•Emergency•

Natasha forcefully pushed the door open and climbed out of the car, paid the driver, and waved him goodbye. Then, she rushed towards the monstrous gate that secured an equally monstrous house. The man in uniform by the gate assessed her briefly with his eyes before asking, in an extremely rude manner, “what do you want?”

“I’m here for the interview,” she said in one breath, her chest heaving.

The gateman glanced at her briefly again before opening the gate for her to walk in. She muttered a word of thanks under her breath and quickly walked in into the compound.

If this was a normal day for her, she would have waited to admire the beautiful mansion that stood before her, the way the flowers were planted by the sides of the walkway, the statute of the grey lion that served as the fountain. However, this wasn’t a normal day today, Natasha was late for her job interview.

So, she rushed towards the doorstep and rang on the doorbell.

She waited, her heart in a mouth, for a few minutes before the door was finally opened. Immediately the door was opened, she opened her mouth and began to talk, “Good morning. I’m here for the…….” Her eyes slowly glance up at the man by the door and her voice trailed off. She stares at him, awed by his looks and demeanor. His grey eyes stared at her so intensely that she thought her heart would jump out of their mouth. This was Malcolm Grayson, she thought. She recognized him from his pictures. Those pictures, however, did no justice to how he truly looked; to his perfectly shaped eyebrows, his sculpted and wonderful jaw, his……..

“What do you want?” His voice snapped her out of her reverie.

“Oh, hi,” she squealed nervously. “My….I’m….I’m Natasha Davies.”

“I didn’t ask for your name. I asked for what you wanted,” Malcolm replied in a harsh tone.

She cleared her throat again. “I'm here for the interview.”

Malcolm stared at her, a frown on his face. “The interview? Miss Davies, do you know what the time says?”

“I know I’m late!” Natasha gasped. “And I’m sorry! I was….I was caught up with something! It won’t happen again!” ‘Caught up with something? Really, Natasha?’ her inner mind whispered to her.

“Right. It won’t, ‘Cause I’m not employing you. Have a nice day,” Malcolm said, proceeding to close the door.

Natasha placed her palm on the door to stop it from slamming on her face. It took all her energy to push the door backwards. “Please,” she whispered. “I really need this job. I promise I will do it well. I won’t disappoint you.”

Malcolm stared at her for a while, looking down at her with a frown. “Fine,” he huffed, “but only because I haven’t being able to find a suitable person for the person.”

A wide smile lit up her face. “Oh, thank you!” she squealed, unable to hide her happiness.

Malcolm stepped aside for her to come in before slamming the door close. As soon as Natasha walked in, she stopped in her tracks. Finally in a calm state of mind to admire the beauty of the house, her eyes wandered round the bright living room in awe. “Can I just say that your house looks so lovely,” she said to him.

“Come with me,” Malcolm replied as he walked ahead of her, ignoring the compliment. Natasha quickly followed him and they both walked into his study room. She closed the door and watched as Malcolm settled into the seat behind the chair.

“Sit,” he ordered her and she slowly sliped into the seat across Malcolm.

“Usually, I conduct interviews like this together with my friend. But you came late,” he said shooting her a glare, “and Brian isn’t here. So, let’s just start.”

Natasha nodded her head, folding her arms together in nervousness.

He opened the drawer and pulled out a file. He fliped the file open, tracing the words in them with his eyes. “In your form you said you are twenty three?”

“Yeah. Soon to be twenty four.”

“I see. Do you have any formal experience with kids? Have you ever babysat a child before?”

A sad expression clouds Natasha’s face. “No, no, not really.”

He sighed and closed the file. “I’m sorry but I’ll like to employ someone with even a little experience.”

“I know I don’t have experience but I can be good at this!” Natasha said, in desperation. “Please. I'll learn! I'm very young and kids like me!”

Malcolm fought back a smile at the last sentence. “Are you married?”

Natasha stiffened. “I’m sure it states in my file that I’m not,” she replies, her voice growing cold.

“Boyfriend?”

“How is that important?” she suddenly snapped

Malcolm glared at her. “Miss Davies, if you are going to work here, one thing you should remember is to always watch your time when you speak to me,” he said to her in a cold and icy tone.

Natasha's frown dissolved into a bright smile. “So you are going to give me the job?! Oh my God, thanks!”

“Wait, what?” Malcolm stared at her confused. Wasn’t she just frowning and glaring at him now? “Give you a the job? What? No!” He snapped. “I said 'if'!”

“Oh,” Natasha’s shoulders dropped. “Alright.”

“Miss Davies, you can go now. I’ll contact you…..” His words were cut short by the ringing of his phone. He picked it up and swipes the answer icon. “Hello.” The shrieking sound of his secretary voice made him cringe and he pulled the phone away from his ear for a second before putting it back. “Hailey! Will you calm the fuck down?!” he hissed in annoyance.

