by Amy Field
“What’s your name, baby girl?” Nick asked.
The baby gurgled.
“That’s right, you can’t speak. Should I give you a name?”
The baby touched his beard.
“I’ll call you…” Nick mused and was about to announce a name when the doorbell rang. He hesitated, who would that be? He didn’t want to be caught by someone who was visiting the apartment but it could be the mother. He would have to face this sooner or later so he got up, the baby in his arms, to open the door. He shifted her weight from one arm to another and pulled the door open.
The woman on the other side was undoubtedly the mother. She had long wavy brown hair, those blue eyes that had mesmerized him and a tired look on her face. Somehow, she looked beautiful to him and had an air of dignity about her.
The woman’s eyes focused on him and her mouth dropped open.
“Who are you?” she demanded. “What are you doing with my baby?”
Nick recoiled from the accusations and moved aside.
“Let’s talk inside,” he said.
The woman gave him a suspicious look but walked in. She reached for her baby and Nick let her take the baby without any fuss. He did look longingly at the baby but knew that he would have to appease the mother first.
“Now, can you tell me what you are doing here?” the woman asked, sitting down on the couch.
Nick explained his story and the woman became indignant but not at him.
“I don’t believe this! That nanny is going to get an earful from me!” she exclaimed. “Thank you for taking care of Amelia.”
“You are welcome.”
The woman hugged the child closer to her chest and Nick smiled at the display of love. She really loved her baby.
“You are my neighbor, aren’t you?” “I am Camellia.”
“I am Nick.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I do apologize for the inconvenience,” Camellia said.
“Don’t worry about it,” Nick said, waving his hand. “What are you going to do about your nanny?”
“I’ll have to hire someone else,” Camellia shook her head in exasperation.
“I can do it,” Nick found himself saying.
Camellia looked at him in surprise and he continued.
“I am home most of the time and I can take care of her. I do like her,” Nick said.
“I don’t know…” Camellia said doubtfully.
“Trust me. I can do it,” Nick smiled.
Camellia’s face went through a range of different expressions but she settled on resigned.
“You are hired then,” Camellia said smiling.
Nick didn’t know why but he felt really happy when he heard the news. Somehow it felt like it was meant to happen and he knew he wouldn’t squander this chance.
Chapter Five
Camellia was having a tough day at work.
The contractor was being unreasonable and it had started raining sometime in the afternoon which she knew would greatly hurt her chances to get home early. She was desperate to go home as Amelia was waiting for her. Each day was hard on Camellia; she missed Amelia a lot and wanted to be home as soon as possible so that she could see her.
It had been two weeks since she hired Nick and she had to say that he was doing a good job of taking care of her baby. At first, she had been apprehensive. He was practically a stranger but Nick won her over. He was affectionate towards Amelia and knew how to make her laugh. The first day, she had come back home to see Nick dozing off with Amelia in his arms, sleeping peacefully. The sight had warmed her heart and she knew that Nick was the perfect person to take care of Amelia.
Camellia had been ready to refuse Nick that day but something about him made her agree. Seeing Nick face to face, she had felt tongue tied. His bangs had been swept aside and she saw his intense eyes. His appearance wasn’t very polished but there was something about him that made her trust him. Camellia was usually a good judge of character (minus that one mistake she had made with Jared) and so far, she felt that Nick was a good person. He made her laugh with his ridiculous stories and had cooked her dinner, with the excuse that he was learning to cook. It was a touching gesture after she had come back from a hard day’s work and she had enjoyed eating with him as he told her about his college days.
There was still one mystery remaining and that was Nick’s work. He didn’t talk about it and Camellia got the feeling that he was well off. He was scruffy but his manner showed that he had money but he didn’t seem to work. He, himself, had told her that he had free time so Camellia was a bit worried about what he meant by that. He refused to talk about it and Camellia was hesitant to ask him. She didn’t want it to seem as if she was prying but she couldn’t deny that she was curious. He had refused to let her pay him which had alerted her to the fact that he was not without money.
But what did that matter? Nick was a good guy and she didn’t want to lose him.
The contractor finally agreed to the changes she proposed and Camellia sighed, relieved that it was over. She hailed a cab and drove home, anxious to see her baby.
When she reached home, Nick was waiting for her but Amelia was sleeping. Camellia was disappointed.
“This isn’t fair,” she pouted.
Nick shrugged.
“Blame the baby.”
She went to see Amelia in the crib and smiled at her sleeping face. Amelia was forgiven and when she exited her bedroom, Nick was waiting for her at the dining table. He had set the table for her and indicated at her to sit.
“This is nice,” Camellia said. “You are spoiling me.”
“You deserve it,” Nick said.
“Thank you; I haven’t heard that in a long time,” Camellia admitted.
“Anyway, how was your day?”
“Hard,” Camellia said, taking a bite of her chicken salad. “The contractor wouldn’t listen.”
“It must be hard being an architect,” Nick said sympathetically.
