Broken Butterfly: MMF Bisexual Romance (Mundane Magic Book 1)

by Maxene Novak

  “Remind me to pick your brains for some recipes later on,” Gabby said. She excused herself for a moment to poke her head into the hall. She called Izzy into the kitchen to eat.

  Max smiled when she returned. “My mom actually has a book that you can order! It’s mostly full of sweets and things, but I think you’d probably find good use for it around here.”

  Gabby’s eyes lit up. “That’s even better! You’ll have to show me that book sometime.”

  “Of course.”

  Izzy entered the kitchen and skipped over to her seat. She climbed up on her knees and looked around at what was for dinner. “Oooooh,” she said wondrously. Max couldn’t help but laugh at her awe. He felt the exact same way.

  Gabby and Drew took their seats and began cutting out pieces of lasagna for the four of them. Drew handed Max his plate. As he carefully placed it down on the table, Max looked up at the man and asked,

  “Did you have today off?”

  “I did, actually,” Drew said. “Let me tell you, my students were so disappointed that there wouldn’t be class today.” A sly smile appeared.

  “I’m sure they were just heartbroken to sleep in,” Gabby teased.

  “Honestly, I’m kind of glad I didn’t go into work today. I have all those papers to grade, and with everything that’s been going on with the staff…” Drew stabbed at his salad absently. Max tilted his head just slightly.

  “What’s going on with the staff?”

  “Here we go,” Gabby murmured.

  Drew placed his fork down. “There have been a few of my friends who’ve lost their jobs, and everyone’s worrying whether or not they’ll be the next one out. It’s kind of like the first episode of—“

  Before he could finish, Max smiled and said, “Like the first episode of The Office.” He didn’t want to admit it, but he’d been hooked on the show ever since his father had first shown it to him years ago. When it had been added to his favorite streaming site, he’d binged it all again – in memory of his father.

  “Well it’s good to see you two bonding of boring ‘comedy’ programs,” Gabby said lightly. Drew chuckled.

  “Just because you don’t have a sense of humor, Gabby…”

  “Oh please, my sense of humor is just fine. I just don’t get your love for that show. But hey, I’ll allow it as long as I can have the TV for Scandal night.”

  Max’s ears perked up. “I love that show too.”

  Drew smirked, “Well, look at that. We both win, Gabby.”

  “Indeed we do,” she laughed. She leaned in and took a bite of her pasta, chewing as she eyed the younger man. Max sprinkled a small amount of cheese onto his salad and pierced a cherry tomato, completely unaware of their eyes on him.

  “So, Max, what’s it like living in France?” Drew asked.

  Izzy’s eyes lit up when she heard the word. “You lived in France?”

  Max laughed at her sudden excitement. “I did! It’s actually really nice there. I know how much Americans enjoy their cheese and wine, so if you guys are into that, I highly recommend a trip. It’s all incredibly cheap.”

  “What’s school like? Mommy says I would like it.”

  “Well, it’s a bit different than school here. You get a lot longer off for the holidays. Five whole weeks off, at least,” he said.

  “Whoa,” Izzy said meekly. Her wide eyes fell to her pasta as she continued eating.

  “Five weeks off with cheap wine and cheese? Hell, I’ll move there right now,” Drew chuckled.

  They finished up their meal and Max insisted that he help with the dishes. Gabby was hesitant at first because au pairs weren’t supposed to help with any chores outside of taking care of Izzy, but she finally caved when she saw that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. They’d already cooked for him and given him such a nice place to stay. Washing a few plates and bowls was the least he could do.

  After dinner, Max helped get Izzy ready for bed. He chased her around the house trying to get her in her PJs – a task Max had a feeling Izzy enjoyed just a bit too much. Rather than a bedtime routine, she saw it as a fun game they could play. Max tucked her in, kissed her teddy bear Jamison on the forehead, and flicked out the lights. He stood in the doorway for a moment, watching her stare at the nightlight beside her bed until her eyes closed.

