Babysitting Mr Powers' Daughter

GRACE

"Good morning, baby."

That strange yet soothing voice caused my eyes to snap open faster than Thanos's fingers. For a second, I trained my sight on the familiar ceiling above me because I could already tell that I had once again brought home another stranger after a long night of drinking.

My head started to race, trying to figure out what and what happened the previous night.

Even though one thing was sure- I entered the clubhouse drunk and then got extra drunk- it was necessary I remember who I hooked up with.

Ugh...who am I kidding? I won't remember shit. My nightlife is a shitty cycle.

A shitty, shitty cycle.

Once it was established that I am indeed stupid, I braced myself to face the man I had foolishly brought into my house with the intention of having crazy and drunk sex with. It is the type of sex I would never remember and that is the most perfect because I don't exactly work well with feeling ashamed.

Gently, I sat up.

But my head hurt madly, I had to groan and grab both sides of my head. I tell you, the after-effect of intense drinking feels new every other day, it is almost as though I am yet to get used to the aftermath of my insane nightlife.

After sweeping my long black hair out of my face with a small shake of my head, my hands still grabbing my head, I finally noticed the stranger I brought home.

Sitting in front of me was an all-smiling, cute Asian dude, probably Indonesian. I would have returned his smile because it was that contagious, but a battle was still going on in my head.

"Good morning, Rose," he greeted.

Shit. I must have taken up another identity again.

"Hiii..." I wished to pretend that I was happy to see him, but my mouth failed to cooperate. My mouth was too lazy.

"I made you a hangover relief juice. It is my Grandma's special."

I narrowed my eyes at the green juice pushed to my face.

"Your Grandma has hangovers too?"

He chuckled, his motion vibrating the weak bed in a way that caused me to feel a sharp tug in my head. "Ouch. Ouch." My face squeezed to relay the pain I was feeling.

"Oh my, are you fine?" Continuously hearing the tenderness in his voice would have been enough to cure my pain, but it sadly wasn't enough.

Neither was his cute face.

"Could you maybe not laugh? My head is..." He lifted one of his thick brows and I instantly began to eye the greenish liquid in his cup.

Then, seconds later, without bothering to ask what the exact content of the cup was, I snatched the object from his hand and downed half of the juice without pausing.

When I finally took a break from drinking, I sensed the bitter aftertaste. I masked the way I felt with a short smile and the man gave me a grand smile in return.

His attentiveness yet to disappear, he said, "You will feel better very soon."

After a quick nod, I began to scan my room. It was necessary to know what damage we might have caused the room during our possibly heated romp.

But everything was looking neat. Even my drawer was well arranged. On a normal day, it never is. My eyes went to the floor again, and I noted that there was no sign of discarded clothing.

With a confused look, I faced Mr. Cute who was still smiling at me like I was his favourite video game.

"Uh..." I paused because I quickly realised that I still didn't know his name. Honestly, I am not used to knowing the names of men I wake up to find on my bed the next day.

A simple thank you and goodbye always did the work.

As if he knew what was on my mind, the man answered, "David. My name is David."

I dropped the half-filled cup onto the little stool beside my bed and dashed him a quick smile before asking, "David... Why is my room looking like an unused hotel room?"

"Oh, last night when we got back from the club, you kept wondering what it would be like if you had a genie who would wish your room tidy. It was fun to watch you pretend to be Aladdin."

My eyes widened a bit as I processed what he had just said. "So, we didn't...have sex?"

He got up and said, "Nope."

"Huh?" My shock failed to hide itself. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. You did say you wanted to have sex but you thought I was gay because I was talking to the bartender in a way you found suspicious. So, you told me to take you home and here we are." He put his hands on his waist and gave another grand smile.

"Wow." I was still shocked. My vicious nightly pattern has been broken thanks to David and I am really shocked about that. Because David doesn't seem gay in any way.

Or...

My eyes slightly narrowed, and I asked, "Are you gay?"

"Nope. Honestly, I wanted to sleep with you badly, but I just couldn't do it for some reason." He shrugged, a pretend nonchalant look on his face.

"Wow." I think it's a good thing that nothing happened. It is nice to know that I am making progress with the way I live my life.

True to David's words, my headache had reduced and that meant it was time to go to work. I tried to rack my brain to remember which day it was; Monday? Tuesday?

Whichever it is, I need to prepare for work. Hopefully, I don't see a zombie when I look in the mirror.

"I need to check what I am cooking," David announced as he adjusted his t-shirt and made our eyes meet. "You would love to have breakfast, yeah?"

I nodded in affirmation and got off the bed.

