dedicate everything to her, our time, money, and sanity to this amazing child. We just need to live our own lives."

"Oh, that's great that you have a great relationship with your ex." Alex said.

"Yeah. Jim's just a sweetheart. He's actually getting married soon. I've met the groom, he's amazing. Smart, kind, and hella funny. Honestly, I'm so glad for them."

"Oh, when are they getting married?"

"I don't know. They haven't made any plans yet. But small with a plus one was Jim and Mark's thoughts."

"Well, have you thought of who you'll bring?" Alex asked looking at Maggie.

"I don't know. Depends on what they say." Maggie answered with a slight smirk.

"I bet they'd say yes." Alex said, looking at the counter as their names were called.

~That following Monday~

"Come on Maggie, the signals. She obviously likes you." Maggie told herself as she held onto the steering wheel.

Maggie sighed and got out of the car to walk to Alex's flat. When she walked in, Sawyer was taken aback by the sleek apartment entrance. She slowly walked to the elevator, trying to take in all that was around her. The walls were faux oak wood with sleek black, white, and grey with olive green accents to pop. The elevator was the same but with salmon accents instead. When she left the elevator to Alex's floor, she saw that the accent had changed to a soothing greyish blue. She walked past the doors, stopping at the one marked 4A in silver. She rapped on the door, waiting for the tenant to open. She was greeted by Alex wearing jeans and a black tank top reading Music = Life.

"Hey, Mags." Alex said, embracing her friend tightly.

"Hey, how's Jamie?"

"Currently playing the piano. She'd absolutely amazing." Alex said letting Maggie inside.

"This place is beautiful. How can you afford it?"

"I teach as my main job, but I do a lot of research and publish papers in my off time to pay the bills."

"What kind of research papers?"

"Ones on the medical field and microbiology. The latter is what I minored in at college and the first is what my sister does."

"Wow, they must pay really well."

"Not really, I just publish enough that the royalties just stack up." Alex shrugged and took Maggie's hand as she lead her to the piano where Jamie was playing.

Maggie looked down at their hands as she followed the redhead through the kitchenette/living room. She took time to glance at all of the random things around the room. It was as if everything was child proofed. There was a surfboard up high on the wall, the kitchen seemingly had no utensils on the counter, even the stools were not that high and weighed to the ground. Maggie nodded in approval of her friend's caution. She looked at the small piano Jamie was playing, noting that the music sheet that was there read 'Beauty and the Beast'. She silently watched as her daughter played. Maggie felt something in her hand, looking down to see that she and Alex hadn't let go yet. She looked up at Alex, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

"Thank you." She whispered into Alex's ear, placing her other hand on the redhead's wrist and leant into her.

"No problem." Alex breathed in response, blushing deeply.