Page 3 of Nanny for the Damaged Ex-SEAL

"Aria," she squeaks.

"Hey Aria," Chad says as he leans into her and gives her a peck on the cheek from behind.

She flips back her hands to hold on to him. Then he slips his hands off her waist.

"See you later," he says to me as he slips past me in the doorway.

"Let me know when you get home," Bria calls after him as he descends the stairs.

"I will. I love you," he says, and blows her a kiss.

"I love you too, babe."

I’m standing like a puppy in the doorway, watching this nauseating show of affection. I roll my eyes.

She grabs me by the shoulder and pulls me in. "Stop rolling your eyes at my sappiness. If you keep doing that, you won't find another boyfriend who'll treat you like Chad treats me. The universe doesn't like haters," she says playfully.

I shut the door when I'm in and follow behind her. "I'm not looking for another boyfriend. My heart has been through enough."

I plonk onto her largest sofa and cross my legs.

She sits in the chair across from me. “You're only saying that because you're hurt. Give yourself time. You'll want to be in love again."

I snivel. "I don't think so. I'm done." A bouquet of flowers on the metal center table catches my attention. "From Chad?" I inquire.

"Oh, yes," she giggles and bobs her head, her hair bouncing along.

It's funny how we look so different. She has honey blonde hair like Dad's, while mine is bright red like Mom's. We’re also quite different personality wise. She’s more outgoing, which has led her to live a more exciting life than I have. She's well-traveled, and sometimes I wonder why she's chosen to settle in Long Beach. She could be in Paris, living it up with some hot French guy. She could be anywhere she wanted. She's always been the daring one, the one who always wanted to get out, to see the world. But really, she's got the perfect life here. I can't knock that. It just seems a little mundane for her taste.

"You're lucky. You have a man who's good to you. That’s a rare find."

She draws her knees up and wraps her arms around her legs. "You know, I never trusted Jake. He just has those ‘I'll cheat on you’ eyes."

"You never said that to me."

"I mean, I didn’t see it at first, but in the past few weeks it’s become so evident."

I laugh despite not wanting to. "That's because he cheated on me. That's why you see it now."

She laughs and takes the bouquet of flowers off the table, unwrapping it. "I've told Chad to stop getting me flowers. They die so fast, but he never listens."

"You have to take really good care of them like you do your hair."

She takes a transparent glass vase, fills it with water and dips the flower stems into it.

I slide to lie down and turn my face toward the backrest of the sofa, running my fingers over the patterns. "Do you think Mom would be disappointed in me?"

"Why would you ask that?"

The twang in her voice makes me twist to look at her. "It's a question. A valid one. Mom taught for so many years without being let go, which is just a polite way of saying fired. And here I am, failing at keeping a job barely a few years in."

"Mom would never be disappointed in you. You've done your best. You gave your career your all. I don't think they let you go because they think you're not good at your job. You said it was because you were one of the ones with the least experience. And you weren't the only one who was let go. Please, don't ever ask that type of question. Of course, she's proud of you. They lost a damn good teacher. If there were any fairness in the world, you’d be teaching at Julliard."

I wish I felt the same way, I wish I could be so optimistic, but I feel the complete opposite of everything coming out of my sister's mouth. Everything that could possibly go wrong has gone wrong.

"Do you think you could ramp up your search for a job?"

"How much more searching can I do? I've been searching like crazy since I became jobless."

---