He scratched his head. “Something like that. Or the fifth. But two of those were actual girlfriends, so you can see why I have trust issues. All of them claimed to be on the pill.”
“That’s why you wear a fucking condom, dipshit.” I groaned, lacing my fingers over the back of my neck and closing my eyes. “Alright. It’s fine, Ollie. I swear to fuck sometimes I think you just don’t know any better, but you’ve gotta stop forgetting the condoms. Just breathe, though. Whatever the results are, we’ll deal. Call me when you know. I’d go with you, but I can’t leave Dad.”
“You know condoms suck. Why not just let the hot caretaker hang with Dad? It’s only a couple days.”
I shook my head slightly and stepped out of his way. “Guess you’re not the only one with trust issues. Go, don’t miss your flight. Text me when you land.”
“I will. Send me a picture of Dad’s hot nanny and I’ll send one of Cancun Isabella.” Ollie winked at me and slipped from the room, leaving me to sit my ass on the floor and just breathe.
The last thing we needed was to bring a baby into the mess we called a family — especially since Ollie wasn’t in a place in his life to be present — but this was one situation I had no control over. I’d have to sit back and let it play out and clean it up after, which was my least favorite sequence of events.
The paperwork on my desk mocked me as I weighed my options for the night. I was exhausted, hungry, angry, scared for Oliver, scared for myself... I stopped that train of thought there and got to my feet.
Above all, I wanted to go home, eat a hot meal, and sleep in my own damned bed instead of the cot in my office. The rest of this shit could wait.
––––––––
Zeppelin
ONCE THE KITCHEN WASall clean, Charlie and I got into our pajamas and enjoyed some TV before bed. It was nice, just being with Charlie and listening to his stories as they came to mind. So far, the job had been everything I’d hoped it would be — at least until Sterling walked in the room.
I was already picking up small cues from him and noticing the stress in his tense shoulders as he offered us a quick nod and made his way to the kitchen. I wanted him to know how well things were going here, but as I approached him in his gorgeous suit, I felt insecure in my bright-yellow raccoon pajama pants. “Hey, Sterling. Just wanted to let you know everything went really smoothly today.”
“Good. I assumed as much since you didn’t include any legible words in your updates,” he said quietly, rooting through the fridge, the ovens, the cupboards. “Where’s dinner?”
“Our dinner? We ate it. I thought you were going to eat out like you usually do.” I could see how hangry he was from a distance, and I suddenly regretted assuming.
“Sorry, but who told you I normally eat elsewhere?” he asked, daggers in that icy gaze as he rounded on me. “I order food to be delivered here for my father and eat whatever’s left when I get home. Did you use every fucking ingredient in this house while you were at it?”
“No, I—” I stammered, struggling to find the words. “I knew you had food delivered but I didn’t — I’m sorry. I tried a new recipe and — I didn’t know I’d be cooking for you as well, Sir. It won’t happen again.”
Sterling slammed the cupboard door shut and turned on his heels to grab his keys. “You were hired to make my life easier, Miss Bryce. What the fuck am I paying you for if you aren’t going to do that?”
I didn’t have an opportunity to respond to that, not that I had a response, anyway. He was gone, and I was left standing there as Charlie shuffled his way around the corner.
“Don’t take it personally, Zeppelin. He’s under a lot of pressure.”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks, Charlie. I’m going to head to bed; let me help you upstairs.” I didn’t want to talk about it, or anything at all really, so I looped our arms together and led him to his bedroom.
When I was finally in the comfort of my own room, I allowed myself to feel the emotions of what just happened. I came here to escape one asshole only to move in with another.
It made me want to run again, but was that going to be my new thing? Running? No. I refused. I liked this job when Silver Dick wasn’t around, and I wasn’t about to give that up for him. I decided I’d do my job well, have a warm meal for him when he got home and be the best damn caretaker I could be for Charlie.
I had to.