“It is sometimes but most of the time, I enjoy it,”
“I can’t relate. I don’t do much work.”
Camellia didn’t betray any expression but she wondered if this was his way of telling her that he was unemployed but his next sentence disapproved it.
“I have other people to do it for me.”
“You do?” Camellia said shocked.
“You sound so taken aback,” Nick laughed.
“Sorry, I just…” she blushed.
“It’s fine. I don’t blame you,” Nick said, adding. “I don’t like talking about it.”
“Why don’t you?” Camellia asked.
“It’s not very conventional,” he took a deep breath. “I actually own a website.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I made it while I was in college and it took off so I don’t have to work a conventional job,” Nick explained.
“That’s…wow. I didn’t expect that.”
“I don’t think anyone did.”
“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in a mansion?” Camellia joked.
“I like my privacy,” he answered.
His face was overwhelmed with a faraway look and Camellia found herself moving forward to pat his hand.
“Whatever it is, it’ll be fine,” she said.
“That’s nice of you to say,” Nick said.
“Trust me. I have been through troubling things,”
“You know, when I saw you, I thought that you were married,” Nick said.
“I think a lot of people thought that but I am single.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to the baby’s father?”
Camellia was quiet before she said, “He was cheating on me so I left him.”
Nick cursed and Camellia had to smile.
“Does he know about Amelia?”
“I didn’t think to tell him,” Camellia said. “I was going to when I discovered he was cheating. I left him and came here. I didn’t want to see him.”
“I don’t blame you. That’s rough but you are doing a great job so it’s his loss,” Nick said.
Tears pricked her eyes as Nick said those words. They were words that she had longed to hear and somehow hearing it from Nick made it sound sweeter. She suddenly wanted to hug him but stopped herself. What was wrong with her?
She looked at Nick with fresh eyes. He had gotten his hair cut and it cleared his face so that she could see him properly. He really was handsome and she could fell herself becoming engrossed in examining his face.
“Camellia?”
“Yes?” she started.
“You haven’t finished your salad. Eat,” Nick ordered gently.
She nodded and began to eat, her head bowed to hide her blush. What was wrong with her? Why was she suddenly so enamored by Nick?
Camellia felt like she was walking on eggshells around Nick.
After their dinner together, she felt that something had subtly changed in the dynamic of their relationship. So far, she could have labeled it as an employee-employer relationship but he began to share things with her and Camellia knew that she had gone past it. She could feel the change in her as well, her heart reacted around him and she got the fluttery feeling in her chest.
Camellia wasn’t a child, she knew exactly what it meant but she was too scared to do anything about it. Jared’s betrayal still cut deep and she didn’t know if she could trust Nick. Each day, the feelings deepened and she found herself pointing out things about Nick that she liked.
He was smart and funny. He tried to accommodate her but the greatest virtue he had was the clear love he displayed for Amelia. He took care of her well and she never saw him complain about it. He was always there for Amelia, be it day or night. Unlike the nanny who had abandoned Amelia when Camellia had returned home later, he stayed until Camellia was home before he left Amelia.
Camellia found herself opening up to Nick and told him about the day she discovered Jared cheating on her. She didn’t mention Jared by name but the details were sufficient enough to make Nick curse him out for doing such a cheap thing. It had been comforting and hilarious to see him insult Jared. Camellia had forgotten what it was like to have friends. She had to abandon hers after she got pregnant as most of her friends were mutual friends of Jared and it was nice having someone she could talk to. Tracy was a good friend but she was out of depth talking about babies. Recently, Camellia found it hard to relate to Tracy. Having a baby had made Camellia grow into a mom but Tracy, despite being older, was unattached and single.
Nick was a godsend and Camellia knew it wasn’t surprising that she was growing to like him more and more each day but she had to hide it, for her sake and Amelia’s sake.
Her work was nearing completion. The plans had been approved and the workers were doing their best so Camellia found herself coming back home earlier. She had another offer for a job which she was going to take. It meant that Nick would have to go on taking care of Amelia and she loved the idea of that. She wanted him around.
Camellia thought that when she came back home early, Nick would leave but he didn’t. He took his time to leave and watched her take care of Amelia. Sometimes they ate together and Camellia loved the dinners. He talked about his work and told him about his website. It was a place to search references from pop culture which she thought was cool. He told her that it had only been for searching at first but recently they had made it into a social media site where people could share things. Camellia made a note to check it out one day. She wanted to see his hard work.
One night, Camellia came back home and found Nick with Amelia watching TV. Nick was feeding Amelia and even helped her burp before handing her back to Camellia.
“Are you taking secret child caring lessons?” Camellia asked as she rocked Amelia.
“You caught me,” Nick grinned. “That’s my night job.”
“I feel like I don’t say this enough but I really am grateful for all the help you are giving me Nick,” Camellia said sincerely. “You can’t believe how much of a help you really are.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Nick brushed it off. “I told you, I like Amelia and I like you so it doesn’t matter.”
