12. Hannah
Hannah
Brakkus had been working long hours at the office all week, and I had barely seen him.
I kept telling myself I didn’t mind. Why would I?
He was the CEO of a massive corporation.
The reason he hired me was to allow him to go back to work.
I was sure he had plenty to catch up on after taking time off after the last nanny.
But for some reason, I still felt like he was avoiding me. It was stupid. There was no legitimate reason for me to feel that way. I usually didn’t have such a delusional ego.
But ever since the pool… I stood in the kitchen on Sunday afternoon drinking a glass of sweet tea while Otto took his afternoon nap. And I stood by the patio door looking out at the water.
Ever since Brakkus rubbed sunscreen on my back…
Since I’d seen him in his human form. I took another sip of iced tea and tried to get a grip.
But I couldn’t. Even now when I saw Brakkus in his orc form, I couldn’t stop.
It was like a very messy, very horny cat in heat that had been let out of the bag.
I could not stop thinking about my boss. The grumpy orc single dad who the monster fighting league called The Brute. It was insane. But Brakkus in a tailored three-piece suit, or in his human form in swim trunks was not The Brute. Far from it.
What I’d seen from him in the last few weeks was a very attentive father who loved his son very much. A fair and kind employer. A conscientious and shrewd businessman. I’d never seen anything resembling the roaring orc on his brand logo.
I was about to refill my iced tea glass when my phone rang. I picked it up and saw my sister’s caller ID.
“Megan?” I answered. “What’s up?”
“Hannah. Oh my God, it’s a mess.” I could hear the stress in her voice and could tell there was something seriously wrong.
“What is it?”
“You know about the issue with my roommate Kayla’s boyfriend?”
“Yeah. I told you to talk to the landlord.”
“The whole thing just blew up. Kayla and I had a big fight about stupid Dustin. She told me to get over it, and she’d let him stay as long as she wanted. So… I did what you told me I should do. And I went to the landlord.”
“Okay. That’s a good thing, right? He can’t live there if he’s not on the lease.”
“Well, they decided to put him on the lease behind my back. Now he’s moved in and they want me to move out.”
“They can’t do that. You’re on the lease.”
“I cannot live with these two. Kayla hates me now because I went to the landlord about Dustin. And now the two of them will be in the apartment together all the time, glaring at me. Spitting in my milk. Putting hair removal cream in my shampoo. I can’t do it, Hannah.
I already found a place. I’m moving tomorrow. ”
“Well, that’s good news…” I said hopefully.
“But I don’t have anyone to help me. I can barely afford first and last. Kayla won’t pay me back for this month’s rent. So, I can’t afford movers. I’m so sorry, Hannah, but I really need help.”
“I’ll come help you. I’ll rent the truck and help you pack and move everything.”
“Oh my God, you’re a lifesaver. Are you sure you have time? Are you on a job right now? I never asked, you must think I’m a bitch.”
“It’s fine, sweetie, I’ll ask my boss if I can have the day off. He’s pretty understanding.”
“Thank you, Hannah. I’ll pay you back. I swear.”
We said our goodbyes, and I stood in the kitchen thinking about how I was going to get the day off to help my sister move without any notice.
It sounded like Megan was in a bad place financially, and probably needed help, even if she didn’t say it.
I thought about what I had available. I’d already given my brother three grand for his truck repairs before I’d started working for Brakkus.
Even with the high salary, I was still stretched until I got paid at the end of the month.
I’d have to dip into my less liquid savings.
I sighed and filled my iced tea. I wasn’t going to let Megan suffer when I could help her. Unlike Kyle, Megan rarely asked for money. She just tended to need my emotional support for whatever her current drama happened to be.
She was a talented artist who worked as a barista.
She’d worked in several cafes over the last few years.
Her work history was good, just not 100% stable.
There tended to be some issue with the boss or her coworkers.
I couldn’t blame her for it. Things were tough out there.
And I was going to do what I could to help her.
Brakkus returned that evening, while Otto and I were at the kitchen table eating dinner. He stepped into the kitchen with his briefcase still in hand and started dishing up his plate.
I took a bite of the lasagna Lola had prepped and I’d finished baking. I tried to find the words to ask him.
“Hi, Brakkus. Can I talk to you for a minute?”
He’d been working seven days a week and taking his dinners in his study when he’d been early enough to eat with us. That had been his routine before the day we went to Breakstone enclave. He’d picked it up again soon after the pool.
