7. Chapter 7
OLIVER
Luna This.
Luna That.
Luna, Luna, Luna.
I just about survived getting out of Nigel’s office without making him call the police and have that woman arrested for touching my brother, and now I was suffering through the torture of hearing her name every few seconds.
How did the day turn out like this? I’d gone into my meeting with an old client without a single worry; Theo was happily playing Mario Kart in my office, and Nigel was lining up today’s applicants. The first one being L-I don’t ever want to hear that bloody name ever again.
“Luna is sooo good at Mario Kart, Ollie! She can do a magic trick where-” I block the little guy out because the anger I was harbouring, hearing that woman’s name, made me grip the knees of my suit pants so hard, I’m seconds away from tearing a hole in them.
I honestly couldn’t believe what I’d walked in on earlier. Nigel had only ever fucked up twice in his whole career as my assistant, but never in all my years did I think he’d fuck up this badly.
On the legal side of things, it was all sorted. He no doubt made her sign an NDA to ensure she’d never bring up the fact she met or saw Theo, but all it took was one word of mouth to put mine or my brother’s face plastered on every news feed worldwide.
Even if I sued her all the way down the clothes on her back, Joan Walters ‘secret love children’ would be all over the world in a matter of hours and not that I care if my mother’s career came crashing down, but when it came to mine and Theo’s settlement of normal live, I did and no six-year-old should have to grow up being shadowed by the world.
This was the whole reason I refused to let any of the nannies meet Theo until they passed every single one of my tests with flying colours.
You couldn’t just hire anyone to look after your children, but you also couldn’t just hire anyone to keep a secret, and that woman had the eyes of the killer.
I didn’t care that she made it brutally honest; she didn’t like me one bit, but I’m slightly regretting my behaviour earlier because if that was what made her want to tell the world what she saw today, I was fucked.
Beyond fucked.
And not in a good way.
So here I am, watching Theo finish the last of his Subway sandwich and the last few specs of his ready salted crisps whilst I wait for Nigel to text me back with an update.
Another ten minutes passed by, still without an update, and Theo had grown bored of sitting here now that he was done eating. Instead of heading back to the office, I did something I’d never done before, and after helping Theo into his car seat, I drove home.
In all of my career, not once have I taken a half-day off work; not during these last few days when I had to bring Theo or when I had the flu.
I still drove Theo to school and took myself to work.
I didn’t get half of what I usually get done on a good day, but the point is, I still worked through it.
But right now, the idea of going back to work made me so angry, I was ready to punch a hole through my windscreen.
I was being tortured all the way home, having to listen to:
“Luna is sooo pretty.”
“She’s really good at Mario Kart”
“And she smells like strawberries.”
“Uncle Nigel wouldn’t play with me, but Luna played with me.”
By the time we reached home, the bags under my eyes had grown, and I wanted the torture to stop.
It meant saying no to my little bud, but there was no way in hell that woman was going to be his nanny.
I deal with enough stress at the office; the last thing I needed was to have a disobedient, opinionated, stubborn woman full of curves.
I have to put my foot down.
Once we’re inside and our coats off, I stop Theo before he can go running off to play in his bedroom.
“Come here, bud, we gotta talk.” I gesture to him in the living room.
Taking a seat on the sofa, watching him take his Switch out of the case and onto the docking station, and placing the case neatly back onto his shelf in the TV stand.
The more I watch him, the more I realise this boy really was such a good kid.
I soak in the smile on his face as he jumps into the spot next to me and does a little bounce, looking up at me, because I knew that smile wasn’t going to last for long.
“Listen, bud, we have to talk about what happened today,” I start, leaning my arm over the back of the sofa to face him better.
“Is Luna going to be my new nanny?” he blurts with the biggest smile.
“No, bud, she’s not,” I reply, taking no pleasure in watching his bright smile slowly fade.
“Why not?” He asks sadly, pushing his eyebrows together, unable to understand.
“Because today was only an interview, and we have much better candidates who would be better for the job,” I explain, but it doesn’t do any good cause the poor guy only looks more confused.
