“That’s not how Annie does it,” Emma-Claire pouted at JC, who was trying his best to braid her hair. He was going to take her out that evening for dinner at a new bistro in the neighborhood that he’d wanted to try. She was hungry by 6:00, which was much earlier than JC had eaten in years, but he knew that the sooner she ate, the sooner they could come home and she could be in bed. The day had gone smoothly for the most part. They’d spent the morning watching Mulan and from there had gone on a walk around the neighborhood. Emma-Claire took a short nap after lunch –which was a can of Spaghetti-Os- and then entertained herself in her room for a while so that JC had an hour or so of quiet. It was only now that they were getting ready for dinner that she’d begun to fuss.
“Sorry, I’m not a hairdresser,” he was trying his best not to snap, but he was getting frustrated with how this was going. How hard was it to put three pieces of hair into a braid? Finally he sighed and put the hair tie and hairbrush on the counter of Emma-Claire’s bathroom. He knew it was Annie’s day off, but he also knew she was at home and how long would it take to braid hair? Not long, he imagined. “Let’s go see if Annie can fix this.” Upon hearing her name, Emma-Claire squealed and raced past JC out of the bathroom and down the stairs. She was like an anxious puppy waiting by the sliding glass doors of the kitchen. When he opened the door, she skipped over to the pool house. JC knocked and heard Adele crooning from inside. Annie came to the door, dressed in short denim shorts and a white tank top. JC had never seen her in anything other than jeans and a t-shirt and couldn’t help but look her up and down as discreetly as possible. He quickly came to again and smiled apologetically.
“We have a hair crisis,” he told her, resting his hands on Emma-Claire’s shoulders.
“Daddy can’t do my hair,” Emma-Claire giggled.
“Do you have time? I know you’re getting ready for your party and all –“
Annie smiled down at Emma-Claire. “Absolutely,” she cut JC off. “Come on in.”
“It won’t take you too long will it?” JC asked, as they came into the apartment. He was impressed with how she’d decorated it. Soft hues of blue and gray and pops of red throughout. Lots of pictures of which he assumed to be her family. Her diploma displayed proudly above the couch in the living area boasting her B.S. in Early Childhood Education and next to it, a framed picture of her at graduation with other friends. It was a cozy abode and JC was glad that she’d made it her own.
“Not at all,” Annie smiled assuredly at him and went into the bathroom. She returned with a hair tie and hairbrush and then sat down on the couch and Emma-Claire stood between her legs. “It’s easy once you get the hang of it,” she told JC. “I can teach you so you don’t have to do this on days off.”
JC stood and watched her carefully take the strands of hair on Emma-Claire’s head and soon the little girl had a ponytail braid perfectly in place. “Yeah, that’d be great,” he replied, as Annie tied the bottom of the braid with the hair tie. “Sorry again to bother you. What time are your friends coming over?”
“I think about 7 or 8. I’m just hanging out til they get here,” Annie pulled Emma-Claire into her lap. “What are you guys going to do tonight?”
“Daddy’s taking us out to eat!” Emma-Claire exclaimed.
“Nice. I hope you guys have a great time,” Annie smiled and let Emma-Claire go to JC, who was heading towards the door.
“See you tomorrow, Annie. Thanks again,” JC nodded at her and opened the door, as Emma-Claire dashed outside.
Music played throughout the pool house that evening. It was a chilled, relaxed night and wine and beer flowed freely. Annie hadn’t felt this tipsy in ages and on her third glass, she was careful not to step too close to Doug, who’d been eyeing her most of the night. Megan had encouraged this because Annie was her closest friend out in L.A. and what better way for her cousin to spend his time out there than to hook up with Annie? Megan had mentioned this to Annie earlier, who told her she was crazy and that there was no way she was a one-night-stand type of girl. Annie’s past relationships had gone well into three months before she’d even agreed to sleep with them. And none of the times had been exactly memorable. She’d related horror story after horror story to Jamie, Carey, and Megan over the course of the last four years and they had all just started to feel sorry for her.
