Chapter 1
Darren
That was the end of that.
I leaned back in my office chair and tried to resist the impulse to snarl or at least vocalize my displeasure. I waited five seconds and the moment was past. It was done and now I had to deal with it. Dammit.
My nanny, Rosie McClung had just quit. She’d been a nanny to my four year old son Bobby for the past year and a half, ever since my wife Jodie passed away in a car accident. Bobby loved her and she had helped him ease the burden that void left behind since his mother was gone. Rosie was more grandmotherly than motherly, mostly due to the fact that she was in her early sixties, but she was a great nanny and Bobby loved her. She would pick him up from pre-school and take care of him until I got home from work. I tried to get home before he was in bed. I succeeded only half the time.
But she just told me she quit. Her daughter in Houston needed her help after having some major surgery. Houston… I hoped the weather was better there than it was in Columbus, Ohio where I lived. It was the middle of winter February. What a damn dreary, cold, bitter month. I could hop on a plane any time I wanted and be in a warmer climate within six hours, but that was not life with a four year old who needed stability.
Now I had to find another nanny. Shit. I needed this like I needed a hole in the head.
My door knocked just then. “Come in,” I said.
Patrice, my secretary stormed into my office. “Your four o’clock meeting just got moved back to five,” she said.
“What? Why?”
“Ken said something came up and he can’t meet until then.”
“Well, tell him to piss off then. It’s four or nothing. My time is valuable, too.”
“Really? You want to cancel that?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I have to get home a little early today. Bobby needs me.”
“Nothing serious I hope,” she said.
“My nanny just quit. She needs me home by six. She has some family emergency or some shit. So, now I have to get someone else asap.”
“Well, my cousin’s daughter is looking for that type of work,” Patrice said.
“Really? Is she experienced?”
“I believe she is,” she said. “She is currently studying at Ohio State for a degree in early childhood development.”
“That sounds promising,” I said.
“And she has been a nanny for a few years now with a family, but they are moving, so she is out of a job as of last week.”
“That’s great. Can you set up a meeting with me and her tomorrow at my place?”
“Sure.”
“You don’t have to check with her?”
“No, she will be glad I said yes for her,” Patrice said.
“Great,” I replied. “Thanks so much. This works out. I hope she can start soon.”
“I’m sure she can,” she replied. “I think you will get along great.”
I thanked her again. She left my office and a few minutes told me that the meeting was back on at four. Of course it was. I was not about to let things go like that. I’ve never been the type of guy who will put up with anyone pushing me around. People will try.
I finished up a few things at the office and then went to the meeting. The meeting was with a man named Ken Worth. He was a real estate investor who was looking to buy up some properties I owned. He tried to low ball me as usual, but I stuck to my guns and at least a few times I had to get angry with him. I almost walked out of the damn meeting twice. The second time I was gone until he sprinted down the hallway to actually beg me to reconsider.
“Ok,” I said. “The price is now five million more than it was before. Anymore of your foolish shenanigans? Or are you just out of the deal?”
“Five?”
He hesitated and I was walking away already. “Fine. That’s the deal.”
“Great. I’ll have the paperwork drawn up. Now I’ve got to run,” I said.
I went back to the office and grabbed a few things before heading out. As I was leaving, Patrice flagged me down. “She said five o’clock tomorrow.”
I gave her a puzzled look. What was she talking about?
“The nanny?”