anthonygates:
    There’d been a time when he’d felt stuck – both in his job and his life, seemingly having accomplished everything save for the occasional prompting from his mother to settle down and give her grandchildren. But truthfully, he’d felt like there was so much left for him to do – a yearning to make a difference in the world that was more concrete than giving out traffic violations and occasionally helping solve an actual crime. What had led him to volunteer at the local orphanage – he couldn’t exactly tell, but if he had to guess – he knew it had something to do with his own childhood and those he saw in comparison to his.
    While his parents had always made time for him, he’d seen one too many cases where bad parenting or the absence of a role model had led someone who was still practically a kid down a darker road for him to be able to ignore the problem. Although, of course, there was also the slightly selfish reason added onto that, which was that he loved the kids he had the chance to work with. Their bright eyes and the joy they so often brought with them a distraction from his official job and the tragedies that so often came with it. When he could bring a smile onto their faces, it left him with a deeper sense of accomplishment than anything else.
    A warm smile crossed his lips as Catalina approached him – it’d been hard not to notice her in amongst the few volunteers. Gaze lingering often on the sweetness with which she embraced every child that came her way – which happened often, and it wasn’t hard to tell that she was a favorite of the kids. Not that he could blame them, kind and genuine, there seemed to be a natural warmth about the woman that was hard to ignore alongside the natural beauty that so often left him fumbling on how to actually hold up a conversation with her.Â
    Eyes crinkling as he takes her words in, he can’t help the chuckle that slips from his lips. He’d worried about not doing a decent job when she’d first asked him to visit the school – but it’d been just as easy as his work here. “Ahh, well – they were all astoundingly nice, much thanks to you, I reckon. It was an honor to visit them. I’d love to come by again if they’ll have me – or do it for your next class of youngsters.” Although he was sure that something like visits from people like him were a rarity, their questions and little piques of excitement had been invigorating. And, of course – there was the added enjoyment of Lina’s company to look forward to.
   Volunteering was something that she’d always done for herself, never being one to need the approval of others when her parents had raised her to what she thought was right without needing any affirmation. She enjoyed the feeling of making some sort of small difference, contributing by doing something as simple as just giving up some of her time to spend it with others which was all too easy for her when she thrived in a social environment and even more so when there were children involved. There was something so endearing about the way they looked at the world that she doubted she’d ever get tired of passing hours in their company.Â
     Except more recently, her favourite way to spend evenings had only gotten better when it had meant running into Anthony more and more. It would be a lie to say that she wasn’t captivated by the man on some level, finding too much to admire in his personality alone that she didn’t know how she managed to hold herself back from flirting when she usually had little trouble in pursuing what she wanted. Her track record had left her a little more cautious than she used to be however when it came to romance these days, barely trusting herself to choose someone when they’d never proven to be the right ones in the past.
     It didn’t matter that there was a part of her almost convinced that the elusive Mr Right was far closer than she thought, perhaps even standing right next to her but it was a voice that Lina chose to quash, instead just choosing to enjoy his company for a few moments while the children were mostly occupied with themselves. The brunette finally faces him with a warm smile on her lips as she spoke, head tilted up to make eye contact when even her heels did little to take out the differing height between them. “Well I can’t quite take all the credit. They’re a lovely bunch but you truly did have them captivated as well.” Another time she might have admitted that was just as captivated as the pupils who had sat in rapt silence for once but it felt out of place to confess to it when they were far from alone.
    So instead, the teacher just latches on to the idea of more visits from him, her smile shifting wider into something more like a beam as enthusiasm for it shines through. It wasn’t for selfish reasons so much as she could only see positives for her classes from such interactions and bringing something new to the table was one of her favourite things. “That would be wonderful! I’ll see if I can get something set up.” There’s a little pause where she reminds herself to give him an out in case it ever becomes too much of a tie for him. “Of course, if you ever get too busy then just let me know- I know your line of work can be taxing.”
