“Annie!” her sister’s voice greeted her over the phone and was high-pitched, shrill, and filled with excitement. “When were you going to tell me that you are nannying for JC Chasez?! When mom told me yesterday I nearly had to pull the car off the side of the road!”

Maggie was five years older than Annie and had always been more star struck and into pop culture than her younger sister. When Annie had moved to L.A., Maggie had insisted on going out with her to help move her in and also to take one of those ridiculous “Star Bus Tours” that left from Grauman’s. Maggie had also paid over $1,000 to see ‘Nsync in concert on numerous occasions and had met Joey and Chris once at a bar. Now married to Jon, a contractor in Cincinatti, Maggie had three kids but was still just as much of a pop junkie as she’d ever been. When Annie’s oldest niece, Cecily, turned 8, Maggie had taken her to see The Wanted in concert. Annie often wondered if Maggie had been more excited than her daughter.

“It’s not that big of a deal, Mags,” Annie chuckled, relaxing on her couch.

“Oh. My. God. Annie, seriously, you are nannying for my college celebrity crush and you weren’t going to tell me?!”

“I figured you’d respond like this or come out here and try to stalk him,” Annie teased her sister. “And anyway, he’s just a normal, down to earth guy.”

“Just a normal, down to earth guy. Yeah, well, that normal down to earth guy had me fantasizing about him all the time with my sorority sisters!”

“Ew, Mags. Too much info, there.”

“Tell me, is he still as gorgeous as he was?”

Annie pulled a face. She’d never looked at JC that way. Sure, he was handsome, but she’d never looked at him as anything other than her boss nowadays. “He’s older. I don’t know, Mags. You know I was more of a Justin girl.”

“So have you met any of the other guys in the band?”

“Yeah, you know they come out here all the time and do concerts together in front of JC’s fireplace,” Annie replied, sarcastically.

“You’re such a bitch sometimes,”

“No, I haven’t. Lance was out here on Saturday –“

“Shut up! And?”

“And I didn’t talk to him. I just saw him when I was in the house,”

“You are doing this celebrity nanny thing all wrong,” Maggie sighed. There was commotion in the background. “Just a minute, Graham!”

“What’s wrong with Graham?” Annie asked, referring to her 3-year-old nephew.

“Oh, he went potty and I need to go wipe him now,” Maggie sighed. “So, other than nannying for Mr. Hottie Chasez, what else is going on?”

“Nothing much,” Annie checked the time and saw she had an hour before she needed to retrieve Emma-Claire. “Just taking care of an adorable little girl.”

“No dates?”

“Nope.” Dating had been the last thing on her mind as of late.

“Well, I hope you’re at least flirting with him somewhat,”

“Flirting with who? JC?!”

“Yes!”

“You clearly have no idea how this nanny thing works do you? He’s my boss, Maggie. And even if he wasn’t, he’s definitely not my type,”

“Whatever. You kill me, Ann. I’d be all over him if I were you,”
“Then it’s a good thing you’re married with three kids and live a thousand miles away,”

Maggie chuckled. “I’ll talk to you later, sis. Love you,”
“Love you, Mags.”

Annie hung up the phone and shook her head. Her sister always made her laugh, whether she meant to or not. She stood from the couch and decided to go back to JC’s house and start lunch. It was rainy today and it was a good day for tomato soup and grilled cheese. Emma-Claire had had the sniffles that morning and this was just the cure. She’d actually been quite surprised at JC in the last few days. Since she’d told him about the Star cover, he’d been a lot more attentive to Emma-Claire. He’d gotten home in time to kiss her goodnight, had read her a few stories, and this morning he’d even been downstairs before Annie had come over and had started breakfast for both her and Emma-Claire. She didn’t really know what had snapped in him, but she didn’t care. Emma-Claire had been over the moon that her father was finally giving her the attention she had craved from him. He’d even been a lot nicer to Annie and it had made the job much more pleasant on many accounts.

