by Tammy Walsh
“Ask me another one,” I said to Cleb.
We played like that for a while. We moved across various topics fast and it helped color in the kind of people these Titans were. Cleb focused more on his toys and his desire to show them to me.
“I promise, I will come look at your toys later,” I said.
“Okay!” Cleb said with a beaming grin.
And when he started asking me about games Titan kids usually played together, his interest turned to the games we had on Earth. I told him about Tag and he was hooked.
“That’s it?” he said. “You just chase each other?”
“Pretty much,” I said. “You can add extra rules if you want, but mostly it’s trying to catch each other.”
“But it’s so simple! That can’t be fun!”
“Wanna bet?” I said, putting my watering can down.
He squealed as he took off. When I caught him, I ran my hands under his arms and across his belly. He squealed with delight and excitement. Then I turned around and ran.
“Now you catch me!” I said.
We chased each other for twenty minutes before we ran into his uncle and his smoldering frown.
Cleb wasn’t intimidated by him at all, but I was. I don’t know how anyone couldn’t be affected by that sizzling glare.
Maybe it was the argumentative streak in me, but I wanted to tear him down and make him drop to his knees and beg for mercy…
Or maybe that was how every girl reacted in his presence. It was clear half the female staff couldn’t keep their eyes off him. He was tall and broad across the chest but he was all business and without mirth, as if God forgot to add humor to the mix.
No… I sensed that wasn’t quite right.
In his purple haze eyes, I saw a spark, something not too dissimilar from Cleb, a mischievousness streak he kept buried deep down.
Did he want to join in? To chase us?
And tickle my belly when he caught me?
Yes, please.
As strict and as harsh as his old governess undoubtedly was, and as successful as she might have been at driving the worst of his instincts out, she hadn’t completely succeeded.
A tiny filament remained, like a crack in the foundations of a majestic building.
Ready to be exploited.
And boy, did I want to exploit.
“I want you to be his governess,” he said. “I’ll give you the same deal I gave the previous one.”
“Oh no,” I said. “You’re going to do no such thing. You’re going to give me something a lot better than what she got. You can bet your bottom credit on that. And that’s if I decide to accept the position. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some toys to go look at.”
I felt good about myself that I’d bested Traes. But it was a pipedream. There could be no relationship between us. He was a rich alien dude in charge of a vast business of some sort and I was a poor former-slave girl just trying to make ends meet and return home.
It could never work out between us. Even if I wanted it to.
Which I didn’t.
Not at all.
Nope.
But boy, his ass looked good in those dark pants.
One of the most important things when developing trust with kids was keeping your promises.
I left to go find Cleb’s room and got lost immediately. The place was huge! I asked one of the maids for directions and she was very happy to take me to Cleb’s room personally.
When we reached his room, I thanked her and knocked on the door.
Cleb got up from the bed. He’d been reading a book.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said. “I had to talk with your uncle.”
“That’s okay!” he said, thrilled I’d turned up.
“You said you wanted to show me your toys,” I said. “I can’t wait to see them.”
He had a ton. Some were so advanced they wouldn’t look out of place in the United States military. Others were constantly moving mounds of gelatinous mass much like a lava lamp. Most had a thin layer of dust on them, suggesting they rarely, if ever, got played with. The ones Cleb directed me to were a set of cheap and nasty mass-produced plastic figures of little men with fast cars and attractive women.
“What are these?” I asked.
He looked at me incredulously.
“You don’t know Captain Titan?” he said.
“I’m not from around here, remember?” I said.
He lay down on the floor so the little figures were no more than a few inches from the end of his nose. I got down there with him. He seemed surprised—and pleased—I did. He picked up a little figure of a handsome man armed with a pistol.
“This one’s Captain Titan and this one is his enemy, Titus,” he said. “This is his car and these are his super special weapons.”
“What do they do?” I asked.
“Everything,” Cleb said. “When he presses the button on the steering wheel, lava spills out the back and runs over the road so other cars can’t follow.”
“Wow,” I said.
It was the response he was hoping for.
“And another button makes him fly out of the car and sometimes he can turn the car into a spaceship or submarine.”
He had a vivid imagination. I thought that might be the case. The action figures sounded very much like James Bond from Earth. I used it to form a plan of action.
“Do you like playing with your spy toys?” I said.
He nodded.
I checked over my shoulders to make sure no one was listening. I leaned in close and whispered.
“I have a secret to tell you,” I said.
“What?”
I shook my head.
“I can’t tell you unless you promise you won’t tell anyone,” I said.
“I promise.”
“It’s really, really important no one knows. Can I trust you?”
“Yes,” he said. “You can trust me.”
“Words are cheap,” I said. “I need proof I can trust you with my super deep secret. On my homeworld, we do this when we make a promise.”
I crossed my fingers.
