I whisk the napkin into my pocket. “Wow. Um, that is generous. Obviously, that would make a huge difference in my life, but even so, I’m just not sure, I mean, this is kind of a big deal. That much money is…well, it’s pressure. What if I’m terrible at this?”
He smiles the smile of someone who knows what it looks like when he’s won. “Then you will get a severance package that should at least keep you from regretting having quit your other jobs. No hard feelings.”
I give him the side eye. “How do you know I won’t just take that severance so I can loaf the rest of the summer?”
“You won’t.” He smiles broadly, showing me perfect teeth. “It’s not who you are.”
He’s right of course, but how can he be so sure after a Google search? That confidence is convincing, though. As is that money.
“Let me sleep on it. I’ll let you know by noon tomorrow, okay?”
“Perfectly reasonable.” He picks up another napkin and scrawls a number. “Call me on my cell. If you accept, I’ll want you to start right away. Will that be a problem?”
“I don’t know. Honestly, Anne will probably be glad to be rid of me. I think she’s kept me on as a charity case. And I can still work here at night until they find a replacement.”
“Okay good. I look forward to hearing from you. I hope you’ll accept. Maeve really liked you.”
“I liked her, too.” And you, I don’t add.
Corbin gets up and walks out of the bar, turning to smile at me before he steps outside.
“That’s weird, right?” I say to the guys who were eavesdropping.
“From the way your eyes bugged when he handed you the napkin with the salary on it, I’m guessing it can’t be weird enough to make you say no,” says Eric.
I take a deep breath and let it out. “Yeah, it’d have to be pretty damned weird. What if he really just wants to kill me and uses this baby as bait to lure young poor girls to his house?”
Dan nods. “Prob’ly not even his baby.”
“Bet he stole it,” adds Dave, getting into the spirit of the thing.
“Oh shit!” says Dan, "I bet he killed a pregnant lady and took the baby to raise as bait for more ladies!"
"Jesus, Dan," says Eric. “Too fuckin’ dark, man.”
“Seriously,” I say. “Dial it back.” I take out the first napkin and look at that number again. It would cover the raise in my rent. And then some.
I spend the rest of the night waffling back and forth from “It would be stupid not to take this job” to “Only a stupid person would take this job.” My regulars get gradually drunk and go home, so they’re no help. It’s too late to call Gran. It’s too complicated to text, so I dial the number for Asia, my best girlfriend. She picks up after several rings.
“Is someone dead?” I can hear noise in the background, she must be out.
“No, everything’s fine, I just have a problem too complicated for text.”
“Okay, hang on, let me go to the bathroom, so I can hear. I’m out with Miguel.”
I met Asia in college. when we were paired up as Freshman roommates. We were that rare pair that got along and we were inseparable the whole four years. She took the same gig I did–teach for two years, pay off your loans–she went to Oakland, where she is from. Asia, however, is looking forward to her time being up. She’s planning to get her MBA, having found that a journalism degree isn’t as useful as she’d hoped. She says Miguel is just a boy-toy and that she’ll leave him for school on the East coast. But I’ll be shocked if she goes any further than SF State. She’s smitten, and with good reason, he’s a sexy bicycle cop with a wicked sense of humor.
“I’m back,” her voice has that echo-y in-the-bathroom sound, but at least the background noise is a dull thumping. “So what’s so complicated you can’t just say it in a series of emojis?”
I laugh. “Maybe there’s one for ‘a rich guy just offered me more than twice my current salary to come be a nanny for his kid but maybe he’s actually going to kill me’ but I don’t know where it is. Maybe with the traffic signs?”
“Jeez, really? When did that happen? What rich guy? And since when are you looking for a nanny job?”
“Uh, it’s been a long day.” I launch into the story, once again proudly sharing my ice cube trick and once again getting a “you’re lucky she didn’t swallow it!” in return. Which only serves to illustrate how little I know about babies.
“Also, letting her chew on your hair is gross. He must be seriously clueless to let that happen.”
“What’s the big deal?”
“It’s just gross. You don’t let your baby chew on a stranger’s hair. I’m pretty sure that’s in the Intro to Parenting class.”
“I think he probably skipped. Anyway, what do you think about the mom? I mean, she must be dead, right, if he needs a nanny? No living mom would just send an infant away for months.”
“Oh, I just assumed she was working, too. Is she gone?”
I’m stunned for a second. "Um, actually, I don’t really know. He just seemed alone, you know? It wasn’t just that she wasn’t with him, he’s…sad, somehow. I, I guess I just assumed."
“‘Ass outta you and me.’ Well, you anyway. Yeah, I bet she’s just working, too. They’re moving out West, she sent him and the baby ahead because she has important business. He’s finding the nanny. If they’re that rich, they’re both working. You’re just a sexist to assume the man wouldn’t have primary childcare duty.”
I sit down on a stack of beer crates. I feel really, really stupid. It never even occurred to me that the mother was in the picture. I’m not sure why the idea has totally knocked me on my rear, but it has.
“Listen,” says Asia, “I need to get back out there, Miguel will think I have the runs. What’s the problem, though? Take the job, stupid. It’s only until fall, you’ll save a bit of money, you won’t have to work for Anne. You can quit the night job, too, probably, and have some time to yourself for once.”
“So you don’t think he’s an axe-murderer?”
“Seems unlikely. Take the job. I look forward to the stories.”
“Thanks, Asia. I needed a voice of reason.”
“Then it’s weird you called me. Bye ’Nessa!”
“Bye.”
By last call, there’s no one in the bar, so I start to close down. It’s only a half a block back to my apartment. Can’t beat the commute, but the forty bucks in my pocket is not going to stretch far.
I need that job.
Chapter Three
Anne, as I suspected, wasn’t all that broken up about losing me. When I told her I could at least work today’s shift, she was all “No, it’s cool, I’ll call Hannah. She always wants more shifts. Good luck!”
When I told Corbin I could start today, he was pleased, but unsurprised. He texted me the address, but told me to look for signs to “Domaine Chanterelle” if the GPS cut out. So I’m guessing it’s not a modest little ranch house.
My car choked to life, resentful that I disturbed its slumber. I live in that rat trap apartment because it means I don’t have to drive. The car and I have an agreement–I don’t bother it, it doesn’t cost me money. During the school year, I need it to visit students’ houses, and sometimes I make the trek out to Wal-Mart for stuff I need, but in summer I seldom get behind the wheel except to go to the train station to visit Asia in Oakland. She likes to set me up with guys she can’t date.