Isn't he so extra cute? He is making breakfast for me even though we didn't get any action.

"Wait...." I stopped David whose averagely-built figure was already at the door. He turned, raised a brow, and I asked, "What time is it?"

"Uh... last time I checked it was ten-thirty or so."

"Oh, okay... What?!" I screamed. "Are you sure your time is correct?"

"Yes. It should be eleven o'clock by now."

My eyes widened more and I could feel my head dance in an unpleasant way.

"David... I am freaking late for work!"

Why am I fucking screaming at him as if he is the reason I got stupidly drunk?

Argh!

Hurriedly, I got rid of the gown I had on to expose my bra-covered boobs, and naked pubic area to David who I could have sworn let out a groan at some point.

But before he quickly excused himself, he urged me to try to hurry.

"Please, pack my breakfast! Thank you!"

I grabbed my folded towel from the end of the bed and rushed into the bathroom for a quick shower.

I could have opted to excessively spray my body with perfumes of different brands, but the smell I was getting from my body was discomforting, so sacrificing five minutes to bathe didn't seem like a task.

In no time, I was putting on a pair of blue and silver check trousers and a blue T-shirt supported by my very comfortable black slip-on shoe. I grabbed my phone and office bag and rushed out of the room.

"David, is my breakfast ready?" I took a quick look around my little living room while I fiddled with the earring I was putting on.

David walked out of the kitchen on cue and stretched a brown bag in his hand toward me.

After a quick appreciation was thrown in his direction, I grabbed my car keys from my bag and rushed out of the apartment. It was when I got into the car that I remembered that I forgot to tell David to make sure he leaves before I get back.

It was already strange enough that a man I didn't know just made me breakfast.

But, right now, David, is the least of my issues.

Grateful that my apartment was on the ground floor, I roughly backed my car out of the underground garage and soon, I joined the busy roads of Manhattan.

GRACE

With speed and roughness, I swerved toward the shortcut that led to my workplace. With the way I drove, it was surprising that no police car was on my tail.

But it is a good thing that did not happen. It would have been tedious to have another reason to be held down.

Soon, I arrived at my destination.

With reckless haste, I grabbed my bag and ran into the two-floor building.

I could feel eyes on me as I raced to my station while I hoped within me that my friend was able to cover for me and that my boss wasn't around.

Many seconds later, I made it to my office but I was breathing so hard that I had to pause for a minute.

With my right hand reaching for the edge of my desk, I leaned against the wall and slid down until I reached the floor.

"Grace is that you?" I heard the voice of my partner, Samantha, calling from her seat.

Unable to speak as I was still trying to achieve normal breathing, I managed to wave my right hand to answer her.

In no time, my blonde workmate was crouched in front of me, and the bottle of water in her hand was placed against my mouth.

I gulped the water so fast that Sam couldn't help but amusedly watch me.

Once I finished the whole bottle, a satisfied sigh left me and I finally became normal. I then motioned to the boss's office and asked if he was around.

"Grace, I am afraid the boss won't be lenient with you this time around. He has been waiting for you since eight.

I tried to stall but he was already threatening to fire you. I want..."

Samantha's voice soon became very, very distant as I dejectedly went into my little word of thoughts.

The moment I hoped not to witness was finally around. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I get fired. I kind of deserve it.

But it is still scary that the one stable thing in my life is about to crash.

With lumps of emotions stuck in my throat, I came back to reality and glanced at Sam.

With worry etched in her eyes, she placed her hands on my shoulders and said, "Grace, I know the past few years have been rough for you. But the lifestyle you chose to deal with your pain is destroying you." Her feet adjusted and she shifted closer. "I don't like seeing you this way, Grace. Grace, please..."

Sam's pleading words were soon interrupted by the firm voice of my boss who mercilessly screamed my name from his office.

I hurriedly leaped to my feet. If not for Sam, I would have given in to my weak knees and fallen. But her support assured me and I dusted the back of my trousers.

"Miss Sands! Where the fuck is your ass at?"

Ohh. My boss is madly angry. Shit.

I rushed out of my office and headed to the boss's, jamming into someone in the process.

"Hey! Come on!" Whoever it was said, his hands in the air in protest.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry." I kept mumbling as I resumed my rush to the boss's office. When I made it to his office, I took a moment to catch my breath, then I pushed open the glass doors that were separating him from me.

"Good morning, sir."

I greeted the figure behind the huge, wooden desk which had paper works arranged at one side, and a laptop in the centre. Two picture frames and his rarely used desktop computer decorated the far end of the furniture.

