by S. C. Adams
The downside is everything else about the guy.
I sit back in my seat. There are still things I was planning on getting done today, but none of them are urgent. Now, the only urgent item on my agenda is filing the paperwork on Brian so that I get his sister in return. I may as well call my housekeeper now, and get everything I need squared away for Monday. After all, the curvy girl’s now in my life, whether she’s ready or not.
5
Nellie
I leave Nash’s office and go straight home. I’m still processing everything that happened. I mean, it’s absolutely crazy. He wants me to work for him.
Work for him?
What could I even do for a guy like him? I’m sure he already has an accountant. I know Jaybird has been around for a while because when Brian applied for a job, he told me about the company. I doubt Nash would risk Jaybird just to have me run a couple of numbers for him. I mean, I think I’m a pretty good accountant, but Nash knows nothing about my accounting skills. He didn’t ask about any of my credentials. All he really knows about me is what I look like naked.
Oh, dear God!
I’m sure it has nothing to do with that though. Nash must need me to run some numbers for him. It’s the only logical conclusion.
Hopefully, he’s not doing something illegal and needs an “accountant” to pretty up the books. That, I draw the line at. I’m trying to get a CPA license, and any shenanigans will be the end of that process.
Then again, Nash can’t want me to work for him forever. I can quit once Brian’s back on his feet, and working for Jaybird will look great on my resume because it’s bound to be a big account. I’ll probably be able to get a really good gig after Brian finds a new job, and then we can both quit.
That will be the day. See? I just need to look on the bright side of all of this.
I get to my house and go straight to bed. It’s crazy that this much has happened already on an early Saturday morning, and I’m exhausted.
I do a trust fall onto my mattress, enveloping myself in my plush covers. My eyes flutter close, no longer wanting to be open. I’ll figure out this shit tomorrow when I’m good and rested.
The next day, I go over to Brian and Vivica’s place. I need to speak with the two of them, but what I really want to do is play with my nieces. Being around them always makes me so much happier. The two little munchkins just have that magical quality.
“Hi, Auntie Nellie. I got you this tea.” Madison comes to me with her little play cup filled almost to the brim with water. I can see the little spills she made along the way, the water sloshing back and forth, dripping off the edges.
“Oh my, thank you so much. I’m sure it’s delicious.” I take the plastic tea cup from her and take a sip. “Mmm, yummy! What flavor is this?”
“It’s cherry. Mummy likes cherry and Daddy likes cherry and I like cherry and Mac likes cherry. So, I made cherry.” I giggle and finish my ‘tea.’ Madison watches me until I’ve swallowed every last drop.
“That was the best tea I ever had.”
“I have more.” She takes my cup away from me and starts to walk away from me, back to the bathroom where she prepared my delicious cup. It’s then that I hear little footsteps rushing behind me.
“Nellie, Nellie, Auntie Nellie!” Mackenzie comes barreling down the stairs and right into my body. We both go tumbling to the ground in a fit of giggles.
“Hey, Mac!”
Maddie sees Mackenzie and I having so much fun on the ground that she abandons her quest to get me more tea and joins our pile.
“Oof!” I exclaim when her little body climbs on top of me.
I look up at the two cutest girls in the world, their blonde curls waving and wild. They have innocent and trusting blue eyes and smiles larger than life.
It tells me that whatever deal I made with Nash was worth it.
“Do you guys want to go to the trampoline? I want to see who can jump the highest.”
“Yeah!” they both scream together. I get both of them off of me and take the two of them outside. I help them get on the trampoline and watch as their blonde curls bounce in the sunlight as they squeal with joy.
Having a whole new thing to do, Madison and Mackenzie enter their own little world where nothing matters but the fun they are having. Meanwhile, Brian and Vivica come outside carrying pitchers of lemonade. I leave the girls to it, going to get myself a nice cool drink.
“Hey, Nellie,” Vivica waves as I get closer. She offers me a glass which I take, downing about half of it. “Brian told me that you gave him some money. Thanks, it’ll really help us out.”
I nod, feigning a smile.
“Yeah, of course. I don’t want to see Mackenzie and Madison lose their home.”
“Yes, they don’t deserve that,” my sister-in-law says softly, with her head down. I take a deep breath and look at my brother and his wife. For the first time, I’m genuinely annoyed with him. With both of them. Time and time again, they come to me with their problems, and it’s like I’m expected to fix them. I’ll always help because I’m the big sister and that’s what I do, but I can feel myself reaching the end of my rope, both emotionally and financially.
But that’s not something they need to hear right now.
“There’s something I want to tell you guys.”
“What is it?” Brian asks. Vivica looks just as curious.
“I went to Jaybird to talk to your boss, Nash.” They both look shocked. I’m not sure why since I’m constantly going out on a limb for their family. They should just assume I’ll do whatever it takes.
“Really? Why?” asks Brian.
“I couldn’t stand to see my nieces go hungry,” I manage to voice. I’m almost shaking from the sheer anger I’m feeling right now. I’ve kept these feelings bottled up for too long. I’m worried they’ll burst out. I’ll need to rant to Amy later. That should help me find my center of calm again.
