Chapter 12 Evan #2
But before the young girl can push herself down, Flo is climbing up the slide, sneakers squeaking against the steaming hot metal.
I’m still recording, unsure whether I should stop or not, but I kind of want to keep this memory, because watching my nanny scale the kids' slide to stand at the top and glare at the bossy girl in front of her is far too entertaining.
“Hey! No big fat adults on the slide! They’re not allowed!” the girl complains, and Flo takes my son’s hand and sits down at the top, nudging the girl out of the way. She pats her lap, encouraging Leo to sit on her.
And when she turns to the young girl and says, “Know-it-all brats aren’t allowed, either,” I can’t stop the loud laugh that escapes my mouth.
Leo releases a noise of glee as they both zoom down the slide, and when he reaches the bottom, he jumps up and pumps his fist. “I did it! Again, again!”
“You think you can do it by yourself this time, bud?” I ask, stopping the recording, and Leo nods enthusiastically, giving me a high-five and sprinting off to ascend the small climbing frame that leads to the slide.
Flo looks at me, a breath of a smile on her face, but her eyes are still on Leo, twinkling and full of pride. “I knew he could do it.”
Watching them together feels too normal. Too right—like Flo was always supposed to be Leo’s nanny. Like she was always supposed to be here, being a part of our tea parties and remote control car races.
But it won’t last forever. She’ll be going back to her own life soon. Her own plans. She has a six-month trip planned. Flo McKenna is too much of a wildcard to be held down by a nanny job in a small city such as Missarali.
But then it hits me that I don’t know a whole lot about this woman. I’ve learned the basics, like the fact she loves matcha, sews in her spare time, and can’t dance for shit, but nothing about her childhood—the life she lived before I hired her.
I keep my eyes on my son, asking Flo, “What do your parents do for work?
“Dad works in finance, Mom in marketing. Both pretty dull jobs, but it pays the bills.”
“Do you get on with them?”
“I do. I wish I could visit my Dad more often, but he lives a few hours away.”
“What was your childhood like?”
Flo narrows her eyes, laughing. “Are you trying to catch me out, West?”
I shake my head. “Why? Is there something I could catch you out on?”
That makes Flo smirk. “Oh, there are plenty of things.”
“Like what? What’s your worst?”
“You asked for this, remember? So you can’t fire me.”
I gesture for her to continue.
“Okay, I covered my history teacher’s desk and chair in burger cheese, whipped cream and yoghurt—he was lactose intolerant—because he said I spoke too much in class for a female, and he came into class and sat in it and had to leave early because he was worried it was going to seep through his skin and make him sick. ”
My eyes bug. What the fuck?
“I think my dad actually found it funny, but had to pretend to be mad at me in front of the principal to stop me from getting expelled. I saw right through the man’s quivering chin, though. But I still got my phone taken away for a week and was given after-school detention every day for a month.”
“Worth it?” Why am I fucking smiling? If I were to hear any other nanny tell me that story, I’d blacklist them and make sure they never went anywhere near my son again, but with Flo, I want to hear her stories—the whackier, the better.
They make me laugh. Covering her teacher’s shit with cheese when he’s allergic is just so her.
Flo smiles back. “Not a bone in my body regrets it.”
I shrug, shaking my head with a chuckle. I can’t say the man didn’t deserve it.
“What about you in school?” Flo asks. “I can imagine you as the class grump who sat in the back with his side fringe covering his face so no one talked to him. Ooh, did you have a goth phase? I bet you’ve secretly got some tattoos other than that lion that you don’t tell anyone about.”
Pursing my lips is the only way to stop me from cracking a smile. I’ve done it too much today. It feels weird and unnatural to be doing it this much. “There are no more tattoos, and I don’t plan to get any more. The lion is special. And as for me in school, maybe… I had a bit of a goth phase.”
Flo breaks into laughter, her finger poking into the centre of my chest. “I knew it. God, you’ve got to get me photos.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening. They’ve all been burned.”