Adjusting the glasses on the rim of his nose, my boss caused his almond eyes to connect with mine and I just knew that I was screwed. His face displayed calmness but the anger in his silence was of the greatest level.

I read more of that anger when he got up and pushed his chair a bit too hard.

After he swiftly raced his fingers through his hair, he walked towards me. A few seconds later, he stopped and stared at me from that distance as though he was trying to read me.

His stare became so intense that I had to look away and train my sight on the white tiles. Then I began to dread the silence and wished that he would just say something. Anything.

A huge sigh from my boss broke the uncomfortable silence but he didn't talk until seconds later.

He said, "Look at me, Sands."

Biting into my lower lip, I lifted my head and urged myself to stand strong. I was starting to feel a slight headache and I didn't want that feeling to overpower me.

"I am afraid you have taken it too far, Sands." My boss's hoarse voice was too calm. "Last time you came late to work, you said it wouldn't happen again. You have used that statement almost ten times in three weeks and that is not impressive for a top employee like you."

He blinked furiously and released heavy breaths before continuing, "We had a board meeting today where I was meant to submit the work I assigned you last week but you were nowhere to be found neither was your work."

As that moment advanced into great suspense, he backed his steps a little more and walked to the grand window behind his desk. He stared out of the window and said, "I am sorry Miss Sands but we can't condone such an attitude. The board members requested that your..." He sighed and my heart tightened. "... employment should be terminated."

He whispered the last words, it was almost as though he hated what he just said.

I finally let out the air that I had been keeping in, my body shaking a bit as I did.

Unable to give any reasonable response to his question of whether I would be fine, I just nodded and walked out of his office, unusual heaviness in my chest.

With a fallen face I made it to my office and slumped into my chair like a bag of rice. I heard Samantha approach me and when she made it to my desk, I looked up at her and pouted, my tears threatening to come down.

"I was fired..." I whispered into the room and the pain in my heart filled my voice.

"Oh, Grace. I am so sorry." Her sort-of-chocolate scent teased my senses as she leaned closer to give me a full hug.

Then, I started to cry. I cried about my life at that moment.

But when I remembered how my life changed nearly two years ago, I began to wail, so much that I began to get cooing voices from Sam who kept running her hand to and fro my left arm.

"I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry," she said, the tone of her voice appeasing me.

I sniffled, looked up at her through my blurry sight, and asked, "Why are you sorry? I... I brought this u...u...upon myself. I don't... I don't..."

Speaking became harder and my crying took over once again.

I cried until my tears refused to come out.

After a while, despite the frequent jerking of my body, I found a way to compose myself.

I wiped the strands of tears off and told Sam I was fine.

Even though her face said that she did not believe me, she released me from her motherly hug.

Then, I grabbed my bag and took out the work I was meant to submit, and dropped it on my desk. Grabbing my phone too, I got up and faced Sam, trying as much as possible to not start another bout of tears.

"Thank you so much for everything, Samantha. But, I should be on my way to fully start my first day of being jobless."

Her smile was sad and I could tell that she pitied me. "I will help you pack up. So go home and rest." I nodded and made to walk out of the door but she stopped me by grabbing my hand.

I glanced at our contact and appreciated the warmth I was getting from it.

Sam continued, "I am begging you to stop living a reckless nightlife. Please stop it now. It is killing you, Grace."

"I know..." I sighed and hoped that my tears wouldn't come up until I get to my house.

Samantha squeezed my hand to communicate that she was going to be there for me.

Once she eased our contact and reminded me that she would send my office materials over.

Soon, after giving a nod, I walked out of the room and approached my recently changed life while feeling like the zombie I feared that I would see if I had looked into the mirror before leaving my home.

GRACE

Life sucks.

As I parked my car, my lips scrunched into an unpleasant pout and my back slumped into the comfort of my seat.

While holding back a sigh that was threatening to drop, I tilted my head to the left and that was when I noticed that my breakfast was still untouched and shielded from straying eyes.

I lazily reached for it and the smell of fried eggs and fresh bread hit my nose.

As I observed my meal from the plastic packaging it was caged in, the fact that my life has already hit the deepest of bottoms crept into my mind and I finally released the sigh.

Since I left the office, all I did was sigh. I sighed so much that I think my shoulders are tired from taking all the grunt of my emotions.

Soon, I shrugged and told myself that I had to take care of my growing hunger before brooding over the failure of my life.

So, I kicked off my shoes, adjusted the seat till my feet could barely touch the controls, and dragged out a sandwiched pair of my breakfast.

As I munched on the very delicious meal, I started to think about my life. I desisted from such thinking while driving because I didn't trust myself.

