GRACE

"I finally have your time."

I narrowed my eyes at Mr. Powers's sturdy figure which was dressed casually, the fact that he went out dressed that way making it more surprising.

As he settled on the couch opposite us, I felt like a little girl that was about to be scolded, especially with the way he was staring hard at both Ruby and me.

It has been two days since Ruby's little prank- which she has refused to tell how she did it- and since Mr. Powers's accusation of me.

And it has been almost two nights since the... encounter.

I was about leaving after my job for the day when Mr. Powers called me, saying that we needed to talk.

And now... he has not even said a word.

His eyes kept darting between me and Ruby who had her back leaned into the couch, with her elbow resting on the arm as she waited patiently for what was about to go down.

But on my side, impatience was growing and I checked my phone to that effect.

Mr. Powers must have noticed my little action, so he cleared his throat before saying, "Ruby will no longer be attending that ballet school." Ruby and I shared a look, then shrugged. Mr. Powers's face displayed slight surprise. "Did you hear me? Ruby will no longer be attending that school."

It seemed he wanted to force out a particular reaction from us.

"I never liked the school anyway. They were not bothered with bullying me," Ruby calmly replied. Her face had nothing but indifference written on it.

Now greatly surprised, Mr. Powers glanced my way and I nodded.

During one of our chats in the past two days, Ruby told me about the maltreatment. It was something that had been going on for almost four months and it was something she was afraid to tell anyone, not even Fiona.

So, when she filled me in, I was glad. A girl her age should not be experiencing things like that.

So, if she won't be attending that school anymore, that's a good thing. And if worse comes to worst, I will teach her myself, with the help of YouTube.

Mr. Powers was clearly still taken aback by the indifference oozing from his daughter. "Ruby. I am trying to say no more ballet classes for you." She shrugged again. "Why on earth are you shrugging? I thought you liked ballet."

"I only joined that class because you promised me before I joined the class that you... you will always be the one to take me there. And since you don't have time for me I... I won't go to ballet anymore."

She got off the couch, bid me goodnight, and walked away.

Her father and I could not help but have shock on our faces as we watched her walk away. I especially was taken aback by her sudden change of mood. As she talked, I did not see the ever-smiling Ruby I saw a more serious, sort of angry girl.

I felt Mr. Powers' gaze fall on me, so I tore my eyes from Ruby and faced him.

"What was that?" he asked, his eyes squinted.

"Well, Mr. Powers, she is angry at you."

He pointed a finger at me. "Did you put her up to this?"

My eyes widened in perplexity which was on the verge of becoming angry. Why on earth does he try to blame shit on me?

"No. You did this to her."

Time to put Mr. Sexy in his position.

"I did what to her?" he asked calmly as he sat back, a look of interest on his face.

I adjusted my position and squared my shoulders. It felt as though I was abo to talk to him about some business.

"Sir, all Ruby wants from you is a part of your time. She just wants to spend time with you, father to daughter. She doesn't like the fact that all she ever gets from you is a greeting and nothing else. Even if it is just ten minutes that you can spare after you get back from work, she would love to have you around."

He nodded slowly. "I see. Ruby told you all that?"

"Yeah, she did. She actually pulled that prank to get your attention."

"So you did know about it. You are such a ..."

"Liar? Oh, come on!" I exclaimed. "Stop blaming me for the results you get for not being around for your daughter. That is not fair." I rolled my eyes and looked away. A sharp breath followed and I said, "And I did not start any fucking fire. That bitch of a teacher might have done this to me," I looked back at his stern face as I pointed to my forehead, "but I did not start the fucking fire."

His eyes intently studied me for a while before he nodded and got to his feet.

"Very well then. I'll consider your advice even if it won't be easy for me." I frowned. What does he mean by that? "I guess this is goodnight, Miss Sands. And uh... the other night..."

I cut him short. "I didn't see shit."

"Very well. See you tomorrow."

His eyes had turned their intensity to the max and he used that gaze to scan my existence. This time, he made sure I knew that he was scanning my full body. But before I could question his gaze, he walked away.

Okay, what the heck was that?

Alright, hormones. Hold it right there. That was nothing. He was just looking at me as a normal human should. And that's that about that.

It finally dawned on me that I had finally spoken to Ruby's father about one of Ruby's needs and I released a huge breath of relief to that effect.

I was worried that things would take a terrible turn but it wasn't bad at the end of the day. Well, that's if I choose to ignore the fact that he found it easy to throw the blame on me.

Before I could drown in my thoughts, I began to yearn for the comfort of my home. So I grabbed my bag and walked out of the penthouse, ordering an Uber ride as my strides advanced.

But when I entered the elevator, the scene I witnessed the other day flashed in my mind and I groaned in a way that I never knew I could.

********

My hand came in contact with my throat which was feeling extra dry. I tried moistening my mouth with some saliva but that didn't do any good. I needed water.

And I needed to get off this seat before my buttocks became flatter.

"Mr. Roberto." The fairly young man who looked way older than his age because of his grumpiness and mostly because of his receding hairline, sneered at me, and I got an answer before I could ask my question. But I asked anyway. "Can I get a bottle of water, please?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't..."

"... like strangers touching your stuff. I got it, sir." Oh if only the two hours spent could just be the end of this torture. I got up and received a deeper frown from Mr. Roberto. But I successfully ignored him and walked to where they were seated. "Ruby, I need to get water upstairs." She nodded, her mind more focused on the book in front of her. "Do you need anything?"

