the sitter | lewandowski

sixteen

16; love your neighbor as yourself

Luckily, Saoirse could play off being at Robert's house for the same reason everyone else could; there was a party. The moment Erik turned his head away from her, she nearly ran away and returned back to her house—and to her surprise, Robert and Roisin were talking in the living room.

Saoirse widened her eyes. "What's going on here?"

"I've offered Robert to stay the night at our place, since Nova is here and the party next door is still going on." Roisin explained. "Why don't you show him to the guest bedroom next to yours, Saoirse?"

"Well, alright." Saoirse prevented a smile from plaguing her lips as she walked past Robert, then listened as he thanked Roisin before following after the seventeen year old.

As they descended up the stairs, Saoirse began to grin. "Why don't you call the police, Robert?"

"I did. I'm sure they'll be at the house soon. I made it seem like I wasn't home, so I wouldn't have to leave here." Robert responded, placing his hands on Saoirse's waist. She swatted them away and whisper-hissed.

"We can't. My parents sleep up here."

Robert sighed as the two slipped into a bedroom and closed the door. "I think we've had enough action for the night, Saoirse. I just—" Robert was interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by Roisin's voice.

"Robert? I have towels for you. In case you wanted to, you know...shower."

Saoirse quickly hid behind the door, then watched as Robert carefully went to open it. "Thank you, Roisin. I'm sorry for any inconvenience that I'm causing."

"It's no issue—you're just lucky that Aleksander isn't home." Roisin spoke, leaving Robert to chuckle. "Anyways, I wanted to take a moment to speak with you about my daughter."

"Saoirse...what about her?"

Roisin sighed. "I just want you to know that if she ever does anything that you're, you know, uncomfortable with—to please let me know."

Robert frowned. "What makes you say such a thing?"

Roisin sighed. "Saoirse has always grown up so accustomed to getting what she wants. Aleksander and I, we've just never been able to say no. She knows wrong from right, but she's not a very disciplined girl—spoiled, as they say in English. If she's unhappy with what she gets then she won't settle for it. I knew that having her babysit Nova would give her a sense of responsibility, and I see that it's worked."

"But with her as a young girl, and you as a handsome man, I can't help but worry that she might get carried away and do something that would be rather inappropriate. She's always been very determined. She sees something she wants or decides that there's something she wants to happen, and she'll go for it without thinking of the subsequent consequences. Do you get what I'm trying to say? I'm afraid that my daughter might..." Roisin sighed. "Try to come onto you. It's better this way, that I don't tell you about what she's done. But if she ever reacts or acts towards you in a manner you find concerning, please tell me. Please."

Robert sighed. Roisin was late, extremely late, but of course he wasn't going to say that. "Alright."

Once he said goodnight and closed the door, he stared at Saoirse. He didn't want to ask her about it, not at all—and he knew she'd heard her mother, so if she really wanted to explain it to Robert, then she would.

But he couldn't help but wonder if what Roisin had said was true. Saoirse did get playfully overdramatic when something she didn't like happened, and there were even times in which her actions worried him—like when things had gotten steamy on his living room floor and she pinned his fists to the hardwood, making him even grit his teeth just to muster all the strength he could to get her to escape her grip.