Today had to be completely perfect for Abigale, it all had to go exactly to plan. She'd had her outfit picked out for a week, and her words chosen for hours, and of course, she'd prepared a whole speech to convince Charlie that Ashley-bloody-Rae really didn't like him after her shift that day Taylor had accidentally given her the idea. Really, she was surprised Charlie didn't know already that Ashley didn't like him back by the way she constantly treated him - or, more accurately, didn't treat him. Abi just didn't know why he let her do that to him, it wasn't fair on her or Charlie. 'Her' of course being Abigale.
She really couldn't care less for Ashley, and she hadn't failed to notice either how Ashley hadn't scheduled them to ever work together. And even then, it was a little obvious that Ashley was avoiding her on shift anyway, considering she was hardly ever out the front when Abi turned up, and if she was, she let James or Jace hand over rather than doing it herself, walking to the office and shutting herself in until the end of her shift, or even just leaving early through the back. Abi didn't know what to do about that, though she didn't want to do anything it might look bad if she didn't at least try just once to figure out what her issue with Abi was.
Abi dressed, making sure her hair and makeup were perfect, before grabbing some toast for brunch. She loved having two days off. They weren't consecutive, but she couldn't complain really, considering she got to lie in more after working the 11 pm-7 am shift. And seeing as she shared one of her days off with Charlie, she really couldn't complain, even if she didn't spend as much time - if any - with him as she'd like. She blamed Ashley.
She checked the time, knowing Charlie would probably be out with the new baby dragon he'd adopted, so she made double sure her makeup was perfect before stepping out, locking her door and breathing in the cold air. she didn't feel the cold, not really, considering she was used to dressing in crop tops and leggings half the time. It's what she felt comfortable in, so really, why not? But she was definitely grateful for the denim jacket.
Finding Charlie wasn't difficult, considering she knew his routine inside and out by now, but even then all she really had to do was follow the noise of him yelling at the dragon that was probably misbehaving or hurting him again - both were highly probable given the amount of time Charlie had to go to the hospital because of injuries from the baby dragons. She didn't know why he did it when they always hurt him, and there was no way she was ever going to let them do that to her, but if he liked them then she couldn't do much about that.
Yet.
Abi took a breath, going over it all one more time before catching up and grabbing Charlie's attention. "Hey! Are they behaving today?" She smiled at him, making sure he couldn't escape the conversation before she told him how she felt about him.
Charlie smiled, though it was more out of politeness than anything. "Kiwi is behaving, Loco, not so much."
She giggled a little, though didn't really know how to respond to that; dragons weren't entirely her strong suit. "I was wondering if we could talk?"
Charlie shrugged, "sure, walk with me."
Relieved that he hadn't shut her down, she fell into step beside him, almost too close to him, but making sure the two baby dragons - that were the height of her waist now, so could hardly be classed as babies - kept well away from her. "I was wondering if you were doing anything later today? Like this evening maybe?"
Charlie shrugged again. "Not really, just taking care of these two." He watched them running off before calling them back when they went too far.
"Well, would you like to go for dinner somewhere? My treat."
Abi could immediately see his surprise, the way he paused, mid-step, before carrying on, though his eyes hid no secrets. She wasn't particularly surprised he hadn't realised she liked him, though a little annoyed at his complete fixation on Ashley.
"As in like... a date?" He sounded hesitant, though it didn't waver her confidence that she could make him come around.
"Yeah, there's a really nice restaurant in the town, it's not too far, I think you'd like it." She smiled, keeping it light, pretending not to notice his hesitation. She'd talk him past it.
Charlie fell silent for a beat. "Abi, you're great, really, you're talented and pretty, and driven, but I just like you as a friend."
Abigale didn't lose confidence or hope; she'd prepared for this. "You mean, you like Ashley." He started to answer, but she didn't want to hear it. "With the way she treats you, I can't believe she could like you back."
"She loved me." He looked hopeful, just a smidge.
Abi noticed it, knowing that in order to have a chance she needed to get rid of that hope. "Past tense, Charl. She doesn't love you, not anymore. With the way she treats you, that's not even friendly behaviours, she can barely stand to look at you, and you think there's hope in that? Really? She treats you like gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe, taking you for granted, and it's not fair on you. Are you really so blind that you haven't noticed her palming you off to every other healer in close proximity? Or slacking on work, going home early, just to avoid you?" She could see the hurt in his face, so she leaned into him. "I'm sorry, I know how hurt you must be. I'll take you to dinner, we can-"
"Really?" Charlie said quietly.
Abi stopped, not really knowing what was happening. "What?"