“What did you say to him?” asks my brother hesitantly.
“I asked for your job back.” They both gasp. I’m sure they’re genuinely surprised about all this, but this whole routine feels like a farce right now.
“So what did he say? What happened?” asks Vivica.
I take a deep breath.
“Nash said yes, you can have your job back. Just show up on Monday, bright and early, keep your head down, and work hard.”
“You’re kidding me!” my brother gasps.
“Nope, not at all. But I suggest you start looking for another job pronto. This guy already doesn’t like you, he fired you once. Once you get that new job, quit Jaybird and start again. Okay?”
“Okay, I’ll do all of that. I promise. I promise Nells,” Brian responds, all smiles. He stands up and gives me a huge hug. “You have no idea how much this means to me. You’ve literally saved our family.”
There are sobs in his voice, and I can see that Vivica is crying. While I’m annoyed, I can’t stay mad a Brian forever. Whenever he gets all emotional like this, I remember that he’s my little brother, and that I love him.
“Really guys, it’s not that big of a deal.” That’s a lie, but I want this emotions fest to end. I love him, but I’m also a little uncomfortable.
“No, it is. It is. You’re the best sister a guy could ask for.” He finally lets me go, and I take a step back.
“Well, I did it for Mackenzie and Madison. I just love them so much.”
“Yeah, I know that. We appreciate this so much and we love you Nells.”
“I love you, too. I guess,” I mumble. Brian smiles, playfully punching me in the arm. Just then my phone rings, giving me an out from this whole thing.
“Let me see who this is,” I hold up my finger. It doesn’t matter if it’s spam, I’m going to pick up so that I can walk away from my family.
It’s a number I don’t recognize, but it’s local.
“I’ve got to take this,” I say, striding off without waiting for an answer. “Hello,” I answer. “This is Nell
ie.”
“Hey girl,” drawls a low, unmistakable voice. To my surprise it’s Nash. His voice is raspy and growly, like he doesn’t want anyone to hear our conversation. I definitely don’t want Brian and Vivica knowing Nash is calling me, so I step even further away.
“Yeah, it’s me. Is everything okay? What do you want?” I don’t mean to sound so guarded, but this whole business has me on high alert. I don’t need Nash knowing the effect he has on me.
“Where are you?”
“Um, I’m at my brother’s house.”
“Oh,” he drags it out, the bass in his voice reverberating through my body. I could take a bath in his words if he didn’t irk me so much. Plus, he’s my new boss, so that would inappropriate. “Did you tell him the good news?” Nash asks.
“I did.”
“I’m sure he was beyond happy.” I can hear the smile in his voice. This whole thing is probably a game to him.
“What do you want? Why are you calling me?” I demand.
“I wanted to talk to you about your employment.” What is there that he needs to say to me? I already agreed to this whole stupid thing.
“I already sent in my resignation, and Porter Peabody was not happy about the short notice, but there’s nothing they can do about it. So I’ll be at Jaybird bright and early Monday morning, never fear.”
Nash laughs, and I don’t understand why.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. But don’t come to Jaybird on Monday, even though we could probably use an on-site accountant.” My accounting nerd almost takes over because I want to ask him why he hasn’t gotten an in-house accountant for his very sizable business. But the more pressing matter is why I’m not going to Jaybird. Where am I supposed to go, if not the chop shop?
“Where do you want me then?”
“You’ll meet me at my house, instead.”
“Your house?”
“Yes, I’ll text you the address and the time to be there.” What in the world could I possibly have to do at his house? Does he need a personal accountant? He didn’t mention anything like that before. Maybe he wants me to do Jaybird work from there because they’re short office space at the chop shop. I guess that could make sense. Granted, I left without asking a single question about the job, but that’s because I was rather pissed off. He’s throwing all these new variables at me that I hadn’t considered.
“Why am I going to your house? How am I going to work for your company from there? Do you have a desk ready for me at your house?”
The answer I get is a dial tone. The bastard hung up on me! Is he joking?! If this is what working for Nash is like, no wonder Brian made a couple mistakes. The guy is insufferable. How am I supposed to know what to do if he won’t tell me?
I silently curse at my phone as a stand in for Nash before putting it back in my pocket. If I stay here, it’s not going to help my mood, so I may as well leave.
I go back over to my brother and his wife, so I can say goodbye.
“I’m going to head out, guys. I’ll see you later.”
“Really? You can’t stay a little bit longer?” Vivica pouts.
“I just have a lot of work to catch up on, and I’m a bit tired. I promise to stop by again soon.”
“Okay, get some rest,” Vivica smiles. “Bye!”
“See you!” Brian waves. “And thanks!”
I make my way to the trampoline to give the two people I care about most in this world their goodbye hug.
“Mac & Cheese, Mad Hatter? Can I get a hug goodbye?” They both bounce over to the edge I’m close to and hug the living daylights out of me. “I’ll see you two later.”
“Bye, Auntie Nellie!” They go back to bouncing and I leave Brian’s house. There’s nothing else that they have to do to prepare for tomorrow. Everything is ready and set. I’m just going to go home and take a nap, so I won’t accidentally snap at Nash. I can’t believe I actually liked him, even if it was only for a couple of hours.