He angled toward me, plate in hand, his eyes dark and distant. I gulped, hoping he’d sit down so I could ask with him at eye level.
“Sure,” he said, stepping around to the other side of the table. I let out a breath, my shoulders relaxing. He sat down across from me and took a bite of food. “Shoot.”
“I hate to ask, but… I’m going to need the day off tomorrow. My sister is having a crisis. She has to move out of her apartment on short notice and needs help to move. I realize it’s Monday… I can ask Lola to watch Otto.”
I hated asking for help. I hated asking for anything that imposed on others. Otto stuffed noodles into his mouth and squealed.
“It’s fine. Take the day off. I have meetings planned but I can take them over video call.”
“Thank you,” I breathed. “My sister really needs the help. It means a lot to me.”
“Not a problem,” he said, taking his plate. He was up and out of the kitchen before I could say another word.
I was honestly beginning to believe I’d done something wrong to make him treat me this way. It was a pathetic thought. The situation by the pool hadn’t meant anything. It was just me making things up in my own head.
The next morning, I left Otto with his dad and drove into Austin to pick up the moving truck.
Megan’s apartment was on South Congress, walking distance from vintage shops and music venues.
I knew why she liked living here, and it was sad that she had to move.
She’d be moving into a place in North Lamar, a much less hip, much less safe area for a twenty-five-year-old woman to live alone.
I pulled up in front of her place and parked the truck. I walked up to the second floor of her building and knocked. Megan answered in a tie-dyed shirt and jeans with her pink hair up in a high ponytail.
“Hannah!” she said, enveloping me in a hug. I couldn’t tell if she was happy or crying until she pulled back. When I got a good look at her face, I could see that it was a little bit of both.
“Kayla and Dustin aren’t here. Thank God. I’ve got most everything packed already.”
“I got the truck. So, we can carry everything down once we finish packing.”
I walked into a two-bedroom apartment that was halfway torn apart and filled with moving boxes.
We worked on finishing up her boxes and then carried her furniture down to the truck.
We had a tricky turn to get her queen mattress out of the apartment but managed it without much hassle.
By the time we finished carrying the last of her canvases and plants to the truck, it was definitely lunchtime.
“Let’s grab some food to go on the way,” I said as Megan buckled up the seatbelt in her car. “How do tacos sound?”
“Sounds good to me,” she said.
I got behind the wheel of the truck, and she followed me in her car out of the parking lot.
We stopped at a taco place on the way to her new apartment and got two orders to go. I purchased several large bottles of water for later. We were going to need it for the next leg of the move.
When we got to her new building, we carried the plants upstairs first and stood at the counter in the tiny kitchen of her studio to eat our food.
“It’s going to be great,” she said with optimism that didn’t ring true. “I’ve been wanting my own place for a long time.”
After we ate, we carried the rest of her things upstairs in the Texas summer heat. By the time we’d carried the last box, we were both sweating, and I was grateful I’d bought us both two huge bottles of water.
We collapsed onto her mattress and armchair, the wall-mounted air conditioner working overtime. The studio had ugly brown carpet that looked like it hadn’t been shampooed and low popcorn ceilings with a vague stain in the corner near the stove.
I checked my watch and it was after four in the afternoon. I was totally beat, but Megan still had the whole apartment to unpack. I felt for her. She’d left a cool artsy neighborhood that was perfect for her. Now she was living in an ugly low-income studio, twenty minutes from her job.
I took out my wallet and pulled out five hundred-dollar bills. Megan’s eyes widened when I handed them to her. She shook her head and put up her hands. “Hannah, I can’t accept that.”
“I want to know you’re safe and settled, Megan. Five hundred bucks doesn’t even go that far. Just… take care of yourself.”
“I’ll pay you back. I swear,” Megan said, finally relenting.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, knowing that lending money to family was never actually a loan. She was my little sister. A kid I’d practically raised. I wasn’t going to let her sit in this end of town without a little padding.
I stood and she stood with me, throwing her arms around my shoulders. “Hannah… I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“We’re family, Meg. That’s what family is for.”
I squeezed her back and left the apartment. Driving back to the U-Haul place to get my car, I watched the city fly past under the baking hot Texas sun. I felt a subtle sense of melancholy, even though I didn’t know why.
I was always the one everyone depended on. I accepted that role. I was fine with it. I could help my family and fill their cups when they needed it. It was the role I’d played since I was nine years old.