At his words, Camellia blushed deeply, her heart fluttering. Did he really mean it? It was then she saw that his forehead was wrinkled and there was a clouded look in his eyes.
“Is something wrong?” Camellia asked.
“Yeah,” Nick sighed. “I didn’t want to tell you but…”
“Did something happen to Amelia?” Camellia said panicked.
Nick laughed softly, “Nothing of that sort. It’s a personal problem.”
“Oh.” Camellia blinked. “What is it?”
“A couple of months ago, I started getting threats from a person who claimed that I had plagiarized my site. It was letters at first but the guy went a step further and contacted a lawyer.”
As he said that, Camellia recalled the letter that had arrived at her apartment. So that was the letter that she had gotten. A lawyer’s notice,
“I had someone handling it but that person bailed out on me and I have to deal with on my own.”
“I am sure it’ll sort itself out. For what it’s worth, I don’t think the site is plagiarized.”
“Those words mean a lot to me,” Nick said. “It’s nice to have someone believe in me.”
“Why…?” Camellia said confused.
“Some of the people have started to leave the site.” Nick said. “They think that the site is plagiarized and we are losing traffic. If this continues…”
He didn’t complete his sentence but Camellia knew what it meant. If it continued, he would lose his revenue.
“Have you contacted a lawyer?”
“I avoided doing it but I think I have to do it now,” Nick said. “I don’t have any other option.”
“You shouldn’t give up. I am sure a lawyer will do a good job in making this go away.”
Nick nodded at her gratefully and looked at the bundle in her hands.
“She is sleeping.”
Camellia looked down and saw that Amelia had indeed fallen asleep. It was time to transfer her to her crib. She took Amelia to her bedroom, aware that Nick was following her. His words spun in her mind and she was glad he had shared it with her. It made her feel closer to him.
Camellia set Amelia down and looked up to see Nick’s eyes boring into her. The tension was suddenly thick in the air and she could hear the rush of blood in her ears as they exchanged their meaningful gazes.
“I thought that it would go away,” Nick started. “I didn’t want to burden you with but your words made me realize that it wouldn’t go away.” Camellia could hardly breathe as she listened to him. His words made it sound like he was telling her that he liked her in a romantic way but she could hardly dare to believe it.
“Nick, what do you mean?” Camellia asked.
“It’s exactly as you think,” Nick confirmed quietly and stepped forward.
Camellia knew what was going to happen and she didn’t try to resist as he gently took her face in his hands and pressed a kiss to her lips. It was as if everything that she had bottled inside came out that moment. She had told herself that she would be a mother from now on but Nick’s kiss made her realize that she was a woman as well. She let herself go and leaned in so that they both kissed each other passionately for a few minutes.
When they parted, breathless, neither spoke.
“That was something,” Nick said with a slow smile.
“It was.”
“I am glad I did it.”
“So am I,” Camellia confirmed. “I want you to know that I don’t kiss men idly.”
“I don’t kiss woman idly and I think this is something special,” Nick said.
“I am happy that we are of the same mind.”
“How about we have some dinner to celebrate our new relationship?” Nick suggested. “I make mean pasta.”
“You know, I would like to take you up on that o
ffer,” Camellia said, her hand slipping into his.
Nothing could ruin this.
Chapter Six
For the first time in a while, Nick found himself going to his work headquarters.
As the site owner, he didn’t usually go to the office but Camellia’s advice was good. He should go and talk to Sam; they had to go for a lawyer. The thought of Camellia made him smile. It had been two weeks since they started dating and he loved every moment of it. Though Camellia worked a lot, they saw each other every night.
Nick had heard that babies were hindrances for romance but he found that Amelia was the opposite. She was their charm and he loved her a lot. Amelia was a very obedient baby and went off to sleep in a timely fashion, giving them plenty of time to enjoy each other’s company. Nick made no attempt to ask Camellia out. He knew that she wanted to be around Amelia and frankly so did he. He really didn’t like dates and he didn’t think Camellia was a fan either. What did dates matter when they had each other?
It was enough for him and her.
Nick stared at his headquarters and walked in. The receptionist greeted him and Nick made his way to Sam’s office. Sam was waiting for him and had a grin on his face when he saw Nick walk in.
“How have you been?” Sam asked hugging him.
Sam had dark hair and was taller than Nick. He was married and had been with Nick through his college days.
“I am good,” Nick said brightly.
“You seem really bright for someone facing legal procedures,” Sam noted. “Did you meet someone?”
“I did,” Nick said.
“She must be someone special.”
“She is,” Nick said. “Can we talk about business please?”
Sam nodded.
“The thing is, they want you to close the site.”
“I can’t do that,” Nick said immediately.
“I know but they are threatening to go to court.” Sam said.
“I got that part.” Nick said sourly. “Did you find a lawyer?”
“I have a good one,” Sam took out a file. “His name is Jared Baker and he specializes in settling outside of court.”
