The Accidental Nanny

The Call

When I was awoken the next morning by several stiff raps on my door my eyes immediately flashed to my alarm clock. It was eight o'clock, I was late for work.

"Josie?" Lila called in softly as she poked her head in the door. She held the phone against her shoulder, "it's for you."

"I have to go." I grunted as I propelled myself out of bed and searched my floor for a shirt that was still sort of clean and professional looking. "I got a job, aren't you proud?" I asked, as I tore off my pajamas and slid into the clothes I had found.

"I think you should take this." She whispered.

"I have to go." I said around the bobby pins that were sticking out of my mouth. I twisted my hair up and groped under my bed for my purse. I popped some gum into my mouth as I breezed past Lila in search of comfortable shoes.

"Josie!" Lila hissed. I ignored her and began to pull on some plain black flats. On the way out I tripped over an ottoman and she caught up. She held the phone to my ear, "it's Gregory Jordan." She mouthed, eyes wide.

"Hello?" I asked, sitting up. My eyes darted to the clock on the wall, excuses flooded my mind with things to tell him to get me off of the phone, and what I was going to tell Collin when I finally got to work.

"Miss Taylor?" He asked. And no, at that moment I didn't fall in love. That's a bit too cliche wouldn't you say? He had no sultry British accent, and his tone was far from suggestive, it was just a question.

"This is she." My voice was a bit less than sexy too.

"This is Gregory Jordan." His tone was business like, I was just another job on his agenda. "You sent me your résumé last night, I believe?"

"That's true, but you see I didn't mean to." I tried to explain, but he cut me off.

"I see." He said, and then paused. "We would be very happy if you were to come work for us." He assured me. "I did not get the flood of applicants I was expecting." He admitted, and that surprised me. "Honestly, you were the only one." He chuckled, but it was the kind of laugh where you could tell just by the sound that it didn't reach his eyes.

"Oh," I breathed into the phone, that made sense. He didn't really want me, he just wanted someone. "I'm sorry sir, but I already have-" I began, but again he cut me off.

"What I'm saying is," he spoke as if he were greatly inconvenienced. "I would be willing to offer you a significantly larger number than wherever it is you are currently employed."

"Well I appreciate that, sir, I really do, but-"

"And my children would love you I'm sure." He interrupted me again, I was beginning to get quite fed up with this man.

"And that's another thing, I'm not great with-"

"Oh, don't worry about them, they wouldn't hurt a fly. I'd watch them myself if I wasn't so busy, and what with their mother passing away last spring-" he paused, giving me time to take in what he was saying.

I couldn't believe that he had played the dead spouse card on me, but what I couldn't believe even more was that I was buying it. It was a good job, with good pay, with a person that really needed me.

No, I told myself. I am the last person anyone would ask to watch their children, I can't even figure out what to do with myself, how am I supposed to take care of anyone else?

But he said that they were well behaved, maybe we could just be friends. Kids are easier to handle when they're younger right?

"Maybe I could just drop by." I sighed into the phone.

"Fantastic." All sadness at the thought of his wife was gone from his voice and was replaced by the clean sounding businessman from before. "Eleven o'clock?"

"Sure."

"I'll see you then."

And then the line went dead, and I laid back on the floor and sighed.