GRACE

"It would be amazing if you got that job!" I glared at Sam. "What?" she asked, her mouth filled with popcorn.

"The other day, you were against babysitting. You didn't think it was so befitting for someone like me."

She rolled her eyes as though I was lying against her.

"Of course, it does not fit you. But since you'll be babysitting in a rich home, it is the best job you could probably have."

"Money does change people's minds faster than a snake bites." As I threw some popcorn into my mouth, the movie playing on the television became distant to my ears because I recalled something. "It has been two days and I have not received a call. What if I didn't qualify for the job?"

"You have to chill, girl. Whether you get the job or not, you will be called or texted at least."

I agreed with her with a nod and assured myself to stay calm. I have been acting out of place because I keep worrying about not getting the job.

It seems as though I am sure that I will fall into devastation again if I don't get the job.

Anyway... speaking of staying calm, my mind travelled to Mr. Powers, the fine man I almost tripped for at the hotel.

I recalled the beauty of his eyes and my insides softened, that is something my sober self hasn't felt towards men in a long while. But I soon pulled myself together as I reasoned out that he is one of those fine men you see just once in your lifetime. They are the types that leave your head in chaos when you randomly recall a freaking handsome man you once saw somewhere.

So, I told my brain to stop planning my wedding to Mr. Powers. Though there is no denying that seeing his fine face would be nice, meeting him again is a very slim occurrence.

I hugged the bowl in my hands to my chest and proceeded with indulging myself in my fantasy. I know, I just told my brain to not do it, but I can't help it.

"Uh oh... I have not seen that look on your face since Kyle."

On hearing that name, my fantasy fell like a fragile plate and shattered into a thousand pieces.

"Sam, you know I don't like hearing that name," I said, my voice almost a whisper. The jelly feeling inside me was quickly replaced with intense heaviness.

"Grace..." I gave Samantha a warning glare before she could say anything more.

"I don't want to hear his name."

"But..."

My phone's ringtone interrupted whatever she was about to say. I picked it up and saw that it displayed PRIVATE NUMBER boldly on its screen. Even though on a normal day, I would ignore the call, I accepted the call since I was expecting one.

"Hello?"

'Grace Sands?' The way the man on the other side said my name though...

"Yes, this is her."

'You have been selected to be Ruby's babysitter. You are to report to the penthouse tomorrow by one pm for your training.'

"Really?" I could finally relax. "Thank you very much, sir."

'Do. Not. Be. Late.' His voice. It was so... I have no idea what to term it as.

But there was a need to know who I was speaking to.

"Who am I...?" The call ended before I could complete my question. A bit annoyed, I removed the phone from my ear and stared at the blank screen for a few seconds.

He really hung up.

I don't want to be that person that quickly judges a man so quickly, but what an attitude!

"Who was that?"

"I do not know. But I got the job."

Sam's face lit up. "Really? Yay! I knew it! Congrats, girl!" She was more excited than me.

"Thanks. I hope this turns out to be interesting though."

"What if it turns out to be a boring task?"

I shrugged. "I'll probably quit."

"No, no. You are not quitting. You won't have to. Rich people have the most drama, so things will be fun." Sam was certainly in for the money and gossip. "So who are you babysitting?" she asked.

"A girl named Ruby."

"She sounds cute. Have fun." Her face became serious. "I hope this means no more of your night drama."

"Yes, it does. I promise."

She gave me a short smile and immediately threw me into her arms for a huge embrace.

********

"I am surely going to miss working here. Ruby is a great darling, so you will love babysitting her." I smiled at Fiona, the lady who had interviewed me. It turned out she was Ruby's nanny.

"Fiona?" The woman faced me. "Why are you quitting this job? It seems you love it a lot."

She sat down on a stool in the kitchen and I settled beside her.

We had just finished my training. I was introduced to the whole house and was given a list of Ruby's likes and dislikes and a calendar highlighting her daily activities.

"Well, my husband has finally retired from the military and I would love to spend some time with him. It has been so long since we had a proper life together."

"You must miss him so much." Fiona's smile agreed with me. "For how many years have you been Ruby's nanny?"

"Ever since she has been born. So, five, almost six years, if my Maths is right."

"Whoa. Ever since she has been born? Why? Isn't her mother around or something?"

Fiona immediately jolted as though something sparked inside her. "Grace! You are a nice lady and I want you to babysit Ruby for as long as possible. But if you want to keep this job, you must mind your business. Their family is no issue of yours. Just do your job and get paid. Okay?"

"Uh... yes. Alright. Mind my business." Maybe Sam was right. They are probably one of those rich families with secrets.

Instantly Fiona switched from her concerned mother-giving advice mode to a cheerful youth mode. "Speaking of getting paid, your monthly salary is five thousand dollars. And it is likely to increase if you do a great job after three months."

If I were drinking water right at that moment, I would have choked.

Uh? Five thousand dollars for babysitting?

Fiona chuckled at my bulged eyes.

"You have no idea how much I am being paid," she said. "Just enjoy your job and the pay. As I said earlier, Ruby is an angel, so you will have no issue with her."

I accepted everything Fiona told me and believed it. But after some seconds of silence, I voiced my concern. "I have a question. Why does Ruby have to go to another floor to get schooled? It is called homeschooling for a reason."

"That is how her teacher wants it. He says it is more convenient for him since he is in a wheelchair. I had my worries too since the teacher is a grown male, so I usually sit with them throughout the lesson. But as you know, I had to put you through your duties today, so I sent the housekeeper instead."

I reserved the rest of my comment. "If that is the case, I am more than ready to start working."

Fiona got off the stool and walked towards the exit. "It is almost three o'clock, Ruby should be on her way now." I stood up and followed her. And when she stopped walking and raised a finger in mid-air, I stopped as well. But I didn't raise my finger.