I have proven numerous times to be unstable emotionally. So, I might have gotten into an accident if I had not taken caution while driving.

Crossing my legs, I took another bite of my meal.

′This shit is good.′ I thought and after that, I thought, 'My life is shit!′

Samantha was right.

My recent way of dealing with the ache I have been carrying about is causing me unnecessary pain. In some sense, I was using something harmful to treat the fault in my life.

What could be more dangerous than that?

And, the fact that I keep ignoring the danger I was putting myself in makes things worse.

Just last week, I almost got demoted from my position after I showed up to work at a super early hour. I was half drunk and sort of horny.

According to the staff who stayed overnight that day, I was dry-humping one of the shelves in the library while mumbling words he could not understand.

Aside from the insane humiliation I keep plunging myself into, it is clear that I totally deserved to get fired.

But what do I do with my life now?

With some bread still in my mouth, I groaned like a hungry baby whale. Distress overpowered me and the sides of my eyes wrinkled as I bit into what was left of the meal in my hand.

The anguish in my soul amplified and my eyes started to itch. They started to ache, almost as though telling me that more tears were on their way.

But at this point, I am beyond tired of crying. I have shed so many tears in the past weeks that I can't just do it anymore.

A knock on the window of the front passenger seat dragged me out of my little drama. I looked up and wiped the oiliness staining my hand on my trousers.

It was Da... yeah, David.

With excitement, the man I almost slept with waved at me so much that the front of his styled hair fell to the side.

I reached for the control and lowered the window.

He popped his head into the car, but his wide smile disappeared when he saw that some tears had managed to fight their way out of the surface of my eyeballs.

I quickly faced the other side and got rid of the evidence that I was deep into the feeling of dejection.

"Rose... why are you back so soon? Why do you look sad?"

Ahh... I guess it's too late to hide what has been discovered.

I faced him again and David swiped away the little mass of hair blocking his view, a look of concern etched on his pretty face.

While I managed a small smile, I took a second to appreciate my ability to get fine men into my bed when drunk.

′Nice work, Rose!′ I gave myself a sarcastic smile and reminded myself to stop giving myself false names whenever I'm drunk.

I looked away from cute David, grabbed another sandwich, looked ahead at the plain white wall my car was facing and resumed a silent munching.

David opened the door and I felt the impact of him sitting down.

"Rose..." he called.

"Grace," I corrected him, and his brows queried me. "My name is Grace. Not Rose. Well drunk me apparently is, Rose or whoever she chooses to be." I replied to him with a lazy tone. Anyone that hears me right now would think that I am fed up with life.

Ha! I am kind of fed up with life.

He nodded as though he understood and continued, "Okay, Grace. Why are you back so early? Did you forget something?"

"I got fired!" I slammed my hands on the steering wheel. I don't know what irritated me all of a sudden... his questions or the state of my life.

I dragged a shaky breath into my lungs and slowly let it out. That lengthy breath I just took is part of the tears I have been trying to hold back.

My eyes pinched to get rid of the blur that covered them and I glanced at David who was yet to say a word. His worried expression was gone and replaced with an unreadable one.

"Aren't you going to say something?" His silence was starting to make me regret screaming about my recent life issue.

"Did you murder the boss or something?" I gave him a 'are you kidding me?' look and reached for another paired slice of my meal. Well, it was the last one.

David continued, "I mean that question. I mean, you were late. So, what? People go to work late a lot these days. There is this laziness-flu in town and let me let you into a secret..." He pushed his hair to the side again. "This flu has affected more than half of the population. Go and check the stats."

How can someone say such foolish things with pride?

"Listen, David." I sighed. "I got fired because I was late. And... I sort of have been doing that for some weeks now. And in addition to that, I have been exhibiting some crazy behaviour thanks to the irresponsible and drunk side of me."

"Do you need a hug?"

His question instantly turned my soul into jelly. I settled the untouched bread back into the bag. A babyish look landed on my face and I gave a very big nod.

David leaned forward and engulfed me in his chest, his cologne hitting my nose. He smelt very manly and that made me want to stay longer in the hug.

Apart from Sam who hugs me at any given opportunity, I hardly have any other person to hug me.

"Okay, Grace... I think we should go upstairs and watch something that will make you laugh. What do you say?" David asked after releasing me from his very warm hug.

Once I adjusted my position till I was seated well, I looked up thoughtfully for a few seconds.

"I think I want to go for a walk."

"Well..." He nodded. "... walking does help clear the mind. Let's go."

