by Jess Bentley
“I appreciate your concern for my finances,” I mouth off without thinking. I half-expect him to kill me right there, but he snorts.
“You’re a sassy one, aren’t you?”
I shrug, not wanting to push my luck. “Just tell me why I’m here. What do you want?”
“You know what we want, Arie.”
“Obviously. But I just got out of the hospital. I was broke before. Where do you expect me to come up with $75,000 out of nowhere?”
“You should have thought of that before. I ain’t stupid, girlie. You thought you’d take the money from us and then kick off before you had to pay it back. And fuck, that may have worked. But here we are. And you look pretty healthy to me. So, you have two options, as far as I can tell,” he says as he finishes off the bottle of beer in front of him.
I raise an eyebrow. “And what are those?”
“Well, you can try to run. People do that. But we will find you. And we will kill you. Or you can give us our money. I don’t care how you get it. But you have a month. Normally, we’d give a person in your situation a week. But because of all you’ve been through, my boss is feeling generous. At the end of that month, if you don’t have the money, we’re going to have another conversation, and it’s going to be a lot less fucking pleasant than this one. Have I made myself clear?”
My stomach drops, and I feel as sick as I have since this whole mess started. “Crystal.”
Danny nods, gets up, and walks out, leaving me sitting alone at the booth. There is less-than-zero chance I can come up with that kind of money. It wouldn’t matter if they gave me a week, a month, or a year. I owe the hospital even more than I did before, and they will only leave me alone for so long. My aunt and uncle are barely making ends meet and are lucky to make rent on the shop and their apartment every month. I have nowhere to go, no one to ask for help. Part of me begins to think that as long as I know Chloe is safe, it might be best for everyone if I just…
No. I didn’t come this far, survive all of this, just to give up now.
Then I remember my last resort from before, the man who saved my ass with Chloe.
Bailey will know what to do.
“Quite a pickle you’ve gotten yourself in, again, Miss Blanchard,” Bailey says as he twists his moustache around his pudgy finger. I watch as he flips through a rolodex, which is an item so foreign to me I actually had to search my mind for what it was called. He stops in the middle, then lifts his phone and dials a series of numbers far too long to be a local call. After what feels like forever, he grins and laughs.
“Hola, yourself, old friend! How the hell have you been? How’s the weather in Troncones?... Yeah, well, if I can ever afford to retire, I’ll be sure to come visit. Listen, I need some information on a pair of loan shark heavies working out of the Bowery named Leo and Danny… More information? Hold on, man.”
Bailey turns to me with a raise eyebrow and covers the receiver on the phone. “Where did you hook up with these nogoodniks?”
I think back to when I got involved in this mess for the first time. My Uncle Sal used to have a problem with gambling, and he spent a lot of his time at an off-track betting parlor in the Bowery where he thought my Aunt Marie wouldn’t be able to find him. It didn’t even advertise that it was an OTB, and from the outside, it just looked like a regular, crappy sports bar. When my debt started piling up, I started hanging out there, trying to look nonchalant, and hoping someone would catch on that I needed help. It didn’t take long for Leo to find me, and offer me the kind of “help” that got me where I am now.
“It’s a tacky Irish pub called Barney O’Toole’s Pub and Grille. I doubt an actual Irish person has ever set foot in there,” I say as I nervously fidget with the strap on my purse. Bailey nods, and uncovers the phone.
“Yo, Johnny. Still there?... Yeah, she went to O’Toole’s… Oh, yeah. I know exactly what that means. But is there anything you can do it about it?... Seventy-five large… Man, I don’t know, hold on.”
I can see that Bailey is starting to get annoyed at his associate’s questions, and I’m getting more and more nervous with each passing moment. “How much time did they give you when this Danny guy gave you the last ultimatum?”
“A month.”
Bailey looks impressed. “A month? Wow, they must like you.” He turns back to the phone. “She said a month… No, she can’t get the money. Why do you think she’s here?... Uh-huh… Yeah… Okay… Really?... All right man, well, thanks for your time. The next time I’m in Mexico, we’ll get some margaritas.” Bailey hangs up the phone and turns to me.
