Nanny For the Billionaire's Son

JADE

“You’re going to have to do something, Jadey,” Hannah said. “You know I love you, and I want to help. I really do, but I can’t keep

letting things slide––it’s not fair to my other employees.”

I swallowed hard and nodded. “I know. I’m trying. I’ll try harder.”

Aunt Hannah was my mom’s younger sister, and she’d always been more of a cousin or a friend than an aunt. After I’d decided a modeling career wasn’t for me, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Bills wouldn’t wait for me to make up my mind, though, and after I’d paid my own way for a couple of years after college, there was no way in hell I was moving back home. My mom and I hadn’t gotten along when I was a teenager and forced to live by her rules. Things would be so much worse now that I was used to living an independent life.

Hannah had been kind enough to give me a job…one that I kept screwing up.

“You just need to get your act together,” Hannah said, and tucked her light brown hair behind her ear. She pushed her glasses up her nose a little more.

“I know.” I nodded.

“I’m not going to talk to you about this again, so consider it your final warning.”

I sighed. “Got it.”

When Hannah had offered me the job, I’d thought working for my family would be so much fun. Hannah and I had always been close––she’d been the cool aunt when I’d grown up, the one I could talk to about boys, getting in trouble at school, fashion, or whatever my mom just didn’t seem to get. I hadn’t considered the downside of working for family––I couldn’t escape my boss because we were still family after hours. I saw her at family gatherings, and work had become the only topic of conversation.

Not to mention the uncool part where my aunt, my friend, could give me a tongue-lashing and tell me that I had to get my shit together if I wanted to make something of myself one day.

It hurt a hell of a lot more when someone close to me told me that what I had now just wouldn’t cut it––not that I didn’t know that already.

“Let’s get serious, Jade,” Hannah said. Wasn’t telling me how I had failed serious enough? “This isn’t the kind of job you want to do for the rest of your life.”

She was right. I sucked at doing administration––paperwork was the bane of my existence. I was an administrative assistant at Hannah’s company, Placement, an au pair placement agency. Paperwork was all I did.

And I screwed it up…a lot. Not because I didn’t care or didn’t know how to do my job. I just didn’t always remember where I put things. I was a dreamer, but apparently, that wasn’t always a good thing.

“It’s teaching me a lot about responsibility and sticking it out when the going gets tough,” I said.

“You’re waffling to avoid the topic,” Hannah said sharply. “I know you mean well, and I know you’re trying. You’re just…not very good at this job. You need something creative where you can afford to color outside the lines.” Hannah sighed and added under her breath, “where I can afford you coloring outside the lines.”

I couldn’t deny it, so I nodded. “I really need the cash, though, and you needed the help. It seemed like a great fit at the time…” I let my words trail off because I kept screwing up, which was a clear sign that maybe it wasn’t a great fit at all. “Don’t kick me out, okay?” I added.

Hannah’s face softened. “I won’t just dump you on the sidewalk, but I can’t keep giving you chances. It’s not fair to everyone else I employ. This is a business. What do you really want to do with your life? We both know this isn’t the job you’re cut out for. Do you have any idea where you’re going?”

I shook my head. “I know what I don’t want. Modeling…and this. It’s just not that easy to find a niche.”

“You’re twenty-eight, Jade. At some point, you’ll have to figure out where you’re headed in life. You’re not fresh out of school anymore. You’re headed toward thirty.”

I groaned inwardly. When did my cool friend go? Why did my aunt now sound so much more like my mom?

“You majored in business in college,” Hannah pointed out.

I nodded. “I want to start my own company.”

“Doing what?”

I shrugged. That was the part I was still hazy on.

“Think about it. Figure out what you’re doing. Start putting money away so that this…” she waved her hand around her, “…doesn’t have to happen again.”

Right. She just had to throw that in there, reminding me that I was here because I’d burned through my savings from my modeling career at a crazy rate, and then I’d decided that direction wasn’t for me.

So, financial management wasn’t my strong suit––many people struggle with that. If I hadn’t been stupid with my money, I might have been able to take the time and think about what I needed, but there was no use looking back and crying about my mistakes. This was where I was now, and I had to figure out how to make it work. People could work on their weaknesses, right?

The phone rang.

“You have to think about what you’re going to do with your life. We can’t keep going in circles like this.”

She picked up the phone and put her hand over the receiver.

“I don’t want it to come between us.”

When she pressed the phone against her ear, I was dismissed. I left and walked to my office. I sat behind my desk with a huff and looked at the screen. I had so much paperwork to get through. It made my head spin. I kept messing it up, losing something, misplacing something, forgetting something. When there was a lot of work to do, it was easier to make mistakes. Someone had to do it, however.

Marlene, the woman I was an assistant to, did the legwork to see the au pairs who wanted to sign on, vet them, and check their certifications so that I could assign them to the right places when the requests came through.

Until I’d started working here, I’d had no idea how many people wanted au pairs all the time.

I opened my email, and more requests came through. I desperately wanted to get out of here––it was easier to focus at home. Here, I had so much pressure on me to do better, and it made it worse. I didn’t want to leave right now, however. I couldn’t afford more mistakes. Hannah would have my head, and then what would I do?

I forced myself to focus, putting on noise-canceling earphones to distract myself from the hustle and bustle and chatter in the office, and tried to focus on the work. I stayed until five on the dot so that Hannah could see how committed I was to making this work.

Finally, it was time to leave. I pulled off my headset with a groan of relief. I peeked around the door to Hannah’s office, but she was on the phone. I could leave now without another lecture. I hated that I tried to avoid my aunt these days when I’d eagerly sought her out before.

I left the building and drove to one of my favorite places in town.

Olivia––my best friend since college––was the head chef at Skylark, a bistro that opened almost two years ago and was situated just a few blocks away from Hannah’s offices in Downtown Seattle.

“Just the person I was looking for,” she said when I let myself in through the backdoor to the kitchen. “Taste this.” She stuffed something into my mouth before responding, and I chewed. She watched me with excitement, her green eyes bright.

Olivia was a perfect chef. She was proof that her food was good––always on the chubbier side, but she rocked it, and I didn’t know a more confident woman. She was spunky and fun, and down to earth, and I loved spending time with her when my life fell apart. Olivia had everything together––we were polar opposites––but she was always there for me and my biggest fan even when I didn’t make it. She made me feel like maybe, I could try again. “Oh, my God,” I said around the food in my mouth before I swallowed. “That’s really good. What is it?”

“It’s lentils with red pepper pesto. I’m putting it with butternut squash and halloumi for a vegetarian option on the menu.”

“It’s incredible,” I said, and hopped onto the counter next to Olivia. “You’re lucky Evan lets you experiment as much as you do.”

Olivia shrugged and opened the oven, taking out a tray of roasted butternut squash for her dish.

“He trusts me.”

I sighed. “It’s more than I can say about Hannah.”

“What happened?” Olivia asked. She cut fried Halloumi up into strips and added it to the butternut squash before she scattered lentils all over it.

“I’m on my last warning at work. I keep messing up the placement system, and Hannah’s just about had it with me.”

Olivia shook her head. “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

“It is,” I confirmed. “If I screw up again…I’m out. What will I do then?”