Alan Walker (ManxMan)

Chapter Five

January 2017

25 years old Alan

There's a saying that nothing is hidden under the sun and that's what is scaring Alan because what if, just what if, the sun isn't just the red hot burning one in the sky but little Ryker and his dad. If they can see through his mask, how many others can too?

It's three am and there's no one awake. It's been two weeks since Alan began working for Dominic Reisz, a man who has too much money to know what to do with it. Little Ryker has been a ball of sunshine even though he sometimes makes Alan want to pull his hair. Over the last couple of weeks, Alan has learnt that there are some days where he has to straighten Ryker's hair because the curls were unruly and just couldn't be styled, Alan also learnt that Ryker was a truly quiet kid with a big love for SpongeBob and Regular Show but sometimes his favorite activity was playing hide and seek without informing anyone. It had caused Alan to have mini heart attacks during his first week there.

Mitchell on the other hand remained a bit of a mystery but one thing Alan is sure of is that the teenager adores his little brother. It is seen with every bag of Haribo, starbursts and other sugary stuff he brings that Mitchell buys for Ryker on his way back from school, in the way he gets up at night to check on Ryker and adjusts the little boy's duvet.

Yes, Alan knows these things but here's the thing. None of the Reisz boys really knew anything about Alan.

It took Alan two weeks to pick up a routine. Get up by five, shower and be ready by five thirty, prepare his small breakfast of bread and boiled egg, he'd finish eating quickly and then made another batch of freshly made toast, eggs and bacons for Dominic, who comes down at six am sharp, never late and never too early. By six thirty, Alan wakes little Ryker and makes sure the younger one was brushing his teeth before he goes to wake Mitchell by knocking really loudly on the door, since he's not allowed in. And it works, since Mitchell is a light sleeper, knocking loudly and yelling his name does the trick (thank you, Lili) and since Ryker has a lot of quiet energy, bathing for him was fun, fast and not something most people would be used to, but Alan isn't most people. He's been babysitting for years and he's got it down to a science. If there's an award for the best of the best nanny, Alan would take first place every single time.

By five Alan shuffles out of bed, he pauses Legends of Tomorrow and tucks his legs into his slippers before making his way to the bathroom. He showers and shaves and comes out twenty minutes later feeling a bit lighter. He quickly checks his phone for the weather update, then he pulls on a thick grey turtle neck sweater and sky blue skinny jeans, he walks to the mirror and stares at his reflection, the light flooding from the bathroom helping a bit. His cheeks had sunk in more, his eyes looked dull and the tips of his ears were red and so was his nose. Not wanting to look at himself anymore, he decides it's time to begin the morning.

He quickly checks in on Ryker, making sure the boy was asleep before going down. He switched on the lights as he continued on his way, making the house come to life. The kitchen was cold, so cold it sent a shiver down his back. Alan plugs in the kettle, pulls out a frying pan and heads for the fridge. He pulls out eggs, milk and a bag of chopped vegetables.

One of the things that Alan has learnt about kids over the years is that they do eat their vegetables but the trick is to dice it really small and pour it into the eggs. Alan makes his food first, a boiled egg and three slices of bread which he pressed down with a mug of hot black coffee, no sugar. By five-fifty, he began to make another batch, he fried three eggs with diced green pepper in it, he made toast and fried four slices of bacon, when he was done, he slowly arranged everything into a tray on the kitchen counter. It didn't take long for Alan to hear familiar loud steps and he didn't need to turn back to know who had entered the kitchen, so instead he focuses on washing the pan.

"Morning, Alan."

"Morning to you, sir. How was your night?" Alan asked.

"It was good, thank you." Dominic said as he takes his seat on the stool. He stared at the food in front of him and smiles, it smelt heavily and he's sure it would taste wonderful like Alan's cooking always was. It was something he learned during the man's first week here. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he sees a thin hand push a cup of tea towards the tray, he looks up, about to compliment but instead his words flew out of his mouth and into air the moment Dominic's eyes met Alan's.

My, my. Alan's eyes were so wide and so blue and like Dominic has come to find out, so sad but they were still beautiful, still breathtaking that it made Dominic want to reach out and touch. Alan couldn't move, he stood still, his eyes still on Dominic's gold ones and Alan finds himself thinking about why this man always looks at him like that. Alan finds himself thinking about why this man always makes him feel both excited and scared at the same time.

