Page 17 of Take A Chance

“Can’t sleep?” I glanced at the clock. It was nearing midnight. She had been in bed for more than two hours, laid down just after she put Katelyn to bed around nine.

“Bad dreams.” She didn’t turn as she spoke, but I could hear the emotion in her voice. I wondered what had happened in her life to cause her to have bad dreams. She didn’t seem fearful or like she’d endured any trauma, but some people were experts at hiding their pain behind smiles.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I sipped my glass again, now no longer thinking of her in a sexual way. My heart went out to her. In my younger years, I’d had my share of nightmares and triggers. Today, nothing fazed me, but I felt compassion for her. “Come sit with me.”

She finished making the tea and carefully carried the cup of hot liquid toward the table, sitting across from me, cradling it in her palms as if it were warming her hands. After the spill the last time we encountered each other in the night, I didn’t blame her for her extra focus.

“You know, I think Katelyn really likes you a lot.” I wanted to put her mind at ease. If anxiety about the job she was doing had plagued her enough to cause the dreams, some encouragement might remedy that.

“I think so too.” She sipped the hot tea, sucking it in between her teeth the way I did my hot coffee in the mornings. Another thing we had in common.

“She is really happy, happier than I’ve ever seen her.”

“That’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” Her eyebrows drew together, and she pursed her lips. A serious expression crossed her features. “You know, she’s in quite a lot of classes and such. It’s so overwhelming to me, so I can only imagine how overwhelmed she might be. She’s only five.”

I listened intently, unaware that there had been any problem. Katelyn was my world. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her. I wanted the best for her in every way, so if something wasn’t right, I needed to fix it. “Go on.”

Emma looked encouraged. She was by no means being disrespectful. On the contrary, I respected her more because she was speaking up.

“Well it’s just that she has no toys, no dolls or stuffed animals. Her games are made for children much older than she is. She has no television to enjoy cartoons—which, don’t get me wrong, too much technology is bad for kids, but sometimes, a show is a good thing. It spurs the imagination.” Emma became animated when speaking about Katelyn, gesturing with her hands and emphasizing certain words. I could tell she was pouring her heart into this, and I didn’t want to interrupt so I sipped my scotch and let her continue.

“She wears this stuffy school uniform every day, all day long. The only thing I’ve seen her wear other than her swimsuit was the uniform or her pajamas, and she doesn’t even like some of the activities she’s forced to participate in.” When she was finished talking, she looked down into her mug, an uneasy expression on her face as if she expected me to scold her for speaking her mind.

“Well, thank you for your honest assessment. I didn’t realize these things were problems. You know, I was raised mostly by nannies and maids. I rarely saw my mother and father, and when I did it was to receive critical feedback about my academics or extracurriculars. I didn’t want to raise Katelyn that way. That’s why we have every Sunday together.”

Emma’s face turned upward and she smiled at me. She listened as intently to me as I had to her, and I could tell her shoulders were relaxing as I explained.

“Mrs. Pilcher, Katelyn’s former nanny, was my nanny as a child. When I got the call from the hospital that Katelyn’s mother had abandoned her and that I needed to come and pick her up, I had no clue what I was doing. The minute the paternity test came back proving I was definitely her father, I was instantly in love. She is the light of my world, so to hear that she’s unhappy hurts me.”

“Well, she loves you,” Emma said, shaking her head. She reached out and grabbed my hand. “It’s not that she’s unhappy. She knows nothing about what a kid her age should be doing. I assume most of the kids at her private school are in similar situations, so they probably all have nannies and maids and crazily packed schedules. You shouldn’t feel bad. I just want to help Katelyn grow up in the most normal way possible. I think I can manage that with just a little effort—take her shopping for toys and some new outfits.”

“Thank you, Emma, for caring about her so much that you notice these things. Maybe Mrs. Pilcher’s retirement was a good thing. It sounds like you know a lot about kids.”

She blushed as she started to respond. “Yes, well, I was a teacher for a short time before the reduction in workforce, and I helped babysit my cousins a lot when I was younger. Kids need adventure and creative play. They also need lots of human interaction outside of structured activities.” She sighed contently as she took another drink of her tea, now cool enough that she no longer had to suck it through her teeth.

Seeing her in this new light was eye opening. Not that I doubted her expertise at all. On paper she was perfect, but hearing these things from her mouth had me even more convinced that I’d done the right thing hiring her. Unfortunately, that complicated the situation further because all I wanted to do was bend her over this table and pound her from behind.

Not only was she incredibly sexy, but she knew what she was doing, which was another major turn-on. I could hardly keep my thoughts to myself, and I didn’t want my time with her to end, so I wracked my brain for a way to keep her with me and interested in talking.

“Listen, uh, do you want to watch a movie with me? It’s late, so if you’re too tired, that’s okay. We just have this home theater room that never sees any attention. It’d be nice to share it with someone.” I tried to act nonchalant about it, but everything inside me screamed for her to agree to join me.

“You mean you have time for that sort of thing? No big clients or meetings to attend first thing that will force you to bed before your ruby slippers change back to blocks of brick?” She peered at me over the rim of her tea mug with a smirk on her face.

“Uh, that would be glass slippers, and no, I don’t.” I grinned at the way she mixed up stories. “Pretty sure ruby slippers were in the land of Oz, and they transported Dorothy home. You wanting to go home?”

Her face fell, and she took a deep breath, then a drink of her tea. “No,” she said after swallowing. “My home is here now.”

“Well then, let’s go enjoy a movie in our theater room.” It felt odd calling it ‘our theater room’, but it made the smile return to her face. Whatever or whoever had hurt her, it was obvious she didn’t have a good relationship with her family, or it appeared that way.

I stood and held out my elbow, and she carried her tea mug and walked with me, hand draped over my arm. I led her down the east wing to the theater, flipping the lights on as we entered. Her mouth dropped at the setup. I’d had a professional lighting and audio/visual company come in to install the large screen, not quite as large as a true theater’s, but the largest in-home screen they could install. The surround sound was powered with only the best amps and speakers, and with the new digital technology, I could stream any movie from anywhere in the world.

“What would you like to watch?” I led her to a set of chaise lounges, set in pairs for just such an occasion. Each one was equipped with heat, cooling, and massage features, cup holders, built-in speakers, and the ability to recline. I spared no expense in designing this room.

“Wow, this is incredible.” She ran her hand over the faux-velvet material before sitting down. “What’s your favorite movie?”

“Well, I really likeFar and Away. Kidman and Cruise were sensational.” I sat down next to her, in my own chair, of course, and used my phone to pull up the catalog.

“Far and Awayit is!” She settled into the chair, putting her feet up and relaxing back. Her tea mug fit perfectly in the cup holder, and she rested her head on the headrest. The chair wasn’t reclined yet, which was a bonus for me. As the movie started, I pressed the button on the arm rest which made the chairs slide closer together, becoming more of a loveseat than two individual pieces.

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