Chapter 1 - Ben
It’s a hectic Tuesday morning. Late to work, I'm running around trying to find my briefcase. I can’t be tardy for a big meeting with the investors for my new finance company, and not seeing my papers is driving me nuts. I finally find it hidden under my desk and sigh in frustration. There can only be one explanation for that—the nanny isn’t doing her job. I grab the briefcase and march angrily out of my home office.
In the kitchen, my two-year-old daughter Katie is there with her nanny. “Come on, just one bite!” the nanny pleads, trying to coax her to eat. Katie stubbornly shakes her head.
“I thought I told you to keep her away from my work stuff. I found my briefcase hidden under my desk,” I snap at the nanny.
She sighs and puts the food away. “I am doing the best that I can,” she snaps back.
Jumping out of her chair, Katie runs up to me and tries to hug my leg. My little monster can be such an angel sometimes. Like right now, you would never expect her to be hiding my things on purpose.
Groaning slightly, I run a hand through my hair and level my gaze at the woman at fault. “Look, I hired you to not only take care of her. You are supposed to be teaching her the proper ways to act and behave,” I snap again, unable to control my anger today.
She grabs her apron and pulls it over her head before slamming it into the table. “That's it! I'm done. If you want perfection, then raise her yourself because I quit!” the nanny yells as she storms out of the kitchen.
I pull Katie off of me and try to hurry after her. “You can't quit! I have an important meeting that I can't miss this morning,” I reply.
She ignores me, only stopping to flip me the bird, and walks out. The front door slams behind her.
I sigh and pull at my tie. “This is just great!” I mutter to myself. Pulling out my phone, I push a number on speed dial—my secretary answers. “Mr. Price, how can I help you?” she asks.
I'm in no mood for chitchat. “Look, my nanny just quit, and I'm about to be late for this meeting. I need you to get over here and watch my daughter now,” I order her.
After a few seconds of silence, she responds, “I'm sorry, sir. I'm out of town this week, so I won't be able to help you.”
I sigh in frustration, having completely forgotten about that. “It's fine. I'll have to figure something else out,” I snap irritably and hang up the phone without saying goodbye. All the women in my life are failing me at this moment.
I look at Katie, who is sweetly playing with a doll at the kitchen table. After a moment of deliberation, I realize I have no choice. I'll have to take her to the meeting with me.
“Peanut,” I say to her. The little girl looks up excitedly. “We are going to have to go to daddy’s office. Okay?” She nods her head, little ringlets of golden blonde flying.
Bringing her doll with her, my daughter runs up to me. “Daddy, can we go in the car now?” She asks.
“Of course, just give me a moment,” I reply wearily, having lost my briefcase again.
It feels like it took hours to get going, but it was probably only 30 minutes. Katie is strapped securely in her car seat in the backseat, babbling about what she sees out the window.
It's a decent winter morning without any chill, but I can't concentrate on that. I drive slowly through the traffic. The reason I'm so on edge is that today marks 6 months that my so-called wife, Isabel, left me for our tennis coach. Just the thought of her makes my blood boil.
On top of that, I have to find a new nanny for Katie now. This is getting to be very difficult. I need someone that will raise her and teach her all those things she will need to know to get through life. Yeah, good luck finding a person like that.
Traffic starts to move again, so I drive forward.
“Daddy! I'm hungry!” Katie announces from the backseat interrupting my thoughts.
“Katie, there was plenty of food at the house,” I scold her.
“I'm hungry. I want to eat,” she chants while bouncing her doll on her knee.
“Okay, okay. We will stop and get something,” I reply tiredly.
Glancing at my watch, I see that I'm wasting time. I should already be at the office. Looking around to see what's close by, I spy a little coffee shop. That will have to do. I exit the freeway and pull into the parking lot.
“Okay, let's go eat,” I say, getting Katie out of the car. She's happy about it.