Chapter 3
It was just around 10 a.m. on Saturday. Basil and his daughter were sitting out on the patio about to have breakfast when Mariam and the new nanny walked outside. He wondered how long she was going to last. The last one had lasted two weeks before his daughter Sanaa decided that she didn’t like her.
“Morning, sheikh,” Mariam greeted him. “Morning, Sanaa.”
“Morning,” he replied.
“Janet is starting work today. I’m just showing her the house and explaining a few rules to her.”
Janet. So that was her name, Basil thought to himself. It was a good thing Mariam had said it because Basil couldn’t remember what her name was. He leaned into his chair and studied Janet. She was of average height, around five feet five inches. She was smartly dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt and a high-waisted black skirt and a pair of flat black shoes. Her hair was parted at the side and tied into a low bun.
“Good morning, sheikh,” she greeted him with a smile on her face. She had silky skin with a light tan. Her figure resembled an hourglass .
“Morning,” he replied. Janet turned to face his daughter.
“Hi, Sanaa.” She had a big smile on her face, but Sanaa didn’t return her smile. She had her notepad on the table next to her. She picked up her pen and wrote hi on it. She showed it to Janet.
“Hi, sweetheart, how are you?” Janet was looking at Sanaa, waiting for her to respond.
Janet seemed so cheerful. Sanaa quickly scribbled something down, hiding it from Janet and Mariam. She showed it to the sheikh. She’s weird, it read. Basil almost laughed. Sanaa flipped the notepad after letting her father read it so that Janet wouldn’t see.
“Make sure you listen to everything Mariam tells you. Looking after my child is an important job, and I expect you to do it well,” he said to Janet. She nodded.
“Yes, sheikh, I will work very hard.”
Basil just nodded.
“Let’s go,” Mariam said to Janet.
“I’ll see you later.” Janet waved at Sanaa before she and Mariam went back into the house. Sanaa shook her head before she started eating. Basil was not shocked that his daughter hadn’t taken a liking to Janet immediately. She was just as picky as he was, and because of that, all the nannies he had hired since her mother passed away never lasted. He wondered how long Janet was going to last.
Basil and his daughter had breakfast after Janet and Mariam left. When they finished eating, Basil went into his home office to get some work done. His family owned an oil company in El-Tabas, a small country in the Middle East. Though they had other branches in the world, Basil was currently focusing on managing the Dallas one because he wanted to expand their business in the U.S.