  Slowly, he backed out of the room and pulled the door closed. He left it open just a bit, just in case she got scared. He found Gabby and Drew in the den, his arm around the woman as they sat on the couch watching TV. She smiled at Max as he entered and stuck out a piece of paper.

  “What’s this?” he asked as he took it from her.

  “You’ll need to sign that permission slip to pick Izzy up and drop her off at school. They’re really strict about who can pick up the children,” she explained.

  He nodded and read over the slip. “No problem. I’ll sign this tonight and hand it in when I take her to school tomorrow.”

  “Perfect.”

  He stood awkwardly for a moment before slowly making his way out of the den. “I should probably get to bed. I’ll see you in the morning,” he said.

  Max headed up to his room and placed the paper on his desk. He grabbed a pen from the cup of pencils and markers and scribbled down his signature. He placed a paperweight on top so it wouldn’t fly off in the middle of the night, then began getting undressed. The first thing he wanted to do before getting some sleep was shower.

  He set up a playlist on his phone and began getting ready to clean himself off. He sang quietly as he washed off, nearly slipping when he tried breaking out a dance move. No dancing, he told himself, laughing at the idea of busting his ass on the first night here.

  Max changed into a pair of white boxer briefs and dried his hair off with a towel. He walked back into the bedroom to find Drew in the doorway. The man looked shocked to see him, and Max felt his heartrate spike when he remembered he had next to nothing on. He tried playing it cool.

  “Hey, Drew. Everything okay?”

  “Uh – yeah, actually,” the man said, fighting the urge to look down at Max. “Sorry to barge in when you’re changing, but I wanted to remind you that we need to be up at six to get ready.”

  Drew didn’t stay long after that. A blush had just started to creep up his neck when he hurried out of the room. Max covered his face and wrapped the towel around his cold shoulders. He was already off to a great start when it came to getting personal with the Nobles.

  Max woke the following morning a bit earlier than everyone else. He cleaned himself up and hurried downstairs to wake Izzy, a bright and cheery tone in his voice. Izzy was a little reluctant to wake up, but eventually she cracked when he promised he’d make her pancakes. Hearing the promise of breakfast, the girl practically jumped up. She ran across the hall to tell her parents that Max would be making breakfast.

  He laughed his way to the kitchen. As Gabby got herself together and Drew bathed Izzy, Max prepared breakfast. He’d looked over Gabby’s schedule to see that she didn’t have time to sit and eat so he prepared her a small Tupperware bowl with a tiny container of maple syrup inside. He did the same for Drew. He placed those beside her purse on the table in the entryway, then returned to finish up.

  On her way out, Gabby Izzy on the cheek and waved to Max. “Have a good day, you three!” And with that, she was gone.

  Max took his seat at the table and began cutting Izzy’s pancakes into smaller pieces. He handed her a colorful plastic fork, to which she giggled at.

  “How could you don’t have a fork like this?” she asked, swinging her feet off her chair.

  “That’s a good question,” Max noted. He switched out his metal one for a pink plastic one like Izzy’s. “How’s this?”

  “Perfect!”

  Drew entered the kitchen, fiddling with his tie. He took one look at Max and that same blush came creeping back. “About last night…”

  Max waved his hand. “It’s nothing, don’t stress.”

  “Okay, t
hank you,” Drew chuckled. “I’ll see you both later tonight. Have fun. And Max, call me if anything comes up. Me or Gabby, whichever.”

  “I will. Have a good day,” he said. He waved to the man on his way out of the door.

  After breakfast, Max quickly cleaned up their plates and chased Izzy out to the car. He made sure to grab the permission slip before they were outside. The van wasn’t as fancy as the cars Gabby and Drew drove, but it didn’t look all that bad, either. Max got Izzy in her car seat and they were on their way to the elementary school.

  Albrooke Elementary was a private school unlike any other Max had seen before. He’d grown up with friends who’d attended these kinds of schools, but none of them had been as nice as this one. The entire process of dropping Izzy off was streamlined and took much less time than he’d originally planned for. He followed her inside, introduced himself to a few of the people in the front office, and handed over the permission slip.

