“You look fine. Although I'm sure you know that. Did you bring your things?”
Ashley told me that she did, but then she revealed that she wasn't sure how this was going to go, so she’d left them in the car.
“You know, if this was something super weird and there wasn't even a kid or something or you came to the door in a diaper, I wanted to make sure I could make my get-away pretty quickly.”
What she said, threw me off, but I could imagine that there probably was situations where that would happen. I may look strange, a single dad looking for I live-in nanny for my daughter. Considering the way she looked, I could imagine that she would have to worry about that. In a college town, there really was no telling who a person was going to come across.
“Well, I assure you that I'm not going to wear any diapers anytime soon, so my daughter is upstairs. She is real and will have to be woken up at seven thirty so that she can get to school. I think she is ecstatic not to go to nursery before school. It was usually just her there that early and she was always bored. She likes omelets in the morning, they are her favorite. Everything you need is there in the kitchen, but feel free to call up the grocer down on eleventh. They will bring you whatever you need, just order it online.”
It was a lot to take on, but I was blabbing to get the idea of where her mind went, out. She was thinking that it could be sexual, so of course, I was looking her up and down like she was sex on a stick and I couldn’t help myself, no matter how badly I wanted to.
She must have been able to tell I was nervous, because she giggled at me a little bit.
“I’m going to go grab my bags. What time do you leave in the mornings and what time will you want dinner when you get home?”
I hadn’t even thought about that, was that on the table?
“I never know. I can always just heat something up. I assure you that it will be better than what I can come up with or I can order at the office.”
“Good enough. I think this is going to work out just fine, Frank.”
I nodded my head and agreed. I sure the hell hoped so. All I had to do was not screw it up by drooling all over her. I didn’t want to scare her off, but I was dumbstruck as I walked out the house. What the hell was happening? This all seemed too good to be true.
Chapter 6
Ashley
The house was gorgeous, and the man was as well. It was easy to see how Duane was jealous. It made a lot more sense now. My boyfriend was jealous because he knew that my new boss was hot. I wondered how he felt about it now, considering that I was going to move in with him.
Before Frank left, he showed me around a little bit and showed me where I would be staying. It was bigger than the room I was in now, and he had added little touches that was made to help me feel at home. He also left several lists, and it was going to be very helpful for when Donna was picked up from school, the address, and all of her activities. If nothing else, the man was very thoughtful.
I walked around for a little bit and tried to get a take on the place. It was getting close to seven and I went back downstairs in the kitchen to make an omelet for Donna. If it was her favorite thing, then we were going to be in business because it was my breakfast almost every morning. I liked to start out with a little protein, so it just seemed like this was what was supposed to happen.
The kitchen was huge and everything with stainless steel and marble. It was one of those kitchens that I’d see in the magazines and I started to wonder if the job I got accounting, was going to afford me the same life. I never really was into material things, but the kitchen was something that I could see myself working hard for. It was beautiful and if nothing else, it was going to be nice to spend some time in it while I was here. I loved to cook, and I couldn't think of a better place to do it in.
It took me a little bit of time to get my bearings and figure out where everything was, but like the meticulous notes upstairs that he had left for me, the layout of the kitchen was just a thoughtful. It made me wonder why there wasn't a woman in here, or where his wife was. I saw several pictures around the house of him, the daughter and a woman smiling towards the camera. But there was no sign of her in any other part of the house. I hadn’t gone into his bedroom, because it didn't seem right to do so, but I imagined that I wouldn’t find anything in there either. Something had happened and there was some curiosity about it on my part. If I would have known better, I would've asked Duane about it, but I don't think that I was going to be able to ask him, not after the way he reacted when he found out I was going to be staying here.
I went to the upstairs and went to the bedroom that I knew to be his daughter’s. It was our first-time meeting, and this meeting was very important. While her dad was my boss, she was going to be sort of my boss as well. I was certainly going to be around her more than her father.
I knocked a couple of times and I didn't hear anything moving on the other side. I finally stuck my head in and called her name quietly.
“Donna, are you ready to get up?”
“Is it already time to go?”
“No, I think you have about an hour before you have to get to school. I made some breakfast downstairs if you're hungry. You will have plenty of time to eat and then you can take a shower and get dressed.”
“Are you my new nanny?”
She asked me the question as she stuck her head out from under the covers. She didn't look anything like her dad and that kind of threw me off a little bit. Where he had dark hair and dark brown eyes, with dark skin. She was redheaded, with blue eyes and very fair-skinned with what looked to be freckles going across the bridge of her nose. She must take after the red headed woman in the picture that I had seen.
“Yeah, I'm your new nanny. Are you ready for an omelet?”
That got her up out of the bed and she had a smile on her face. I was thankful that she was in a good mood. That was nice to see because I’d almost convinced myself that she was going to be a horror.
