| Episode: | Season 1, Episode 1 – Chaos! At The Gala |
| Location: | Clarke Residence |
| Written By: | Freya Clarke Blake Preston |
| Date: | 08/07/2026 |
| Word Count: | 1,126 |
Blake Preston wasn’t sure which part was the absolute worst, if it was dealing with his ex-wife or trying to get time with his daughter. It had been like this for years by that point, starting since Charlotte was three years old until now. In years past, Blake had gotten to keep Charlotte during the Gala event. But, standing there in the apartment where Freya and Charlotte lived, it seemed like that wasn’t going to be the case this year.
Blake had waited to have this conversation, he knew Freya had waited to have this conversation as well. Now Charlotte had left to go to school and it was just the two of them, Blake had today off down in the docks and Freya hadn’t left for the government offices just yet. He scratched the back of his head gingerly.
“I knew you’d have a problem with this,” Freya said. She’d broken the silence that had fallen between them in the time that Charlotte had told both of them she loved them. “Her friends are going to be there, and she really wants to go.”
“She wants to go? Or, you want her to go?” Blake asked her.
Freya placed her hands on her hips, “That’s not fair,” She quipped. There was a slight hint at feeling rather stung by the questions. Freya had known this was going to be a problem, “This is the first year her friends are getting to go, don’t take this from her.”
Blake stood there without saying another word. He knew he wouldn’t win this argument, and he was more than certain if he asked Charlotte there would be a slightly different response. Perhaps Freya was right this time? Blake didn’t much care for Freya anymore, it wasn’t to say he hated her or anything. Her politics were different than his and maybe that was the problem?
Blake couldn’t be entirely certain, however, they’d at least been civil for their daughter. Blake didn’t want Charlotte growing up hating either of her parents, and he didn’t think Freya wanted that either. Some couples had far worse break-ups than theirs, even when there had been children involved. He sighed and lowered his shoulders, “She really wants to go?”
“Yeah,” Freya said. She’d seen the relaxed posture replacing the more tense version of her ex-husband. It allowed Freya to relax quite a bit as well, “Her friends Paige and Katelynn are going this year. And, I think she was afraid to ask you.”
Blake tilted his head, “Why was she afraid to ask me?”
Freya shrugged, her hands falling away from her hips at the same time, “Because she was afraid you’d be upset, disappointed, or mad.” Freya admitted to him. “Whether we like it or not Charlotte is growing up.”
Blake nodded his head very slowly and looked away from her for a moment. It was true, he didn’t like that his little girl was growing up. He didn’t like that there was nothing he could possibly do or say in order to stop that from happening.
“I wouldn’t have been any of those things,” Blake told her.
“I know,” Freya replied as she watched the back of his head. “But, she’s twelve. She’s not a little girl anymore. Well, not entirely anyway.”
Blake had to admit that she wasn’t really a little girl anymore, not in the way he wished she was. “I know,” He said softly. The gravel in his voice seemingly fading away as he stared away and out the small viewing glass. He could see people walking by, and for a time he watched them before turning and looking back at Freya.
“What?” Freya asked him.
Blake shook his head, “Nothing.” He responded and shrugged rather curtly before crossing his arms over his chest. He leaned back into the counter top that was behind him and continued to look at his ex-wife. His earlier outburst not entirely forgotten as he considered his next words, “Will it be safe for her to go? Those parties get pretty rowdy.”
Freya laughed, “I don’t know that I would call the Gala a rowdy event. It’s actually quite stuffy if you ask me and sometimes rather boring. She’ll probably be complaining the entire time, and besides you know how much our daughter doesn’t like fancy clothing.”
Blake nodded, ‘Then why is she wanting to go?’ He asked himself before a slight smirk played across his face. “I’ve seen the news reels of the after party,” He told her. Every four years when the Gala happened there was always after parties all across Stelvik Station.
“We’re not going to an after party Blake,” Freya reminded him. “She may not have school the next day, but I’m not keeping her up that late at night.” Freya sighed and crossed her own arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side. “I don’t even go to the after party.”
Somehow Freya felt as if Blake didn’t entirely believe her when she said she didn’t go to the after parties herself. But, Freya always went to the Gala and then came back home to her shared apartment. Then the next day Charlotte would walk from Blake’s to here, she was beginning to understand why he was a little hurt.
“I really don’t,” Freya added.
Blake listened to her, and knew she wasn’t really the type of person to go partying after any kind of an event. Though there was a small part of him that wondered if this was a good idea in the first place, tradition or not. But, he wasn’t about to argue that point home any further because he’d lost the battle in the first place.
“I believe you,” He finally responded. Blake wasn’t going to tell it any other way, he didn’t care if she thought he believed her or not. He’d just have to find some other way to spend his time that evening, “Maybe I’ll try Dorian’s or something.” Blake quipped.
Blake and Charlotte always watched the Gala, but this year he’d find some other way to spend his time. “I can always watch it from there, but you owe me after this.”
“You can have her over night for the weekend after the Gala okay?” Freya offered quietly.
Blake nodded, “All right,” He responded. Then he took a step forward, “I’m going to head out I know you’re trying to get to the office.” He patted her on the arm before leaving.
Freya watched him depart before she’d finally rolled her eyes. Sometimes she really hated that man, and right now it was slowly becoming one of those moments. If it had been up to her, she’d have never allowed weekend visits with him for their daughter.