The Doctor's Fake Nanny: Contemporary BWWM Romance

by Tiana Cole

  “You make no eggs.”

  Kayla clucked her tongue and gave Sophie a look telling her that she wasn’t exactly being polite. Sophie shrugged her shoulders and went to stand in front of the little kitchenette set Kayla had moved in for her. She seemed perplexed as to why nobody else understood how much peril her breakfast was is and the expression on her face made me laugh. Kayla joined and then gently removed the still unopened carton of eggs from my hands.

  “Can I help you?”

  “But then I won’t be making you breakfast.”

  “That’s true, but I love to cook. So if you look at it that way it’s almost like you’re giving me a gift.”

  She raised her eyebrow in a comical expression and I sighed and relinquished the eggs. As I did her hand brushed against mine. I pulled back quickly with a feeling of surprise. That small amount of contact had been like an electric shock moving through my body. She was every bit as soft as I had imagined, soft and warm. For a terrifying moment I thought I was going to kiss her. It would be a ridiculous thing to do, maybe even catastrophic. She hadn’t given me any signals that she was interested in me. She was just being friendly, for god’s sake.

  “Alright, alright. I can tell when I’ve been beat. No man can stand up against the wishes of two women.”

  “Nope!”

  Kayla and I both glanced at Sophie and tried our best not to laugh. How like a little adult she was, with a perfectly formed and unique personality. How like Mikey she was, the funny little looks she made or the intonation of her voice. For the first time since coming to live with me I felt like she was on her way to thriving. I finally felt like Mikey would be happy if he could see her now and I was sure that it was mostly due to Kayla.

  “Okay, breakfast is up!”

  Kayla moved expertly towards the breakfast table, balancing several dishes on her arms.

  “That’s an impressive feat,” I teased her, trying to hold Sophie back as she hopped back and forth and tried to help.

  “I used to wait tables. I’ve got some pretty impressive moves.”

  “I don’t doubt it.”

  “What’s the foods?”

  “Right! The most important information of all. We’ve got scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I figured you should still get your pancakes, David, even if you had to bail on the last batch.”

  “Well, thank you. That’s very sweet.”

  I felt silly but it really did strike me as sweet. Thoughtful. She was such a charming woman. I didn’t even like eggs, not really, but I would eat hers. I had a feeling I would eat pretty much anything she put in front of me.

  “Napkin?”

  “Tucked!”

  “Fork?”

  “Ready!”

  “Well, then, Sophie girl, I believe it is time to dig in.”

  They amazed me. In very little time they had developed a rapport, a routine that made it seem like they were family. It was satisfying to see. I had made the right decision in hiring her. I had finally done something right here.

  “What’s the bumble noise?”

  I looked from Sophie to Kayla with a question on my face. I was curious if this was some sort of inside joke between the two of them but Kayla looked just as confused as I was.

  “Bumble noise? What’s that, Sophie?”

  “Bzz, bzz. It sounds like a bumble bee.”

  “Oh! I think that’s me.”

  Kayla jumped up and practically ran to the counter beside the stove. She had left her cell phone there while she was cooking and the sound of its vibration against the granite was what was causing the sound.

  The abruptness of the change in her demeanor when her phone rang as opposed to directly before was striking. Whereas before she had seemed relaxed, happy, now she appeared to be completely wired. I could actually feel the stress coming off of her. What about a phone ringing could put her so on edge so quickly? I wanted to go back in time to right before the ringing started, to hide her phone so that the morning could stay perfect.

  “Who’s that?”

  “Sophie! That’s not a question we ask. Phone calls can be private, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said sulkily, clearly not a fan of being in the dark. Kayla seemed to be debating whether or not to answer her phone but finally just stuck it in the pocket of her pajama bottoms.

  “It’s nobody. Nobody important. Now, are we ready to eat?”

  “Food!”

  That was all it took for Sophie. The three of us ate breakfast, Kayla and I mostly listening to Sophie as she chattered away. On the surface everything was exactly the same, but something about Kayla had changed when she received that call. There was still a tension surrounding her and the kind of faraway look in her eyes that suggested that her mind was somewhere else entirely. I wondered if there was a chance that someday I might have the ability to affect her so completely, the way she did me.

  “Well, looks like I’m going to be late, girls. Time to head off to work.”

  “Boo!” Sophie screeched, kicking her little legs against her chair.

  “Boo is right. But I’m sure you two will have a wonderful day and I’ll be back just as soon as I can.”

  “Have a good day,” Kayla said quietly. “We’ll see you when you get home.”

  I nodded, swallowing with some difficulty. She would see me when I got home. The way she said it almost made it sound like this was a home the three of us shared together.