He’s more than proven he’s a complete mystery by now.
I get into the driver’s seat of my car and place my key in the ignition. I’m about to turn it when I realize that neither Vivica nor Brian asked me how I got Nash to say yes.
What do they think I did? I don’t know how it makes me feel that they didn’t even ask. Do they not care? They probably think I compromised my morals for this guy, which is something I’d never do. Not for this man, anyways.
It doesn’t matter, really. I’m doing this for Mads and Mac. They deserve a good life, and I’ll do what I can to give it to them.
I turn my car on, pulling out of my parking spot. All I can think about is what I’m going to end up doing tomorrow at Nash’s house. Hopefully, he’s not looking for accounting shenanigans to hide a fortune in the Cayman Islands, or any such matter. I know deep down inside, I wouldn’t be upset if we tumbled into his bed again, but that’s not what this is about.
This is about keeping my head down in order to save my family. Plus, I’m a little annoyed with Nash, and I’m not sure if I want to give him the satisfaction of claiming me once more.
6
Nellie
I wake up the next morning a lot earlier than I need to. I fell into my bed when I got home and didn’t leave for a long time. That was like mid-afternoon. Holy cow, I’ve been in my bed for ages now.
I check the clock besides my bed, and it’s almost five a.m. Nash wants me there by eight, so I have a lot of extra time.
I may as well get up because I know I’m not about to fall back asleep. There are too many things rolling around in my head.
“And so, the madness begins,” I mumble to myself while yanking off the covers.
I go to the bathroom, so I can start my day with a shower. I scrub my entire body, going a little too hard. I’m sure I just removed an entire layer of skin.
“Well, that was extra.” I get out, brush my teeth, lotion up, and go back to my room so I can get dressed.
Before going to my closet, I glance at the clock and see that it’s only 5:30 a.m. There’s still too much time. I pull out some sweats and go to my living room to exercise. I go through a sun salutation, waking up my body through the tranquility of yoga. It does help to make me feel less annoyed.
“Okay, time for another shower.” I move a little slower, really enjoying and experiencing the heat of the water. It runs down my back, cleaning all the soap off of me.
I’ve been ignoring a lot of my own self-care for who knows how long. I’m always so worried about other people that I often forget about myself. Even if it’s only a couple of hours here and there, I deserve to give myself a breather.
Once I’m done in the bathroom, I go back to my bedroom and start flipping through the clothes in my closet. I don’t know what to wear on my first day. It has to be professional as all hell. Nash needs to know that from now on we’re going to be employee and employer, and that’s it. I don’t need my feelings getting all wrapped up in this too.
I pull out one of my longer skirts. It’s not quite a maxi, but it goes below my knees. Then I put on a Peter Pan collar top, tucking it into my skirt. The only real skin showing is my arms, and I’m sure there’s not much Nash can do with that.
I look the outfit over in my mirror. It’s satisfactory. My breasts are big but at least they’re covered in loose fabric. They’ll always be a prominent part of my body.
I make myself a bacon and egg breakfast before sitting at my kitchen table. While I salt my eggs, I think about what I’ll say to Nash
“Good morning, sir. Or is that too formal? Do I just call him Nash? That’s what Brian calls him. I don’t even know his last name,” I mumble to myself, overanalyzing an interaction that has yet to happen.
I stab some eggs and bring them to my mouth. There’s no point in trying to map out every possible encounter Nash and I might have. I just need to go with the flow for the next couple months, and all will be well.
I finish my breakfast and realize I
have a couple of hours before I have to leave, so I finally re-watch Pride & Prejudice like I’d been meaning to.
Oh, it’s so good. I wouldn’t say Nash and I are anything like Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, but there’s definitely some tension between us. Hopefully, it doesn’t get in the way.
Also, I’m pretty sure if I married the guy who caused my brother so much grief, it would cause some familial issues.
Wait, marriage? What am I even thinking? Obviously, seeing Elizabeth marry Mr. Darcy on screen is driving me batty. Fortunately, the show is over and as the credits roll, I check my phone. Okay, it’s time to go. No use putting it off. I know what will happen if I don’t show up.
Stupid Nash with his propositions.
I plug the address he gave me into my GPS and drive myself over. I’m a Fresno native, born and raised, so a lot of the area is somewhat familiar to me, but as I get closer to Nash’s house, things are looking eerily familiar. Like I was here not too long ago familiar.
I turn on to the road that his home should be on, and it finally dawns on me that I was here a couple of nights ago because the house I’m approaching is the one where Nash and I hooked up Friday night.
“Of course he lives here,” I scold myself. How could I have not seen through that lie? His boss’ house, my ass. This is his place. So not only does he own his own business, but he’s an uber rich guy.
I let out a big sigh.
I don’t know what I’m getting myself into, but I hope it’s nothing shady. They put accountants in jail these days, and I can’t risk that because who would look out for my nieces then?
I get out of the car and smooth my skirt down, making sure my outfit is in place. I’m starting to think that maybe Nash has some files at his house that he wants me to look at. My short time as a junior accountant taught me that rich people are eccentric and do things their own weird way.