by Nicole Bella
Vanessa had been working as his son’s nanny for about a week now and up until this point he had managed to avoid her. This wasn’t a purposeful choice, but more a coincidence that he had run with as he had been hard at training for the last seven days straight. He’d caught glimpses of her here and there but this was their first real interaction, and so far he was very unimpressed.
‘Look. You’re new so I’ll give you the benefit. But you need to know that when I train I need absolute peace. I can’t have Billy Joel blasting through the ring. Understand?’
‘Well you see, that’s exactly what I thought, but Anthony was insistent that you wouldn’t mind.’
‘Anthony?’
‘Your son…’
‘Yes I know who he is.’
‘He chose the song. Loves Billy Joel. Loves him. He said that you would be thrilled to hear it while you trained. He was ever so insistent on it.’ She finished up, looking up at Jackson with absolute innocence. Even going so far as to bat her eyelashes a few times for good measure.
‘Anthony chose this?’ Jackson asked in disbelief.
‘Yep.’
He was about to argue with her. He was about to tell her that there was no way that his son would choose Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl’s as the track of choice to cook too, but he didn’t get a chance as Anthony chose that very moment to burst through the doors and into the kitchen.
‘Daddy!’ He yelled, running towards Jackson and throwing his arms around his waist. He too was covered in baking mixture. ‘Did you like the song daddy? It’s one of my favorites.’
Jackson looked down at his son in surprise. He loved his son, more than anything in the world. Ever since his ex-wife died he had promised to do everything in his power to make his son happy. No matter what. ‘Of course I did.’ Jackson lied, scooping Anthony into the air like a rocket. ‘I just came in here to tell you so myself.’
He was careful not to look in the direction of Vanessa either who he was sure was fixing him with an ‘I told you so,’ look.
‘I knew you would.’ Anthony giggled as Jackson lifted him above his head, flipping him upside down.
‘That’s right Anthony.’ Vanessa cut in, smirking to herself as she did. ‘In fact, he was asking if we could replay the song for him while he trained.’
‘Truly?’ Anthony asked, still upside-down as he looked at his father. Those big brown eyes impossible to say no too.
‘Truly.’ Jackson said, unable to say no to his son, despite his current anger towards Vanessa. If he had one weakness it was Anthony. His only real regret was that he didn’t get to spend more time with him. That was, ironically, the cost of being a prized fighter. Something he did almost solely for his son.
‘Yay!’ Anthony screamed with joy as Jackson let him to the ground. ‘Hit it.’ He said to Vanessa.
As the song started up again Jackson made sure to fix Vanessa with a rueful glare before turning and heading back into the training ring.
‘What the hell is that doing playing again?’ Pete yelled from across the room. ‘I thought you put a stop to it?’
‘Just ignore it.’ Jackson said as he climbed into the ring. ‘Just ignore it.’
*
Vanessa couldn’t believe what she had done. It went against everything that she stood for. It was something that she scolded other women for doing, announcing proudly every time she heard a similar story that it wouldn’t, by any means, happen to her.
But it did.
After the first time she scolded herself, as she should and moved on, knowing that it wouldn’t happen again. It was nothing more than a slip and she was stronger than that. But now, five times later with no real sign of stopping, Vanessa had to ask how she had let herself fall so deeply into this rabbit hole.
‘Well?’ Jackson asked as he slid from the bed, falling into his pants simultaneously. ‘Shouldn’t you be picking Anthony up soon?’
If anyone else had treated her this way she would have yelled at, screamed, and even abused them. But with Jackson she just couldn’t. She didn’t know why but…but…how did she let herself get here in the first place…
Despite herself, Vanessa was really really enjoying her new job at the McCall mansion. When she had first met Jackson in that whirlwind interview, she was pretty certain that she wasn’t going to enjoy this job; not one bit. He was pretty much exactly what she had been expecting. He was rude, arrogant, dismissive, clearly into himself and didn’t seem to care one iota about her or what she did. Although he had asked her about her experience, the way that Charles the manager had eyed her up and down, made those questions seem like more of a formality than any sort or requirement. In fact, as Adrian drove her back home, she had predicted that she wasn’t going to last the week.
But then she met Anthony.
What a great kid. Obviously, after meeting the seed she had expected the plant to bear similar fruit, but Anthony couldn’t be further from his father if he tried. From the giant hug he gave her when they first met, to the kiss on the cheek he administered every time he said goodnight; he really was a big sweetheart.
‘Daddy says I get it from my mother.’ Anthony confirmed when Vanessa asked him about this one morning as she drove him to school.
‘Oh. I didn’t think she was around…’
‘She’s not.’ He said in a way that made him seem far more mature than any eleven year old she had ever met. ‘She died when I was really young. Five I think. But dad always says I’m just like her.’
‘Does he?’