“It means that when I make a promise, I have to keep it, no matter what,” I said. “Do you know what happens if I don’t?”
He shook his head, mesmerized.
“Something bad will happen!” I said.
“What bad thing?”
“Nobody knows. That’s what makes it so scary. Maybe it will be something small and you’ll fall over. Or maybe it will be something big and your nose will fall off.”
He gasped and placed a hand over his face.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “It’ll grow back. But until then, you have to wear a fake nose. And they’re very uncomfortable and very smelly.”
“How is it smelly if you don’t have a nose to smell it with?” he said.
Damn. This boy was sharp.
“Even though you lose your nose, you keep your sense of smell,” I said. “But you can’t smell nice things. You can only smell bad things.”
“Oh no!”
“So, if you want to know my secret, you have to cross your fingers like this,” I said.
He hesitated a moment before doing it. Then I placed my crossed fingers against his.
“Are you ready?” I said.
He nodded.
“I can’t hear you,” I said.
“I’m ready!”
“Repeat after me,” I said. “I, Cleb.”
“I, Cleb.”
“Do solemnly promise.”
“Do solemnly promise.”
“I will not tell anyone Bianca’s super deep secret.”
“I will not tell anyone Bianca’s super deep secret.”
“If I do.”
“If I do.”
“I accept something bad will happen to me.”
“I accept something bad… will…”
He gulped.
“Will happen to me,” he finished.
“Good,” I sai
d. “Now I’m going to tell you my super deep secret. Are you ready? I’m not really a governess.”
“You’re not?”
I shook my head.
“I knew it,” he said. “You’re too young and pretty to be an old governess.”
He was going to be a charmer. The girls will love him.
“Then what are you?” he said.
I checked over my shoulders again.
“I’m a spy,” I said.
His mouth fell open and his eyes grew wide.
“No way!” he said.
“Yes way,” I said. “I’ve been sent here to learn all about Titans. Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt anyone. I’m just here to get information to see if we can be friends.”
“How is it going so far? Will we be friends?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I’ve met some very nice Titans but also some bad ones. I need to learn a lot more about Titan culture before my boss can make a decision.”
“What happens if he decides he doesn’t like Titans?”
“That’s impossible,” I said. “Because you’re going to be my super-secret spy assistant. You’re going to help me learn all about Titans and their culture. And because you’re such a good boy, my boss will have no choice but to be friends with Titans. Now, being a secret agent isn’t easy. There’s lots of training and you’ll have to pass all the tests if you want to qualify. Are you up to it?”
He nodded energetically.
A knock came at the door, causing Cleb to jump. He snatched up a toy pistol and brought it around to the door.
Waev raised his hands in surrender and spoke to me.
“Traes wishes to speak with you,” he said. “When you’re not busy plotting to take over the world.”
Traes was sat behind his desk when I entered. At least this time he wasn’t hiding in his restroom, spying on me. I had no idea he was there until I came back for my forgotten bag.
There was nowhere else he could have been. I would have been angry that he’d spied on me if he wasn’t so embarrassed about having been caught out. It was cute to see his cheeks burn as red as they did.
Now, he was behind his desk, a master of his world. And I was a stranger here.
“Please take a seat,” he said. “We need to discuss the details of your position.”
“What makes you think I still want it?” I said, removing my shawl and taking a seat.
“You don’t?” he said.
“No, I do. I just didn’t want you to think I’m desperate. I have many other opportunities.”
He pursed his lips. I didn’t know if he believed me or not but I wanted to play hardball.
“I can understand a professional of your quality would be in high demand,” he said.
He meant it, I thought. He wasn’t just humoring me.
Good.
“How much do you think is reasonable commensurate with the position?” he said.
Now that was a difficult question to ask.
First, how much did I need?
I performed a quick calculation in my head. The worker in the spaceport said the cost for the journey from planet Rang to Earth in pod class was two thousand credits. She helped me scrape enough together to get halfway, which meant it would have cost about a thousand to get here. Assuming the rest of the journey would cost the same, that meant I needed to save a thousand credits.
I made a mental note to check the actual price later once I had time. I didn’t want to have to quit if I was still short or earned extra credits I didn’t need.
The job advertisement said this was a live-in position, and that meant I wouldn’t have to spend anything for travel or food or drink.
But a thousand credits was the general target.
Next, I needed to know what was a reasonable amount for a governess.
“How much did the previous governesses get?” I said.
“Fifty credits a week,” Traes said. “Plus room and board.”
Fifty. That meant it would take me twenty weeks to earn the amount I needed. It was a long time. And the longer I was here, the more likely it was Asshole might find me. I needed to reduce that amount of time. Could I get it down to ten weeks?
“Is it satisfactory?” Traes said. “I can assure you, it is very competitive.”
