Master of None

The Nanny

It had taken Anabelle about two minutes to adjust to her new job. She got paid more than she ever had and the perks were out of this world. Adjusting to her new boss, was an entirely different matter. 

He gave her a tablet and said it was now her own for both work and personal uses. It wasn’t a cheap one either, probably the most expensive on the market. It was already programmed with all the company’s most useful software. And tucked away in a folder labeled ‘GAMES’ was Excitebike.

Anabelle thought her job would be like a typical assistant - scheduling, travel, meetings, etc. But he actually already had software for it - a digital assistant he would shout commands at throughout the day. What he really needed, and what Anabelle really was, was a Nanny. 

Mr. Scott spent most of his time in his office, his REAL office. A small room tucked away in the corner next to the bathroom. It had no windows but was lit by two huge computer screens. He would get so wrapped up in work, he would forget to eat. Anabelle had to bring him his breakfast from the company cafeteria at 8:30 am and his lunch at 1:00 pm and she had to periodically remind him to finish his food otherwise he'd only eat half of it. 

Mr. Scott wasn't skinny, from what Anabelle could tell, he was fairly fit. She knew from his schedule he worked out every morning before coming into the office. But his meals were always pretty caloric - gourmet hamburgers, chicken with pasta, pancakes... She wondered if maybe he didn't eat dinner. Or he just had a great metabolism. 

In the mornings, before going into the office, she would receive texts and photos from him asking what tie he should pair with the suit he was wearing. In the evenings he would call and rehearse his notes with her the day before big meetings.

Anabelle's desk was in the same small room as Mr. Scott's. That's how she could tell when he ate his food or not. When she would remind him to eat, he would pause his programming and chat with her. He was talkative and told her lots of things about himself. He graduated from MIT where he was on the lacrosse team, videogames were his passion, and he had a secret identity as an indie game developer who created some of the most popular indie games in recent years. 

He also warned Anabelle that she couldn't tell anyone the things he told her as it was part of their non-disclosure agreement and that was why his last assistant had been fired. She began to leak information to the press about him. 

One day when she was clearing his lunch dishes he spoke like he was continuing a conversation they never had.

"So anyway, I need you to clear your schedule for tonight. I need your help with something."

Anabelle did have plans to watch the newest episode of their favorite sappy teen show tonight with her best friend Mara, but she could probably push it to the next day. 

"All right, what do you need help with?"

"I need help picking out a ring and planning how to propose to my girlfriend."

Anabelle stared at him, confused. In the month she had been working for him, she never heard him speak of a girlfriend. Never had anything on his schedule that even mentioned a girl. Reading her face, he responded-

"Her name is Olivia. She's been away in Europe the past two months for business. I call her every night right after I call you. I haven't mentioned her much because I thought you already knew about her from the news. Our 'dating announcement' was released just before she left. A ploy of mine to keep those sexy European men away from her." He smiled and winked at Anabelle. She laughed. 

"Well, I hope I can help. I may need to know a bit more about what Olivia likes in order to give the best advice."

He nodded and pulled a book out of his desk and handed it to her. She gasped at it. It was 'Lovely Life', an autobiography by Olivia Hammond - a world-renowned interior designer who had her own home makeover show on television. 

"Your girlfriend is Olivia Hammond? Why haven't I seen the news about this- I must not be paying attention." Anabelle laughed at herself, the news of a reality tv star and the heir to a billion-dollar company dating was new fodder. 

"Read that before the end of the workday and you'll have all you need to know about my soon-to-be fiance." Mr. Scott turned back to his computer and began glaring at the lines of code he had just typed.

Anabelle nodded and returned to her desk. The book was an easy enough read. Olivia seemed to have really taken life by the balls. Born and raised by a poor family in the country, she worked her way through college as a barista then landed a job as a display creator for a department store. She worked her way up the ranks at the store then got her role on the remodeling show when the owner of the department store became a TV producer. 

After the show became a hit, Olivia started to sell her own line of home decore in that same department store and her products could now be found everywhere. It was inspiring to read her story and Anabelle felt herself growing excited at the prospect of meeting Olivia Hammond. 

"So, what do you think?" Mr. Scott glanced at Anabelle when she set the book down.

"She sounds amazing. Is she as cool in real life as she makes herself sound?"

"She even better." He smiled and Anabelle stifled a gasp at the adoration she saw in his eyes. With a twinge, she hoped that someday, someone would look like that when talking about her.