‘Yeah. That’s when he can talk about her. I know he doesn’t like too. It makes him sad I think.’
This revelation surprised Vanessa as she didn’t imagine Jackson as the type of guy who got sad about anything. Angry? Sure. Frustrated? Most definitely. But sad? Try as she might she just couldn’t picture it.
What she loved even more about Anthony was that, like her, he wanted to be a nurse. She found this truly fascinating as he had no desire to be a doctor like most kids dreamt of, but a fully qualified nurse.
‘They help more people.’ He chimed merrily one morning when she pressed him on this. ‘Doctors are in it for the money. Nurses do it because they want to save lives. That’s way more important I think.’
This natural urge to help people was another feature he apparently shared with his dead mother. It was one that she didn’t imagine also featured in his father. It was this bond she had developed with Anthony and only this that made her stay.
As it were, her relationship with Jackson couldn’t have been in more stark a contrast if it tried. That’s if you could even call it a relationship.
Her first ‘interaction’ with him came that day in the kitchen when she had been blasting Uptown Girls with Anthony while teaching him how to bake. She didn’t know why, but his insistence that there was just no way that Anthony could have requested such a song made her kind of mad. As such, in her usual manner, she pushed the issue, lying to Anthony about Jackson wanting to replay the song. She knew instantly that she was going to pay for that one. She just had no idea how right she was.
It was the next day, after she had dropped Anthony off at school, when it happened. Although this was technically ‘her time,’ she liked to use it to get on top of her choirs so that when Anthony did come home she could focus as much time as possible on him. So, arriving back at the mansion, she decided to do a load of washing. And, as the machine was on, why not do some of hers too? So, wearing nothing more than a long t-shirt, she was bent over, shoveling clothes into the machine when Jackson intruded on her.
‘What are you doing here?’ Jackson asked, abruptly walking into the laundry.
‘Oh. Hey.’ Vanessa said, surprised by his sudden appearance. She was certain she’d had the house to herself. ‘Just doing some of Anthony’s washing.’
She had been caught slightly off guard. Not just because she thought the house was empty and not just because she was half-naked; but because of what Jackson was wearing...which wasn’t
much. He must have just finished a training session as he had on nothing more than a small towel, wrapped loosely around his slim waist.
‘And some of your own too, I see?’ He asked. He didn’t seem mad. It was said more ingest than anything.
‘Oh right…yeah I just thought…’ She was having some difficulty concentrating. Jackson was of course a world class athlete and as such had a world class figure, one the likes of which she had never really seen up close before. The way the sweat glistened off his bulging chest, trickling down his rock hard stomach to his….towel. It was very distracting. She nervously grabbed the front of her shirt, pulling it down as if to better cover her legs.
‘Great.’ He said, taking a step forward, into the room. If he noticed how uncomfortable he was making her he didn’t give any indication. ‘Do you mind throwing some of my stuff in too? While it’s there?’
‘Oh, OK.’ She responded, taking a step back up against the washing machine as he took a step closer, as if trying to block her in.
‘Perfect.’ And with that, in one simple movement, Jackson removed his towel.
It was the way that he did it that was so confronting, the confidence behind the movement. Whipping it off as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he held it out to her, dangling it in front of her face as he stood before her, completely naked.
Vanessa took the towel, trying her best not to look down at his…Just put the load on and leave the room, she told herself. He just wants you to wash his towel. She tried to assure herself again, throwing the towel in the machine behind her, careful not to turn around and expose her butt.
The rest of the afternoon was a blur.
Since that day, Vanessa has run what happened in her head over and over again. Each time she did, it happened in a different way. Sometimes she was the one that instigated it. Leaping onto the hulking figure with a level of sexual reverence that she didn’t know she possessed. Pants already off, she simply slid her panties to the side, wrapped her legs around him and pulled his manhood into her.
Other days, as she thought back to it, it was he that made the move. He would wait until she was turned around, bending over to turn on the machine before slipping up behind her, pressing himself up against her bare backside so that she could feel just how much he wanted her…
But regardless of who began the act, it ended the same way every single time. Both he and her, hot and sweaty covered in each other’s bodily fluids, panting and breathing like they had just finished a few rounds in the ring; the machine rumbling behind them as white foam spilled from its seams. And each time that she thought back to the moment, each time that the circumstances changed the one thing that remained constant was just how good it felt.
--
It had been going on for a week now and every time that it happened, Vanessa hated herself just that little bit more. The first time she was able to forgive herself. She wrote it off as a slip. More of a fantasy fulfillment than anything; one that she didn’t even know she needed. But each time she left Jackson’s bedroom, this excuse became less and less valid. Until now, six sessions later, and she had to admit that she was actually enjoying herself.
Who would have thought, Vanessa, the nanny side-piece? It was so clichéd that she could almost forgive herself.