As she began to take out the large pan to make the soup, her phone rang once more. She looked down to see Megan’s name flashing across the screen.

“Hey, Megan,” Annie greeted her, pouring water into the pot.

“Tell JC you need off on Saturday. For real this time,” Megan forwent any salutations. “Remember my cousin Doug I told you about? The one who lives in Dallas? He’s coming out here this weekend and I just know you guys would hit it off. Anyway, since you have the nicest place, I thought a few of us could come over and hang out on Saturday,”

Annie had to register everything that Megan had just spewed. She was talking a mile a minute and Annie had been preoccupied trying to find the ingredients for tomato soup. “Okay, well, he already knows I have Saturday off. We’ve talked about that again. And I guess it’s fine if you guys want to come over. But I don’t know if I want to be set up with your cousin Doug,”

Megan huffed, “Oh, Annie, live a little. He’s only in town for a week. You never know. And besides, when is the last time you went on a date?”

“August,” Annie replied. “With that friend of the McGriffin’s. He took me to Koi and then tried to suck off my face at the end of the night.”

“Well, Doug’s a gentlemen. He won’t try to suck off your face unless you let him. Okay, so I can tell Jamie and Carey that we can come over?”

“Sure,” Annie shrugged, feeling somewhat excited. She’d never been able to have anyone over at the McGriffin’s because her place had been so small. Her other friends that were nannies either shared an apartment or, like Megan, had a very tiny studio. When they’d gone over to have a party, it had been very cramped. The pool house wasn’t huge, but it was at least big enough to host a few people without feeling like they were sardines. It was a good thing she’d already spoken to JC about Saturdays. She finished her conversation and put the soup on, letting it simmer as she left to pick up Emma-Claire.

“So you scheduled the interview?” Jimmy asked JC that afternoon. They were sitting outside at a café in Brentwood enjoying a beer. Everything seemed to be running smoothly and they’d let the girls have the rest of the afternoon off.

“Yep. Sunday at 4. Which reminds me. I need to let Annie know,” JC took a swig of his beer. “I need to make sure I get the photographer to take pictures of me and Emma-Claire at some of her favorite spots. I should probably ask Annie where those are.”

Jimmy shook his head at his friend. “You sound like you’re using your kid so you don’t come off like a jerk,”

JC shot him a glare. “That’s not it at all. I’m never home so how the hell am I supposed to know where they go in the afternoon?!”

“Well, it’s 1:30 right now. You could probably go home and take her on a walk or something,” Jimmy offered. “I bet Annie would appreciate extra time off. You know, since you blew it last Saturday.”

“You love giving me a hard time,” JC griped and rested his elbows on the table, propping his chin in his hands.

“I just don’t want this to backfire on you. You can’t suddenly decide to be close to your kid and then after the interview go back to being an idiot,” Jimmy said. “And it just seems like that’s what you’re doing.”

JC didn’t know how to respond to that. It was true, the interview had made him realize he needed to get to know Emma-Claire better because he knew how those types of interviews worked. He’d seen the spreads of pages of pictures with celebrities and their kids. He knew he had to be on top of his game if he wanted to come across as an adoring father. But he also knew what Jimmy was talking about. Would he still want to be as loving after the interview was over? Annie was right – Emma-Claire was the least complicated child he’d ever been around and there had been times in the last two days that he’d felt something different towards her other than resentment or bitterness. His heart had warmed when she’d wrapped her little arms around his neck and kissed his cheek the night before, after he’d tucked her in bed. And that morning, she’d climbed into his lap while he read the paper and she ate her oatmeal. Fatherhood was starting to agree with him, but he was still uncertain about a lot of things. Which was why he needed to talk to Annie about Emma-Claire’s favorite places. Surely she’d understand. After the interview, he’d invest more time and take her there, but right now it was more or less an emergency for his ego boost with People.

“Daddy’s home, Annie!” Emma-Claire burst into her bedroom where Annie was putting away clothes.

Annie looked at the child curiously, then at the time. It was right at 2:30 and he’d never gotten home that early before. “Are you sure?” she asked Emma-Claire, who nodded fervidly.