“I’m sure it is,” I said. “But I was thinking more like a hundred.”
He blinked in surprise.
“A hundred?” he said. “I don’t pay my mine managers a hundred a week.”
“I’m not a mine chief,” I said flatly.
“Fifty is good payment,” he said. “It’s already above average.”
This was going to be a tougher sell than I thought. Normally, I would have accepted fifty but these were not ordinary circumstances.
“Tell me why I should give you so much more than the last governess,” he said, leaning back in his large leather chair. “I’m intrigued.”
“I’ll give you three reasons,” I said. “One, Cleb likes me, unlike his previous governesses. Two, I’m three times as good at my job than any other governess you can find, so paying me twice the amount is really quite a bargain.”
He waited.
“And?” he said.
“And what?” I said.
“You said you would give me three reasons.”
“I gave you three.”
“You gave me two. Cleb likes you—”
“I’m glad you agree.”
“—and you’re better than the other governesses. Maybe math isn’t one of your strong suits.”
I ground my teeth at his cheap shop. Damn, he looked good even with that smarmy look on his face.
“And three, you get stimulating conversation with someone closer to your age,” I said.
“Governess Puem-Gleb gave me stimulating conversation.”
I rolled my eyes.
“About history,” I said.
Despite himself, Traes couldn’t help but smile. Then he turned serious. Businessman time.
“I’ll give you seventy-five credits a week,” he said. “But I want you to come through for Cleb. He needs to start studying and learning otherwise he’ll fall behind his peers.”
“I think a hundred would give me extra incentive,” I said.
He smiled at me and my legs turned to jelly. I was glad I was sitting down or I might have fallen flat on my face.
“Oh, I think we both know you’re not motivated by money, Bianca,” he said.
Dammit. He had my number.
“Fine. Seventy-five. But I don’t want you to question my teaching methods. I’ll have to undo his bad habits before I can build good ones.”
Traes cocked his head to one side.
“The other governesses always used textbooks,” he said.
“They probably won’t work well with Cleb,” I said.
“Then how will I know if he’s improving or not?” he said.
“Because we’ll do tests. They might take a different form to what’s common on this planet but he’ll be able to answer them as quickly as any other student. Maybe even faster.”
I could tell he was intrigued by what I was suggesting.
“All right,” he said. “Now, if that’s all—”
“What about accommodation?” I blustered.
“The advert said the position was live-in.”
“I know it’s live-in,” I said, rolling my eyes as if I was dealing with an amateur. “But there’s live-in and then there’s live-in.”
“I don’t understand what you mean. Your quarters are on the third floor. They’re very comfortable.”
“I’m sure they are,” I said. “But I want an upgrade.”
“An upgrade? You haven’t even seen the room yet. Why don’t you give it a look over before you decide—”
“Employers always put the help in the worst rooms,” I said.
“They’re not the worst rooms—”
“But they’re not the best either.” I snorted. “And I thou
ght you had a healthy respect for education.”
“I do—”
“So it shouldn’t be too much trouble to give the educator of your child—”
“He’s not my child—”
“—the best and most comfortable accommodation in the house.”
“Would you like my rooms?” he said keenly.
I ignored his sass.
“That won’t be necessary,” I said. “The second best will be fine.”
Traes pressed his hands to the desktop and pushed himself up onto his feet. He glared down at me. Maybe I went too far…
“Fine!” he said. “See Waev on your way out and he’ll get you situated.”
He waited. I didn’t move.
“Is there anything else?” he said.
“Just one more thing,” I said. “How much are the second-best rooms worth?”
“Excuse me?”
“If you were to rent them out, how much would you get for them?”
“I’ve never rented them out.”
“If you did. How much would you get?”
“A rough guess? I don’t know. Maybe twenty-five credits a week—”
“Agreed!” I said.
“I’m sorry, what’s agreed?”
“My final payment.”
“We already agreed on seventy-five.”
“That was before downsizing was taken into account.”
He slowly sat back down.
“Downsizing?” he said.
“I don’t need such large rooms,” I said. “They’re too big for a woman of my size.”
“But you said you wanted the second-best rooms in the house…”
“I didn’t say I wanted them,” I said. “I said they were what a governess of my experience and stature deserves. I would be much happier in a smaller room.”
“Fine,” he said. “You can have a smaller room. You can have every room for all I care.”
I was getting under his skin. It felt good.
“Excellent!” I said. “I’m glad we could come to an agreement.”
He looked exhausted.
“So am I,” he said. “So, it’s seventy-five a week, plus room and board—”
“A hundred.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a hundred a week plus room and board.”
“How do you figure that?”
“It’s seventy-five a week basic, then a room worth twenty-five. I will graciously downsize to a much smaller room. The previous governess’s room will suffice. So, that’s saving you twenty-five credits, for a total of one hundred.”