"Ruby's father will be back around seven pm so you have to stay till then. But make sure that you resume early tomorrow. You need to be here by seven AM. If you can come earlier, that would be nice."

"Thank you, Fiona."

Our walking resumed and as we reached the grand living room, the front door opened and a little girl appeared.

She fully walked into the room, and my entire face lit up with a huge smile.

The little girl was very pretty. Donned in a black gown top that carried a pink flower in its centre and blue leggings, the girl made noise with her flip-flops as she ran towards Fiona.

"There is my baby." Fiona hugged her to her bosom, almost burying the girl with her love and... her chest. When she dropped her, Ruby faced me. Her eyes were honey-like, and her purely black hair dropped in a way that made the roundness of her face pop.

After a brief eye contact, Ruby faced Fiona who was now taking off the girl's backpack.

"Is she my new nanny?" Her voice was as it should be...like a child's. It just was not so high-pitched like some girls tended to have.

"Yes, Ruby. Say Hello."

She stretched out her tiny hand at me. "Hi. I am Ruby. You?" I noticed that she had a little lisp. It barely overpowered her speech, so it was not noticeable.

"Grace." Your babysitter. Not a nanny.

"You are pretty." She batted her lashes furiously, her face exposing deep dimples as she smiled.

"Thank you, Ruby. You are also pretty."

"Do you want to go look at my toys? I have an Iron Man action figure."

My, my. I was expecting some Barbie gang, but this is good.

I struck a dramatic pose. "Don't tell me, you are a Marvel fan too?"

She jumped happily and smiled again. Damn, she is pretty. One can only imagine how good-looking her parents are. Come to think of it, there are no family pictures around.

"I am!" Ruby wasn't acting as though I was some stranger, which I was. "I love The Hulk!"

"That is great. Shall we go upstairs and take a look at those action figures?" Fiona and I shared a smile and she gave me thumbs-up.

Ruby grabbed my hand, her little fingers hardly covering a quarter of mine. "Let's go, Grace. We can even watch Thor too if you want."

"I would love to." I laughed loudly as she somewhat dragged me up the stairs.

She was a nice kid for sure. And I should totally enjoy this new job.

********

It was already past seven and Ruby's father was yet to arrive. Ruby and I were in the living room, watching some children-approved YouTube videos. Fiona was still around and was making dinner in the kitchen.

As I pondered on how my night would be, a sound from the entrance door tore our eyes from the laptop.

"Daddy!" Ruby got up and rushed to the door, hugging the man before he could even enter.

"Hey, Ruby. How are you?"

I straightened my posture as I waited for him to come in. His voice sounded like the one over the phone and even though his attitude back then annoyed me a bit, I decided to be cool. He is my employer after all.

"I am fine, Daddy. I got a new nanny." Babysitter. Say, babysitter. It is not so hard to say that.

"And she is very pretty." The way she elaborately talked, you would think I was Priyanka Chopra.

"Nice. Let's go in."

I decided to walk closer to the door as it would be rude if my employer was the one having to walk towards me. As I reached the single-level step that led to the living room if you were coming from outside, I stopped.

I looked up from my shoe which I was checking to see if it had a stain from when Ruby painted.

And as soon as my eyes met Ruby's father's, my jaw slightly dropped.

Mr. Powers, the hot man I was getting married to in my head, was standing in front of me, his daughter settled in his arms while she wore a smile as though she had just won the lottery. He put her down and walked towards me. When he stopped just a few metres from the edge of the stairs, his blueish eyes looked down at me.

"Miss Sands. I heard you came early today." Oh my God, his voice. It was so deep yet soft. "Good. Maintain that pace and you will have your job for a while."

After serenading my ears with the calmness of his voice, Mr. Powers pocketed his hands into his suit trousers, which as I pointed out before, he wore handsomely. "I trust Fiona has put you through," he said.

Not able to trust my mouth, I nodded, biting the insides of my lips as I clamped them shut. "Alright."

And he walked away, his shoes climbing the steps gracefully while his scent left a trail.

I facepalmed myself and groaned inwardly.

How will I survive this?

How will I survive this job when my boss is a freaking hot, sexy, handsome man? How will I successfully babysit the daughter of the man I almost got married to in my imagination?

Oh, my poor hormones! It seems you guys have a tough fight ahead.

"Grace..." I dropped my hands from my face and gave Ruby a nice smile.

"Ruby, I have to go. I need to get as much rest as I can right now."

"What? You are not staying for dinner?" Fiona suddenly appeared.

"No, Fiona. As you know I have to be up early tomorrow." Drunk me is not going to be happy about that! But whatever! I have to be decent!

I thought in my head, saying the statements in a sing-song manner.

"I wish you were living with us. I can't wait to see you again!" Ruby said and I walked to her after I grabbed my bag from Fiona who reached for it before I could.

"Ruby, I will be back tomorrow and maybe we can check out that pool you talked about."

"Okay." Her pout was sad but I appreciated that she liked me already. "Goodnight, Grace."

My smile was genuine as I greeted back, "Goodnight, Ruby."

My feet were about to move when an iPhone ringtone filled the room. I opened my bag to check if it was mine, but Fiona stopped me as she said, "Oh, that's my phone. It is probably my son Kyle that's calling."

I felt my head swirl. Fiona must have noticed some physical change in my face when she raised her head from her already muted phone. "Darling, are you fine? You look rather pale."

"I... I need to go now." I managed to say. "Goodnight, Fiona. Have a nice journey."

"Night. Sleep well." I smiled and walked out of the room. Without pausing, I rushed to the elevator, punched my destination, and let out the breath I was keeping in.

Then, I thought, 'What has Kyle done to me?'