Stranded

by Chance Carter

  “Oh. Well, honey, I’m sure she was just trying to help her daughter make friends. Don’t you think?”

  “If you say so.”

  Marnie always was a little smarter than the average bear cub. I suppose she could have picked up on it, I mean a lot of the mothers were staring at me quite obviously. I don’t want to become a local celebrity at the cost of my daughter. I came out here to get away from all of this. I suppose it’s a small town, and word travels fast.

  “I don’t really care though. Those girls aren’t as nice as the boys anyway. They were playing soccer and said I could play, but the girls wouldn’t let me. But I wasn’t gonna be rude, so I’ll just play with them next week.”

  “Don’t let anyone else tell you what to do, sweetie.” I smile and pat her head.

  “You should follow your own advice, Daddy.” Marnie adds. Am I about to get life advice from my seven year old?

  “Jenna’s mom probably fancies you. And you shouldn’t let her boss you around like you let Mom do. You should find someone that likes you, but not because of your pool.”

  I laugh to myself, “Yes, you’re right, honey.”

  “And you do need to find somebody. You can’t spend all of your time working and playing with me. I need some space, you know.”

  Wow, my daughter really is brilliant. I laugh and lift her up onto my shoulders. Squealing, she clings tightly to me.

  “Alright, we’re going home to interview people to be your nanny. Then you’ll have someone else to hang out with besides me.”

  “But why do I need a nanny? I’m old enough to look after myself!” she fights back.

  “I know, sweetheart. But they’ll just be around to help out and look after you while I’m at work. If you like, you can be in charge of them?”

  “Yeah? Do I get to boss them around?”

  “Well, no. But you can ask them to take you places, and make you food whenever you want?”

  “That’s good enough for me, Daddy!”

  “Alright then,” I say, as we get to the car, “Let’s get home.”

  * * *

  Marnie kneels against our coffee table and stares at the Venus fly tap she had me buy for her last week. Her eyes are transfixed on it as a fly slowly wanders around the edges of it.

  I’ve been interviewing women for a few hours now, and to be honest, none of them seem like they actually want or need the job. One woman just came by to ask me on a date. Jane doesn’t seem any different. She’s my last candidate and she’s been following me around like a lost puppy, giggling at everything I say as if it is the funniest joke she’s ever heard. It wasn’t even a joke! I don’t see why these women assume that I want a bubble head trophy girlfriend.

  “So, what do you think?” I ask Jane. She stares as me for a while.

  “It’s such a lovely house you have, and Mary is a sweetie,” she replies, not even looking at Marnie.

  “Marnie,” I say.

  “Sorry?” she asks.

  “My daughter’s name. It’s Marnie.”

  “Oh gosh, of course, how silly of me!” Then she does that awful fake laugh again.

  “Yes well, it’s an easy mistake. It’s not like I’ve been mentioning her name constantly throughout the interview,” which of course I have been.

  I sigh to myself. I’m not going to get anyone good tonight. It is getting late, and I could have been nicer to Jane, but she’s so boring! I’ve been here for hours getting hit on by women who have no interest in being a good role model for my daughter.

  “Gotcha!” Marnie shouts, making Jane jump.

  “Goodness me,” she says, through gritted teeth, “Why did you shout like that, Mary? Don’t you think that was a little bit rude?”

  Marnie looks up from her Venus fly trap at Jane, like her question doesn’t even dignify a response.

  “Well, someone is talking to you, don’t you think you should show some respect and answer?”

  Jane keeps looking up at me for a response, like she’s trying to get my approval. But I won’t let someone talk to my daughter like that. What kind of a person demands a child’s respect by berating them and repeatedly getting their name wrong?

  “Well, I think that’s all the time we have for this evening.” I stand and lead her to the door, “I’ll let you know when I’ve made a decision.”

  She looks up at me expectantly, as if I might give her a kiss or walk her to her car. Which of course I won’t.

  Still here. This is going to get awkward if I don’t have another interview after her. Then I see her, someone walking up the sidewalk toward the house, and I wave her over. Thank God there is someone else to see.