“Maybe I’ll give Gracie a text.”
I fix her a stern expression, which makes her cackle. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Don’t panic. I won’t send them to Starbound. They’ll be safe in my little vault of secrets I’ve vowed to take to my grave.”
I think Flo's teasing, but I can never really be too sure when it comes to this woman.
“How was working at Starbound?”
She blows a raspberry. “My clients. I hated them. They were all so entitled. Don’t get me wrong, there was one actor who was alright, but he wasn’t as famous or as rich as the others, so he was more down to earth. Alexander really knows how to pick ‘em.”
I arch an eyebrow, releasing a laugh. “Hate is a strong word, Florence.”
The name makes her eyes zap. “Yes, it is, and I very much mean it. I don’t like celebrities.” She then peeks up at me again. “No offence.”
“None taken. I’m not a celebrity.”
“I’m pretty sure women all around the country have posters of you on their walls. That makes you a celebrity, Evan West.”
The thought makes me shiver with distaste.
A celebrity. Me. I’ve never thought of myself as famous.
I understand people know my name and my face—a face that fills the tabloids every month for reasons beyond my control—but I don’t believe I’m better than anyone else.
I don’t expect things just because of who I am.
In fact, I want the complete opposite. I crave being treated as normal, which means people leaving me alone and walking past me without so much as a second glance or a small gasp or whisper.
I don’t want people using my name or face to make a quick buck, as if I don’t lose sleep over it.
I’m not that bothered now, but in the beginning, I seriously debated whether football was for me because of the attention I was receiving.
“If I could play every game wearing a mask, I would.”
“But then you wouldn’t bless the world with your pretty face. How would the women of today cope?”
“Careful, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you find me attractive, Flo.”
Her brows drop. “And what if I did find you attractive? You gonna fire me like all the others?”
I take her in. Her smile that brightens my day. Makes something feel alive inside of me again. Makes me feel playful and spontaneous, like I’m young and free again. “No, I wouldn’t.”
The words spill from me with such ease, and as soon as they’ve escaped and I take one look at the glint in Flo’s blues, I regret them because I can’t take them back. It’s the truth, but it doesn’t mean it needed to be said.
My phone pings in my hand, saving me, and I glance down at it.
Alexander from Starbound AKA ignore: Have you had a chance to look at those dates yet, Evan? I also have a few reporters who are keen to do interviews with you about the recent claims from all of these women. I’ve emailed you with all the details.
This man. He’s been texting me the past few days, trying to book a date for my next appointment, but I’ve been pushing it back.
The last thing I want to do is spend one of my only days off sitting in his office discussing brands I have no interest in collaborating with.
That doesn’t stop him, though. He’s already sent me through a contract he’s mocked up with a sportswear brand I’ve never worn in my life, which I’ve ignored.
And now he’s suggesting I do an interview?
What meds is he on, and why has he suddenly stopped taking them? He’s really ramping things up lately.
Suddenly, a tall, blonde woman approaches us, steam practically puffing from her nose. She looks like a dragon, and I have to raise a hand to my mouth to cover my quirking lips, since I can already guess what this is about.
“Did you call my daughter a brat?”
Flo blinks, a proud smile on her face. “Why yes. Yes, I did.”
“That’s no way to talk to a child. Especially mine of all.” She looks her up and down in judgment, sneering at my nanny.
“Hey, if the shoe fits.”
Offended, the woman recoils, mouth ajar. “What kind of person are you? You shouldn’t be in a play park if you’re going to harass the children.” She looks at me now. “Are you really just going to stand there? You’re a man. Do something about this.”
I click my tongue. “I think she covered all that needed to be said.”
I’m hoping this woman won’t recognise me and run to the tabloids to sell a story about how Evan West has an out-of-control nanny who calls children names at the park, but there’s also a big fat part of me that doesn’t care because her daughter is indeed a brat.
I’m in the tabloids anyway, so what’s one more report?