  On his way back to his car, he saw them. It was a scene straight from some kind of comedy film. A group of women walked down the sidewalk in an almost militaristic formation. A few pushed beautiful strollers, and nearly all of them had an expensive purse slung over their shoulders. The woman at the front of the group looked to be forty, and she was the most interesting to look at.

  Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun on the top of her head, and a pair of librarian glasses hung on his nose. She wore a sundress decorated with daisies and a white cardigan covered her bare shoulders. She walked towards him with an authoritative nature Max had only seen parodied on TV.

  She approached him without any kind of apprehension on her face. “Who are you?” she asked him.

  Max lagged. “Huh?”

  “Who are you?” she repeated. “I’ve never seen you before, and I don’t think it’s appropriate for a man to be hanging around an elementary school.” Her tone was accusatory, and Max immediately disliked it.

  “I’m not ‘hanging around’ an elementary school. I just dropped off the child I’m looking after.”

  The woman crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m sure. Who did you drop off?”

  “I don’t think that’s any of your business, actually,” Max said. He started to turn to leave when the woman reached out to grab the sleeve of his shirt. He froze and looked back at her, his eyebrow cocked up. “Please let go of me.”

  “You didn’t answer my question. Who did you drop off?”

  “Claudette…” a younger woman behind her murmured.

  Max pulled his hand away from her and turned to face her. “I’m looking after Isabelle Noble.”

  Claudette’s face changed completely. Where contempt and suspicion had once been, there was now only a presumptuous smirk. She looked over Max with a critical eye, then sucked her teeth. She let out a cold chuckle.

  “So you’re the new Noble manny?”

  “The what?” Max had no idea what she was talking about.

  That same young woman in the back of the group piped up again. “The male nanny. The manny.”

  “Oh,” he said. He gave a small shrug. “Nanny is just fine for me. No need to masculinize a title like that.”

  Claudette stared back at him, clearly unsatisfied with the nods of approval the other women behind her gave him. Max could practically see her seething behind her calm demeanor. Claudette may have been her name, but he’d already come up with a better one for her. Dictator. And for her posse of other caretakers? They were the Nannies.

  Max cleared his throat and looked back at his car. “I should probably get going though. It was so lovely to meet you,” he said sarcastically. Before he could go, another woman called out to him.

  “You should come have brunch with us!”

  Max held back a pained grimace. He didn’t want to be around Claudette any more than he already had to be. She looked as if she felt the same way.

  “Yes,” Claudette said, coolly, “Come have brunch with us. We’ll get to know more about you. Seems as if… as if you’re one of us now.” She spoke as if it physically hurt to say that sentence. Max smiled mischievously.

  “Sure.”

  Three

  Being part of a clique had never been Max’s scene. In high school, he’d kept his head down and his social circle small. It was much easier managing a group of friends that he actually cared about than it was worrying about all the individual people in a clique he really didn’t care for. Despite his feelings on the matter, Max found himself parking his car outside of a local café a mile away from the elementary school.

  He climbed out of his car and looked around at the other women waiting for him. They waved him over. Here goes nothing, he thought to himself.

  “Hey, sorry about that,” he explained one he was near. “I actually don’t live here, so it’s kind of…” He swirled his hands around his head to illustrate how confusing it all was.

  The girl who’d informed him of what Claudette’s name was stepped forward. She stuck her hand out. “Don’t worry about it, it’s still confusing to some of the girls here,” she laughed. “I’m Louisa Munez. I watch over the two girls who live down the street from some of my family.”

  “Max Moreau,” he introduced himself. “Is Claudette always this—”

  “Insane? You don’t even know the half of it. I wouldn’t worry about her too much though, she’s harmless. All talk, no game. C’mon we should get a table before the other girls get here.” Louisa led Max and a few other women into the café. They pushed three smaller tables together and took their seats. Max looked around nervously at the staff, unsure whether or not they were okay with the women reorganizing the restaurant this way. The man up front didn’t seem surprised at all.