  “Aren’t you going to walk me to my car?” Jane asks.

  “No, sorry, Jane. I’m quite busy as you can see, and my next interview has just arrived.” I nod to the girl walking over to us. Jane turns to see, then pouting, storms off.

  “Terribly sorry about that,” I say to the new arrival.

  “That’s okay,” she says. Then I realize something, I know that face. The dark hair and blue eyes. Is it? Could it be?

  It’s the coffee shop girl, the one I walked into last week. I stand there stunned for a moment and she seems a little uncomfortable. Damn, I’m doing it again!

  “Joe!” I quickly say, putting my hand out to greet her, “Joe Abercrombie.”

  “Ella,” she giggles, and shakes my hand. I get that same feeling of electricity rushing down my spine, “Ella LeBlanc.” She smiles at me and shakes her hair out of her eyes, which seem to sparkle, “I’m here about the nanny job? I’m sorry if I’m late.”

  “Uh—no, it’s fine.” I can’t help but stutter in front of her, “Really, you’re just in time! Please, do come in.”

  Chapter 4

  Ella

  Just breathe, Ella. How hard can this be? You’re just going to talk to him about the possibility of working at his house and looking after his daughter. Oh God, what are you doing? You can’t do this! You’re not good at talking to adults. A group of kids that don’t even understand what you’re saying half the time is fine, but a grown man, a hot as hell grown man? You are going to make a fool of yourself. He’s probably got real nannies knocking down his door.

  Wow, that’s his house right there, I’m walking up to this guy’s house already. I wonder if he’ll remember me. No way is he going to remember me. I was just some dumb girl that walked right into him. He’s practically a celebrity around here already, and he’s only been here a week!

  Crap, there he is. He’s standing in the doorway with another woman, probably his girlfriend. Ugh, I’m so stupid! Can I still get away from this? Oh God, he saw me. He’s waving me over, why did I wave back, that was dumb. What am I doing? Bad, Ella! Now I have to go over there.

  This is weird, she’s just sort of standing there in the doorway. Oh, she’s probably another nanny. What does she expect from him? I’m still walking over there and this is getting a little awkward.

  He nods at me as I get to the doorway, the woman turns to give me a dirty look, then storms off.

  Gosh, somehow I’ve already insulted someone, just by showing up at his door. That can’t be a good sign.

  “Terribly sorry about that,” he says, turning to me and sighing.

  “That’s okay,” I reply. Wow, are we always going to meet like this?

  Then his face changes, his deep brown eyes grow wide and he stares at me. Is that a hint of recognition? No, it can’t be. Why would he remember me?

  “Joe!” he snaps, extending his hand, “Joe Abercrombie.”

  Now that was a little bit cute, trying not to get caught staring again? I can’t handle this, I can feel my cheeks burning already.

  “Ella,” I reply, trying not to giggle at him as my face turns red, “Ella LeBlanc.” I do my best, ‘yes, I am an actual adult’ smile as I shake his hand. I can’t help feeling a shiver down my spine as I touch his hand. You’re too excited, Ella! Stop this now. He’s not interested in you! You’r
e just going off of what Kat and Cam said about him being all sensitive and handsome, though you can’t deny the handsome part after seeing him in person, not once but twice now.

  “I’m here for the nanny job,” I say, shaking the thoughts from my head. It’s professional time now, Ella. “I’m sorry if I’m late.”

  “Uh—no,” he stutters a little, “Really, you’re just on time! Please, do come in.”

  He steps aside and holds the door for me, inviting me inside. I look around as I walk in, and his house is incredible, one of those surprisingly warm and cozy gigantic houses with a hundred rooms. We go through an archway into the kitchen and, oh wow—is that a pool I can see out the back? Does everyone here have a pool? This kitchen is huge, and everything is so pristine, it looks like no one has ever cooked a proper meal in here.

  He leans on a counter, and putting his hand to his forehead, he sighs. Poor thing, he sounds exhausted already, I wonder how many people he’s had to see today about this job? I wonder how many of them were just here to try to hit on him.