“Yeah! He’s downstairs. He said to tell you you could have the rest of the day off!”

Before Annie could say anything else, Emma-Claire had dashed out of the room. She finished putting away the last of the clothes and went down the hall and to the stairs. She saw him at the bottom of the staircase with Emma-Claire in his arms and looked up and smiled at Annie.

“Hey, Annie. We got done early today. I thought you might enjoy some time off. I was gonna take Emma-Claire to the park today,” JC told her as Annie started to walk downstairs. She had to admit, she was quite impressed with him lately. Especially after today.
“Sure, yeah that’s great,” Annie replied. “She just woke up, too, so that’s perfect. I was going to make stir fry for dinner tonight-“

JC shook his head. “I’ll pick up dinner for all of us. My treat,” he looked at Emma-Claire. “Ready to go and swing?”

“Yeah!” Emma-Claire squealed as her father put her on his shoulders and began to walk towards the front door. He turned before he opened it.

“Oh and Annie, I need to tell you about an interview I’m having on Sunday and ask you a few questions. But we can do that at dinner tonight. See you later,” he waved at her before he left and Annie was in a bit of a shock when the door closed. She looked around the now empty house and had to smile. She had the rest of the afternoon off and she didn’t have to cook dinner. With a slight kick in her step, she took advantage and went back to the pool house and took a long nap.

JC picked up Chinese food and had it all set on the table when Annie came back to the house later that evening. Emma-Claire was dancing around in the living room to a mix of songs JC had on his iPod. Annie smiled at her as she watched the little girl jumping and twirling and at one point jumping off from the couch and trying to do a split.

“I think she’s having a good time,” Annie mused, watching her from the kitchen.

“Definitely,” JC agreed. “We had a great time at the park today.”

“I’m really glad,” Annie turned and smiled at him. “Thanks again for the spontaneous day off.”

JC shrugged and began to set the table. “No problem. Today was one of a few that I had the time to take off.”

“Can I help with anything?” Annie asked, walking away from the entrance to the kitchen.

“Sure. Do you mind getting her a drink? Oh and do you want a beer? There’s an extra Budweiser in the refrigerator,” JC motioned with his head toward the refrigerator.

“I’m really not much of a beer drinker,” Annie said, going over to retrieve a glass for Emma-Claire. She reached into the refrigerator and pulled out the pitcher of lemonade and the beer for JC.

“What do you drink when you go out?” JC eyed her, going over and pulling out three plates from the cabinet beneath the island.

“Wine mostly. I’ll have a beer now and then but I’d much rather have wine,” she poured the lemonade into two glasses – one for her and one for Emma-Claire.

“I have a wine cellar downstairs. You can always help yourself to a bottle,” JC said to her. “I signed up for some wine of the month club years ago and never canceled it.”

“Thanks. I’m actually having a few people over on Saturday so I might take you up on that,” she brought the glasses of lemonade to the table and set them down.

“Oh yeah? Having a party?” JC said with a twinkle in his eye.

“Not as much of a party as just people over,” Annie shrugged. “My friend’s cousin is in town and she wants to set us up or whatever.”

“You don’t sound too thrilled,” JC noted, scooping out the steamed rice onto the plates.

“I hate being set up,” Annie told him. “I’d rather just meet someone and have it done my own way. When you’re set up then you’re always at the mercy of the person who set you up, you know? It’s like they think they’re responsible for how the date ends up.” She was surprised at herself for how much she was talking to him. They’d never had a conversation that amounted to much.

“Well, just let her introduce you. You don’t have to do anything about it if you don’t want to.” JC was enjoying this. She was good to talk to and he felt like for once he was handing out decent advice. “You never know what could happen.”

Annie just shrugged and went to call Emma-Claire to dinner. The little girl bounced into the kitchen still humming a Demi Lovato song as she climbed into her seat. Throughout the meal, Emma-Claire went on and on about her day at the park, telling Annie about climbing to the top of the jungle gym and about JC pulling the swing back so high that she could see a bird’s nest.

