Chapter Two

I go upstairs towards Marie's room, still not knowing exactly what to do, I open the door of her room and I find a girl with big green eyes staring at me. She seem scared and I decide to introduce myself.

-Hi Marie-effort a sweet voice-I'm your new babysitter ...

-What is your name? -He interrupts me.

-I'm Emma-I stop talking because I don't know what else to say to a four-year-old girl, some part of me tells me that maybe I'm not the best for the job.

-Are you friends with my mommy? -He says getting off the bed and approaching. I doubt what to say, that girl has barely known me for a minute and the best thing would be to say yes, that way she will feel safe. I nod and she smiles at me, as two dimples appear on her cheeks she extends her hand in greeting.

"Mommy says I should always greet people" I welcome her hand smiling at her.

"Well Marie, we have a whole morning and afternoon to do whatever you want," I say, feigning an animated tone. "What do you want to do?"

-Eat

I manage for an hour to make a decent breakfast for two, in my twenty-five years of life I had learned the basics of cooking, but never learned for young children. I make some eggs and toast and Marie starts eating right away while I bite into a piece, I haven't been able to swallow anything for a few days and now magically my stomach starts to rumble. I watch Marie eat quickly and my mind comes to a memory of other times, where everything seemed to be going well. My spirits drop immediately and I put the food aside. Yes, the past was better than the present Who am I kidding? I'm alive because of one of those strange coincidences in life, if it wasn't for that call, everything would be different, I was sure of it. I had tried to commit suicide and even in that I failed. What else should I expect?

I let go of those thoughts that had filled my mind in recent months, but I was right. Why continue? With what purpose? Everything was over for me, absolutely everything. The future presented itself to me in the same way, living my days surviving every hour of the clock, that's what I did, I was a survivor, only this time I didn't want to live.

-Can we watch TV? -Marie took my hand and took me out of my thoughts, I knew it was a time bomb, every minute that passed felt like a personal hell, living like this was no longer an option, it was an end. I nodded, took one of his hands and we went together to the next room, I remembered some parts of the huge residence but most of the rooms were unknown.

"Sit with me," says Marie . I hesitated but then I did, it felt strange to see cartoons with a girl, Marie was quiet and looked absorbed in the screen, instead I just dedicated myself to playing with my fingers and thinking, it was the best I could do. The pills are still waiting for me, they are still there, attentive to my mood and calling me seductively. I know the moment will come sooner or later, I'm just trying to postpone the inevitable.

We watch the screen for an hour until Marie decides to go out to the park a few blocks away. Should we go out? Anyway we go to the park and I let Marie play with other children while I see her sitting on a bench. It seems like a strange world, as if it did not belong to the people who watched the children attentively or the teenagers who laughed in the other benches. A feeling of loneliness seized me and I wanted to leave at that moment, I knew that I could not enjoy like other people, rather I was only sinking more and more. Marie had fun with her new friends, every now and then when she watched me and laughed and then ran around everywhere. Perhaps there was a reason why I was there, among all those people so alien and different from me.

Some women stared at me and I understood immediately. My appearance was not the common one, I had a long tattoo on my neck, it was a flaming red phoenix, my criminal face was added to it for having been almost a year in feminine prison a long time ago. Remembering my past frequently alarmed me, I had promised myself to remember only what was necessary, but in the last days flashes of some situations began to return to my head often. The question that now reigned in my head was why one of the most famous businesswomen in the country had decided that I should be her niece's nanny. My appearance gave away my past even though I wanted to hide it, Jeanne Nizzari must have known perfectly about my background and she had still hired me. But why? She could choose any other girl with a noble and unremarkable appearance, instead she had chosen an ex-con without any trace of sweetness on her face.

-Marie? -In that moment I realized that the girl was not there, I got up alarmed and began to walk around desperately.

! Damn! She was definitely the least suited for this job, she was distracted and often lost track of time. As I walked around a bench, I saw Marie sitting talking to a woman.

-! Marie! -I said relieved and approached her, the woman was an old person who looked at me strangely.

-Emma -he said happily-! Today I have made a lot of friends! Thank you for bringing me ... I had never left home ...

-What? I said incredulously and the older woman spoke for the first time.

-You must be the new nanny of the Nizzari-he analyzed me from head to toe -Is it your first day?

I nodded suspiciously and the woman smiled.

-Then you don't really know how things are here -he said getting up -I think it's better that you go back to the residence as soon as possible ...

-Why? -I said defensively.

The woman returned to a tired expression, as if it was obvious what she should do.