  Chapter Eight

  Kayla

  “Girl, you better be glad you gave me a call.”

  “What does that mean? What are you talking about?”

  “Let’s just say that if I didn’t hear from you some time in the next twenty-four hours I was going to put in a call to the cops.”

  “Oh come on, are you for real? The cops? That’s being a little bit ridiculous. It hasn’t been that long.”

  “No, ma’am. Don’t try to pull that shit with me, that ‘hasn’t been that long’ routine. I haven’t talked to you for at least two weeks.”

  “I guess I didn’t realize it had been that long.”

  “Well, it had. Do you know how worried I’ve been? Knowing you were staying with that awful man in his house and not hearing a peep out of you? You’re lucky I didn’t have someone go in and break the door down.”

  “Well, I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t mean to stress you out or have you worry. I should have given you a call.”

  “Is it the doctor? Is he not even allowing you a phone call?”

  Something about the way Yvonne said that made my insides clench and my heart hurt. I knew she felt that way about David. Of course she did. The last time we talked the whole plan, the plan she didn’t want me to go through with in the first place, was for me to take down the evil doctor whose negligence had caused my sister’s death. How could she know that things weren’t quite so black and white now? I didn’t even know where to begin.

  “Kayla? You still there?”

  “Yes, I’m here.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Sure, yes. I’m fine.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “It’s just that he may not be as bad as we thought.”

  “Okay, that’s it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s time to have a face to face meeting.”

  “I can’t,” I protested weakly, “I’ve got Sophie to take care of.”

  “Well, then bring her along. I don’t care how you pull it off but you are going to meet me somewhere.”

  “Okay, fine. The park, then. I’ll bring her.”

  “Alright, that’s all I’m asking for.”

  ***

  Being out in the park wasn’t so bad. In fact, watching the utter delight plastered across Sophie’s face as she ran from attraction to attraction and child to child, I could see that this was something she needed. The two of us got along so well and we really were almost like friends, but that didn’t replace her need for interaction with children her own age
. I didn’t really want to have any kind of conversation concerning what had been going on with me but it was kind of beautiful to watch the simple happiness of Sophie. I wanted only good things for her, especially after learning about the fate of her mother and father.

  “So, you really are alive. Good to know. And all in one piece, too.”

  “Okay, I get it. You made your point. I really am sorry. I haven’t been a good friend to you. Not at all. But I’m here right now and there isn’t much else I can do, is there? If there is I’ll do it. Really, I will.”

  I could see that she was softening, which was a relief. Yvonne really was my best friend in the world after losing Nikki and I couldn’t imagine alienating her now. This was one of the most confusing situations I had ever gotten myself into and I needed her. I needed someone in my corner but also someone who didn’t mind slapping me across the face with a hard dose of reality. I just wasn’t sure which way she would lean towards.

  “Naw, you don’t need to do anything. You’re here, right? That’s enough. It’s what I wanted. Just wanted to know that you’re safe.”

  “Is that all? Then I guess I can go ahead and go?”

  I grinned at her, knowing she wouldn’t be content with that. Sure, she wanted to make sure I was doing okay, but she wanted the dirt also. I probably would, too, if the situation had been reversed. It was kind of like living in an honest to god spy movie. How many people got the chance to do something like that?

  “Hell no that’s not all! You’ve got to tell me what’s been happening in that fancy doctor’s house! If he hasn’t been holding you hostage up there, then what’s been going on?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I don’t really know how to answer that.”

  “Well, did you find anything on him?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Are you still looking?”

  “Yvonne, I don’t know.”

  “Okay…”

  It was clear that Yvonne wasn’t entirely sure what to do next. I could see where her confusion was coming from. If there was some change in the plan I hadn’t exactly let her in on it. The problem was, I didn’t know if the plan had changed or not. I looked out at Sophie trying to fashion a little crown out of wildflowers and felt a burst of love. I thought about David, about his strong body and brooding eyes, about his beautiful and elusive smile, his smell that made me weak in the knees. Was I still looking? Was I really?

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t yell at you. It doesn’t really have anything to do with you, except that you’re asking questions I don’t feel like answering.”

  “How come?”

  “I don’t know. He isn’t the way I thought he would be. None of it is.”

  “You like him, don’t you?”

  “That’s the thing. I’m pretty sure I do.”

  “Pretty sure?”

  “Okay,” I said with exasperation, “I do. I like him very much.”

  “Does that mean that you don’t blame him anymore? That you don’t think there was misconduct that led to what happened to Nikki?”

