Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
J ack
“Morgan, it’s nice to meet you.” I stood from my desk, walked over, and extended my hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Atlas.”
“Please, call me Jack. Have a seat. I’ve heard you’re the best at what you do.”
“I am.” She smiled.
My office door opened. Ellie ran in and over to my desk.
“I’m thirsty.”
“Where’s Sierra?” I asked her.
“She had to go to the bathroom. I’m thirsty.”
“Excuse me for a moment,” I said to Morgan.
I stood up, walked over to the mini fridge, and pulled out a bottle of vitamin water.
“Here.” I handed the bottle to Ellie.
“I want juice!”
I inhaled a sharp breath. “We don’t have juice here. Drink your water.” I took hold of her hand and saw Sierra walking down the hall. “Stay with Sierra.”
I walked back into my office and shut the door.
“Sorry about that.”
“No need to apologize. She’s adorable. Is she yours?”
“Yes. Her mother dropped her at my door yesterday and took off. This letter was found in Ellie’s backpack.” I took the letter from my pocket and handed it to Morgan. She read it over and looked at me.
“It sounds like your ex wants to disappear.”
“She’s not my ex. I need whatever information you can find on her, and I want to know where she’s at. I’ve tried calling her several times, but it goes straight to voicemail.”
“She most likely dumped her phone,” Morgan said. “I’ll need whatever information about her you can give. First name, last name, birthdate.”
“I don’t know her birthdate. But she and Ellie lived in Pennsylvania. I can give you the address.”
“That’ll work,” she said. “Give me the day to work on it.”
“The day? You don’t have any other work to do?”
“I’m not steadily working right now because I’m unsure if I’m staying in New York.”
“Oh, okay. Then call me when you find something, and we can meet.”
“I will, Jack. It was nice to meet you.” She stood up and extended her hand.
“It was nice to meet you too, Morgan. Thank you.” I placed my hand in hers.
After she left, I went to the kitchen area for a cup of coffee. When I walked in, I saw Sierra, Ellie, and Tristan sitting at one of the tables. Ellie was eating a sandwich and some fruit.
“Did you get those reports done?” I asked Sierra.
“Trying to work on them, Jack.” She cocked her head.
“Did you call the nanny agency?”
“Yes. They’re sending someone over for an interview in an hour.”
“Good.” I grabbed my coffee and walked back to my office.
S ierra
“I didn’t sign up for this,” I told Tristan.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Jack has a kid and never told anyone,” Tristan said as he ate his protein bar.
I looked over at Ellie as she ate her sandwich. My heart still broke for her. All she talked about was her mom. We were bonding, and I knew if Jack hired a nanny to care for her, she would have a hard time with it.
“You won’t have to deal with it much longer,” Tristan said. “Jack will hire a nanny, and you can go back to being his assistant.”
“Yeah.” I picked up my water bottle and tipped it to my lips.
Once Ellie finished her lunch, I took her back to my desk, got out her coloring books and crayons, and had her color.
“I have a lot of work to do, so I need you to sit here very quietly and color me a pretty picture.” I smiled. “Can you do that for me?”
“Yes.” Ellie took a blue crayon from the box.
As I was working, an older woman stopped at my desk.
“Can I help you?” I looked up at her.
“I’m Paula from the nanny agency. I have an interview with Mr. Atlas.”
I immediately didn’t like her.
“Is that the child?” She pointed to Ellie.
“Yes. This is Ellie. Follow me,” I said, opening Jack’s door. “Jack, Paula is here from the nanny agency.”
“Send her in. Have Tristan keep an eye on Ellie while you join us.”
I walked over to Tristan’s desk. “Jack needs you to watch Ellie while we interview for the nanny position.”
“So now I’m a babysitter?” He cocked his head.
“I guess so.” I smirked. “She’s at my desk coloring.”
I walked into Jack’s office and sat on the couch next to him while Paula sat in the chair across from us.
“I’ve been a nanny for twenty years,” Paula said. “I believe structure is very important, and routine and rules are mandatory. How old is your daughter, Mr. Atlas?”
“She’s four.”
“Four-year-olds can be difficult. But with the right rules, they can be handled.”
My brows furrowed because I didn’t like this lady. Jack noticed my expression and narrowed his eyes. The door opened, and Ellie ran in. Tristan followed behind.
“I’m sorry. She’s not listening to me,” he said.
“Little girl, come over here,” Paula spoke authoritatively.
Ellie ran over and wrapped her arms around me.
“I said come over here,” Paula’s voice irritated me, and I didn’t like her tone.
“No!” Ellie said as her grip around me tightened.
“Elianna, you’re being very rude and disrespectful,” Jack said.
“No!”
“With the right rules, your daughter won’t behave like a monster,” Paula said.
I’d had enough. “Get out,” I said.
“Excuse me?”