Even so, she still found plenty of time to feel bad about what she had done…and kept on doing. The main reason was Anthony. She loved the kid so much that she didn’t want to do anything to risk hurting him. And she knew that when this fling came to an inevitable end that she would have to quit. She didn’t see how she could keep working here once Jackson dropped her. Whether she wanted to quit or not she was sure that Jackson wouldn’t want her around.
The other reason she felt bad was because of Adrian. Yes, she was still seeing Adrian. Or at least she technically was. It had been two weeks now since they had slept together and just like how the mood had died the instant he had cum; so had their relationship. She had been resigned to ‘weekend girlfriend’ status, only seeing him twice a week and only at night. Even then it was usually just for an average dinner followed by even more average sex. This was so much the case that she even made sure to get hers from Jackson beforehand, knowing that she would be left unsatisfied by Adrian later.
Should she have felt bad about this? Most probably? Did she? Hell no. Every time that she started too, Adrian made it that much easier by saying or doing something that reminded her just how little she actually liked this guy.
‘I don’t know why you bother with that underpaying job.’ He would say as he shoveled Thai food into his mouth over dinner, not caring that the sauce dripped down his chin and onto the placemat.
‘Because I like it.’ She would counter for the hundredth time, truly sick of this one string conversation they always seemed to have.
‘Yeah but the pay is so shit. I’m telling you, I can get you a job as a secretary at my office. It pays twice as much as that.’
‘I don’t do it for the money.’ She would then, like clockwork, say as she tried not to get angry.
‘Well I know that.’ He would report dismissively. ‘So, how is Jackson? You know of any fights he has coming up?’ This was the other conversation they always seemed to fall into. Vanessa was beginning to suspect that the only reason he saw her in the first place was for inside trader tips on his new favorite fighter.
How was Jackson indeed? Of that she really had no idea.
Yes, she spent a lot of time with the champion MMA fighter, more than her job required. But this wasn’t time spent talking or bonding. Quite the opposite, in fact. And, every time, as soon as they finished, he would remind her of just how little she meant to him.
‘You better get going.’ He would say, seconds after they had finished. ‘Anthony needs to be picked up right?’
‘Not for an hour.’ She would counter.
‘Still. We can’t risk him coming home and seeing this.’ He would finish, already half dressed.
It was a lame excuse, but one that only served to remind her of her place. She was a slam piece, a play thing. She was ultimately a pair of long legs that had one use and one use only.
On the sixth day of their rendezvous, Vanessa made the fatal mistake of trying to advance the relationship, just by the smallest iota. She knew how much Jackson cared for Anthony so she assumed that talking about him would be the best way to bond.
‘I was thinking…’ She began as the two lay naked in bed. It was the first time that Jackson hadn’t made to leave straight away and she thought that this was a good sign.
‘About?’ He asked only half paying attention.
‘Anthony.’
‘Oh…’
‘Well. He was telling me yesterday how you always make him go and watch your fights…’ Jackson shifted uncomfortably, that should have been a sign to stop. But, as stubborn as she was, Vanessa chose to push on. ‘And I just don’t know…well knowing Anthony so well now, I just don’t know if that’s best for an eleven-year-old --,’
‘Get out.’
‘What?’
‘Get the hell out.’ He didn’t sound angry, or even look it. It came off as more of an urgent request by necessity than anything. As if he had suddenly heard someone come home.
‘Oh…’ Vanessa began, sitting up in bed. ‘You mean the bedroom or the house?’
‘Just get out. Please.’ Again, he seemed calm enough. Was he mad at her or was this a symptom of something else?
Not wanting to press the point, Vanessa was quick to hop out of the bed and exit the room. The whole time Jackson lay in the bed, not looking at or even acknowledging her presence. This only made Vanessa feel worse as she scurried from the room. She was pretty sure that she had just overstepped her mark. She just didn’t know what effect this was going to have.
*
She had to go. There was no other way around it.
Jackson made his way through his house, debating in his head whether he truly had to fire Vanessa or not. But, t
he more he thought about it, the more he decided that yes, it had to happen.
He had started sleeping with Vanessa because…well because she was exceptionally attractive and he was Jackson ‘The Last Call’ McCall. This was kind of what he did. He hadn’t had a serious relationship since his wife had died and he was fine with that. His life at the moment revolved around two things; fighting and his son. He had assumed that Vanessa was fine with that. They had a good thing going, but the moment that she tried to get involved in his relationship with his son, as if she knew best…no. She had to go.
This debate raged in his head as he stormed through the house, looking for her. As much as he had enjoyed sleeping with her, she had crossed a line. Like life, there were no second chances, no timeouts. He didn’t know if she was just voicing a concern or trying to get closer to him. Quite frankly he didn’t care.
