Chapter Text
Little Steps Kindergarten, the sign read as you drove closer to the building. You were picking up your daughter from school.
The first thing you see is the parking lot is decorated with chalk designs, pictures, and drawings, all a mix of bright, colorful scribbles and crudely drawn animals. (The kids tried.)
A few kids are running around the fenced front yard, chasing each other with sticks, bugs, and whatnot. Others play on slides, in the sandbox, or on the monkey bars while some are just sitting, waiting patiently for their parents to pick them up; the quiet ones. Your daughter was a quiet child, not as outgoing as she should be, her teachers think. You’d say you have no idea why she's like that, but you do.
You had to park across from the school because the parking lot the school owns is for teachers and staff, you're also not fond of waiting in the long pickup line. Before you could even cross the street and get to the entrance, you saw Nala running over, her arms stretched out in excitement, yelling, “Mommy!!”
You would scold her for running across the street so carelessly, but seeing her so happy to see you, you decide against it. You open your arms to pick her up, swinging her around as she giggles.
Shortly after, there’s a teacher running up to you; Mrs. Manoban, a black-haired teacher in her late-twenties who’s extremely nice and sweet to everyone. She also babysits Nala when you or her father aren’t around. She holds Nala’s backpack in her hand who huffs and puffs— trying to catch her breath. You could only assume that she’s been running after the little girl. “Hello, Mrs. (Y/l/n)” She greets, so energetic despite the obvious exhaustion written all over her face.
“Hi, Mrs. Manoban. How are you?” You ask politely, smiling back at the woman.
“I’m great! Thank you.” She beams, her dark brown eyes crinkling at the edges, “you see I was just playing tag with the children…and then Nala decided to run across the street so I got scared, but then I saw you, so all is well.” She expresses relieved and hands you Nala’s backpack.
“She was very good today— she always is.” You grin at that, reaching over to give Nala a light squeeze on her hand. You say a quick goodbye after that, as Mrs. Manoban has to attend to the other kids.
Nala lets you take her backpack as you walk to your car. “Woah! This is heavy, what have you got in here?” You joke, lifting the bag up and down.
“We made clay plates today! I’ll show you at home!” You nod with a smile, taking her hand and helping her into her car seat.
“Are we really gonna do something fun today mommy?” Nala asks you as you buckle her into her car seat. “Yep. Though it won’t be until later.” You tell her, and you couldn't help but feel a little dejected, having previously promised her you would do something many other times, like go buy ice cream or take her shopping— she loves shopping. And that never happened. However, this time is different, because now you have a little bit of freedom.
“What will we do? Can I know?” Nala’s curiosity takes hold of her, and she stares up expectantly at you. “I don’t think I can tell you. It's a secret,” you answer, though you don’t know what you’re doing yourself. She pouts but compiles nonetheless. On the way back home you stop and get Nala ice cream, which makes her very happy.
Later, you planned to take her shopping or do something to make up for missed time with her. You’ve only just gotten to a point where you could work from home, not in your office. You do real estate and own your own company so it’s been hard on your time together.
You got home about twenty minutes later. You shut the door behind you before helping your five year old take off her shoes.
“Run upstairs and take your coat off, and then we’ll get any homework out of the way and go out, okay?
“Kay!” You hear her footsteps retreating, but don’t hear them pad up the stairs. It’s then when you notice most of the lights were on, and that the TV was playing. You walked into the living room, the main source of noise, and saw your husband, Jaylyn, swinging a giggling Nala around.
“Jay?” You call from the entrance of the living room. You tried to smile, key word, tried. He put Nala down and cleared his throat, “Why don’t you go do what your Mom said?”
She left the room and he stood awkwardly, not really knowing what to do with himself under your scrutinization.
“Room?” He gestured to your bedroom and you both made your way in there. He sat down on the bed. You turned to him.
“We can’t do this anymore.” You sit on the desk, arms crossed with a plain expression on your face. You were tired of your husband disappearing without a word and then coming back with no heads-up. He never told you where he went either, but you had an inkling. And this “Inkling” of a thought would have hurt you if you still loved him as much as you did a couple months ago.
It’s faded, now on its last strings: romantic wise, just like your marriage.
“I know, and I’m sorry,” he takes his glasses off and rubs his eyes, “I’ve been trying to…to…” he trails off looking at the carpet, searching his mind for the right words.
“Love me like before?” You say and he appears shocked, but it’s not for long. He laughs dryly, shaking his head humorously, “I suppose, yes.” You were very observant, he wouldn’t be surprised if you knew much earlier.
