Beautiful Mistakes

She wasn't sure how, as he hadn't even had a chance to check the reference sheet she had carefully compiled on her computer that morning, and his wife spent approximately 70 seconds sitting in on the interview before flitting out the door for some client meeting, leaving Matt to conduct the rest of it.

Julie happily took the job. He was offering more money, and she would much rather watch a sweet baby than serve pizza. The baby would also take naps, hopefully allowing her some time to study while she worked.

When she asked when he wanted her to start, he replied, "Is this week too soon?"

So when she went in to work on Saturday, she happily put in her two week notice. Julie couldn't get over her luck, but she wasn't about to question it. It was, after all, just babysitting; how hard could it possibly be?

---

The first week was a piece of cake. Julie was able to read or study during naps, and Anna was a generally good-spirited kid.

It was the end of Julie's first week before she actually met the mother again, and by then she had all but forgotten about Matt’s “strong personality” comment.

She was reminded when, while chatting into a cell phone and raiding the cupboard, the petite blue-eyed blonde turned on Julie with a raised eyebrow and demanded to know why her crackers weren't in the cupboard.

Confused, Julie asked, "Which crackers?"

"My crackers," she said shortly.

Julie continued to stare, more than a little confused.

"I swear, I let Matt make one decision and he hires another moron… Oh, I know… Not that she couldn't stand to lose a little weight," she muttered.

Julie could only gape, wordless, as the woman walked out the door.

Later, when she was at home complaining to Jack about the rude bitch she worked for, she wondered why she didn't say something.

"She accused you of eating her crackers?" Jack asked with raised eyebrows as he munched on some Fritos.

Julie’s eyes went wide. "Yes! I mean, I think so. And she insulted me like I wasn’t even there. Not only do I steal her crackers, I am apparently deaf and dumb."

"Wow, she sounds awesome," he remarked.

"Oh yeah. Not that she's ever home anyway, thank God," Julie complained, pacing the floor. "I swear. You know how most kids try to go to their parents when they're around? When the Wicked Witch walked over and smiled at Anna before she left for the gym today, Anna just looked at her blankly and actually leaned closer to me. She's known me for a week, and already she prefers me over her mother. Not that I blame the poor kid. The dad seems nice, but the mother… I wonder where Emma goes. Does she work, or does she just work out 40 hours a week? Matt never actually mentions her when she isn't around. But at least he's involved, you know? The other day when I got there, Matt was sitting at the table with Anna in her high chair and he was reading her the Chicago Sun Times." Julie chuckled, smiling a little at the memory. "She wasn’t interested, but hey, at least he tried, right?"

When she turned to Jack to hear his response to her rant, she saw not only was he not listening to her, he was on the phone.

Julie frowned, a little put out. She always listened to him after a bad day at work.

Jack laughed into the phone. "No, that's awesome. We'll see you there."

As he hung up, Julie said, "You answered your phone while I was talking?"

"That's implied, since I was talking on it," he replied sarcastically. "Anyway, that was Evan, and he invited us to a party at someone's apartment in Wicker Park."

"A party?" she asked unenthusiastically.

"Yeah, a party. It's Friday night, you don't have class tomorrow, let's go.”

"Well… it's just… I need to study for sociology tonight, and I have this extra credit thing for humanities that I'm supposed to do on ancient Greece vase painting, so I wasn't planning on going to a party tonight."

"You've got all weekend," Jack reasoned. "Do that tomorrow."

"Tomorrow I have to work at Pizza Hut and read an entire chapter of my earth science book, and do the practice at the end."

"Which you could put off until Sunday, when you don't work."

"I don't work there," she corrected. "I have to watch Anna from 9 to 3 Sunday."