11. Chapter 11 #2
“I promise, I won’t keep you long. I know you have work to do,” she said awkwardly, temporarily breaking eye contact.
A gesture which annoyed me more than I thought it would.
We’ve had very few encounters this week apart from the contract signing and exchanging daily pleasantries, but I was already picking up on her many quirks.
One of them was that she always broke eye contact with me when she felt she was being a bother. Something I think she does often, but I shoved the curiosity as to why to the furthest part of my brain.
“I just wanted to talk about tomorrow. As it’s my day off, I know you will be home with Theo and just wanted to give you a heads up that I’ll be gone before Theo wakes up and back after he goes to bed,” she explained with a smile.
I wasn’t sure why she was telling me this, as she’d already gone through this with Nigel, who placed it in the contract and passed it on to me. But now that she mentioned it, I had the sudden urge to ask her where she was going, but I
fought against it. “I see. And Sunday?” I asked, despite already knowing the answer; I wanted her to keep talking.
“Sunday, I’ll still be up in time to give Theo his breakfast and play with him for a while until the afternoon, then again I’ll be gone until after he goes to bed,” she added, using hand gestures as she spoke, another habit of hers I had picked up on.
But on that note, I had hit my limit in conversing with her, so I just gave her a small nod.
“Make sure to activate the alarm system when you return home.” I responded, feeling odd that the word ‘home’ felt odd on my tongue and headed straight for my office.
****
Which brings us back to now.
She had done exactly as she said: gone before Theo and I had woken up this morning, and it was almost 5 pm, and she still hadn’t come back yet.
The thought of where she was and why for so long was one I thought would only linger with me for no more than an hour after she spoke to me last night, and yet, I’m starting to get a headache from curiosity.
I did my best to block the question out for another few hours after putting Theo to bed and then come back into my office, whilst on a call with Nigel as we work through our finalised game plan, eating up most of my time and the sound of my stomach growls, reminding me I haven’t eaten since Theo and I ate lunch earlier and dinnertime was more a priority for him rather than for me.
Around 10 pm, Nigel and I call it a night as I head into the kitchen to reheat the spaghetti and meatballs I had made earlier when my phone vibrates in my hand. It’s Min-Joon, who’s no doubt about to walk into work, given it’s just after 8 am over where he is.
“Hey, honey, how are you?” the idiot asks as I pick up, acting as if I were the one who called him. In the time it takes for my food to heat up and devour it, we catch up. We hadn’t properly spoken since he and Nigel ganged up on me about hiring Luna.
I was in the middle of asking how the research work was going, but he shut me down, wanting to know how the first week with the hot nanny went, his words, not mine.
“Oh, come on, dude, by the way she got you all riled up the day you first met, I can tell she’s hot.
” Min-Joon declares; the sad part was, he wasn’t wrong.
Luna was very attractive, even more so when she pointed her finger at you and called you a butt head, but I wasn’t crazy enough to admit that to my best friend.
“She’s…fine,” I grumble, trying to stop the word ‘pretty’ from coming out of my mouth.
“Oh yeah? Define fine.” He demands, and I roll my eyes in response.
“Don’t you have work to do?” I deflect.
It was the weekend, but Min-Joon was the kind of guy who worked all through the weekend because he struggled to relax the same way normal people did on the weekends. He and I were the same in that aspect; only things changed for me once I got Theo.
“Nope! The team was working until 3 am last night, so I actually decided to take a few hours off before I head back into the lab later on, so lay it on me.” He states, ruining my chance of avoiding this conversation.
“‘Ooo’, wait!” he protests, pressing to switch our call into video chat. I sigh, placing my phone on its stand, and accepting the switch over.
“Okay, now go,” Min-Joon grins, in his usual position when we spoke via video, in his bed, leaning up against his headboard, with an arm holding the phone, resting on his hitched-up knee.
“And why do I need to see you naked for this?” I ask with an eyebrow raised.
“Because you love seeing my body, and of course, so I can see your beautiful face.” He teases. I give him the very same glare I once gave an intern, who was so scared he relieved himself right then and there.
I’d never seen something so funny in my life.
“Ugh, fine.” I accept that I have no choice but to let the rest of our conversation play out with my shirtless best friend.
“Now, where were we?” he asks, rubbing his chin with his free hand. “Ah, yes, you were telling me how pretty the new nanny was,” giving a cheeky smirk.
“I don’t believe that’s the word I used.” I correct him.