“Okay, but what does that have to do with not being in your daughter's life as much as you should? I can excuse you being that way to me, but to Nala? It’s not okay. She misses you when you leave. I can’t keep making up excuses for you.” You raise your voice a bit, not liking how you’re starting to sound like an angry wife. But you were.
He doesn’t respond, simply staring at you through his frames, guiltily. You pinch the bridge of your nose, “I can see this isn’t going to last, but I want you to be in her life.” You said softer. You knew what it was like only having one parent present, it can make or break someone. You fear that because Jaylyn has not been in her life much this past year, to be her other pillar of support, that’s why she wasn’t as outgoing as other kids. She’s smart, and she’s heard you two argue before, she must have an idea.
“I will, I will. I love our daughter, she’s my pride and joy, so, I promise. Are you suggesting we divorce?” His voice grew softer. “I’m okay with that if that’s what it takes. I don’t like that I’m causing this— I’d like to fix it. I want you to be happy.”
You’ve moved to sit on the bed next to him, “Yes, and I want you to be happy as well. I won’t try and pry what you’ve been doing when you leave, you can tell me another time—“
“Mommy! Daddy!”
“We’re in here, Darling!” Your husband yelled, leaning towards the door. A minute later tiny hurried footsteps approached and Nala’s head popped through the cracked open door.
“I finished my homework, can we go out now? Will daddy come?” Her eyes were shining and you're a bit glad the last question wasn’t directed towards you. That’s a lot of pressure and if you’d have said no, the shine in her eyes might dull. She was clearly excited.
“Of course.” He replied, smiling at her. She ran off to get her coat on and he turned back to you, “we’ll talk about this later tonight, but right now let’s have fun?“ You just laughed and shook your head, letting him help you up.
You ended up going to get ice cream again and then went to Warner Bros.’ Studios, more specifically, the Hogwarts Castle exhibit. You walked with your arms entangled with Jaylyn’s as Nala ran a few steps ahead of you.
“Mommy look!” She pointed the wand you had bought from Oliver’s shop at you before pressing the button, the wand glowed and made a sshoosh noise.
“That’s so cool! Are you gonna be a wizard?” You enthused, watching as she nodded her head proudly. Later, you ended up buying yourself a Gryffindor cloak and scarf, Jaylyn a Slytherine, and Nala a Hufflepuff set.
“I’m gonna miss this.” Jaylyn commented as you two watched Nala walk a couple feet ahead of you exploring the Platform 9 ¾, his words were directed toward you. After this, he wouldn’t get to do a lot of things like this with you anymore.
“Me too.”
That night, after your daughter fell asleep you talked about the divorce. Deciding on starting the tedious process tomorrow.
You woke up alone in the house the next morning, a note with Jaylyn’s handwriting and a doodle drawn by your daughter wishing you a good day and other things. Nala would be with her Grandparents for a couple days and you would see Jaylyn later.
You got dressed in formal clothes for later and put a heavy coat on because it was snowing. Then, headed out for coffee. You went to the café you always went to and ordered the usual Latte.
“Thank you.” You grab the coffee cup from her. The barista looks at you with a look you can only decipher as worry, much to your confusion. You brush it off and continue to turn around, only to crash into a body.
Your coffee jerks out your grasp from the collision, the scalding hot beverage splashing all over their tan blazer, turning it a deep brown. The remnants drip down your sleeves and the cup drops to the floor, but you could care less.
Your eyes almost popped out upon seeing the Saint Laurent logo on the coat.
Guilty, your gaze travels up to your victim; you're in trouble. The woman looks back at you indifferently, frigidly. She doesn’t give away any signs that tell you she’s angry or irritated, and that’s what scares you, she’s unreadable.
You had expected her to jump or react to getting hot liquid spilt on them, but she hadn’t at all.
She has an air about her you think only high class, or the arrogantly rich carry. The power suit says it all. She’s a tall blonde with the face of a model. Her dark eyes burn into your face, most definitely judging you. She was very aloof, you noticed. If anything, it seemed like she was one step away from walking out the door. You jump into action, words spilling out your mouth before you could stop them.
“I’m so, so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going and—” You start to ramble, grabbing a handful of napkins out the dispenser and start dabbing at her blazer, she stiffens uncomfortably.
“Stop.”
“I didn’t even know someone was behind me and now look what I did. I’m sorry. I’ve—” Her nose scrunches up and her brows furrow, you're just smearing it more with those cheap napkins.
She catches the barista's eye who looks at her helplessly, embarrassed for her. The barista tried to warn you someone was behind you.
