A nanny for Mia

Chapter 4

Audrey was in his office, going through emails. He was sitting on a swivel chair behind the large desk, scrolling through the monitor on the desk. He ran through the emails trying to catch up with time. He had a business trip to catch that same day, so he had to close off early and head home.

He had less than three hours till his driver arrived, so he hastily skimmed through the emails.

His phone beeped. He tried to ignore it, but on second thought he opened the message. He stared at his phone screen for a long seconds in awe of the message.

"s**t…!" He screamed under his voice and jerked off his chair. He paced in front of the glass wall in his thirteenth-floor office. The glass walls provided a good view of the city in the mid-day.

Audrey continued to pace to and fro his office restlessly, as he stared at the miserable photo of his lawyer under hostage.

At that point, Audrey thought of his daughter's safety. For goodness sake, he can't risk leaving his daughter all by herself, while he travelled to France for a business trip. He never knew what his psychopath ex-wife, Pamela, would do next.

Audrey's phone began to ring. He picked up the call and kept silent. " Audrey, honey…" came Pamela's voice.

" What do you want? " Audrey asked.

" Awww… you haven't changed one bit. Still the caring, loving man, I know. I miss you honey, and I know you miss me…"

"What do you want bit*h?" Audrey asked angrily, he was running out of patience.

" Oohh, he's angry… The lion doth roar." She laughed mischievously.

"Sorry…. I got your lawyer right here in my s**t hole and he ain't going nowhere till he does as I say."

" How much do you need?" Audrey asked.

" Ummmm, I don't think I need your money for now… just wanna say hi. Bye, honey…" she hanged the call.

Audrey stared at his phone in frustration. "s**t…!s**t…!" he threw his fist into the air in a punch. Immediately his secretary rushed in on the account of his screaming.

" Is everything alright sir?"

"I'm fine Miss. Grace… get my ride ready, I need to get home urgently."

" But…"

" No but, Miss Grace." Audrey cut her off. When she turned around to leave, Audrey stopped her halfway. He said. " One more thing. My daughter and her nanny are joining us on this trip." Grace opened her mouth to protest against his decision, but Audrey shot her a daring look. She instantly swallowed her words involuntarily.

Audrey got home, an hour later that afternoon. He found Zoe and Mia playing on the lawn. He stood there for a very long minute, grateful that nothing bad had happened to his daughter. He watched how happy she had become - Mia squealing as she ran around the lawn, while Zoe chased her.

After a long moment of watching, Audrey disrupted their play by announcing his presence. He cleared his throat, which got Zoe glued to a point. She refused to look in his direction.

Since that fateful night they shared a kiss at Audrey's study, Zoe had reformed to avoiding Audrey by all means. She made sure, she put Mia to bed early enough before Audrey returned from work and Audrey on his part pretended not to have noticed the way she avoided him.

"Dadddyyyy" Mia shouted joyfully as she ran off to hug her father. Audrey lifted her into his arms," how is daddy's little princess doing today?"

"Daddy you are back so early?... I and Miss Zoe were playing catch… Do you mind joining us?" Mia asked in anticipation.

"Not today princess…Daddy is going on a business trip and guess what? You are coming along."

"Daddy what about Miss Zoe...is she coming along too ?" Mia asked.

" of course, she is… " he moved toward Zoe.

" I know you have been angry at me over what happened at the study the other night... I promise not to do such a thing again unless you want me to." Mia walked up to him.

" Daddy, are you and Miss Zoe fighting?"

" No princess… just seeking Miss Zoe's forgiveness," Audrey replied.

" Over what?" Mia asked.

" It's nothing serious darling…" Zoe finally broke her silence and gave Mia a reassuring smile. She looked at Audrey acknowledging his apology.

Audrey resumed his discussion of their trip. "The driver will be here in the next few minutes to take us to the airport…. No need to pack. Our trip will last just three days… you can get whatever you want, once we arrive in France."