“You have to have a one nighter once in your life, Ann,” Carey had told her. “Just to say you did it!”
Annie shook her head. “I couldn’t! I can barely get naked with someone I’ve known for three months, much less one night!”
It wasn’t that she wanted to avoid Doug; it was that she knew how she got when she was drunk. No one night stands had ever been had, but she’d made out and fooled around with plenty of strangers and she had a big day tomorrow having to look after Emma-Claire during the interview. She carefully sipped her glass of wine, noticing that Jamie, Carey, and Megan were all involved in a humorous conversation and Doug was standing off to the side occasionally glancing her way.
“Wanna go sit by the pool?” Doug asked, walking over to her. “I promise I don’t bite.” He held up his hands in surrender, with a twinkle in his eye. Doug was tall with blonde hair and brown eyes and a dark tan. He was a real estate agent in Dallas and came complete with a Southern accent that had Jamie and Carey flirting with him from the start of the evening.
“Sure,” Annie shrugged, taking another sip. Her head was feeling a bit fuzzy, but she liked it and started to feel her inhibitions relax. She sat down at the steps by the shallow end and dipped both feet in. Doug followed suit and joined her. They said nothing at first, just looked up at the starless sky and the only sound that could be heard was the occasional sip of wine and a cricket near the grill area.
“So, you’ve been out here four years?” Doug started the conversation. “I have to say I don’t know if I could last in Los Angeles that long.”
“You get used to it,” Annie told him, and leaned forward, crossing her arms and resting her head against the side of her wine glass. “I just know where to go and where not to go. Or when to drive and when not to drive.”
“How long are you gonna be at this job?” Doug nodded towards JC’s house.
“As long as they need me. I really love the little girl I get to watch,” Annie looked over towards the sliding glass door that led to JC’s kitchen. It was dark and she knew he was either downstairs in his studio or upstairs in his bedroom. Emma-Claire had long gone to bed by now. “I hope at least a year.”
“And then?” Doug put his wine glass next to him and Annie noticed his fingers inching towards her exposed knee.
“Then I’ll probably go back to Ohio and start grad school,” Annie sighed, and leaned back onto her elbows.
Quiet again.
“You know something? Every girl I’ve ever met form Ohio has been extremely pretty,” Doug’s Southern accent was even thicker when he was tipsy, Annie noted to herself.
“Oh really?” Annie chuckled and looked at him, biting her lower lip. Doug ran his fingers through her hair and tilted her chin towards his.
“Yeah. And they’re really good at kissing,”
Annie grinned at him and felt his lips press against hers.
JC stood at the window of his bedroom and looked down at the sight before him. He didn’t know why but he felt a surge of jealousy watching Annie being kissed. He hadn’t gotten the image of her out of his head from earlier that day. Her legs in those shorts looked perfect. Her breasts coming out ever so slightly from that white tank top as though they were fitted just so. He continued to watch, feeling the slightest bit like a pervert as Annie’s arms wrapped around the guy’s neck, pulling him on top of her. This was stupid. He was just aroused easily now. It had been a while since he’d slept with anyone and he was going to take it out on his nanny? No. No. He turned away from the window and went to lie on his bed, trying desperately to rid his thoughts of Annie.
Annie woke up the next morning feeling sick to her stomach and somewhat disgusting. Megan, Jamie, and Carey had ended up sleeping downstairs because they’d been too drunk to go home. And Doug had ended up in her bed. They’d not had sex, but Annie knew that if he hadn’t forgotten to bring a condom, it would’ve been a different story. She looked at him lying next to her and made a face. The wine had done much of the talking, the kissing, and the fooling around. He was a nice guy, but she wasn’t about to start a relationship with him. Though, she had to admit, it had been nice to feel wanted and to at least experience a few moments of pleasure.