“Stop.” She repeated, a bit louder, thinking you hadn’t heard her the first time. You were determined to ruin her coat, weren’t you?
“—Your coat, it looks expensive. This coffee is hard to get out of things that are lightly colored. I know firsthand, unfortunately. But you can—” You continued on.
Her jaw clenches and she has a strong urge to roll her eyes. Were you hard of hearing? Blind, too, maybe?
She grabs your wrist, pulling it and the soaked mess you hold away from her. “Stop. You’re making it worse.” Her tone could be considered flat, annoyed. You didn’t hear it that way, though.
You, who had finally registered the hand on your wrist that stopped your clumsy movements, were taken by surprise. Her hand was warm against your skin, you thought. She should feel like a block of ice, not a breathing, living, human. You couldn’t believe the cold, but soothing voice you heard belonged to her.
Your neck heated up in embarrassment. Sometimes you don’t realize your rambling until it’s too late. She let go of you. Your arms dropped uselessly to your sides.
“Oh.” You gazed at her blazer, wincing at how the spot did indeed get worse. You were going to suggest buying her a new coat but she turned on her heel and left the café. Leaving you standing in the middle of the shop with eyes on you, quite dumbly.
“Would you like me to remake that?” The barista’s sympathetic voice reached your ears, she pointed to the cup on the ground.
“Yes…thank you, again.”
You sipped on your coffee as you drove back to your house where you would meet up with Jaylyn to head to the law firm. There, you would file the divorce papers.
You knew this whole ordeal wouldn't be easy, not to mention how long the process takes, but you've done your best to prepare yourself. When you pull into the driveway you honk, two minutes later Jaylyn jogs out and up to your window. He taps on it and you roll it down.
“I just follow you, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll send you the location on maps in case you lose me.” He gives you a curt before hopping in his Range Rover. You pull out the driveway and begin to make your way there.
The Law firm building was basically a skyscraper, you couldn’t imagine how many floors it had. You walked through the glass doors, Jaylyn by your side, and walked to the front desk.
A man who had been signing papers looked up at you before snorting, he spoke in a croaky voice, “Name?”
“(Y/n) (L/n) and Jaylyn Smith.” He hummed before shuffling through some papers, peeking up at you through his tiny glasses, he picked up the phone.
“Yes…Okay…Main floor. Thank you.”
Soon after his call a brunette woman wearing black formal clothes came from the elevator and strided up to the two of you. Her red lips were formed in a wide smile as she approached, pumps clacking against the marble. Her eyes were catlike, they appraised the two of you and she was decked in Chanel.
“Jennie Kim. It’s nice to meet you two, I’ll be taking Mr. Smith with me and your lawyer will be a good friend of mines, Mrs. (L/n). We’ll go over the papers and help you with any questions.” You both shook her hand for a greeting.
You had to split with Jaylyn, having been assigned different lawyers. You felt intimidated, you always did when you went anywhere that had to do with court. You remember going to court the first time for stealing your father’s car and getting caught at a party. You never did it again after going.
Your heels clacked against the marble floors as you followed the man and you wondered if he was annoyed by the sound because the building was quiet. You walked down many hallways, you would’ve looked around but your eyes were glued to the man’s bald spot. It was just so…shiny. You’d think the few strands of hair he brushed over it were decoration, to enhance what couldn’t be hidden…
You took another left and he gestured to the dark oak door you stood in front of. This was where you were supposed to be. He turned to you.
“Your lawyer will be here in a few minutes, have a good day.”
“Thank you.” He nodded before walking off. You hoped you could remember the way back to the lobby because your help just left.
You opened the door and sat down, eyes curiously wandering around their office. It was very minimal, like everything in the room was here because it was needed, save for the picture frames on the desk turned away from you. There were little bits of personality; a guitar was propped up in the corner, probably being used for free time. There was a mini fridge and a container on the side decked with snacks. Polaroids of different places, people, objects. An incense was being burned, you could smell hints of jasmine, musk, cedar, lemon, and ginger.
You picked at your fingernails as you waited, your gaze being drawn to the picture frames pointed away from you once again. It was a matter of curiosity you told yourself, and besides, it wouldn’t hurt if you just took a peek. You wanted to see what your lawyer looked like, all you were told was that she was a woman.
You reached out, you were in the midst of turning the picture frame around when the doorknob turned and someone walked in. You had no doubt you were caught in the act, touching things that weren’t yours. But to your defense, they didn’t even knock.
“Might I ask what you are doing?” A smoky, accented voice inquired.
You turned around, an innocent smile on your face only for it to fade as the seconds went by, as you were met with familiar eyes.
There’s a chill in the air.