Dominic was the first to look away, he cleared his throat and smiled softly before going back to his food. As Dominic picks up a bacon strip, Alan excuses himself. He goes up the stairs and made a beeline for Ryker's room. He quietly pushes Ryker's door open and he smiles softly when he sees Ryker asleep with a thumb in his mouth and bum in the air. Alan makes his way to the bed and sits beside Ryker, he slides his hand under Ryker's knees and slides it backwards until the little boy was now lying down flat on his tummy, his curly hair scattered around like a little halo. He leans down and places a kiss on Ryker's cheeks and whispers in his ear.

"Get up, little one."

No response.

Alan proceeded to turn Ryker until he was lying down on his back. He slides a hand over the little boy's stomach, all the way to his sides and begins to tickle him until the little boy began to squirm and kick until he blinked his eyes open, his lips forming a pout.

"Morning Lanny."

"Morning, little one." Alan coos, pulling Ryker closer to him until the little boy was on his lap and pushing his face into Alan's neck. "You have to get ready, your dad is waiting for you downstairs." Alan tells the little boy who sat straighter, his eyes shining.

"Really?"

"Really really. So go and brush your teeth and get ready for your bath, alright?"

Ryker nods, his curls flying. "Carry me, Lanny."

"Anything for you."

By seven, Alan sits on the far end of the kitchen counter as he watches Dominic and his sons. It's unlike anything he's ever seen before. Alan didn't know what he was expecting when he first laid eyes on Dominic Reisz but he was not expecting him to be this...soft, playful and in short, an amazing dad. The man makes sure he's awake before his kids, checks on them before coming to the kitchen to eat by six in the morning, he plays with Ryker and helps Mitchell with whatever is in the little black leather book the boy carries around, they laugh and joke and sometimes even watch Pink Panther and Pals with Ryker whenever the little boy was in the mood, he takes them to school personally and makes his secretary or his driver, Pablo, swap cars later, he also makes sure he's home in time for dinner and cuddles with Mitchell while Ryker lays down on their thighs. It's a sight that well, Alan hasn't seen with millionaires.

One time, he babysat for a millionaire couple, a doctor and a programmer. Neither of them were always home and if one was they either ignored their little girl or just hand her one of their many credit cards when she asked one of them to play with her. What would an eight-year-old do with an credit card?

So this was another level entirely. Alan watches from the door as the kids slammed the door to the Jeep shut and he absentmindedly waved, a small smile playing on his lips. When Alan realizes what he was doing his smile dropped and so did his hand, he bit his bottom lip and walked back into the house. He makes his way to the closet located down the hall and grabbed the two vacuum cleaners and a duster that he needed and proceeded to clean the house. He cleaned the entire first floor and then the second before making his way to the last floor.

The last floor was spacious and almost felt like a penthouse suite. It was separated by huge wooden doors, and had windows were huge but not floor length, the entire floor was like an open floor plan with pastel green carpet and sofas, there was a bed in the middle and to the left separated by a glass wall was a study, three shelves of books aligned side by side on the wall with a ladder by its side, a large mahogany table and the latest apple computer was arranged and set up on it and on the right were two locked doors, one leading to the bathroom and the other to the walk in closet that Dominic owned.

Alan began to wipe and clean and vacuum but his movement began to slow down after half an hour, his eyes began to droop. Dominic shut the car and quickly walks into the house, upon entering he sees how clean it is and makes a mental note to compliment Alan on his good work. He takes the stairs two by two until he was at his floor, he pushed open the doors and walks in, ready to find the flash drive that he had forgotten. He, however, stops in his tracks when he sees Alan pushing the vacuum under the bed, he watches the way Alan's body moved slowly and gracefully, he stares at the man's wrists and his ankles, taking in how small they were.

Dominic stood and watched, he took a step forward when he sees Alan fall forward a little before he caught himself. Dominic watched carefully, taking in Alan's movement, noticing how much slower they had become and before he could blink, the vacuum handle fell from Alan's hands as the man's eyes closed and body gave in to fatigue.

Dominic rushed towards Alan who had collapsed on the bed, his heart pounding twice its normal amount. He presses two fingers against Alan's neck to check for a pulse because to say he was alarmed and worried would be a f*****g understatement. He lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding when he feels the thump against his fingers and sits on the bed, another grateful sigh leaving his lips. He took another deep breath, trying to calm his heart before turning to the man who was asleep and now that Alan wasn't moving, Dominic could really take a good look at him. At his hair that was as dark as the night sky after rain, at the little eye bags that were underneath Alan's eyes, at a set of perfectly crafted bow lips, at a slender body and a tad bit curvy waist and to Dominic, saying Alan was gorgeous would not be accurate because the man asleep in front of him was the true definition of beauty.