Chapter 8

• It was almost 8 pm by the time Damien got home with his daughter. He made the little girl something to eat, took a bath for her, and then put her to bed.
• “Are you sad?” He asked Rumi who nodded against her pillow. He was sitting beside her as she lay on her back.
• “I miss Silvia.”
• “I’m sorry your mommy fired her. I had no idea about it and I’m sorry we were late to pick you up from school.”
• “I will try my best and talk her into coming back and if she refuses, that means we are gonna find you another nanny.”
• “I don’t want another nanny. I want Silvia.” The little girl mumbled.
• “I will do something about it.”
• “Promise?” She stared at her father with pleading eyes.”
• “Yes, princess.”
• “But you will have to stay with grandma until Silvia comes back, okay?”
• Rumi nodded.
• “Your teacher said you all got a new kid in the class that looks like me.”
• “Yes, Daddy. Everyone thinks he’s my brother.”
• “Do you think he looks like me?”
• Rumi sat up and stared closely at her Daddy’s face as though this was the first time she was seeing him.
• She shook her head and then went back to her lying position.
• “Ms. Gabby was probably trying to make a conversation then,” Damien mumbled.
• “He doesn’t look like you but he looks like your picture.” Rumi pointed to her nightstand. There were two picture frames there. One of her and Damien on her last birthday and the other one was a picture of Damien when he was just his daughter’s age.
• “Come on, Rumi. How can it be?”
• She shrugged. “But he looks so much like your baby picture.”
• “That’s strange.”
• “What’s his name? Did you talk to him?”
• “No, I don’t know his name and no I didn’t talk to him.”
• “Why?”
• “Because I’m shy.”
• “Shy?”
• “I think so, but he’s new and his seat is not close to mine.”
• Damien nodded. “I’m sure the resemblance is nothing. Kids tend to look alike when they are growing up.”
• “You should go to bed now.”
• “Please can you read me a story?”
• “Yes, my love.”
• Damien rose to his feet, he went over to her bookshelf and picked up a book which he read to her.
• He was just a few pages in when he noticed that she was sound asleep.” He tucked her in well, placed a deep kiss on her forehead, and then gently exited her room.
• Damien was about to go into his room when he heard noises from the living room. Knowing that had to be Rhoda, he instantly directed himself downstairs. Her handbag was placed on the sofa, her car keys and phone on a nearby table and her shoes on the floor of the sofa.
• Rhoda was by the mini-bar, pouring herself a drink. She was barefooted and was putting on a green silky dress.
• “Why did you fire Silvia?”
• “She was rude to me?” Rhoda mumbled, taking a sip of her alcohol, not taking a glance at Damien even though she could feel him throwing nasty glares at her.
• “Really? Why do you choose to be a pain in the ass every fucking time?”
• “Don’t raise your voice at me. You don’t respect me enough to care if the domestic staff are rude to me. You didn’t even ask me what went down and here you are, freaking out on me.” She said, finally facing him and returning his intimidating glare.
• “Of course, I need not hear from you before I know that you are the one with issues. For fucks sake, Silvia is the 6th nanny I hired this year. You keep scaring them away with your very nasty attitude. It’s either they quit due to your frustrations or you chase them away.”
• “This is exactly the problem I have with you, Dam. You always take sides with strangers over your legally wedded wife!”
• “You bear that title for status's sake but you don’t live up to your expectations.”
• “Don’t talk to me like that!” She glared at him.
• “Of course, I will speak to you anyhow I feel like because you don’t deserve any ounce of respect from me or anybody else.”
• “You fired Rumi’s nanny without caring about Rumi?”
• “Come on, that’s not a big deal, You will hire someone else. There are lots of people out there that need nanny jobs.”
• “Can you fucking listen to yourself? You leave the hiring of nannies to me when you are supposed to help me out all the time. Are you that comfortable with us letting random people into our home and into our daughter’s life? For fucks sake, think of Rumi’s mental health of having to switch nannies every fucking time. Do you think it’s that easy to get a good and trustworthy person to watch after our daughter?”
• “I hate you so much that you don’t give a damn about Rumi. You fired her nanny without thinking about her welfare or making arrangements. You should have at least informed me of your erratic decision. I would have gone to pick her up early since it’s so clear that you don’t give two fucks about your daughter.”
• “Of course, I care about her. It just slipped my mind that someone had to pick her up from school.”
• Damien cursed inaudibly, massaging his temple as a means to calm his nerves.
• “Like the same way, you forgot about her doctor’s appointment this morning?”
• “Don’t be petty, Damien. I had a fashion shoot.”
• “For fucks sake, our daughter is just recovering. And you think a fashion shoot is more important than you being there for her? To make matters worse, She was the only student left in school by the time I got there to pick her up. You know how much I dislike that.”
• “You’re overreacting, Damian. I’m sure her teacher was there with her so she wasn’t alone.”
• “You know what? Fuck you!!!! Stay the hell away from my daughter and her nannies. If you dare interfere in their lives again, I promise you you are going to hate me forever.” Giving her one last glare, Damien stormed out.
• He went straight to his room, shut his door, and headed to his bedside where he slum down on the bed. Dam buried his face in his hands and thought for a while. He exhaled deeply, then made his way over to the workspace in the bedroom. He was about to continue the work he paused at the office when his mind suddenly went to her. Damien opened a fresh page on the browser on the laptop before him and gently typed her name in there.
• He waited patiently, hoping for the internet to bring useful results. Like a link to any of her social media profiles, but it brought out nothing related to the woman he was looking for and that was when it hit him that he was having an interview with her the next day but hadn’t received any feedback from Alex, head of HR, on her response if she was going to show up for the interview or not.
• .............
• “Excited for your interview?” Emily grinned, standing beside Melissa, and pouring herself some coffee.
• “I feel numb.” She mumbled, preparing to make some pancakes for Ryan.
• “Why?”
• Melissa shrugged, turning to her right to face her sister.
• “I feel indifferent. I mean, I performed terribly yesterday. It’s probably the same person that interviewed me yesterday that’s going to interview me today so I’ve got no one to impress.”
• “No, don’t say that.”
• “The only reason I’m going there is because I don’t like missing opportunities.”
• “I feel nothing great is going to come out of this. It’s probably my scared inner thoughts in action but I don’t care, I just want to get it done with.”
• “I just feel it’s weird that they are calling me back to take up a role that I never even applied for.”
• “Have you ever heard of a miracle?”
• “Oh please, Emily,” Melissa mumbled, reaching for the flour.
• “Just keep an open mind, sis. If this doesn’t work out, I’m sure another opportunity will present itself.”
• “I hope so!”