HOW YOU LIKE THAT | JENLISA

Chapter 2

Jennie

Approximately ten minutes later, I was sitting in front of a very intimidating man lounging behind a large cherry-wood desk in an equally impressive office.

The house was exquisite, to say the least. A gothic colonial mansion fit to be called a king's palace, with their lawns neatly trimmed, a huge mermaid sculpted fountain in the centre, and a lake house on the other side of the mansion. The house was built during the early eighteenth century, according to the butler that showed me to Mr. Manoban's office.

As soon as I'd entered those enormous gates, it was already clear to me that these people were wealthy beyond my imagination and working for them would be like a dream come true.

I was good with kids. In fact, I used to babysit some kids from the neighbourhood for extra cash and it worked out well, so I had no doubt that I could do this, too.

"Jen." Mr. Manoban addressed me, while pulling me out of my thoughts, "Is it okay if I call you Jen?"

"Yes, that's totally fine."

Nichkhun Manoban could have told me that he worked in movies and I wouldn't dare disagree. His rumpled hair was the colour of a coffee latte, and his eyes were so green as if he held an entire amazon jungle in there. He was tall and wore a casual white shirt that highlighted his toned body. Men like him usually just appeared in my fantasies and never in real life.

"That's good." He flashed me a grin. "I've read through your resume and you mentioned here that you're pretty great at handling kids."

"That's right." I responded. "There were a lot of kids in my neighbourhood, so I'm experienced where they are concerned. Kids love me so you wouldn't have to worry about your son or daughter. I'm also good at engaging them with outdoor and indoor activities, although we never had too much outdoor space from where I lived, but I think that wouldn't be a problem here."

I was rambling! Sometimes my mouth could just run on for miles without my knowledge.

His smile did not falter as he regarded me with a curious look on his face. "Well, that's a relief, but I'd like to clarify; I'm not married and I don't have kids. It's my sibling that I need a caretaker for, and my sibling is not exactly what I'd call a kid. My sibling is...." Nichkhun looked away into the distance trying to come up with the right word, "... difficult and different."

"I see." I might have been a teeny-tiny bit thrilled by the fact that Nichkhun wasn't married.

How bad could this job be? If his sibling was a nasty, and disobeying teenager, I was quite certain that I could teach the teenager to stay in line. I was guilty of pinching rowdy kids when their parents weren't looking, so this rich Manoban teenager better be nice.

"Are you usually great with kids who throw tantrums and refuse to eat?"

I gave him my most confident smile. "Of course. It's difficult in the beginning, but I can assure you that your sibling and I will be best friends in no time."

I was trying to sell this too hard, and I was hoping that I wasn't sounding too desperate like a sales person trying way too hard to sell expired cosmetics at a cheap price. But by the looks of it, I guess Nichkhun was sold because he said, "Jen, you're hired."

Wow! That was easy...

I couldn't keep the excitement out of my voice. "Awesome! I'd like to meet your sibling."

"All in due time." he said, while pushing a document towards me, "We have a rule that every person under our employment signs a contract. It states that you'll be keeping this position for at least a year, but before that, you'll be working on a one-month probation period. We'll be monitoring you and we'll have the power to dismiss you when we see fit. It's only because we've had a few caretakers before you who did not treat my sibling, with the respect that a member of the Manoban family deserves and we were forced to take proper actions. You can go through the entire document, take your time to read it and I'll..." 

I choose a pen and signed my name on the document. My desperation had no limits whatsoever. Anything was better than the hellhole which consisted of my uncle and his son.

"I want this job, Mr. Manoban, and I completely understand that you would want to protect your sibling from harm. I promise you that I won't be that person to disappoint you."

While he was talking to me, I scanned a few pages, and it all looked legit. I didn't want to waste anymore time, when he could just decide that I wasn't fit to do this job and hire someone else.

He gave me a pleased smile, with his eyes crinkling at the corners, "Call me Nichkhun."