Babysitting Mr Powers' Daughter

A freak

GRACE

“I finally have your time.”

I narrowed my eyes at Mr. Powers’s sturdy figure which was dressed casually, the fact that he went out dressed that way making it more surprising.

As he settled on the couch opposite us, I felt like a little girl that was about to be scolded, especially with the way he was staring hard at both Ruby and me.

It has been two days since Ruby’s little prank- which she has refused to tell how she did it- and since Mr. Powers’s accusation of me.

And it has been almost two nights since the... encounter.

I was about leaving after my job for the day when Mr. Powers called me, saying that we needed to talk.

And now... he has not even said a word.

His eyes kept darting between me and Ruby who had her back leaned into the couch, with her elbow resting on the arm as she waited patiently for what was about to go down.

But on my side, impatience was growing and I checked my phone to that effect.

Mr. Powers must have noticed my little action, so he cleared his throat before saying, “Ruby will no longer be attending that ballet school.” Ruby and I shared a look, then shrugged. Mr. Powers’s face displayed slight surprise. “Did you hear me? Ruby will no longer be attending that school.”

It seemed he wanted to force out a particular reaction from us.

“I never liked the school anyway. They were not bothered with bullying me,” Ruby calmly replied. Her face had nothing but indifference written on it.

Now greatly surprised, Mr. Powers glanced my way and I nodded.

During one of our chats in the past two days, Ruby told me about the maltreatment. It was something that had been going on for almost four months and it was something she was afraid to tell anyone, not even Fiona.

So, when she filled me in, I was glad. A girl her age should not be experiencing things like that.

So, if she won’t be attending that school anymore, that’s a good thing. And if worse comes to worst, I will teach her myself, with the help of YouTube.

Mr. Powers was clearly still taken aback by the indifference oozing from his daughter. “Ruby. I am trying to say no more ballet classes for you.” She shrugged again. “Why on earth are you shrugging? I thought you liked ballet.”

“I only joined that class because you promised me before I joined the class that you... you will always be the one to take me there. And since you don’t have time for me I... I won’t go to ballet anymore.”

She got off the couch, bid me goodnight, and walked away.

Her father and I could not help but have shock on our faces as we watched her walk away. I especially was taken aback by her sudden change of mood. As she talked, I did not see the ever-smiling Ruby I saw a more serious, sort of angry girl.

I felt Mr. Powers’ gaze fall on me, so I tore my eyes from Ruby and faced him.

“What was that?” he asked, his eyes squinted.

“Well, Mr. Powers, she is angry at you.”

He pointed a finger at me. “Did you put her up to this?”

My eyes widened in perplexity which was on the verge of becoming angry. Why on earth does he try to blame s**t on me?

“No. You did this to her.”

Time to put Mr. Sexy in his position.

“I did what to her?” he asked calmly as he sat back, a look of interest on his face.

I adjusted my position and squared my shoulders. It felt as though I was abo to talk to him about some business.

“Sir, all Ruby wants from you is a part of your time. She just wants to spend time with you, father to daughter. She doesn’t like the fact that all she ever gets from you is a greeting and nothing else. Even if it is just ten minutes that you can spare after you get back from work, she would love to have you around.”

He nodded slowly. “I see. Ruby told you all that?”

“Yeah, she did. She actually pulled that prank to get your attention.”

“So you did know about it. You are such a ...”

“Liar? Oh, come on!” I exclaimed. “Stop blaming me for the results you get for not being around for your daughter. That is not fair.” I rolled my eyes and looked away. A sharp breath followed and I said, “And I did not start any f*****g fire. That b***h of a teacher might have done this to me,” I looked back at his stern face as I pointed to my forehead, “but I did not start the f*****g fire.”

His eyes intently studied me for a while before he nodded and got to his feet.

“Very well then. I’ll consider your advice even if it won’t be easy for me.” I frowned. What does he mean by that? “I guess this is goodnight, Miss Sands. And uh... the other night...”

I cut him short. “I didn’t see shit.”

“Very well. See you tomorrow.”

His eyes had turned their intensity to the max and he used that gaze to scan my existence. This time, he made sure I knew that he was scanning my full body. But before I could question his gaze, he walked away.

Okay, what the heck was that?

Alright, hormones. Hold it right there. That was nothing. He was just looking at me as a normal human should. And that’s that about that.

It finally dawned on me that I had finally spoken to Ruby’s father about one of Ruby’s needs and I released a huge breath of relief to that effect.

I was worried that things would take a terrible turn but it wasn’t bad at the end of the day. Well, that’s if I choose to ignore the fact that he found it easy to throw the blame on me.

Before I could drown in my thoughts, I began to yearn for the comfort of my home. So I grabbed my bag and walked out of the penthouse, ordering an Uber ride as my strides advanced.

But when I entered the elevator, the scene I witnessed the other day flashed in my mind and I groaned in a way that I never knew I could.