Eight

Anya sat next to me on the beige sofa, large eyes fixed on me, sitting a little too close for comfort. Now you must be thinking- go on, Jules! This is the perfect opportunity for you to bond with the kid and try to make the most out of this job you're not so fond of by growing and maturing and learning new things!

First of all, don't tell me what to do. Second, I already have the perfect strategy to survive this ongoing predicament.

I ignored her obviously, mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram. Toby and Vincent were off in the kitchen, preparing supper as Vincent so eloquently put it. It was just lunch for me, yes I have lunch at like five p.m., sue me.

She scooched even closer, still staring up at me. I really wondered - what is it with kids and invading private space?

"What do you want?" I asked exasperatedly.

"Are you gonna sleepover here from now on?"

"No shit, what gave it away?" Wait... I'm not supposed to swear in front of kids right? Is shit even a swear word?

"So we're gonna have, like, slumber parties everyday, right?"

"Yes, of course I'll have slumber parties. Alone, in my room, where I'll sleep. Alone."

"But... I've never had a slumber party before. I always wanted to... And I was gonna introduce you to my three unicorns and my platypus and my rabbit and my two cats and my teddy bear and I was going to invite you to this tea party with us-"

"I don't like tea." Lie. I love tea. "And I'm allergic to unicorns."

"All-er-jic? Do you mean you're scared?"

"No I'm- yes. Yes I'm scared. Terrified of them."

"Don't worry. I'll protect you," she said, putting her tiny hand on my arm in a "comforting" gesture. "Do you have games on your phone?"

"No. I don't have games." Unless you consider sudoku a game. It is my proud pleasure - the opposite of a guilty pleasure, that is - because only true intellectuals understand the true depth and complexity of sudoku and I happen to be quite good at it if I do say so myself.

"What about YouTube?"

"I don't have YouTube."

"Tiktok?"

"Definitely not." That one wasn't a lie.

"Instagram?"

"Never."

"But you're on Instagram right now."

"No I'm not."

"But you are."

Yeah, I didn't even bother replying after that, or she would never shut up. She sat silently for a few more seconds, swinging her legs on the couch. Thank God, she's finally shut up.

"I have a phone too, do you want to see it?"

"No."

"I'm gonna go get it!" And then she ran off. Jesus Christ, is this my life now?

I saw Vincent eyeing me from the kitchen with a soft smile, giving me a little thumbs up. Oh, he thinks we're getting along. Good for him, I guess. I took that as a cue to escape to the kitchen because I did not care for that particular conversation. I went to stand next to Vincent who was heating up a pan on the stove.

"What's cooking?"

"Just some steak. A special welcoming gift for you, but don't get used to it," he winked. "How do you like yours?"

"Medium . Do you have coffee?"

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"It gives the steak a little bit of a kick," I said, deciding to get my hands dirty and season it myself. He watched me curiously as I got to work on the steak, adding a bunch of different seasonings and thoroughly pressing it in on both sides.

"I was supposed to be be cooking for you today," he chuckled, "but clearly you're in your element here."

"Oh, I'm sorry to intrude. Should I-"

"No, not at all. Let's do it together."

"That's great, do I still need to be here?" Toby asked, sniffling.

"Jesus, Toby what are you doing?"

There were tears running down his flushed face and onto the unsymmetrically chopped onions he seemed to be struggling with.

"I... I just feel so sad for all the housewives that have to go through this everyday," he sniffled, wiping at his face before doing another painfully uncoordinated chop. "And house husbands of course."

"Julia, come look at my phone!" Anya ran into the kitchen with her weird aquarium toy phone thing. Oh Geez.

"Oh that's so cute, I haven't seen that thing since 2006. Toby, you're on timeout, go play with Anya. I've got it covered."

"Thank you," he dropped the knife instantly, leaving the kitchen. "Someone's gonna get attacked by the ONION MONSTER!" Anya screamed as he chased her into the living room with his hands outstretched.

"I'll get the onions," Vincent chuckled, taking Toby's place at the chopping board.

"What made you think getting his help was a good idea?"

"I just didn't want to work you on your very first day here."

"I don't mind," I smiled, "Cooking is very therapeutic to me." Much unlike babysitting, I'll presume.

"I hope I'm not ruining your therapy time then."

"Not at all. While I usually like working solo, I don't mind a companion ever now and again. As long as it's not Toby."

