10. Chapter 10 #2
Once he and Theo reach the car, Oliver leans over, placing his briefcase on the passenger seat at the same time. Theo climbs into the car, and he is about to place his drink to rest on the top of the car when he notices me behind him.
I gently take it from him again as he secures Theo safely in his seat, and takes the drink from me, with another nod as a thank you. Then he climbs into the driver’s seat and turns on the car, setting his drink in the cup holder.
“Bye, Luna!! Are you coming to pick me up later?” Theo yells as I hadn’t realised his window was down halfway, too busy staring at his dad through the front window. I smile at Theo, tugging at his little hand before he pulls it back into the car.
“Of course I am, honey; I’ll be right outside when you finish school,” I assure him as I’d heard the same question twice yesterday and at least three times this morning, not including this one.
I then turn to face Oliver’s window, where he hesitates at first but then brings his window down enough for the two of us to make eye contact.
“Have a good day, Oliver.” I recite with a smile, receiving another nod of the head as a response before the window goes back up and he drives off. I wave them off, heading back inside when the car is no longer in view.
Determined not to make another mistake, so the moment I step back inside, I revise my duties again in the email Nigel sent me and get to work.
By 1 pm, the house is clean, the laundry is done and put away.
Leaving Oliver’s folded in the basket by his door per his request. I’m not allowed to go into his bedroom or his office without permission; he keeps both locked during the day.
I checked.
I upset the man once, and I was going to try my best not to do it again.
The plants in the living room and hallway are all watered, deeming all my chores done for the day.
Tonight I’m going to ask Theo what he wants for dinner.
It was good to give children the option, and after double-checking, I did everything right in my job description.
I take a break, reverting to my Dream Diary.
Jotting down more ideas in my Diary when I get a call from Tracy.
The children wanted to make sure I was still coming to visit on Saturday.
I wouldn’t miss it for the world, and we talk about her plans for the home, information I store inside my Dream Diary.
Tracy and I catch up, and she fills me in on how the new child at the home is getting on until it’s time for me to go and fetch Theo.
****
The rest of the week flies by quickly.
Before I knew it, it was Friday, and I had been Theo’s nanny for five whole days, and that very same little boy made me fall in love with him more and more. Every smile, every giggle and every blush of his cheeks made me want to wrap him in bubble wrap and keep him with me forever.
Given he wasn’t perfect, no child was. There had been one or two tantrums here and there, the first being on Tuesday, when he tried to cheat the new food chart, desperate to get a wish, which caused him to throw himself on the floor.
Then there was yesterday, when he refused to go to bed.
He cried, screamed and threw his toad mushroom pillow across the room because Oliver wasn’t home yet.
I had no choice but to call Oliver, who was busy working late with Nigel, but he’d cut it short when saying goodnight to Theo over the phone didn’t work.
After coming home, he then proceeded to scold Theo for acting out.
I hid in the hallway to avoid the sight of his tears but heard the crack in his voice when he said, “But I only did it cause I wanted you to say goodnight to me and read my story like you always do.”
I screamed into my own pillow, fangirling over how well Oliver handled the situation and best believe I texted Macy and told her everything when Oliver headed back downstairs. We ended up on the phone for hours after that.
Every new night I spent in the Walters’ household felt like a new step towards the side of Surly Bastard we’d never seen before; he had become far more interesting than a grumpy sod.
Speaking of the grumpy Grinch, I had barely seen him all week. Not including last night when he came home and straight upstairs to talk to Theo, but apart from that, I saw him briefly as he took Theo to school and again in the evening when he returned home and headed straight for his office.
He never mentioned anything else about what happened on Monday and still offered me a good morning or a hello if we crossed paths, but apart from that, nothing. It was really weird.
I know my job is to look after Theo, but I can’t help but wonder if he’s avoiding me for some reason. Was he still upset about having to clean up after me? Or did he still hold a grudge because I called him a butthead the day we met?
Whatever it was, there had to be a reason why he retreated to his office the moment he arrived home and again after putting Theo to bed.
He couldn’t be that busy, could he? I can’t even begin to imagine how being a lawyer worked, but surely if he was leaving the office at the same time every day, and after claiming to be one of the best lawyers in his field, he couldn’t be that behind on his cases, right?
I did know that every time I’d gotten up in the middle of the night to come downstairs to fetch a bottle of water, I would see the light on in his office standing out in the dark hallway.
What if it really was an office, and the reason why he didn’t want me in there was that he could be hiding something?
It was definitely locked during the day…
that only made my curiosity levels higher.
Honestly, I was ready to sign up to be Schrodinger’s next test subject, so long as Oliver’s office was the box he put me in.
During the weekend, Oliver explained that Saturdays were when he and Theo spent time together, which worked out great for me because I was out the door by 7 am and I didn’t return home again until after 11 pm.
I ordered myself an Uber home after staying past the children’s bedtime to help Tracy with some paperwork and a few emails she hadn’t had the chance to go through, but once I came home and made sure to lock the door, deactivate, then reactivate the alarm system like Oliver asked me to.
The aim was to go straight up to bed, but I couldn’t stop myself from pretending to need something from the kitchen so I could sneak back through the living room to see that same light on at the end of the hall before heading upstairs.
As I sat in my vanity in my bedroom, removing my make-up and brushing through my hair, I texted Macy, “Surly Bastard is in his Den.” A code we made up on Wednesday night after I saw the light still on past 1 am, and Macy was pretty sure LJ was pretending to sleep but was actually listening to our whole conversation, so we needed to create a code where we could still have our secret chats and leave LJ too bored to keep listening.
After I finished my nighttime routine and brushed my teeth, I assumed that Macy had fallen asleep cause she stopped replying, but it didn’t matter because I would see her tomorrow for Sunday dinner, and I was actually really looking forward to it.
I always did, but there was something different this time. Maybe it was because when it was my turn to share about my week, I actually had something interesting to contribute, because what was more interesting than a week living with Surly Bastard? Either way.
Sunday was going to be exciting, and I was already fast asleep when the head of the household made his way up the stairs and into his bedroom in the early hours of the morning.