She didn't even bother to get dressed before she came downstairs, but I didn't find it necessary. I knew that she had to be to school in an hour, so I figured it out that she had plenty of time to do everything that she needed to do. It was always hard on everyone when there was so much rushing in the morning. I was under the assumption that everyone should wake up just a little bit earlier and then the day would go so much smoother because of it.
Donna didn't say much, but she did run ahead of me. She was already at the table eating when I got to the landing of the stairs and went into the kitchen. There were several stools on the back half of the island and her little legs were dangling over, kicking away as she ate.
“This is very good, thank you. My dad can't make anything. He even burned my pop tarts.”
She said it is such a way that it was hard for me not to laugh at. She was almost offended that he had burned her pop tarts and I was trying to figure out how in the world he did that to begin with.
“Well, I can cook pretty well, my grandma taught me how. I can teach you a little bit while I am here if you like.”
“I used to cook with my mom.”
The little girl stopped for a moment and I saw a little sadness go over her face. It made my curiosity peak even more, but it was obviously not a subject that I wanted to bring up. I didn't want to see that look on her face anymore.
“Do you want some juice or some chocolate milk?”
“I can have chocolate milk?”
That set off alarm bells in my mind and I asked her if she was able to with her parents.
“Well dad never asks me. He is never really home anyways and at the nursery they won’t let me have it.”
I was hoping that I wasn't going to regret it later, but I told her that she could have some.
“You finish up your food and I will get you a glass.”
I was glad that I said something to side-track because her legs went back to swinging and she was kind of humming to herself as she chomped down on her breakfast. I had never s
een somebody so happy to have breakfast in front of them before in my life. Her father must have been a very bad cook.
She was finished in under fifteen minutes and I that left plenty of time for her to go upstairs and get dressed. She informed me that she had already showered the night before and didn’t need another one.
“Well that’s fine. Then I guess you got thirty minutes to do whatever you want. What would you like to do?”
Donna shrugged. “I don’t know. Can we go out in the gardens and see if there are any butterflies?”
She was a little girl after my heart. I’d seen them in the dark coming up, but it was a part that I had told myself that I was going to explore today.
“That we can do. Let’s get your shoes on and we will go. You know, the school isn’t too far, we could walk if you wanted to, and then we can look at everyone’s gardens for butterflies.”
Donna liked the idea and I had a feeling that I was going to get along with her just fine. She wasn’t a little monster at all. Both of the Smothe family had surprised me today, but I had to wonder about the missing Smothe. The beautiful redhead in the photographs. Where was she?
Chapter 7
Frank
“I have to say, Sir, you look like you're a lot less fragile today.”
“I am.”
“Did you finally get some sleep?”
“Yeah, and I also got a new nanny. She started this morning.”
“Well that's good to hear. Do you want me to take the ad off of the online sites in the newspapers that they are on?”
The question made me think about if Ashley was going to stay. I was hoping that Ashley was going to stay for a while. I just got a good feeling about her and she was really easy to look at. I've of course, wasn't going to tell my assistant that. She was a middle-aged woman in her fifties and I didn't think she would appreciate it very much. And I certainly didn't want people to know that that's how I felt. I shouldn't feel that way about a babysitter, right?
“Yeah, let's go ahead and do that. That will stop you from getting so many calls that you have to screen all the time. Take it off of all of it. I think this one’s going to work out.”
“Well that's good to hear Sir. But you still have a stack of post-its, only half of them you can throw away now.”
I was thankful for that and when she left my office and left me alone in there by myself, it was a first time that I could really breathe. It had been a long time since I was able to just breathe.
My mind was on the babysitter, when it should have been on work. Before I had filled my mind with finding one, now I was wondering what the hell I was going to do with the one I had. She was way too hot, way too young and I was thinking about her way too much.
One of the partners came in and asked me about a case that we were going to be taking court this afternoon. He was worried about it because it was a very important client, but I told him that everything was going to be fine.
“Well, Frank, you know, I don't blame you for being a little spacey lately, but I really need you to get your head in the game for this one. After what happened with the Gibson case...”
“That won’t be a problem Sir. My mind is in the game and he is going to get off, even though we both know that he's guilty as hell.”
That made Johnson smile, and I was hoping that we would stop this very awkward conversation. I knew that I've been slipping lately, and I also knew that everybody else knew about it. The fact that he had to come in here, and say anything to me, told me that they were losing faith in me. I had to win the case today, hell or high water.
“That is good to hear Frank. You know that I think you're a damn good lawyer, everyone does. But you could always take some time off if you want to, put everything on the back burner and take care of your home life. It must be a lot to take on by yourself.”
My home life wasn't something that I wanted to really talk about, and especially the topic that he was alluding to. That was literally the last thing I wanted to talk about. I didn't want the sympathy looks anymore, they were getting old.