“Okay, you were telling me how fine the new nanny is.” The smug bastard corrects himself and mocks me in the same sentence.
“There isn’t much to tell.” I shrug.
“Don’t care, tell me anyway.” Min-Joon hums, tilting his head.
Well, that was my last chance.
“Fine, she’s about 5’0, 5’1, I think. A tiny little thing compared to you and me; she’s possibly Blasian by the looks of it?
Double eyelids, brown eyes, dark hair with plump lips and pearly white teeth.
” I recite, giving him what he wants. But Min-Joon goes quiet, something out of character for a guy who loves having the last word; he just stares off somewhere for a minute or two before looking back at the screen.
“Blasian, you say? So, body-wise, what are we talking about? Curvy like JLO? Kim Kardashian, or are we talking more model type like Gemma Chan?” He asks, raising his knotted eyebrows, stroking his chin.
Now it’s my turn to stare off into space, searching for the best way to answer him because I definitely hadn’t spent any time thinking about the celebrity body type best described as the nanny living in my spare room.
“Somewhere in the middle, full of curves. She’s got a bigger chest, wider hips and thicker thighs- hold on, why the fuck am I explaining this to you?” I ask, realising what I was doing.
“Because I like to paint a picture; it helps me estimate how long it’ll take you.” Min-Joon recites.
“Take me to do what?” I ask, raising a brow.
“For you to bang the new nanny.” He declares with no filter and a mischievous smirk.
“Are you high?” I move closer to the screen to see if his eyes are glassy or not.
“No, not since Uni, but I am 95% sure you’ll have the new nanny under you by the time I come to visit,” he says far too confidently, as we were both aware he was coming to visit sometime next month, for my birthday.
“Then you’re delusional. I am not sleeping with Theo’s nanny, no matter how pent up I am; I have others for that.” I shut him down, drawing a big fan red X on his prediction.
“Ah, yes, your booty call calendar. How is Diamond? Did she satisfy you sexually this month?” He jokes like the arsehole he is, just because he has always enjoyed forming connections with the people he sleeps with, female or otherwise.
“She’s doing just fine, and I’m not answering that second part, you pervert,” I growl at him, having his stupid monogamy face mock me, which unsettled me from time to time.
“Alright, sheesh. Make sure to tell Crystal I said to give you an extra orgasm, so you aren’t so uptight next month,” he laughs, pissing me off more.
I didn’t appreciate his joke towards May’s girl of the month or the fact that he knew if I’d asked Crystal that exact question, she’d do it without a second thought and for once, that didn’t make me feel good at all.
“One more mention of my sex life and I’m hanging up on you, you piece of shit.” I snap, glaring with all my might.
“Fine, let’s talk about mine, since you already have your girls lined up for the rest of the year. Can I have Luna?” Min-Joon asks, using a serious tone for the first time tonight.
“Fuck off,” I drag my words out to show that it isn’t funny.
“Aha! See that right there.” He yells, pointing at the screen, and jumping upwards, giving me the unwanted view of his bright blue boxers.
“That look on your face says it all,” he adds, shaking his head. I turn to check my reflection in the blank monitor on my desk, but see nothing but my normal expression.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, looking at him like the crazy person he is.
“You can’t see it, but I can. The slight twitch in the corner of your mouth, combined with the way you curved your right brow.
You’re pissed. I asked if I could have Luna because she’s the closest thing to your ideal type, but you’d rather die than admit it,” he states, chuckling when I’m no longer interested in what he has to say, so I hang up.
But stupidly answer again when he calls back seconds later.
“Okay, fine. Didn’t mean to get honey stuck in your fur. I’ll stop with the teasing,” he mumbles, holding his hands up in surrender.
“And how did you learn English again?” I tease, nodding to the inside joke we had since he mostly learned English through American sitcoms and picked up on the weirdest analogies known to man.
“Okay, Grumpy Bear. If you’re coming for my English, I know I pushed too far,” he sighs, getting off the bed and taking his phone with him as he leaves the room.
“Oh, so you do have self-control?” I smirk, earning an eye roll from him as he leans his phone up against something in the kitchen.
“Let’s change the subject, shall we?” he asks, pouring himself a bowl of Oreo O’s. For a born-and-bred Korean person, Min-Joon always ate the most non-Korean-like breakfast. I blame American TV shows; they completely brainwashed him into thinking chocolate cereal was an appropriate breakfast.