He stepped away from her, looking stunned. "You actually, genuinely think I'd go to dinner with you after you've just tried to completely destroy me? You've just stood there and torn down every last shred of hope I had left, and you expect me to now go to dinner with you?"
Abi tried to find the words but her mind was completely blank.
"I don't just like Ashley-Rae. I'm in love with her, and I have been for well over a year, nothing is going to change that any time soon. And if I do eventually have to get over her, I won't be doing it with you. You clearly have no respect for anyone, least of all yourself, if you think the only way you can get someone is by tearing other people down." He looked disgusted with her actions, not saying anything further before walking away with the two dragons, leaving Abigale there feeling very sorry for herself and angry at everything that had just happened.
Though, this time she seemed to have it right and was angry at herself for ever thinking she could do anything like that and have it work. And she was also angry that she'd ever allowed herself to blame anyone else for her misfortunes; Charlie was right, she realised, she really couldn't have much self-respect if she was willing to destroy Ashley-Rae in his eyes, and in the process, Charlie.
She stared at the hospital in the distance, seeing Taylor helping someone through the hospital doors. Maybe she was better suited elsewhere? Abi had done so much damage to herself here, she needed to bring herself back up, and she didn't think that was possible around the people who'd witnessed everything she'd put not only herself but everyone around her through.
And Ashley-Rae...
Abigale knew she owed her an apology. The way she'd treated her, the way she'd hated her just because Charlie liked her, found fault in everything she did, was despicable, and Abi should be above that behaviour by now. Except clearly, she wasn't. So she really needed to take a step back, re-evaluate her actions and become better.
She decided to talk to Ashley-Rae about maybe transferring out of the sanctuary to anywhere else. Maybe she'd ask if Pete would be willing to take her on in South Africa.
She checked her watch, sighing as she realised Ashley would possibly still be sleeping considering it was barely two hours after her last shift had ended, but maybe James would still be up and about. She knew he shared a place with Jace, though sometimes he'd spend time at Ashley's if he was doing paperwork, rather than hang about in the office, especially after a morning shift, so she tried her luck, walking around to the back of the building to the door at the back that led up to the apartment inside. There was a staircase inside the hospital as well, through a usually locked door in the back of the office, which Ashley used most often, but Abigale didn't feel like walking through the hospital to it, so she used the back way.
She rang the bell, waiting for only thirty seconds before Ashley opened the door looking very confused.
"Oh! Abi!" She smiled, relaxing a little. "I thought you might be... well I don't know, James and Jace are both upstairs, so I was confused. Anyway, what can I do for you?"
"Oh, um..." She lost her nerve, not really knowing what to say now.
Ash looked concerned. "Was it something private? I have an office upstairs we can use, it's got soundproofing charms around it, so they won't hear what we're talking about."
Abi stammered for a few seconds before Ashley spoke up again.
"Tell you what, come in here." She held the door open for her, leading her up the stairs and around, passing the door to her living areas and through to a back room that even Ashley hadn't known existed until one sleepless night she'd accidentally walked into it trying to find the door leading down to the hospital back when she didn't know where anything was. "Ok," she flicked the lights on to reveal a room full of beanbags and chairs and boxes sort of placed in a semi-organised manner, "sit, and tell me what's going on."
So Abigale did, starting from the beginning, essentially giving her boss a very thorough walkthrough of everything that had been going on in her mind since she'd arrived there, and then after Ashley, right through to the events that went down a little over five minutes ago. Though, of course, she omitted the actual word-for-word between herself and Charlie, because she had several feelings that Ashley wasn't aware of Charlie's feelings towards her, even though they were blindingly obvious, and it wasn't her place to tell her. She'd leave that fun to Charlie himself.
Ashley sat back, looking a little overwhelmed with everything that she'd just been told.
"So, I was thinking maybe you could transfer me somewhere where maybe no one really... Where I could grow from this without being in the same environment that caused me to behave like this. Or..." She started falling over her words, not knowing how to put her thoughts out in a coherent way.
Ashley placed a hand on her shoulder, though she had to lean forward a fair way because of the box between them. Abi wondered momentarily where they all came from considering they were all witches and wizards and used the undetectable extension charm for moving or things of the sort. But the thought was gone again in under a second as Ashley spoke.
"I can see about transferring you wherever you want to go. Was there anywhere you had in mind?"
Abigale relaxed. "I thought maybe Pete, over in South Africa? But I'm absolutely ok with anywhere that creates an environment like this."
"With the chaos and mania?"
"With the chaos and mania," Abigale confirmed with a smile.