“I said, get out. How dare you call this child a monster. This interview is over, and you will not be working for Mr. Atlas.”
“Mr. Atlas?” Paula cocked her head.
“You heard my assistant. Get out.”
“Good luck to you, Mr. Atlas. You’re going to need it.” She grabbed her purse and walked out of the office.
“Do we have any other interviews set up?” Jack asked.
“No. The agency assured me that Paula was the perfect candidate for the job.”
“Call a different agency then. I’ll call Eric to pull the car around and take you and Ellie home.”
“We need to go to the grocery store and get some snacks and stuff for her,” I said. “And she needs more clothes and some toys. There’s nothing for her to do at your house.”
“Have Eric take you to the grocery store then. As for the clothes and toys, she won’t be with me much longer. Morgan will find Claire and bring her back.”
I stared at him and shook my head.
“What? What is your problem?” he asked.
“Nothing. Come on, Ellie. We’re going to the store.” I held out my hand to her.
We walked through the grocery store, and I let Ellie pick out the snacks she wanted. We filled the cart with organic fruit snacks, juice, fresh fruit, Kraft macaroni and cheese, cookies, and some frozen items. When we were in the refrigerated section, Ellie picked up a box of the Pillsbury Christmas cookies with the tree on them.
“I want this,” she said.
“I don’t think so, Ellie.” I took the box and put it back.
“I want that! Please, Sierra. Please!”
“Fine.” I grabbed the box and threw it in the cart.
As we headed to the checkout, Ellie spotted an Elf on the Shelf.
“I want this,” she said.
“Oh no.” I took it from her and set it down. “That’s a holiday thing. We don’t do that.”
“You’re denying your child anything Christmas?” the lady next to me spoke.
“She’s not my child. I’m just looking after her. And I don’t think it’s any of your business.” My brows furrowed.
“Poor child. I feel sorry for her.” She walked away.
Rolling my eyes, I looked at Ellie, who stood there staring up at me.
“Let’s go pay for these things and go home.”
“I want the elf!” She threw a tantrum, and I didn’t know what to do. Pulling out my phone, I googled Elf on the Shelf.
“Fine.” I grabbed it and threw it in the cart. “Come on, Ellie.”
Between her tantrum and the damn Christmas music playing loudly in the store, I was about to lose my mind.
I told Ellie it was time for a nap when we got home. So, I took her to her room and made her get on the bed. Covering her with a blanket, I kissed her forehead.
“Go to sleep for a while.”
“When I wake up, can we make those cookies?” she asked.
“Sure.” I smiled.
Walking into the kitchen, I poured myself a glass of wine and took a large sip before putting away the groceries. Grabbing the box with the elf in it, I stared at it.
“You are creepy,” I said.
Grabbing my laptop, I took it to the couch and researched that elf more.
An hour had passed, and I heard little footsteps coming down the stairs. Ellie ran over and hugged me.
“Can we make the cookies?” she asked.
“Yeah. Come on.” I picked her up and carried her to the kitchen, setting her on the island. I searched the cabinets for a cookie sheet and found one. I helped Ellie place the cookie dough on the sheet and then popped it in the oven, setting the timer according to the instructions.
“Now, we wait.” I smiled, taking her from the island and setting her on the floor.
“I want to play with my toys,” she whined.
“Where’s your doll?” I asked.
“Upstairs on my bed.”
“Why don’t you go get her and bring her down?”
“Okay.” She ran out of the kitchen.
I heard the front door open, and when I walked into the foyer, I saw Jack setting his briefcase down.
“You’re home already?”
“Morgan is coming over,” he said. “Where’s Ellie?”
“Upstairs getting her doll.”
“What’s that smell?” he asked, walking into the kitchen.
“Cookies.” I bit down on my bottom lip.
He opened the oven and then looked back at me.
“Christmas cookies? Really, Sierra?”
“She wanted them and was throwing a fit. What did you want me to do?”
“Tell her no.”
“I did!”
“What the hell is this?” He picked up the Elf on the Shelf box.
“She wanted that too. I did some research on that creepy thing. He watches children’s behavior during the holiday season and reports back to Santa.”
“Excuse me?” His brow arched.
“I know. It’s stupid. We’re supposed to move it to a different spot every day.”
“The trash is where it’s going. You bought this on my credit card?”
“Yep.”
“Give me my card back.” He held out his hand.
Reaching into my purse, I pulled out the card and handed it to him.
“I had a rough day as it was, and now I come home to Christmas cookies baking and this damn elf thing?” He picked it up and opened the cabinet where the trash was.
“NO!” Ellie screamed, running into the kitchen and grabbing it from him.
Jack stared at her and then looked at me. “Ellie, we don’t need that thing.”
“I love him!” she shouted, holding the box tightly against her.
“Whatever.” He shook his head and went upstairs.