“Johnny says you’re fucked.”
I drop my head on the desk with a thud. “What the hell man?” I mumble into the wood.
“Well, you managed to get involved with the one loan sharking operation in the city run by Sebastian ‘Angel’ Cannizzo. That would be Sonny Cannizzo’s son. I’m sure you know who Sonny Cannizzo is?”
I groan as I picture the man dubbed by the papers as “The Last Great Mafioso,” being lead off to prison with a giant grin on his face and a cigar between his lips.
Bailey pats my head awkwardly with a giant hand. “Hey, listen. It will be okay. I might have another idea.”
I look up with a groan. “What possible other solution could there be? I can barely afford the medications that are keeping me from getting sick again. I owe the hospital more money than I owe the son of a mob boss. I guess I could revisit my Brooklyn Bridge idea…”
Bailey grabs a handful of my hair and gently lifts my head up so he can look me in the eye. “Don’t you talk like that, you hear me? No matter how bleak things seem, they can always get better. And we’re going to find a way to make things better. So, since you had me hand off your little girl to the Cochran family, I’ve been keeping an eye on things, from a distance mind you, just to be sure they’re doing right by her.”
Tears well up in my eyes. “Thank you,” I squeak out.
He waves a hand at me. “None of that. They may have money but that doesn’t always guarantee they’re good people, you know? Anyway, I got word through a few back channels that Pierce is looking for a nanny for Chloe. And maybe, just maybe… you could take a crack at applying for the job.”
I almost laugh, except it’s not quite as funny as it should be. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, Roger, and I can give you about fifteen different reasons why. First, I’m Pierce’s ex-girlfriend. He’s never going to hire me to work for him. Second, I’m Chloe’s mother. It hasn’t been that long. She will remember me. The last thing I want after all of this is for these criminals to know I have a daughter, after I all I went through to make sure she was hidden from them. Third…”
“Jeez, enough!” Bailey says with an exaggerated eye roll. “Do I have to think of everything? You tell Cochran you’re desperately in need of a job, and you’re counting on him as an old friend to help you out. I bet you dollars-to-donuts he won’t turn you away. And even if Chloe recognizes you, you can play it off as your skill as a caregiver. The last I heard, she hadn’t started talking yet. So, you might have caught a break there.”
My breath catches in my throat. “She’s still not talking? Why?”
“Search me. I don’t know everything happening in that high-rise. He’s taking interviews now. Just go. It will be a safe place for you to hide out until I figure a way out of this mess, or you find the money to pay off Cannizzo. If, in a month, neither of us has come up with an answer, then we’ll get you out of town.”
I groan again. “Danny said they’d find me if I tried to run.”
“Hogwash. If you skip the country, they aren’t going to chase you over $75,000. In the end, they’ve got bigger fish to fry. But, that certainly won’t stop them from killing you over it if you stay. Listen, I have to ask, before we move forward with this… nanny plan. Is there any chance you can just ask Cochran for the money and then pay him back? I don’t think he’s going to kill you if you take a few years to return
on the loan.”
My stomach is in knots at even the thought. “Absolutely not. I refuse to end up in another situation where I owe someone money I can’t pay back. Maybe Pierce won’t bludgeon me in an alley, but spending the rest of my life in debt to people who could buy and sell my whole family ten times over is no way to live.”
“Cannizzo won’t bludgeon you in an alley either. He’ll just shoot you.”
I realize Bailey isn’t being cruel, just matter-of-fact, but it’s doesn’t make me feel better. I must make a face because he sighs and runs his hands through what remains of his hair.
“Sorry, I’ve just been doing this job for far too long. I don’t always think before I open my fat yap. Alright, Arie. Let’s try my plan. Go straight to the Cochran building in Midtown. Pierce and Chloe live in the penthouse on the top floor. I think this is the perfect opportunity for a little reunion, wouldn’t you say?”
