His phone rings. Jack rolls his eyes, takes the call, and puts the phone to his ear. “Give me ten minutes, okay? I’m on the road.” He hangs back up. It’s like I’ve been hit on the head. I have no idea what’s going on. Do I have the job or not?
“Your room should be ready by then. Come on over tomorrowwith your things, and we’ll go through the schedule together. Basically, all of my chalet girls receive the same salary. Seven hundred fifty dollars, every week. Is that acceptable?”
“Umm…”
Seven hundred fifty dollars…a week?! Where do I sign?
“How much in rent do you want for the room?”
Jack blinks. For a moment he looks confused, before he stands up, laughs, and waves my question away. I don’t understand what he means. Does he think I’m joking?
“I’ve got to go.” Yeah, unreal. He took my question to be a joke. “Come on over tomorrow, at your convenience, and…”
The door opens. I turn my head—and for a fraction of a second my heart stops. Really. It simply stops. Whether it’ll start back up, I don’t really know.
Well, apparently it does, because I’m sitting here. Whereas, to tell the truth, I’d rather sink into the ground and become part of the waxed parquet.
“Ah, Knox.” Mr. Winterbottom points from me to Knox and then back. “How good that you’re here. This is our new chalet girl, Paisley. Paisley, this is my son. Knox.”
This has got to be a bad joke. This could never happen in real life. I’m dreaming. For sure.
The door closes. Knox stares at me.
I stare back.
Then he tilts his head. “Paisley, huh?”
Oh, my Lord.Thisisn’t going to go well at all.
11
And Suddenly She Was My Baymax
Knox
“Be so good as to show her everything, would you?” My father doesn’t look up from his phone. I’m not surprised. This weekend there’s going to be a big celebration here with important sponsors, and he’s been involved in last-minute preparations for days. Actually, our former chalet girl Lauren would have been in charge had she not…well…taken off. Because of me.
He types one more message with a frown, then turns back to Paisley. She is sitting straight as a board on our couch, unmoving. “So, Paisley. It’s good to have you with us.” He goes to the front door. “If you need anything, just ask. Knox will help you out.”
Ah. Will I?
Paisley seems to be thinking the same thing, because her fine features don’t manage to hide the look of disbelief in her eyes. In fact, rather than getting started with us, she seems like she’d rather just quit on the spot. No idea why that amuses me.
The front door closes, and an oppressive silence falls over us, interrupted only by the crackling wood of the fire. Paisley’s bright cheeks turn pink. Her fingers are gripping her sports bag that’s next to her on the couch, and she’s staring at her coffee cup.
I go to the fridge and get myself a soda. “You sure you want the job?”
“You sure you want to keep on being an ass?” she counters cuttingly. Got it, she’s pissed. Which, after my behavior on the slope, doesn’t surprise me. Once I’ve closed the refrigerator door and turned back to face her, she’s moved her eyes to mine. She looks combative, which doesn’t really fit with her delicate features. “Well, in any event, I’m going to be living here and can sneak over to your room at any time to plant a kiss on your face.”
I grin. “Freak.” The soda can hisses when I open it. I take a few noisy sips, then point to her with the can. “Right, Paisley. Let’s establish the ground rules.”
She rolls her eyes. “Now I’m curious.”
“First: My room is off-limits. I don’t want to see you there. My private space is your boundary. Got it?”
Paisley shrugs. “Sure.”
I hop up onto the kitchen island and take another sip. “Two: To the best of our abilities, we’re going to stay out of each other’s way.”