  “We come here basically every day,” Louisa explained, taking note of his unease. “They usually have the tables pushed together anyways. So, tell me more about yourself.” She pushed a strand of dark hair behind her ears and stared at him with golden brown eyes. Max was instantly enamored by her beauty, her cherry red lips complementing the deep brown of her skin.

  “Uh – Well, I grew up going back and forth between New York and France.”

  Two of the girls beside him gasped. Shelby, the redhead, said, “Oh my god, I’ve always wanted to go to France.”

  “I’m so jealous,” her blonde friend added.

  Louisa smiled. “Yes, Paris is wonderful this time of year.”

  “Have you been?” Max asked. She kept her face smooth before breaking down and smiling at him.

  “I haven’t, but I had you convinced for a minute, didn’t I? From what I’ve seen on Google, it’s beautiful this time of year.”

  Max laughed at her explanation. “I don’t visit very often, but I agree, very pretty right now.”

  “So, why bother coming to America if things are so great in France?” a voice called from behind him. Max turned back at the door to see Claudette and the other three girls with her. She didn’t look any happier to see him sitting with the others.

  “I’m what a lot of people call an ‘au pair.’ Basically it’s a fancy term for a babysitter that lives with the family. I make sure Izzy’s always taken care of, I get her to all the places she needs to get to, stuff like that. And the reason I’m in America is because it’s a second home to me. I’ve been all over the world, actually. Have you?” Max didn’t bother waiting for the woman’s answer. He turned back around and swiped through his phone.

  Claudette and the others sat at the table. “Figures the Nobles would have some pretty boy living with them,” she murmured under her breath. A few of the women stifled laughs. Max thought for a moment, then smiled.

  “You think I’m pretty, Claudette?”

  She glared at him before busying herself with the menu their waitress had handed out. Max thanked the woman and did the same. He tried finding something interesting on the menu, but having already ate, he wasn’t all that hungry. On top of that, Claudette’s comment had bothered him. What did she mean by it being unsurpr
ising that the Nobles had him staying over with them.

  When he got the chance, Max leaned over to Louisa and asked this question in a whisper. She glanced at Claudette out of the corner of her eye and responded with,

  “I’ll tell you after brunch, okay?”

  He nodded and let the subject go for the time being. Instead, he ordered a small cup of tea and a croissant and focused on the conversation the Nannies were having. There seemed to be a lot of talk about an upcoming fundraiser that a lot of the women were stressing about. Shelby wasn’t even sure if the kids she watched would be attending, and if they weren’t, she wasn’t going to help with setting up. Claudette shot her a nasty look.

  “It seems a little selfish to only help out when you get something out of it. What do you girls think?” she asked. Max could see the embarrassment on Shelby’s face after being called out in such a public way. He cleared his throat.

  “Opportunists who wait for the perfect time to attack are never fun to be around,” he said, his eyes set on the woman. She smirked at him and sipped from her glass of lemonade. Max wanted her to know, without a doubt, that he saw right through her act. “What’s the fundraiser about, anyways?”

  “Bullying,” Shelby said meekly.

  “Irony,” Max laughed. “Shelby, I think if your kids aren’t going to be there, it’d be inappropriate to help set up for the fundraiser. You can’t exactly leave them at home to hang up some streamers, right?”

  The woman nodded and glanced at a now seething Claudette. Louisa bit into her breakfast sandwich to keep from giggling at the rage on her face. Max, however, didn’t break eye contact. He’d dealt with bullies like Claudette in the past. The only success he’d ever had was taking them head on. They were so used to people cowering away from them, and he wasn’t going to allow that anymore.

  “I don’t see you pitching in, Max,” Claudette said.

  “Wasn’t invited.”

  “Well, here’s the formal invitation. Come, I’d love to see how you fare. I hear the French are so good with their little paintings and things.”