Natasha watched as the expression on his face changed to one of alarm. His face slowly formed into a frown and his grip on the phone tightened. “I’ll be there in a minute,” he said, his voice coming out gruffly before putting his phone down.

“Is there a problem?” Natasha asked, softly and kindly.

“Not your business. You are in luck. I have to attend to business right now. I’ll let you stay behind and look free the kids together with Evelyn. It’s just a……”

“Who is Evelyn?” Natasha interrupted.

“My cook. It’s temporary, just for today. Your performance at the end of the day will determine if I’ll employ you or not.”

Natasha nodded her head enthusiastically, relieved and excited. “Of course. I promise not to disappoint you!” She said, beaming. “So, where are the angels I’m supposed to take care of?”

Malcolm nearly chuckled at the mention the of the word, 'angel'. His kids were no angel. He knew them well enough to be aware that they were the devil’s spawns themselves. This young woman was in for a shock. He stood. “Come with me.”

Together, they headed out of his study towards the living room. They climbed up the stairs and headed towards the children’s play room. Malcolm pushed the door open and together they came face to face with what Natasha would later describe as a “shocking disaster.”

The arm chairs were overturned, toys were littered across the floor (some were even broken), the pieces of white cotton that were supposed to be stuffed inside a teddy were strewn across the floor. Natasha’s eyes darted to the far corner of the room and she saw a boy and a girl still buy tearing apart more teddies and scattering the pieces of the white cotton around.

Malcom cleared his throat, attracting the attention of the two children. The duo snapped their eyes towards their father and immediately pushed the teddy far away from them.

“Daddy!” Alexandra, Malcolm’s daughter, squealed, running as fast as her little legs can carry her, with her brother trailing behind her. She jumped into her father’s arm.

Malcolm staggered backward, holding into her firmly. He feigned a groan. “Alexa, how many times have I told you that you are becoming too big to be carried about?” he asked and she giggled. Malcolm bended low and picked Alexander up. He kissed both of their foreheads before lowering them down. “So, can someone tell me what happened here?”

Alexander and Alexandra both shared a guilty look. Then, Alexa pointed at her brother quickly. “It’s Alex!” she exclaimed.

“No!” Alex protested. “It's Alexa!”

Alexa glared at him. “Liar!”

“That’s okay,” Malcom pacified. “I saw you both,” he said, giving them a knowing look. Alexa smiles sheepishly while Alex continued glaring at his sister. “Anyway, this is your new nanny. Her name is Natasha.”

Alex trailed his gaze towards Natasha and gives her a half-smile while Alexa just frowns at her.

Natasha smiles at the both of them, assessing them with her eyes. They looked really cute and innocent but with the amount of damage they had done to this place, she was starting to think they were anything but innocent.

Malcolm squatted to their level and pulled them close. “I have to go to the office now. I’ll be back before dinner,” he said, hugging the both of them. “Now, be good and don’t be mean to your new nanny, okay?” he instructed. Alex nodded his head but Alexa just stared at him blankly. He ruffled Alex's hair, kissed Alexa's cheek and rose to his feet. He turned to Natasha. “I think you should start with clearing this place up,” he said stiffly. “Remember, you mess this up and that’s all for you.”

Natasha nodded. “I promise not to mess up.”

“Good. I don’t want to tell you how to do your job but I think you should start from cleaning this place first,” he stated and walked out before she can reply.

 Natasha watched as he closed the door, then closed her eyes and breathed in relief. When she opened her eyes, she saw Alex and Alexa staring at her curiously. She smiled. “Hey kids. I’m Natasha,” she said in the most kind and gentle tone that she could muster. She crouched so was on a eye-level with them. “What’s your name?” she asked softly.

“Alex,” the boy said, staring at her face with a smile. Natasha can’t help but be enthralled by his beautiful smile and the twinkle in his small eyes.

“And what’s your name?” She asked the blonde haired girl.

Alexa stared at her and stubbornly folded her arms. She looked into Natasha’s eyes, defiance written all over her face and her stance.

Natasha stared at her, a little bit surprised. There was something about Alexa’s look and defiant stance that reminded her of Nicole. She chuckled at the thought. “Well,” she said, clapping her hands. “You sure made a lot of mess here,” she observed.

“So?” Alexa asked, rudely.

“So, we have to clear it up. Who wants to help?” Natasha asked, clapping her hands together in excitement.

“Me!” Alex exclaimed.

“Well, little buddy, we are going to have lots of fun together!” Natasha said, ruffling his brown hair. He giggled at the act. “Come on, how about we start by picking up all these cotton?” she asked and he nodded.

Alexa stared at the both of them, a frown on her young face. She decided to sit on the floor, her arms still folded.

Natasha glanced at her as she picked up the pieces of cotton on the floor and shook her head. She wasn’t expecting any of the kids to be as stubborn as Alexa was proving to be. But, that’s okay.

At least, one seemed to like her.