Chapter 17
Three days later
“What do you mean you can’t come? And you’re just telling me now?”
I take a few breaths to calm myself, but the irritation is getting the best of me.
I have an important meeting, and besides not having enough time to take Nina to my mother’s house anymore, my father’s health has been worrying us for the past few days. It wouldn’t be fair to her.
“I won’t discuss this with you. It’s not my concern if you stayed up late because you spent the night at a nightclub, miss. Work is work.”
As the woman starts to argue with every excuse from A to Z in the English vocabulary, my patience runs out.
I’m a man who has taken on more responsibilities than I was ready for from a young age, and if there’s one thing that doesn’t earn my sympathy, it’s someone who fails in their duties and then tries to justify their mistakes.
Excuses annoy me because in the end, it all comes down to a matter of priorities—and apparently, punctuality isn’t one for Nina’s day shift nanny.
“Your services will no longer be required. You will be contacted later today to terminate your employment contract. Have a good day.”
Sometimes I feel like there’s a conspiracy in the world, constantly testing me to see how much I can take.
I’m damn irritated, and it’s only seven-thirty in the morning, which means I should have been at the office ten minutes ago.
I walk over to the crib not knowing what to do, but then I see Valentina leisurely grabbing both feet in yet another one of her contortionist performances, smiling and talking to herself; my heart warms instantly.
“Are you having fun there, sweetheart? Daddy has plans for today. What do you think about spending the day at the office? The people there aren’t much fun, I must warn you, but at least you can start preparing to take over the business in the future. What do you say?”
She claps her hands, and as if by magic, my irritation disappears.
“Let’s go then, Princess Nina. Today we’ll have to be quick in choosing your outfit. No makeup or elaborate hairstyles. It’ll have to be a more casual style, okay?”
She smiles, seeming to agree, as I lift her out of the crib.
There’s no way to keep Nina in a meeting where tempers can flare up at times. She doesn’t like raised voices.
Suddenly, I have an idea.
I’ll do a test.
“Olívia, can you come to my office?”
When I made the call about ten minutes ago, I quickly said goodbye, not leaving much room for her to ask questions.
Since the day I had dinner in her room, she seems to be avoiding me whenever possible. I should be relieved by this, but instead, I feel an increasing need to get closer.
I haven’t stopped thinking about what she said about missing going out.
Should I ask her out to dinner? Maybe I should. After all, we both agreed to be friends.
I’m damn confused.
I know that the right thing would be to keep a certain distance and address the situation regarding her relationship to Layla, as I had planned from the beginning, since sooner or later she will need to know the truth.
But at the same time, my heart constricts at the thought of revealing to the girl as sweet as a honey pot the disloyalty to which she’s been subjected.
Will she allow anything between us when she finds out everything? I can’t be sure. Although, nothing but blood connects her to Layla, as they have never even seen each other.
Olívia mentioned going out on a date set up by Melissa. Has it already happened? Is she with someone? Just considering that, I feel my blood boil.
I enter my office and pretend not to notice the astonishment on Kathleen’s face when she sees me arrive with Nina in the stroller and a bag on one arm. When she starts to get up to approach my daughter, a simple shake of my head stops her immediately.
Kathleen has been particularly insistent and unpleasant in recent days.
There are no more insinuations but rather an approach so clear that it has become uncomfortable.
Yesterday we were reviewing a report, and out of nowhere she got up, came behind my chair, and practically rubbed her breasts in my face.
I had no choice but to tell her to sit back down in her place.
She is a beautiful woman, but there has never been any interest from my side.
After what happened yesterday, I sent a message to the HR department asking for her to be transferred by the end of the week. Which reminds me that I’ll have to call Melissa in no later than tomorrow.
I look at my wristwatch. I asked them to delay the meeting by an hour, although I hate making people wait for me. I keep the door open to make sure Olívia will come to me as soon as she arrives on the floor.
Five minutes later, she sends a message.
Olívia: Good morning. I’m here.
The girl is clever and has already realized that she won’t be well-received by Kathleen.
Me: You can come straight in.
As soon as she arrives, the air changes. The energy that always surrounds her hits me head-on.
However, despite all my instincts telling me that I can trust her, there’s still the memory of how my daughter was rejected by her own mother, so I doubt whether I made the best decision.
“Come in and close the door.”
She obeys, but her gaze is already fully focused on the stroller. “Do we have a visitor?” She smiles broadly, and although she’s standing still, I can feel that every cell in her body wants to approach. I remain guarded near Nina because I can’t relax my protection over my little girl.
“Yes. I had to bring her. Come here.”
She doesn’t hesitate, and as always, her proximity affects me in ways it shouldn’t. I pick up my girl—who by now is drooling on a teether—and lift her up to show her. “Olívia, this is Valentina, also known as Princess Nina to the family.”
Although I try to sound light, I’m attentive to the face of the woman who has fascinated me since the first moment I saw her. People can lie through words, but they rarely can fake facial expressions.
What I see in Olívia, however, quickly allows me to breathe again.
Her eyes shine as she, perhaps unconsciously, moves to touch Nina.
My daughter, in turn, throws the teether on the floor and mirrors her gesture, reaching out her chubby little hand to, unbeknownst to her, touch her only living maternal relative.
Nina isn’t wary of strangers. She’s more than used to people, given the madness that is my parents’ house, so before I can say anything, she leans, wanting to go to Olívia, who smiles. I don’t think she realizes what she’s doing when she reaches out her arms towards Valentina.
“Do you want to hold her?”
“Can I?”
I know it’s a decision that involves much more than simply handing my daughter to a stranger, but that’s why I brought her into our lives in the first place. “Yes.”
She comes so close that for a moment we form a whole. Three hearts emitting warmth.
“Hello, Princess Nina. Nice to meet you. You’re even prettier in person. How is that possible?”
“Dada . . .” Nina responds, distracted by the chain Olívia has around her neck. There’s a small heart-shaped gold pendant on it. I’m always so overwhelmed by her proximity that I didn’t notice the choker until now.
“Watch your necklace and your hair too. She’s in a grabbing-everything-that-catches-her-eye phase.”
Olívia barely hears me. She already has Nina in her arms, and even though I’m late for the meeting, I watch them. Like everything about Olívia, I can see the delicacy with which she holds my daughter, and it reaffirms my certainty that I made the right decision to bring them together.
“No problem. I took care of a neighbor’s baby throughout my adolescence. I spent at least two hours with her every day from the time I was fourteen. I know how curious they can be at that age.”
“I called you because I have a meeting and the nanny let me down. Could you stay with her here in the office while I’m gone?”
“Of course. I can’t imagine a better way to spend the morning. Thank you for your trust.”
I fall silent for a while. She really has no idea how much trust I had to work on to make this decision. “There are toys in that bag and also a ready bottle, as well as food in the container. Oh, and clothes too. She can sometimes make a mess while eating.”
“We’ll be fine, won’t we, Valentina?”
As if agreeing, my daughter emits a squeal and starts to sway in her arms.
I approach the two again and kiss my girl’s sweet-smelling head.
“Don’t leave this room with her.”
As much as my intuition tells me I can trust Olívia, there are things about me that will never change. Following security protocols is one of them.
“Send me a message if you have any problems. I’ll be just a few floors down.”
“Yes, sir,” she responds, but neither of them is paying the slightest attention to me, already completely distracted by each other.