Chapter Text
Charlotte smiled as a mother walked in with her baby. “Good morning, Lily!”
The mother patted the child’s back, turning her head left and right before looking at Charlotte with a concerned expression. “Morning. Where’s Sarah?”
Charlotte’s eyes widened in realisation. Sarah was one of the staff at the nursery.
“Oh, Sarah isn’t in today, so Lily is going to spend the day with me!” she explained.
The mother frowned. “Is she not well?”
“No, she’s absolutely fine. She’s just taken today off,” Charlotte clarified.
“Well, then why’s she off?”
“It’s her birthday today, so she’s got tickets to the theatre.”
The mother nodded in understanding. “Ah, right, so she’ll be coming back afterwards?”
Charlotte shook her head. “No, unfortunately not. It’s an evening show, so she’s going to be gone all day.”
The mother’s frown only deepened. “Oh, that’s odd. She didn’t tell me that she was going to be off.”
“I believe that it was in our weekly newsletter,” Charlotte said.
The mother clicked her tongue in disagreement. “Mmm, she knows Lily does fridays.”
Charlotte nodded in understanding. “I know, it just happened to coincide with her birthday, but she’s given me a full hand over on Lily, so I’ve planned an absolutely wonderful day for her today,” Charlotte reassured, hoping that it would be enough to soothe the mother’s nerves.
Apparently not.
“How long have you worked here?” she asked in suspicion, squinting her eyes.
“A couple of weeks, but I’ve taken care of children for years.”
The mother took a step back. “I think this could be very confusing for her. I don't want to traumatise her.”
“Actually,” Charlotte began, “I was really lucky to have a few hours with Lily last week when Sarah was out for training, and she did brilliantly! Didn’t you, sweetheart?” Charlotte directed the last part to the little girl, reaching for her.
The mother immediately pulled her back. “Er, is Sarah in tomorrow?”
Charlotte frowned. “We don’t open on saturdays.”
“Right, Lily, I think you’re going to have to have a work from home day with Mummy,” the mother said to her baby before turning to Charlotte. “We’ll see you next week.”
The mother was gone in a flash, leaving Charlotte to stare at the spot where she’d just stood in confusion. She turned around when she heard someone clear their throat, finding the apprentice, Carly, peeking out from behind a wall.
“Who’s gonna tell her that Sarah’s been promoted and she’s moving nurseries?” Carly said with a wince.
Charlotte cringed. “We’ll put it in the newsletter.”