Starlight turned off her computer and leaned on her office chair. Her back hurt from sitting too long, and her hands weren’t faring much better either. She spent her whole afternoon encoding her students' grades for the end of the semester and was writing her reports since the end of her break, almost nonstop. If her colleague hadn't reminded her of lunchtime, she might've missed it. But at least she was done with all the paperwork she needed to do, that way, she could go home earlier than usual, and maybe even pick up Luster from school like she used to. Her daughter would probably like that.
She looked at the clock on the wall and was shocked to find that she was an hour shy of passing the 12-hour mark since she left the house. She stepped out of the house at 7 in the morning, to drop off Luster at school before heading to work, and it was now 6 in the evening. Looking around she saw that almost everyone—if not everyone—had left the building, her cubicle the only one with the lights on. She had never been this inattentive of the time, not even during her periods of enthusiasm when working on a project or conducting interesting research. Ever since Luster was born, she learned to be aware of the time so as not to keep her child to fend for herself.
The teacher immediately looked for her phone, found it inside her purse where she tossed it in sometime after lunch and saw a barrage of calls and messages from Sunset Shimmer, the last message sent thirty minutes ago. She unlocked her screen and began to read.
Today. 3:30 PM
What time will you be home? I'm already fixing Luster some snacks so if you're on your way and thinking of buying something, you don't have to.
Today. 4:28 PM
I'm guessing it's OT again? Luster's asking for you, but you're not replying. Anyway, my girlfriend and I are meeting some old friends from our hometown at 6:30, and I still have to buy food for everyone (because we all know Twilight can't cook to save her life) she'll be home at exactly 6:30. She'll pick up our friends from the train station. I can't leave Luster here.
Today. 5:13 PM
You're probably going to kill me, but I brought Luster to the store and promised her a bowl of ice cream for dessert later. I told you; I can't just leave her alone. Answer your phone when you can.
Today. 5:30 PM
I'm guessing you're busy if you’re ignoring my texts and calls. Anyway, just letting you know that Luster's with us, so no need to worry if you're coming home late and you don't see us. This is NOT kidnaping okay. This is me, being a responsible adult. And of course, you have to pay me extra!
"Oh, good lord," she muttered as she checked her missed calls and sees 6 from Sunset. She hurriedly typed her reply after that. At least Sunset had the mind to keep her daughter in her watch and to remind her to pay her extra for the extended services, but she really couldn’t complain, since Sunset’s been a treasure, especially when things were starting to get cloudy on her corner of the world.
After another fifteen minutes of putting her papers in a neat file, arranging the other trinkets on her desk, and double-checking if all the electronic gadgets and appliances were turned off, Starlight turned off the lights and proceeded to the college lobby. That was when she heard the thunder rumble and the wind blow.
"But it's the middle of summer!" she hissed as she looked and felt inside her bag for her umbrella.
When she finds none, she marched back to the faculty room and searched for a spare umbrella among her things, but all she found were a pair of heels, an extra canvas bag for bringing some of her papers home, and her stash of jasmine tea. What a time to be alive!
She sighed in defeat as she rearranged her bag. She thought about waiting for the weather out in the building, and if the summer rain persisted, she would have to walk home in the rain and hope the water didn’t ruin her work clothes. She texted Sunset to let Luster stay with them for the night since she'll be paying her extra anyway and tomorrow would be Saturday, which meant Luster had no school.
She was too busy typing her response when she left the faculty room to notice anything else, and on the way to the lobby she looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of red hair coming out of the men's room. Starlight's eyes widened and she froze on the spot, but she recovered almost immediately. She hoped he hadn’t noticed her—even though it would be impossible not to since she was standing in the middle of the empty hallway—but Murphy's Law decided to kick at the moment she tried to hide. She tripped on the loose rubbered edge of one of the steps leading to the lobby as she hurried, sending her to the floor with a loud thump and a yelp. She heard footfalls approaching, and hoped that is was the guard standing in front of her.
But with her streak of misfortune, this could only mean one thing.
"Didn't they tell you not to run up and down the stairs?"
Starlight doesn't even need to brush her bangs to the side to know who the owner of the voice and the one whose hand is on her shoulder belonged to. The voice is all too familiar.
"Ma'am, what happened here?"
Starlight straightened herself and looked up at the guard. "I just tripped on the stairs, that's all. Nothing to worry about, I’m alright!" she tells him, but what she wanted to do was to strangle and yell at him for coming to her aid only after her ex-husband came running to her side.
With the guard watching, she allowed Sunburst to touch her—again—and he helped her get to her feet, the motions so familiar that it was almost nostalgic, strong arms supported her equally strong frame (from working out on weekends) as she finds her footing. She felt a little strain on her left ankle, but she dismissed it and hoped the pain would subside by tomorrow. The guard leaves shortly, but with worry etched on his face.
Sunburst hasn't let her go yet, and this was something he usually did after assisting her. Old habits die hard, it seemed.
"I'm okay now," she reassured him, once again shaking off his hands from her arms. "I'm going home."
Sunburst released her carefully. Starlight silently thanked him for not keeping her for long as the last time. Then she turned around and her ankle immediately gave away. She didn’t hit the floor this time, though, for he was able to catch her.
She waited for him to chide her or even tease her for lacking grace and finesse, but that also didn’t come. Instead, she found herself being lifted off the ground, bridal style and being enveloped by the comfortable warmth that she used to come home to at the end of a long day. A whirlwind of emotions hits her as memories of being carried by Sunburst (she missed this, but won't say out loud) almost made her eyes teared up (because it only happened twice: the first being after they were married and he carried her through the threshold of their new home, the second being when her water broke and he carried her through the hospital’s emergency room).
"Put me down." She weakly protested. "I-I need to get my bag!"
He puts her down slowly, but her feet don’t even touch the ground before she's in his arms again (technically, she hadn’t left).
"There, I got it for you." He quipped and then he started heading towards the exit like everything was normal.
Starlight gave him a mortified look. "Sunburst! I told you to put me down!" She hissed because if she yelled, they would be too noisy, and she didn’t want to bother the poor guard with one of their silly dramas. She felt like God or destiny or whatever had dropped her in the middle of a bad soap opera for the sake of their amusement.
Despite her struggling, Sunburst doesn't budge. He doesn't even flinch when she swung her legs violently in the hopes of reaching the ground, but when pain shot up her injured ankle, she quickly stopped moving. He adjusted his hold on her and doesn't say a word.
"Hey, grab my umbrella and hold it over us once we get outside, I might have to put you down to open the door though.”
She grabbed his beard instead of the parasol and forced him to face her. "Where the hell are you taking me, Sunburst?"
He grinned. "Home."