I quickly slid my butt out of the seat and rushed toward the door. I was done. I wasn’t going to wait a couple of days to leave everything behind. I was going to start packing the moment I gotback to my dorm. Mentally, I made plans to meet my guidance counselor the following day so I could be driving home by lunchtime. Finally, having a plan in place after all the months I’d been suffering in silence gave me a boost of energy that I used to walk to my dorm. The minute I was inside, I grabbed my luggage from beneath my bed, and I started packing. Morning couldn’t come fast enough.
I lookedup at the high-rise in front of me. Based on the email, I was instructed to make my way to the top floor for the interview.
This was way different than the cozy little home Chloe and Roman had purchased when they’d gotten together. It had been Chloe’s dream home.
But this?
My sister would hate it.
But maybe that’s why he decided to move deep into the city. As a means to forget. I could understand that. It was why I chose a university hours away rather than the one here in the same city I’d grown up in.
The house they’d had before Roman moved to this place wasn’t a mansion or anything. It was a stone cottage that looked as if it had been taken straight out of a fairy tale. The stones were multicolored in neutral tones of brown, cream, and gray. All the large windows were framed in brown, which perfectly matched the color of the sloped roof. There were small balconies on a couple of the upper bedrooms, and the east wall of the house was covered in climbing vines. The landscaping around the housemade it seem as if nature were slowly reclaiming it. The drive was brick, long, and it turned into a circle in front of the house.
I remembered when my sister and Roman bought the property, how excited she was, and how overwhelmed Roman was with all her plans. My sister was the romantic type, and she thought the house would be the center of their epic love story. Just remembering it made me feel closer to her.
That time was gone now, though. Chloe was buried, and Roman had changed.
I took a deep breath as I stepped up to the door before pushing through. The doorman wasn’t at his station, so I took the opportunity to get to the elevator. Hastily, I pressed the button for the top floor. The elevator lurched upward, making my stomach jolt. My heart raced. I hadn’t seen Roman since the funeral. That was the day he walked out on our family and never looked back.
The elevator stopped at the top, and I got out. The door to go into the apartment was in front of me. I drew in another calming breath before I pushed the doorbell.
The door opened, and a woman stood before me.
“Can I help you?” she asked with a no-nonsense tone. She was tall, blonde, and looked like she’d drown if she went out in a rainstorm.
“Yes, I’m here for the nanny interview. My name is Sasha.”
“Right this way.” She turned away, and I stepped inside.
I closed the door behind me and took a deep breath, realizing that the place was a literal mansion inside. Cold. Hollow. It was as if winter had blown in and summer never came. Everything was just so modern, not remotely comforting.
As the lady led me through the house, my eyes moved over every inch of the place, noticing that the walls were bare. There were no sweet pictures of Sophia. I hadn’t seen her after the funeral. Roman just up and took off, taking her with him.
The woman opened the door to the study, and she held it as I stepped inside. Another woman was sitting behind the desk, and she looked much nicer than the woman who greeted me at the door.
“Ah, please come in and have a seat,” the woman said, motioning across the desk from her.
I pushed myself forward, and once I was close enough, she stood and held out her hand to shake. I did so, noticing she had a firm grip.
“Please, have a seat.”
I sat down and turned to look at the door. It had been closed, and the woman who brought me in was gone. I was glad she wasn’t the one interviewing me, but I did wonder who she was and what she did around the house. Of course, Roman had a full staff. He had a nanny, as well as probably maids and cooks.
“My name is Monica Spelling. I’m the personal assistant to Roman Ford, and I’ll be the one conducting your interview today.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“You as well,” she said, taking her seat. “So, I was looking over your resume, and it looks like you don’t have much experience in childcare. Is that right?”
“Well… no official professional experience, that is. Of course, I have hands-on experience.”
“How so?” she asked, arching her brow.
I wet my lips and took a deep inhale to prepare myself for the speech I’d memorized. “I had siblings growing up, so I’m used to being around kids,” I lied. The only sibling I had was my sister, and she was older. “I would also babysit in high school. That’s how I made all my money back in those days before I could legally work. I have a niece as well that I used to watch all the time.” Another lie. I never had the chance to babysit her before, aside from watching her sleep through Chloe’s funeral. “And Idid take a child care education class back in high school when I was thinking about going into that field.”
“But that’s not what you’re currently going to school for now, is it?”
“No, I changed my major. I’m majoring in computer science.”