  “Do you want a coffee?” I ask, I don’t know why I did that, it must have sounded so random.

  He laughs as he looks over at me, looking more than a little bit skeptical, “Offering me coffee in my own house? That’s a new one.”

  “Uh, think of it as part of the interview?” I shrug. Pretty sure I’ve already somehow ruined it, so why not just go for broke? Nothing to lose. Just be yourself.

  I can see his mind working it over, “Alright, show me what you’ve got,” he says, smiling. Is this a challenge or something? I laugh to myself as I grab a mug from the side and find his coffee machine. Shouldn’t be too hard, I’ve worked with more confusing things at Cam’s coffee place.

  “So, the job is helping me look after Marnie. Making sure she gets to school on time and taking care of her while I’m at work,” he sighs. “It’s silly, I came out here to be closer to her for heaven’s sake, and now I’m hiring someone to do my damn job for me. It’s ridiculous.”

  I’m not sure if I’m really qualified to comment on this. He’s obviously had a long day. Just make him a decent coffee.

  “How do you take it?” I ask, oh gosh this is awkward.

  “Two sugars, little bit of cream,” he sighs. I grab a spoon and start mixing it together, Joe continues to vent at me, “And the people I’ve interviewed today? They’re all nuts. It’s like everyone around here is crazy.”

  I’m sorry, Joe, as one of those many nuts, I couldn’t possibly comment.

  “Someone turned up just to ask me on a date. It’s been a nightmare, it really has.”

  I hand him his coffee and lean against the counter island.

  “Sorry, why am I telling you all of this?” he asks.

  “I have no idea, figured you just needed to vent. I’m not really one to complain.”

  He looks a little regretful about his outburst, but then looks down at the coffee in his hands. He takes a deep breath and sighs before taking a sip. Pausing for a moment, he looks like he’s really thinking about something. Wow, was it really that bad?

  “I think that this may be the best coffee I’ve ever had,” he laughs, and I stare for a moment before laughing along with him. “Seriously, how did you make it?”

  “Just the usual ingredients, except there’s a lot of desperately needing a job in there as well.” I awkwardly brush my hair back, trying to play it off as a joke.

  Oh good, he’s laughing. That’s good, right. This is going well, I think.

  “Well, if you can make me coffee like this every morning, I’d be happy to hire you! This is exactly what I needed. Thank you.”

  “Uh, thanks,” I say as I smile at him. It’s strange that he looks so genuine right now, and all I did was make him a coffee.

  “Would you like to meet my daughter?” he asks.

  “Yes, of course,” I reply, and he shows me through to the living room.

  Damn, it’s so nice in here, a posh corner sofa and a massive TV mounted on the wall. Beautiful potted plants in the corners, a long window with a sliding door out to the yard where there is a massive pool, plus tables with pretty but also somewhat pointless things on them. His daughter is crouched on the floor looking at a—

  “Oh neat, is that a Venus fly trap?” I can’t help but blurt it out. Crud, I bet that makes me look super normal. But maybe that’s gonna work in this particular situation?

  Joe looks at me a little strangely, like he’s about to laugh, but his daughter’s ears prick up and she looks at me like a small meerkat sensing a predator.

  “You like Venus fly traps?” she asks me, a surprised look on her face.

  I freeze for a moment and can’t help looking over to Joe, who smiles reassuringly.

  “Uh, yeah I do. I used to teach my class about lots of weird and wonderful things when I got the chance.”

  “Really?” she sits up excitedly.

  “Oh, that’s great! So you used to be a teacher?” Joe asks, as he sits down on the sofa, still holding his coffee. I stand there kind of awkwardly until he beckons me over.

  Should I lie? I could say I was a teacher, but I’m only twenty-four, he’s never going to believe me.

  “Uh, no. I was a TA during my college course. I was training to be a teacher, but you know how it is. Need experience for a job, and apparently I don’t have enough.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad, I bet you’d make a great teacher,” he smiles sweetly. “So, how long ago did you finish college?”

  “Only a couple years ago. I’m twenty-four.” I don’t know why I felt the need to say that, it probably sounded like I was announcing ‘I’m single,’ or something crazy like that.

