"You look so beautiful when you scowl, ma chèrie," Marie cooed, placing her hand softly on the back of Zelda's neck.
( the meme said five lines... i clearly broke the rules. )
It was a sweet scene, and certainly a way to diffuse the growing tension in the small, dimly lit room... Mary only wished she knew how to react in this moment. Usually, it was Sabrina’s Aunt Hilda who came to these conferences. Friendly and cheerful and trying to help... sometimes she might even drop a secret to baking if she felt inclined. Mary enjoyed Hilda Spellman’s chatter... it was often very familiar.
“Ah, right, so as I was saying...” Mary begins again, Sabrina’s coursework--a muddled display of gradually lowering marks--in her hands, “Miss Spellman’s grades--Sabrina’s grades, sorry--have only seemed to slip over time, and I worry that--”
“You really shouldn’t be worrying about anything, Miss Wardwell,” Zelda snaps quickly, irritation plastering right back on her face. “Aside from the rather abysmal curriculum of your English class. Honestly, your focus on epic poetry and rather ‘safe’ literary options... why, when I was in school, we were talking about revolutionary writers and not the short, tawdy works about guilt-ridden murderers written by the drunks of Baltimore as you seem so obviously drawn t--!”
The calm again. Or, at least the quiet. Mary was sitting a bit farther back in her chair as Marie LaFleur lay a hand on Zelda’s wrist. Soft. Kind. The room felt still again. The echo of a book that had shifted off Ms Wardwell’s wooden desk still lingered in the air.
Mary wasn’t entirely sure why Marie had come with Zelda this day. But in a way--in many ways--Mary was glad. Marie was all the more grounding. And certainly a calming influence to Miss Spellman as far as anyone seemed concerned.
It might have seemed hopeless for Mary to continue, but Marie nodded politely to her, the end of the hour approaching, and held out a hand, indicating to the papers. Mary handled them over softly, avoiding eye contact with Zelda.
The silence was no more welcoming, and while Mary felt inclined to stay, the truth of the matter was that Zelda Spellman seemed in no mood to be entertained by her.
With another small inclination of the head, Mary offered Marie, who was not Sabrina’s aunt but seemed to be the more receptive of the two during this meeting, a small smile and excused herself, allowing the two alone in her office for a moment as Zelda regathered herself.
Marie stroked lightly against Zelda’s wrist, while Zelda exhaled. She may still be greatly annoyed, but there was no risk now to Mary’s many paperweights and desk ornaments being launched across the courtyard outside her window.
“I’ll steal one of her paperweights,” Zelda declared after a moment. A joke, but still... “It’s only fair.”
“No, Zelda,” Marie chides, gathering up her things to go.
“No, you’re right. She should have left her shoes. I’d hex one of them,” Zelda says after a moment, a smile on her lips.
Marie shakes her head, as if the idea were ridiculous. “No, Zelda,” she repeats. “Now, we can go home and have a drink. And you can stop worrying about this meeting.” A hand is offered.
Zelda rolls her eyes, takes Marie’s hand, and stands. “Yes, yes, alright. Get me out of this mortal school.” And before Marie can stop her, she stashes Mary’s apple paperweight in her purse. An innocent mock smile. “It’s nothing. Just be glad I didn’t take one of those odd dolls.”