She slowly walked down the stairs from the loft and went into the kitchen, starting a pot of coffee. She would certainly need it today after the night she’d had. Her head pounded and the four Advil she downed with a glass of water could not start to work fast enough for her. She showered and dressed in the bathroom, left a note for her friends that she’d be in touch later, and took her thermos of coffee and walked across the back patio to the entrance of JC’s kitchen. He and Emma-Claire were sitting at the breakfast nook. He’d already made her scrambled eggs and was letting her play a game on his iPad.
“Morning,” she greeted them, trying to look as unassuming as possible.
“Annie!” Emma-Claire reached out to hug her and Annie walked over to sit next to the child.
JC looked up and saw her hung over state, wondering if the guy she’d been kissing was still in her apartment. “Well, looks like you had a fun night,”
Annie blushed. “Um, yeah, we had too much wine. That’s for sure.”
“Did a lot of people come by?”
“Just a few friends. There were five of us,”
JC wanted to pry, but in hindsight, he really didn’t know her that well at all. And he’d realized how uncanny he’d come off if he did say something. “Sounds like a good time,” he finally said. “So, today should be like any other day. They’re not getting here till this afternoon, but I need to run out and check some venues around town for the girls. You and Emma-Claire just need to stay nearby so incase they come early I don’t have to hunt you down.”
“I’m pretty sure driving is out of the question,” Annie smirked. “At least for the first few hours.”
JC had to laugh at that. “I understand. We all have those nights,” He watched Annie’s face turn from amusement to surprise and noticed she was looking behind him. JC turned and saw the guy from the night before standing at the glass door. “Oh, is that for you?”
“Yeah. Sorry,” Annie quickly got up from the booth and hurriedly walked to the backdoor. “Um, hi.” She was trying to whisper and not make a huge scene.
“Sorry. Hi. Just wanted to tell you goodbye and thanks again for last night,” Doug looked over at JC and acknowledged him. “Sorry. I didn’t want to leave and not say bye or whatever.”
“It’s okay. See you later,” Annie wanted to shut the door on him but she also couldn’t be rude. They’d pretty much done as much as one could do without having sex last night and pushing him out wasn’t what she had wanted to look like she was doing. But she was at work now and he was awkwardly standing there as though he expected something else.
“Oh. Okay. Yeah. See you,” Doug ran a hand through his hair and turned, walking back towards the exit of the back patio.
Annie felt her face flush and tried to compose herself before she turned around, but both JC and Emma-Claire were staring at her now.
“Who’s that, Annie?” Emma-Claire asked before Annie had had a chance to shut the door. “Is that your boyfriend?”
“No!” Annie replied quickly. “No. He’s um, he’s just a friend.”
JC looked at her and then it dawned on him. “Hey, is that the guy you said you didn’t want to be set up with?!” his eyes had a twinkle in them and Annie could sense he was trying not to laugh at her when she nodded. “Ah, ok. So, uh, did you….”
Annie knew her face was bright red and couldn’t shake it. “No. I mean, well…no.” She couldn’t lie very well but she certainly wasn’t going to tell of her exploit with her boss and the child she watched.
“So, anyway, about today?” She desperately wanted to change the subject and JC knew it.
“Yeah, so basically I think you’ll just walk around with us during the interview. We’re going to the park I took her to the other day to get a few photos. Then after the interview, I’ve got to meet with Jimmy about some dates next month with the girls,” JC pushed his coffee aside. “I should be back in time to tuck her in.”
“Okay, that sounds fine,” Annie said and was relieved that the attention had been taken off her. She also wondered if Megan would be upset once she found out that Annie wasn’t going to pursue Doug any further, but that would have to wait. Today, she had to make sure Emma-Claire looked her best for the interview and was on her best behavior.