I don’t know if Bailey is right, or if this plan is as batshit insane as I think it is, but at the end of the day…
What other choice do I have?
Pierce
“Have any of the appointments I set up for you arrived yet?” my mother asks me over Skype. I can just see her perfectly made-up face from where I am standing in the kitchen, as she shouts at me from the computer in my makeshift office off the living room. I am trying to feed Chloe as I scramble an egg for myself, but I can already smell it burning and I know there is zero chance I will eat this morning.
“Mom, I don’t have time for this. Can you reschedule these nanny interviews? Chloe has an appointment with the speech therapist, I need to go to CSL and schedule out meetings with those security firms visiting from Yemen. There is just way too much going on today for me to worry about trying to find someone who meshes with me and the baby,” I say as I dodge a spoonful of rice cereal that Chloe flings in my direction. I may not be the world’s best father yet, but I have become a damn ninja when it comes to avoiding things being thrown at me.
I can hear my mother sigh from the other side of the room. “Fine, Pierce, I will cancel the interviews, but I’m going to reschedule them for the weekend and I don’t expect to hear another word about it. Understood?”
I turn to face the stove and roll my eyes. My mother still treats me like a child.
“Don’t you dare roll your eyes at me, mister.”
My jaw drops and I turn back around. “How in God’s name did you know I rolled my eyes?”
“I know everything,” she says as she disconnects from the video chat. I shake my head and hand Chloe a cup of apple juice. I may not have been given a stay of execution on the nanny interviews, but at least I have a reprieve, and it will give me time to get things done today. I pick Chloe up out of her high chair and am just about to make my way to her bedroom when there is a buzz from the phone that connects the penthouse to the doorman. I walk to the phone with Chloe on my hip and answer with an awkward shoulder balance move.
“Morning, Thomas,” I manage to croak out to the day guy as Chloe tries to pull the phone away from me.
“Good morning, Mr. Cochran. I have a young woman down here, says she has an appointment with you. Something about being a nanny for Miss Chloe.” His voice is impatient — people just dropping by don’t go over well with the older gentleman, as it makes his job of screening guests more difficult. I can’t say I’m any more thrilled about it than he is.
“My mother was canceling all of those appointments. Can you let her know that Carol Cochran will be calling her to reschedule, please?” I bounce Chloe on my hip and listen as Thomas relays my message. When he returns, his voice is exasperated.
“She says she’s come a long way for the interview and it’s very important she see you today, Mr. Cochran. Would you like me to send her away?”
I look at my watch and grumble to myself. I have exactly enough time for a twenty-minute interview, but that is it. “Never mind, Thomas. You can send her up. What is her name?” I hear him ask, and then shout in his gruff manner, “I can’t understand you when you mumble, young lady! Oh, forget it… Mr. Cochran, I will send her up.”
I laugh and hang up the phone, then take Chloe to her playpen, where I give her a few toys to fiddle with before putting on a t-shirt. I’m still in nothing but my pajama pants since it’s already been “one of those mornings,” and the last thing I need is some snotty au pair thinking that selling pictures of me is a quick way to fame and fortune.
The elevator from the lobby leads right up to my apartment, but only with a special key, so when I hear the door ding in the foyer, I assume that Thomas has let the woman straight up into the penthouse. Once I’m sure Chloe is safe, I pad toward the entryway, stifling a yawn, and trying to plaster on my best fake smile.
“Good morning, and thanks so much for…”
And then, my voice catches in my throat. The whole room goes hazy, as if a thick San Francisco fog has somehow rolled into my apartment. Standing in the elevator, looking just as shocked and terrified as I’m sure I do, is Arie.
Her once-curly black hair has been cropped short into a very becoming straight ear-length structural cut, and she looks thinner than I have ever seen her. Her emerald green eyes don’t seem to be sparkling the way they used to, as if she has seen as much in the years since our parting as I have. She clutches an over-sized messenger bag close to her side that seems to be on the verge of overflowing, and she is practically swimming in an oversized pink sweater that drapes over a pair of dark skinny jeans. She looks tired, but to be fair, I’m sure I do too.