“I don’t think it was that high,” JC laughed at her. “Daddy’s not that tall.”

“It was almost that high!” Emma-Claire exclaimed. “And then there was a man selling sno-cones and cotton candy so we got both!”

Annie raised her eyes at JC when she’d heard that and he bit his lower lip, trying to suffice another laugh. “So, no dessert, remember?” he finally put in and Emma-Claire started to object. “No, Emma-Claire. Remember I told you if you had both you couldn’t have dessert.”

“No, you didn’t,” Emma-Claire looked at her father as though he were crazy.

“Oh, whatever, it’s fine if you didn’t say anything,” Annie chimed in, seeing where this was leading. “But he’s right, girl. No dessert tonight.”

Emma-Claire stuck her lower lip out and pouted for a minute until Annie reminded her that tomorrow was Friday and that meant they were going to go to the mall. Annie needed to get a few things for Saturday and even though it wasn’t ideal, she was going to take Emma-Claire with her. It would at least be entertaining for the child.

“I’m done,” Emma-Claire stated, putting her fork on her plate. Without being told, she grabbed her plate and went and placed it next to the sink. “Can I go watch tv?” she was looking back from Annie to JC, not really knowing who to ask when they were both in the room now.

“Yes,” Annie replied, noticing that JC stayed out of it. Emma-Claire ran out of the room and Annie looked at JC. “You can answer if you want. You’re her dad.”

“I know but you spend a lot more time with her,” JC poked at his sweet and sour chicken. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh?” Annie put her fork down and sat back, waiting for him to continue.

“Yeah. I have an interview with People magazine on Sunday. It’s about refuting the article that Star put out and telling the truth. So I was just wondering about some of Emma-Claire’s favorite things and stuff to do. I guess I need a crash course on my kid,” he took a bite of food. “So any tips would be great.”

Annie furrowed her brow. “So, you want me to tell you all of Emma-Claire’s favorite stuff so you can look like a star father to a magazine?” Suddenly, it was beginning to make sense. He had been spending time with her to prepare for an interview. Did he even want to spend time with her once it was over? “Is this why you gave me the afternoon off? So you could take her to the park and find out what she likes doing?”

JC sighed. “Look, I’m not around. You know that, Annie. And I haven’t had time to really take her to any of these places. All I’m asking is for input. I know what it looks like but I promise you when the interview is done, I’m still going to be a good dad,”

Annie felt somewhat perplexed. She didn’t know him well enough to know if he was being honest with her. Nor did she know if he meant what he said about what would happen after the interview. But she conceded and went ahead and told him all about Emma-Claire’s favorites. Her favorite color, her favorite television show, her favorite park, her favorite foods. She listed off the three parks they visited frequently and even the Safeway that Emma-Claire preferred over others in the city.

“Thanks, Annie,” JC had typed it all in his phone. “This means a lot. Really. And I promise it won’t be for my gain only. I’ll be sure to mention you in the article.”

“JC, I don’t care about being mentioned in some stupid article. All I care about is that you’re not taking this opportunity to exploit her or your relationship with her.”

“I would never do that,” JC tried to be reassuring, but he didn’t think he was getting across that well due to the look on Annie’s face. “I promise.”

Annie let out a long sigh. “Okay. Well, good luck then. I’ll look forward to reading it when it’s published,” she stood and looked into the living room, then back at JC. “Are you good for tucking her in tonight or do you need me to?”

JC smiled. “No, I think I’m good. See you tomorrow, Annie,”

Annie just nodded and went into the living room. She came behind Emma-Claire and hugged her. “Goodnight, Emma-Claire. See you tomorrow!”

“Nite, Annie!” Emma-Claire turned away from the television to give Annie a hug. As Annie held her, her stomach was in knots. She knew she should trust JC, but it still felt like something was off. She ignored it, rose from the floor, and walked back to her apartment for the rest of the evening.