  “Yvonne, I can’t say for sure. I don’t have all of the answers yet. What I do know is that I’ve started to feel bad, like really guilty, for being in his home the way I have. I don’t feel good about lying to him. If he were really a bad guy, wouldn’t it feel different?”

  “I don’t know. I think it would.”

  “I just can’t be sure. I feel like I need to be sure. And Dr. Johnson called this morning while we were all in the kitchen making breakfast. I’m in there basically playing house with him and his little girl, meanwhile I’m getting phone calls from the guy trying to ruin his life. Doesn’t that seem kind of messed up?”

  “Truth time? Yes, it sure does. But this whole thing has seemed ‘kind of messed up’ to me from the beginning. And I don’t think this has to be as complicated as you’re making it.”

  That made me laugh. Leave it to Yvonne to make things seem so simple. Just like I knew she would be, she was the voice of reason.

  “How do you figure?”

  She leaned forward, looking at me with smiling eyes and taking my slightly shaking hands into her own. My friend would tell me what was right. I could trust her even when I couldn’t trust myself.

  “You like him, right? So then do it. Like him. Forget about all of the rest of it. Girl, you’ve had a shit year and this spy crap was only ever going to make it more shit. This could be something good. Finally the good you need. What’s the point in revenge anyway? I mean at the end of it? You’re going to make yourself sick with it. Let it go and just have fun. Just like him.”

  My eyes filled spontaneously with tears. It was so silly to react like that, but that advice? I needed to hear it, badly it would seem. I didn’t exactly know how to follow through on it but I was willing to give it a try. I wanted to see what might happen if I could just let go of a little bit of that weight I had been carrying around for what felt like forever.

  “You know what? Sometimes I think you give better advice than Oprah.”

  “Shit! You know I do.”

  I started to laugh but it was cut short. I had gotten distracted by our conversation. I had let myself get completely caught up in my confusion and my feelings for David and I had quit watching after Sophie as well as I should have, the worst kind of mistake you could make with a young child. The sound of her wailing was what stopped my laughter.

  Both Yvonne and I snapped to attention. Being kindergarten teachers gave us a special kind of radar to the sound of a distressed child and we were primed to discover the source of the cries. When I saw that it was Sophie I bolted up and off of the bench, sprinted towards Sophie and knelt down beside her.

  “What happened, sweet girl, are you alright?”

  She couldn’t even answer me at first. Her chubby pink face was crumpled into a fit of tears, her little hands balled up in fists of anguish and anger. Little children were like that with every injury, as if each one was the catastrophic end, and I couldn’t tell how badly injured she was. That was what was scaring me. I couldn’t tell if she was crying because she was really hurt or if she was just upset.

  “Sophie, honey, I need you to try and talk to me. I know you’re upset but if you can tell me what’s happening I’ll do my very best to try and help. I promise I will.”

  “It’s my leg. My legs all messed up. Do you think it’s broke?”

  There it was again, that question. This girl always thought something was broken, every time she was hurt. I wondered if it had anything to with what I now knew had happened to her and her family when she was so young. Maybe some part of her remembered that trauma and it made her more afraid than she would otherwise have been. Or maybe she was really hurt.

  “I don’t know, sugar, let me look at it.”

  “This one, it’s this one here.”

  She stuck her leg out for me to look at. I knew I wasn’t all that qualified to assess her injury but I could tell that it wasn’t broken. There was a pretty nasty gash though, and I took a handkerchief out of the purse slung across my body. Every time I tried to wipe away the blood to see how deep the cut was it just returned with a vengeance. I honestly had no clue if she needed to get stitches or not.

  “Well, I don’t think it’s broken, sugar, but I can’t tell exactly what’s going on. Maybe we should take you in to see your dad, what do you think?”

  “Yup. He knows more than you.”

  Despite my concern over the blood flowing freely from Sophie’s cut, I had to laugh. She was right, when it came to situations like this David definitely knew more than I did. Besides, Sophie was his daughter and I thought he deserved to check her out for himself, make sure everything was alright.

  There was also that small part of me that wanted to go just to see him again. I had been struggling with my feelings for him since before I even recognized what was going on inside of me. Now that Yvonne had helped me to admit that I had feelings for David and that it was okay, I wanted to be near him
as soon as possible. Even the thought of seeing him made me feel giddy, weak in the knees.

  “Yvonne, looks like we’re going to have to cut this outing short. We seem to have an injury on our hands.”

  While I was down on the ground speaking to Sophie, Yvonne had come up behind us, also intent on making sure she wasn’t badly hurt. Now, as I stood up with Sophie in my arms, Yvonne clucked her tongue in a motherly kind of sympathy.