Nanny with Benefits

Chapter 24

Karly

I stayed at my place. I needed some space to cool off, so I took the time to just do me. The cleaners had done a great job cleaning it, hygienically speaking, but there were still things that needed to go back to their original places. There was a vase my mother had given me and a whole heap of clothes that needed to find their rightful places back inside the closet and drawers.

I needed to keep busy and find a little bit of normality in my life again. I wasn’t used to being a front-page headline in the newspaper, and I certainly wasn’t a woman who dealt with exes like Keith very well, either. Although, thankfully, he had stayed away, which was probably due to the restraining order Damon had arranged. Damon must have had many so-called friends, the kind of people who had a ridiculous amount of power and money, to get one so quickly.

Damon’s world at work was so different than my own. I was a simple and low-key person. He was the same at home, it seemed, but day-to-day, he rubbed shoulders with billion-dollar investors and people who were famous in investment circles. It was so farfetched, it seemed unreal to me. My name had actually been printed in a newspaper. Karly Ann Lewis. It was there for the whole world to see, as if my life was on show for everyone to peruse at their leisure. The flamboyant story had been written at my, Alexis’s, and Damon’s expense.

I was nearly done putting things away and was just topping up the water on my fuchsia plants. They didn’t need much water, but no water would definitely deliver an untimely death. I had the purple ones.

There was a knock at the door. I looked through the peephole with my right eye to make sure it wasn’t Keith, though I doubted he would show up again. It was Damon. He was dressed for work in a mauve shirt and a crisp Armani jacket. He looked gorgeous, as he always did. My heart skipped a beat as I opened the door. Never in my life had any other man affected me like he did. I felt extremely lucky to have him care about me.

“Hey, Damon!” I said, hoping I looked all right.

He gave his perfect smile, and his eyes looked more beautiful than usual. “Karly, hi. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Was something wrong last night? You left in a real hurry.”

I tried not to let on that anything was wrong, so I smiled awkwardly. “No. Everything’s just fine. I thought I’d better come and check on my place. I still hadn’t been here since Keith was here. I also needed to check the mail.” I gave another awkward smile. “Um, also, with everything that happened, I got a little stressed. Cleaning kinda helps make me feel more grounded.”

I hoped he bought it all. I sounded a little flaky, and I couldn’t believe I’d said cleaning made me feel grounded. I sounded like a woman who got her kicks from scrubbing floors till they shone like diamonds. But I couldn’t say anything else yet. I was just too exhausted from everything.

I wasn’t sure Damon was totally convinced of my cleaning story, but he accepted it as the truth and was kind to me like he always was. He gave me my personal space and didn’t try to hold me or kiss me.

“I have a conference at ten, so I need to get going. Will you be able to pick up Alexis from kindergarten today and stay over again?”

I answered quickly, not wanting to let my emotions show. “Sure. I’ll pick up Alexis like usual.” I didn’t say whether I was staying over. I wasn’t sure of that myself.

He gave his kind smile and held my arm like a friend would. “I’ll see you tonight. Thank you.”

“Sure,” I said, feeling like I owed him more than what I’d given him.

He turned and left for work, and I felt like a bit of a cold bitch. He’d always been kind to me, and here I was being cold, weird, and elusive. He didn’t deserve it, and I began to feel bad about it. I should’ve at least kissed him or offered him a friendly hug. I was angry at myself for being so standoffish.

I had to call Sarah. She was off today, at least until four. Sometimes she did a catalog shoot with Darcy then. The photographer was a work-late type of guy according to Sarah. He was overly artistic and hippy and never started work before four in the afternoon.

Like magic, she arrived in moments, as if she’d seen me send out imaginary smoke signals or somehow telepathically knew I needed her help. I was so grateful when she bounced through my apartment door wearing her usual red-lipstick smile. She was always so positive and ready to pounce on life. That was how I needed to be, but I had something I desperately needed to tell her first.