“You.” The blonde woman glares at Flo with what she believes is an intimidating glint in her eyes. “Don’t speak to my daughter again. Don’t even look in my daughter’s direction, got it?”
Flo’s wearing her large glasses, which she claims make her look like Edna Mode—that character I know since Leo loves The Incredibles—and she slips them off and folds them up. “Not a problem. I’ll just take these off so I won’t have to look at her face, which is extremely—”
“Okayyy, that’s enough of that for today,” I pipe up, taking a step forward and attempting to force down my snicker because I don’t know what’s about to come out of Flo’s mouth, and I have a feeling it could get us in a lot more trouble than I have the energy for today. Still, Flo shoots me a humoured look.
Leo quickly joins us, oblivious to the tense exchange happening before him. He wraps his arms around Flo’s long legs, and she places her hands on his shoulders, protectively moving him behind her as the woman continues to shoot daggers at her.
My spine tingles.
Leo’s mother was never nurturing towards him.
She looked at her own son as if she hadn’t carried him for nine months.
I used to tell myself that she showed her love in a different way.
Buying him toys and gifts was her way of spoiling him, but I now realise it was also a way for her to distract him from what she wasn’t providing.
She wasn’t maternal. I could tell she didn’t like motherhood, and although I understand it can be a big struggle for women, especially with post-partum depression being so common, it didn’t stop her from trying to live the life she had before she became unexpectedly pregnant.
Running off with other men. Partying. Doing all the things she kept hidden from me during the two months we were together ahead of finding out we were going to have a baby.
She’d play happy families in front of others for the first month with Leo, before she packed up her things and left, rocking him and bragging about how gorgeous a baby he was. But behind closed doors, she was a different person.
It’s why we didn’t last long. I knew she wasn’t the woman for me, but by then, she was already expecting our son, and even though I was fucking terrified, I wanted to give that kid the best chance at life. And that meant a stable upbringing with two loving parents who cared for each other.
Only, Zara never cared for me or our son. She proved that the second the pregnancy test came up positive.
But then there’s Flo—the woman who wasn’t even around when Leo was born, didn’t carry him for nine months, and yet, she reminds him not to chew with his mouth full so he doesn’t choke.
Helps him face his fears. Bakes with him.
Takes him to the animal shelter where Mae works to play with the puppies.
Protects him when the mother of a brat is staring at them like she’s about to hit the roof.
All the motherly stuff, without being his mother and having an obligation to do any of it.
“Keep her on a leash,” the angry blonde orders me before marching away, and I release a loud chuckle as Flo holds her hands up to imitate paws and barks out a loud, “Woof.”
I don’t like that this woman has just insinuated she’s a dog, but the last thing Flo wants is a man standing up for her when she’s perfectly capable herself.
It doesn’t mean that there isn’t a part of me that wants to head over to the raging bull of a mother and demand she never talks about Flo like that again, though. But I keep him at bay.
“Who was she?” Leo questions. “Was she a dick?”
Flo slaps a hand over her mouth, containing her laughter.
“Where did you learn that word?” My eyes are wide as I take his hand, and Leo blinks at me innocently, following with, “You and Uncle Bennett say it all the time.”
“Swearing in front of a child… I guess that’s three minutes on the naughty step, West.” Flo grabs her shopping bags before we exit the park, and Leo runs ahead to show Donkey a ladybug he can see on a bush.
She can put me on the naughty step if she likes.
There’s an unpredictability to Flo that I like.
She’s got spark and is a complete live wire—someone who’s just unapologetically themselves.
And as I open the park gate for her and she turns to wave at the brat’s mother, the one who’s staring at us with heated eyes like lasers, I realise she’s becoming someone I can’t imagine my days without.
Flo McKenna.
Wild-hearted.
Untamed.
Fierce and uncontainable.
But there’s a softer side to all of that, where she’s compassionate and gentle. Full of empathy.
My heart tugs. And so does my dick.
She was hired to make things easier for Leo and me, and somehow, she’s making things a whole lot harder.