  “No, you’re kidding, you look so much—” he freezes mid-sentence. Was he about to say I look older? I don’t know if that’s a compliment, but I feel like it was meant to be. I can’t help but laugh at that, then his cheeks go a little red.

  “Daddy?” his daughter asks, tugging at his leg.

  Joe looks a little relieved, but laughs awkwardly none the less.

  “Yeah, sweetie?” he replies.

  “Can I ask her about my Venus fly trap?” she looks up at him with huge brown eyes, just like his.

  “Of course you can! Good idea.” He looks up at me then, “It would actually be helpful. I asked about how to properly care for it when we bought it, but the woman that sold it didn’t really seem to have much of an idea.”

  “Oh, not many people do. What would you like to know, uh—” Oh God, I forgot her name.

  “Marnie.” Joe chimes in, trying not to laugh.

  “Yes, Marnie.” I wonder if this chair could swallow me as well?

  “Well, I keep watering it, but it still looks like it’s not doing so well,” Marnie says.

  I look down at the tiny plant in its little brown pot. It’s really cute that she’s into different stuff. I bet she would have loved my ‘fun treat lessons,’ as the teacher I used to work with called them.

  “Well, your problem is that even though you’re watering it, it’s still not getting enough. These are bog plants, so they need to be kept in a shallow tray of water if you keep them at home.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know that. Is it going to be okay?”

  Oh dear, she actually sounds a little worried, “Well, why don’t we go and find something to keep it in properly? And then you can make sure it’s well looked after!”

  “Okay!” Marnie jumps up and jets off to the kitchen.

  I look over to Joe, having randomly started on a project without even getting hired yet. He looks pleased. That’s good, right?

  “She’ll probably be in there a while finding the perfect thing for it. She is a bit of a perfectionist,” Joe says, “But that gives us a little time to talk,” he smiles. I guess this is good. I mean I’ve managed to show off a little bit. Maybe he likes that. Thank you random nights in at the coffee house preparing the weirdest lessons you could think of. I knew you’d help me someday.

 
; “Okay, great!” Wow, I couldn’t think of anything else to say? I’m so embarrassed.

  “Well, you already seem to get on great with Marnie. Everyone else I’ve interviewed talked down to her, like she didn’t deserve their respect. You actually acknowledged her and addressed her like a real person, so you’ve already surpassed most of the applicants I’ve seen today.”

  “Well, why wouldn’t I? If we disrespect children just because they’re younger and not as experienced as us, it teaches them that it’s okay to be disrespectful to people who have less than they do. And I wouldn’t want to give any kid a bad lesson. No matter how many times they throw paint at me!”

  Marnie comes running back in with a shallow dish and a cup of water, and places them on the coffee table.

  “Will this do?” she asks.

  “Yeah, that’s perfect!” I say, crouching on the floor next to her. “Now just put the pot in the dish, and pour in about a centimeter of water with it. Do you know how much that is? A centimeter is this much,” I say, holding up two fingers, one centimeter apart.

  “Okay,” Marnie replies.

  She places the plant in the dish, and then tips a little bit of water in. I hold the dish still and make sure the water gets around all the edges of the plant.

  “See how the soil is all soggy now? That’s much better.”

  “Cool! I love watching Queen Pricilla eat flies,” she shouts.

  Joe and I both laugh, in fact, he almost chokes on his coffee.

  “Is that what you’ve called it?” I ask, “Mine was Jimbo.” I give her a little wink before she giggles and runs back to the kitchen to put the glass away.

  Joe then stands to help me up. Again, he looks very pleased.

  “You know, Ella. You’ve actually really surprised me today and I think you’d be perfect for this job. Would it be okay if I see you here tomorrow for a sort of trial? I know it’s a Saturday, but I’ve got a few important things to sort out and I need someone to look after Marnie.”

  “Oh, sure! Actually that would be great,” I say, perhaps a bit too quickly. But I suppose coming across as eager isn’t a bad thing. Dammit Ella, he likes you for the job. Just stay calm.