“Aaa… Arie? Is that you? Is that really you?”
She shrugs with a sad smile. “In the flesh! Jesus, Pierce. You look exactly the same. I can’t believe it.”
“I doubt that’s true,” I say quietly, instinctively reaching down and touching my thigh. “What are you doing here? Thomas said there was a woman here to apply to be my nanny? You can’t be here for a job.”
Arie bites her lip as she steps out of the elevator and pulls her bag closer to her side. “As a matter of fact…”
I slap my forehead and gesture for her to come in. “I’m such an asshole. Where are my manners? Please, come in. Can I get you something to drink? Juice? Coffee? A Bloody Mary?”
She laughs as she follows me through the foyer and into the kitchen. “You know, in all the years we were a couple, I don’t think you once offered to get me anything. I’m starting to wonder if I’m in the right place.”
“A lot has changed, Arie. More than you can imagine.” I see a flash of something cross her face — something different than sadness. It’s more like deep melancholy. But she forces a smile.
“Coffee would be nice, but don’t go too far on that Bloody Mary. How have you been, Pierce? I heard a little bit about what happened in the Navy, but not much. You were injured?”
I hand her a cup from my instant-brew machine, and slide over the cream and sugar, which were still on the counter from earlier. “You could say that. A raid went bad, and I took the brunt of it. Now I work for the firm, and walk a little slower on my way to the office. What have you been up to? I looked you up on social media a few times over the years but never found anything. Are you one of those rare sorts that actually keeps their private life private?”
She laughs and starts to say something when I look over her shoulder and notice that Chloe is trying to crawl out of her playpen. She is smiling from ear-to-ear, and waving her hands around, as if she wants to meet this new person in our apartment. Arie turns around, and then spins back around just as quickly.
“Oh, you know. This and that. I’ve been around. I take it that is your little girl? I can’t believe you’re someone’s daddy, Pierce.” Her voice sounds wistful, and it makes me sad for reasons I can’t pinpoint.
“I can’t believe it either most days.”
“How did you end up a father? What happened to her mother, if I may ask?” she inquires with her eyebrow raised. I sigh and lean back against the counter.
&nbs
p; “It’s a long story. For another time. But it’s just Chloe and me at the moment. Arie, I’m going to be blunt. What the hell are you doing here? It’s not that I’m not thrilled to see you. I am. But are you really here applying for a job? Why in the world would you want to work for me?”
Arie hoists herself into a bar stool with a little more effort than seems appropriate given how small she is, and she gives me another sad smile. “Things have been rough for me, money-wise. Life-wise. I’ve been working at Uncle Sal’s shop when I can, but they are having trouble paying me, and I am in… debt. Loan debt. I was never able to finish school and I’ve had an impossible time finding a job. Then I heard from a friend of a friend that you were looking for a nanny for your daughter and I thought, well, you know I’m trustworthy. And I know I will make a great caretaker for your little girl. It seemed liked the perfect solution for both of us I guess.”
I watch her talk, and it feels like she’s been practicing this speech for a while. I may have been an inconsiderate jerk when we were together, but I know her well enough to know when she’s in a state over something. And she’s definitely in a state now.
“I don’t hate the idea. But I can’t pretend I don’t feel a little weird about you working for me. You being my employee… it feels odd, I guess?” I glance over at Chloe again and she’s still smiling, waving to try and get Arie’s attention. “But it looks like the squirt likes you and I’m not going to argue with her judgment. If she wants you to stay, you’ll stay. How does $4000 a week sound to start?”
Arie’s cheeks go red. “That’s a lot of money, Pierce. Maybe you could pay me a little less and… let me stay here with you?”
I choke on my coffee. “You want to stay in my apartment? Here? With me? Like… live with me? Together?”
“I don’t want to get married, Pierce,” she says with a laugh. “Lots of people have live-in nannies. Don’t they? I assume you have more than two bedrooms in this palatial top-floor penthouse?”