"Whoa, whoa. Wait." He lifted his brows. And I must say, he looks cuter doing that. "What are you still doing here? I thought you would have left. I mean, you didn't even get the one-night stand you could have had."

"Well, I am still here, even after not getting the sex." My lips pressed into a thin line as I dashed him an apologetic look. "I was leaving already but I saw your car here and I had to check."

"I can't believe I am saying this. But I am glad you did not leave."

"I am glad I did not have sex with you."

"Huh?" I was confused.

"If we did, I would not be here and you would have probably sat here all day and cried till you couldn't anymore."

"Are you a freaking sorcerer? That is some shit I would do," I replied, feeling a bit happy that I had company. "Let's go for that walk."

We got out of the car and I locked it, after ensuring I did not leave my phone behind.

"So, how come you are not at work right now?" I asked a few seconds after we hit the sidewalk.

"Uh...I am a freelance graphic designer. For about six months now, I have been working with only publishing companies."

"Really? I work... well used to work in a publishing company." My voice went from excited to way less excited within a very short span. As if sensing the sadness about to set in, David immediately changed the topic.

"Have you ever tried cloud reading?" I looked at him, interest on my face. "It is this silly yet fun thing I do when I am bored. I look at the sky on cloudy days and read cloud shapes. One day, I saw a dinosaur with a camel-like hump and a mermaid tail."

"Really?" He nodded and I chuckled. "There's no way that's true." It was unbelievable yet exciting to hear.

"I swear, I saw it. And I wasn't surprised because, on a certain day, I saw a very happy donkey posing beside..." He nudged me. "...guess what it was."

"Uh... a burrito?" He shook his head in the negative. "Hamburger?"

"Nope. It is a male part."

"A male part. Is it the sexual...?"

"Yes." He did not even let me finish the statement.

When it finally dawned on me, my eyes immediately brightened in disbelief.

I glanced at him, gave a short laugh then looked away.

"I don't believe you," I said.

"I wish I were lying. And before you say it..." His index fingers pointed in my direction. " I wasn't high that day."

"Oh my God." I burst into laughter, stopping in my tracks to properly do it. As the image crept into my mind, I laughed some more, gaining looks from people passing us. David just stood still and watched me with a huge smile on his face. "That must have been wild."

"You should try it," he offered. "Cloud reading is a great way to have fun and free your mind."

My mirth came to an end and I caved into his idea.

As I transferred my line of sight to the distant sky, I saw that there were a lot of clouds, some even blocked a great portion of the sun.

I squinted my eyes but a paper flew to my face and blocked my sight.

"Uh... I see nothing but white." I removed the paper from my face and was about to throw it into a nearby bin when I noticed the word VACANCY written boldly on the top.

That caught my attention.

"What's that?" David moved closer and looked into the paper. "Do people still make fliers?"

"They need a babysitter." I looked up at David. "And I need a job. This is good. I can go for the interview or whatever it is called."

"You want to work as a babysitter?" I shrugged and nodded at his question. "You used to work at a publishing company. Why would you want to become a babysitter?"

"It is not a terrible job."

"I know it is not. But my point here is that you can choose to walk into any publishing house right now. And I am sure they would... Wait, which position did you hold?"

"Assistant Chief Editor." I am surprised that I am easily discussing something this important with a man I nearly slept with.

"Seriously? Why would you want to babysit when you have such a qualification? Publishing houses would die to have you work with them. You worked with Elite Publishing, Grace. Elite Publishing."

Realising I never told him exactly where I worked, I frowned and asked, "How do you know that?"

"I saw a mug in your kitchen." The man didn't stutter. "It had the name of the company boldly written on it."

I nodded in agreement. I did have such a mug. Two actually. They were part of the employee packages we got for the Christmas party we had three years ago.

I was still in my right mind then.

I squared my chin shoulders and said, "Who cares if I worked at Elite? I have been through a lot, David. I need a more decent distraction. And, hooking up with men isn't exactly that much of a decent distraction. Besides, my reason for being dismissed from my position is not pleasant enough to give me the confidence to stand in front of other employers in the publishing field."

"Well, if you say so. So when is the interview or whatever?"

I know, right?

I don't even know if you get interviewed for babysitting jobs.

I checked the paper. "Tomorrow."

"Do you even know how to take care of a kid?"

"I once helped a kid get on a swing at the park." I looked up at him again, not sure if that counted.

"Well, if that could happen, I guess babysitting shouldn't be that hard for you."

I smiled grandly and said, "This should go well. How hard could it be?"

He shrugged, returned my smile, grabbed my hand, and suggested that we go get something to eat.