“I understand Sir. I won’t let you down.”
His smacked me on the back and told me that he should I was sure that I wouldn't.
“I was the one that set you up for partner. I believe in you.”
I'm sure that he was just trying to help make me feel better. But as he walked out of the office, all of the stress-free feelings that I had before, were gone. Now I was worried about the case and worried about what everybody else was saying behind my back. Had I really lost my shit that much?
Pushing his comments out of the way, I decided that I wasn't going to let it get to me. I had a lot of work to do to get prepared before the court hearing this afternoon and somehow, I had to get my client off. He was guilty, guilty as sin, but I could understand why he’d did it. Maybe that was the scariest part of all, is that I was understanding my criminal client’s lot better than before or more than I possibly should have. It was easier to relate now. Life wasn’t as picture perfect as I’d imagined. Sometimes I feel like even though a person did everything right, the whole world could still fall apart around the person. So why not be bad?
***
I got to the courthouse early because I had a lot less on my mind. I didn't have to worry about Donna at the nursery and what was going to happen when I got off or tried to get off in time to get her out of the nursery. I didn't have to worry about any of that anymore and it just freed up my mind for what I should be thinking about, my job. I didn't want to take a step back, even though I probably should have. Work was what kept me going and I put in a lot of work to get partner. The last thing I wanted to do was waste all of that effort.
My client was there, and I was surprised at how he was dressed. I had told him to wear a suit and to look nice, and he had cleaned up rather well. I was used to having to take time to groom them before we got into the courtroom but today was not the case. His father was very rich, and he did most likely get him dressed this morning for him. The boy was in college, half of my clientele were and I was hopeful that we could push this all under the rug and get it taken care of today.
“So, what do you want me to say Frank?”
“You're not going to say anything Tommy. All you’re going to do is sit there, smile and not make faces. That is literally all you have to do. I will do the rest. That’s what your father is paying me for.”
“He pays you to get me off.”
He accused me of talking to him like he was an idiot, but I wasn't going to mention that he was here because he caught got caught stealing a watch. He was trying to get out of a larceny charge that he most certainly deserved, even though everybody in the courtroom was going to know that he could have easily afforded it. He had a credit card that was limitless. The only defense I had was to pretend like he didn't know that he had taken it to begin with. It was weak at best, but I was hopeful that it would be enough. I knew the judge and he usually sided with me.
“Well call it what you will, but that’s all I need you to do. If you want to get out of this and not spend time in jail, you need to just shut your mouth. Take my lead and this will all be over before you know it.”
He wanted to say something to me as we opened the door to the courtroom, but I'm glad that he was able to do what I told him to. The kid had a mouth on him and even I knew that being around him a short while.
When we got in there, everyone was ready to go but the judge. We had to wait for him to take his seat and I got the nervous buzz inside of me. Every time I came into the courtroom, all I could feel was my nerves go up. It was a good thing though and I was feeling great.
For some reason, all the confidence that I used to have was back and I knew that this is going to be fine. I was going to get him off, whether he deserved it or not and I was going to make partner.
I don't know what it was, but it seemed like the clouds had parted and everything was finally going to be okay. It sounded corny, I knew it, but that’s ho
w it felt.
Today was my day and I knew that the feeling was because of the pretty blonde waiting for me at home.
Chapter 8
Ashley
I got a call from Frank around eight o'clock at night. He sounded like he was in a really good mood, and told me that he would be home in a little while. I don't know why I was a little nervous about it. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to go into the room that he gave me and to stay in there, or if we were supposed to stay out and talk. I'd never been in this sort of situation before and I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do.
I heard the door open and I got butterflies in my stomach. I know it sounds silly, and that it shouldn’t be that way at all, but it was. There was something about this man that I didn't quite understand and the more I learned about him, the more I realize that he was a really great guy. Donna was the sweetest kid I’d ever met, and she had gone to bed probably at eight o'clock. She told me that it was her bed time and I didn't even have to say much of anything to her. After she took her bath, she brushed her teeth and asked me to read her a story. After that, she went to sleep, and I hadn't heard a word from her since.
But I learned a lot about her dad from just talking to her, not that I was trying to get information out of her, but she was very forthcoming anyways. I still didn't know about her mother though. She didn't talk about her and the way she acted this morning when I it came up, I figured that it was better not to. But I couldn't help the gaping hole of curiosity that it left in me and I wanted to know what had happened.
Now that Frank was back, I was sitting at the stool and I had a glass of water that I was sipping on. I really didn't know what I was supposed to do. I was nervous, and it was a nervousness that I shouldn't have because of my employer. It wasn't because of something that he did, but more because of something that was going on in my own head. I don't know why, but I really wanted to know more about him, and it wasn't just because he was my boss.
“Hey Ashley, it's good to see that you're still up.”
Seducing The Nanny Page 3