“But I like Luna!” he declares. “She’s pretty, and she played games with me when Uncle Nigel wouldn’t, and she promised to teach me the sparky magic trick,” he protests, giving me a look that gave me an unsettling feeling in my chest.
I had to take a deep breath for the next part.
“Well, sometimes there are some adults who break their promises,” I point out, looking away for a second, then he repays me with a look like I just told him Santa wasn’t real.
“But you said breaking promises is wrong, and Luna is kind; she won’t break her promise.
” Theo fires back at me, a direct punch to the chest. I did say those very words because I wanted him to understand that I will always keep my promises even if others didn’t, but the smart little shit twisted it on me.
“I did say that, but what I meant was, I won’t break my promises to you, but I don’t have any power over others who will,” I correct him, but it was pointless to rationalise with a six-year-old; he’d forget this entire conversation the moment he left the room anyway.
Theo goes quiet for a few seconds, so I leave him to think until he is ready to speak again.
“You said I could pick my nanny, and I pick Luna!” he states, glaring at me, which I didn’t know he knew how to do, yet there it was.
It was like looking into a mirror.
He’d nailed it perfectly: the curved eyebrows, the upside-down smile, slightly tucked in on one side, and those irresistible green eyes were so sharp, they could shoot daggers.
Then he added his own touch, his little pouty lip.
The part I hated the most was the fact that those daggers were aimed at me.
“Bud-”
“You promised.”
“I didn’t promise; I said I’d consider what you were looking for, and I’m sure we’ll find another nanny who will play games with you and teach you the shock thing.”
“Sparky Magic Trick!” he cheekily corrects me.
“Fine, sparky magic trick. But you know what I mean.”
“I don’t want a new nanny, I want Luna,” he whines, still glaring at me but making it worse by puffing out his chest, crossing his arms.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I thought I wouldn’t feel this kind of frustration until Theo was at least thirteen, but here we were. A likeness of my stubborn nature, apart from his eye colour and the fact that he has a different father, there’s no doubt about it that this kid is 100% me.
Now, that was a big problem.
“Look, bud, enough about Luna. She isn’t going to be your new nanny, and we aren’t going to talk about her anymore.” I state, watching his shoulders slump, remaining in the same grumpy state. I run my hand down my face.
“Then can she be the new April?” Theo blurts out.
“What?” I exclaim in disbelief.
“I said, can Luna be the new apr-actually no, can Luna be every month! So we can still do fun things, and she can keep her promise.” He recites confidently like he has everything figured out, making me feel like an idiot in the process.
What the hell did this woman do to my child?
He spent no more than maybe seven minutes with her, and he was obsessed.
I have to count this as a heads-up as to how his teen years were going to play out; I’m not looking forward to that nightmare, but I had to focus and address what was happening right now.
“No, Theo,” I declare sternly, letting him know I was putting my foot down.
“Luna is not going to be your new nanny, and you are not going to see her again, am I clear?” I raise my brows, feeling him back down.
He looks heartbroken. It was obvious how much he hated everything I just said. Slumping back on the sofa with his arms still wrapped around him tightly, he was mad.
“If Luna won’t keep her promise, then I won’t keep mine!” he sulks.
“You have to listen to your- Oliver and your Uncle Nigel. They are both working very hard to make sure you stay safe and happy, so if you are a good boy and do as they say, one day I promise. I’ll teach you the secret move.”
Who the hell does that woman think she is, turning my own child against me? Now I’m just waiting for her to fuck up so I can sue her perfectly round arse. It was clear that Theo wasn’t backing down from this, meaning he was going to hate me for a while, but so do most people.
It would hurt at first, but I’m sure I could get over it. I sit up straight and turn to Theo to assert my dominance.
“You will listen to me because I’m your brother and I know what’s best for you.
There will be no more Luna talk in this house and no more misbehaving!
What you did today was very bad, Theo. You know, talking to strangers is bad, and Uncle Nigel got in trouble because of what you did.
You’re going to apologise to him the next time you see him, and you will be a good boy for the new nanny; otherwise you’ll know what will happen.
” I announce, feeling sick to my stomach because Theo looks at me like a monster.
I was used to being the arsehole at work, but being the arsehole here at home hit differently.