"This girl has never left those four walls," she said convinced, "the Nizzari are people who are never seen anywhere, it is dangerous for them ...

-Why? -I repeated incredulous.

"Do you live in another world?" She asked tiredly. "Natalia Nizzari, who I think is the mother of this girl," she pointed out to Marie, "is in prison serving a sentence for killing her husband, Senator Pablo Asca ... the murder had repercussions In the family, some even threatened to the Nizzari family, it was rumored that Natalia had gone mad and had killed the poor man in a moment of madness. Since then the family locked themselves in that tower they call home and no one has seen them for years, I only know about Jeanne Nizzari, she is the public face, the others I think have moved to other places ...

It was too much information to process. Murder? Threat? Some things did not fit in my head, Marie's mother was in jail? Apparently everything was different from what I imagined, that explained several things. The woman walked away to look at us for the last time and I took Marie by the hand, so it wasn't me they were looking at, it was the little girl, something told me that she wouldn't last long in this job. When we returned to the residence, the silence left me thinking, Jeanne Nizzari had lied to my face. But why? Why say your sister was away? Why hide information from me? My doubts assailed my head, Marie was exhausted and fell exhausted on the sofa to sleep, it was barely five in the afternoon.

Curiosity got the better of me and I began to search the internet about the Nizzari family, the latest news was about Natalia's conviction, ten years and one day, what caught my attention was that Jeanne was also charged in court, she was considered an accomplice but had absolute freedom because there was insufficient evidence. I kept looking for news and it seemed that the Nizzari family consisted of four siblings, Jeanne, Natalia and the other names did not come out to be classified. I came to another news story that talked about the murdered man, Pablo Asca, senator and beloved man of democracy, appeared in a big headline. Apparently the man was a well-known and loved public figure, the rest were gossip news that spoke of the madness of his wife Natalia.

I sat down to process all the information that had come to my mind until now. What place had I gotten myself into? That explained why Jeanne had hired me, she had no one else who wanted to do it, apparently she was the only person in the country who had no idea what was going on there. Somehow the fact of working for Jeanne didn't scare me, something about her was strange to me, I wanted to find out more about the matter and that's how I resolved it, I would begin to investigate Jeanne Nizzari on my own.

When the door opened it was after seven o'clock, Marie was watching television and I was trying to focus on the cartoons ahead, to no avail. Jeanne Nizzari appeared in the living room and smiled when she saw Marie, instead she gave me a murderous look and I knew I was in trouble.

"Emma, I need you to accompany me to my office," he said no more and I sighed crossing my fingers so that it was nothing bad. We went up to the second floor and I couldn't help but look at her rear, Jeanne Nizzari was not just a billionaire businesswoman, she was also a beautiful woman and I couldn't deny it.

When we arrived she closed the door behind me and I nervously grabbed my hands, Jeanne let go of her hair that until then had been in a ponytail and stood looking at me without saying anything. It was the second time that day that I felt uncomfortable at the gaze of that woman, she seemed attentive to my every movement and after a few seconds I realized that she was gripping my lower lip with my teeth, Jeanne had stopped at them for a moment. second and something in me stirred.

-I was informed that you have dated Marie -she began and her voice immediately took on a cold tone- I think I did not explain my points well or you were not attentive to my rules, I told you that Marie should not leave this house for the world. ..

It was true, at some point I had stopped listening to lose myself in her eyes, perhaps I should be more attentive. His authoritative tone made my skin prickle and I felt strange. Did that turn me on? I mentally denied and realized that Jeanne was waiting for an answer from me.

-I ... I'm sorry-I stuttered-forgive me ...

"If it wasn't because I only have you as a babysitter, I'd fired," she said seriously and I nodded, with this woman everything was possible. I lowered my head as a sign of performance and Jeanne cleared her throat, when I watched her she was looking at me without any impudence at every piece of my body. What was wrong with that woman? I had never blushed in my life, but this was the first time that my cheeks were stained red and I began to tumble in front of someone. Jeanne noticed how much her gaze did on me and returned to her cold expression, not before giving me one last look.

-You can go -he said turning his back to me- this will be the only thing that I will let you pass, another mistake and you will be fired.

I understood that as a goodbye and apologized once more before closing the door behind me. My breathing was agitated and my skin was still sensitive. What is my nervousness in front of that woman?

I said goodbye to Marie and returned my way home lost in thought. The pills were still there, but strangely something in me said they don't need them anymore. Today would be another sleepless night, but not because of my usual thoughts, now a blonde muse covered my mind, I knew that I would not sleep because of having Jeanne Nizzari in my head.