He laughed in agreement, glancing over the counter at Tobias, "Can't blame you for that. I must say, Anya is quite fond of you. She wouldn't shut up about you coming over all week."

"I wonder why," I muttered to myself, watching Toby chase her around much like the first day I saw her.

"You are very likable. I mean, I can't say she was the only one excited to have you around."

I pursed my lips, turning to him. "Really?"

"It's been a while since we've had any company in this house," he said wistfully, "I don't know if you believe in that stuff but you have this positive energy, you know? It hasn't been this lively around here for a while now."

"Oh," I pursed my lips, willing myself not to smile too hard because that was genuinely one of the nicest things I'd ever heard directed at me. "No, you're right... I feel it too. A good energy."

"Apart from this being a job or a place to stay, I really do hope you find a home here, Jules. You are family to my sister and you are family to me," he said as he made his way to the stove.

Is that a good thing? That's a good thing, right?

"W-Wait," I called out, making him pause and look at me. "The steak goes in before the onions."

He stepped back, grinning. "I'll take your word for it."

_

"And then the Prince swept her off her feet, and they rode off into the sunset on his mighty stead. The end."

I stood at the doorway, watching Vincent place a soft kiss to his asleep daughter's forehead. "Good night, angel."

I cleared my throat and he turned to me, bringing a finger to his lips in a quiet shhh.

"Sorry," I whispered back. With light footsteps, he made his way out of her room and quietly shut the door behind him.

"Sorry, she's a bit of a light sleeper. Did you need anything?"

"Yeah, uh, just wanted to ask you for the WiFi password."

"Oh, I completely forgot. Here, let me."

I handed him my phone and watched him intently as he fumbled with it. His long hair was now untied, falling over his face as if tempting me to just run my hand through his soft brown locks.

"Julias?"

"Huh? Oh," I stammered, taking my phone back from his outstretched hand. "Thanks."

He chuckled softly, seeming to have caught me staring. "What's on your mind?"

"Just... How do you get your hair to look so damn silky?" Might as well compliment him since I was caught anyway.

"I don't know, conditioner?" He chuckled, running a hand through his hair but that was useless since it just fell back to the same position again. "You have nice hair too. I've always wanted natural curls. I used to perm it back in the day."

He naturally reached a hand out and ran it through my wavy locks, letting them fall to one side. Oh that feels nice. Do that again please.

It would be nice if I didn't simp so hard over every hot totally out of my league guy I met.

I blushed, "Thank you. A-Anyway, I'm going to sleep. Do you need anything or...?"

"No, you tell me. Do you need anything? I left some extra-"

"Bedsheets in my closet, yes. And toiletries and towels in the cabinet. And Korean face masks in the drawer. You really left nothing to be desired."

He let out a breathy chuckle, "If you ever need anything else, please don't be shy to ask."

"Sure."

Just as I was about to turn around and get back to my room, he spoke up again. "Oh, one more thing. Did you... have any plans tomorrow?"

"Not particularly. Why?"

"Well... I was going to take Anya out for a stroll at the park. Would be nice if you joined us, we could have a chat and get to know each other better. Oh, and we could go to the market, if you'd like to pick out some ingredients yourself. And I promise I won't make you babysit on your day off."

I chewed on my bottom lip thoughtfully, finding myself unable to deny him when he smiled at me so hopefully.

"I don't mind."

"Great! I won't keep you any longer then, go and get some rest."

"Alright. Have a good night, Vince."

"Night night."

I felt his gaze on me as I made my way back to my room, smiling to myself. Even though it was my first night moving in, I already felt so comfortable. I jumped into my bed, moaning in delight at the feel of the soft mattress that sunk underneath my body weight.

Giddy, I curled into a fetal position, grabbing my phone and unthinkingly opening my contact list.

"Hm..." I hummed, absentmindedly running a hand through my hair much like Vincent did earlier.

Well, I guess it wouldn't really hurt...

No, what am I saying? Yes it would. As a matter of fact, that's the most likely outcome!

In the back of my mind, I was convinced that this was a very bad idea and most certainly was not going to end well.

And yet, I absentmindedly dialed that number, and patiently waited as it rang one time - two times - three-

"Hello?"

I pursed my lips, feeling my heart flutter in my chest at the rough, familiar voice that greeted me.

"Jules?"