I finally caught her full attention. "A juice box please." Her grand smile fell as she immediately went back to her work.

I nodded and gave His Grumpiness a side glance on my way out.

I just hate the dude's guts. And I hate the fact that I have to sit for such a long time. I rubbed my jean trouser whose buttock area felt moist.

While pouting at the fact that I was still going back into that boring room, I found the elevator and pressed my destination. Within seconds I was out and walking toward the entrance of the penthouse.

As I opened the door slightly, I heard giggles from inside. It seemed like my boss had a visitor.

I entered fully and the scene I walked into almost forced a loud groan out of my lips.

The woman from the other night whose mouth was just a fierce kiss away from Mr. Powers's, sneered at me. She must really, really hate me now since I just interrupted another steamy session of theirs.

I gave the duo a short smile and said, "I came to get water."

Mr. Powers did not react, he kept staring at me. But his eyes soon travelled to his model-figure companion who was already making her way to me.

"Darling, you never told me who she is," she delightfully said while her face looked as venomous as it could be. When she was a few steps away from me, her lips grew a short smile and she stretched her hand. "Hi, I am Regina, Dom's girlfriend."

She uttered the last word with implied force as though she was trying to overstamp her position in his life.

"I am Grace, Ruby's babysitter. Your panties fell while you were walking."

Her face lit up in horror and she forgot about the fake handshake. My gaze fell back on Mr. Powers who was now facing the city ahead.

I like that he did not interfere. So, I returned my attention to Regina who rushed to grab her panties.

"Nice meeting you, Regina." I returned her smile from earlier and made my way to the kitchen.

After l had satisfied my extreme thirst, I grabbed two more bottles of water and two of Ruby's juice boxes.

If I want to survive in Mr. Roberto's room, I have to be adequately stocked. While I was tempted to grab some chips, I quickly rushed out of the kitchen, the bottles and boxes married to my chest.

When I reached the living room, Mr. Powers was the only one there. My footsteps roused his attention. So he looked up from his phone and stared quite intensely, his lips in a thin line.

"I need them for survival." I gestured at the things in my arm when I found his staring quite uncomfortable. It was as though he was undressing my soul.

So I rushed out of the room, making my way to the worst part of my babysitting job.

Once I was in front of Mr. Roberto's house, I drew a deep breath to help me imbibe some courage. I need that courage to survive the four and half hours or so that was remaining.

As I reached for the metallic handle, I heard Mr. Grumpy say from the other side, "How does it feel?"

With my ears suddenly pricked and my entire senses interested, I slightly opened the door and my suspicious self leaned in to listen to their conversation.

"I can't touch that." I heard Ruby say.

"But how does it look?"

What on earth is going on in there?

"Uh... long and hard?"

Eh? What?

I barged into the room, my eyes furiously landing where the duo was seated. I immediately searched for the long and hard something around where something is usually long and hard.

And it was really hard.

I charged at the scared man who was screaming at me to back off. I grabbed one of the bottles in my arm, dropped the rest, and began to beat his erection through his slightly oversized pants.

"Ruby, go upstairs and call your father!" I kept hitting him, swear words escaping my mouth anyhow.

When I stopped for a second to see the result of my thrashing, it occurred to me that the dude was enjoying it.

His face wore pleasure and a groan soon escaped his lips as he returned my surprised, disgusted look with a satisfied, thrilled expression.

"What the heck?"

I looked back at his face which was wearing a huge smirk and I noticed that his erection had gotten harder.

Wow. What a freak.

I was about to find something else to beat him with, something sharp, but the door behind me closed with a bang.

"What is going on here?" That demanding voice stopped my intention.

I felt the heat from Mr. Powers's body embrace me as he stood behind me. It was sure to bump right into his chest if I decided to turn. So I just kept my eyes on the disgusting dude in front of me.

"Well, he decided to sport an erection in front of a five-year-old. He even asked her to touch it!"

"He asked me to touch it," Ruby confirmed after a few seconds of silence.

Mr. Powers's breath became heavy and I listened to it while I ignored how those breaths settled against my skin.

"Miss Sands, take Ruby upstairs."

I nodded and walked away. I didn't bother to glance at my boss. His voice carried more than enough fury to tell how he felt.

"Come on, Ruby. Let's go."

I held her hand and as we walked out, Mr. Roberto's pleas filled my ears after Mr. Powers's slammed something against the floor.

"Ruby, are you fine?" My voice almost shivered.

We were already walking to their penthouse and that was the only question I could think of.

Ruby looked up and me and said,

"I was scared. I didn't want to touch it. He... He..."

I quickly crouched and hugged her to my chest.

"It is okay now. You are okay, Ruby. Daddy is going to deal with him."

As I assured her with my embrace, I began to wonder if such had happened before.

Oh... She must have been really scared.

My chest tightened at that thought.

"There you are." Mr. Powers' voice interrupted our little hugging session minutes later. I got up and held Ruby's hand. "The police are dealing with him. And uh... Ruby," he faced his daughter, "are you okay?"

The little girl nodded.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded again and he gave her a short smile. But the sigh that escaped him seconds later told me that he did not believe her.

Mr. Powers's turned his attention to me. "Miss Sands, I have a favour to ask of you." I gestured for him to say it. "Move in with us."