“So, tell us how you spend your days with Emma-Claire?” Cade Watson, one of the main writer’s at People was giving the interview to JC outside on the patio later that afternoon. Emma-Claire was inside with Annie watching a movie until it was time for her to go and get her picture taken with her father.
“Well, we go to the park a lot down the street,” JC answered, hoping that it wasn’t too far-fetched from the truth, since he’d technically been with her twice now. “And I love taking her out to eat.” Not a lie, either. They’d gone out to eat the night before. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I can’t imagine life without her.” That part was partially true. As of late, life had gotten more normal with her around.
“And do you find that you can get your work done with producing Girl Radical and having a child?”
“That part is tricky but I manage. I have outside help a few days a week and it’s been a great thing. Emma-Claire is also in preschool twice a week so that’s also helpful,” JC knew he wasn’t giving the full truth but at this point as long as everyone knew that he wasn’t hiding his kid or that he’d ever hidden her from the public, that was all that mattered. Twisting the truth just enough so that he didn’t come off as a jerk was what he had to do.
Annie watched as JC knelt down in the grass with Emma-Claire looking at the photographer. He wrapped his arms around her waist and they made silly faces at the camera. Then he threw her up in the air and Emma-Claire giggled with delight as the photographer shot her in midair. Annie relaxed and smiled. All of that stuff she’d felt earlier towards JC was melting away. He did want to be a good father and he did want Emma-Claire to be a part of his life. She couldn’t wait to read the interview in a few weeks.
“Daddy, can you and Annie tuck me in tonight?” Emma-Claire asked JC later that evening. They’d been outside and Emma-Claire had been blowing bubbles with a bubble set that Karen had bought for her the week before. Annie smiled at the question and looked over at JC. After the interview and the pictures, JC had gone off with Jimmy but had come back just as Annie was about to bring Emma-Claire inside.
“Um,” he looked over at Annie. “Sure. Is that okay?”
“I don’t mind,” Annie assured him. “C’mon, girl, let’s go inside and get ready for bed.”
Emma-Claire followed Annie upstairs and immediately went into the bathroom. JC stood at the doorway and watched Annie expertly brush the little girls’ teeth, not once flinching as he always did because he always felt like Emma-Claire would slip and her teeth would bite into his finger. Then, Annie changed her out of the outfit she’d been wearing for the photo shoot and into her favorite Jasmine pajamas. Emma-Claire crawled into bed and JC stood on one side and Annie, the other. Annie sat down and picked up a Madeline book she’d been reading to Emma-Claire every night. JC watched as his daughter moved her lips as Annie read to her. Then, he found himself looking at Annie, who made different voices with each of the characters she would read. He scolded himself inwardly for acting the way he was acting today. It was Annie. Annie the Nanny. That was all she was.
Annie put the book down and leaned over to peck Emma-Claire’s forehead. “Goodnight. Sleep tight,” she winked at the child.
“Don’t let the bed bugs bite!” Emma-Claire finished. “Goodnight, Daddy.”
“Goodnight,” JC kissed her cheek and followed Annie out of the room. JC stood there watching her come out of the room. She turned to close the door and when she turned back, he was right behind her. He was so close that they caught each other’s breath. Annie felt herself tingling all over her skin from such close contact and her heart began to beat faster. JC knew he should move but he didn’t want to. He’d been thinking about her all day and….
“Um, JC, you’re kind of in my way,” Annie tried to make light of it. What the hell was he pulling?
“Sorry,” JC cleared his throat and slowly moved out of her way. “Goodnight, Annie.”
“Goodnight,” Annie didn’t look at him, only made her way down the hall and downstairs. She didn’t look back until she’d reached the pool house. Her heart was racing. He’d been so close that he could’ve kissed her. Was that was he was trying to do? No. Certainly not. He was her boss. And they barely knew each other. No, it was just a case of being too close to that door with each other. She felt her cheeks and they were flushed. Shaking herself out of whatever it was that had just ensued, Annie went upstairs and got ready for bed.
