Unlikely

Chapter 4

Mila POV

Spending sometime on my phone the previous night I had tried to get a grip on polo, but to my own frustration I didn’t understand most of it, I at least knew that the objective is to hit the ball while on horse back. I tried focusing on Alexis trying to show her that I care, but not understanding the sport had put a damper on it, if somebody that actually knew the sport was with me it could have been a lot easier, so instead I’m devoting my attention to the blonde little angel that is with me. Ava is certainly the easiest of the three kids, she is joyful and it might have to do with the fact that she is the only one to actually accept me in her life.

To past the time I have been playing with Ava, tickling her spinning her around and playing various of hand clapping games, most of which Ava is only learning now, It is a sad fact that Ava is mature for her age as she is surrounded with adult mostly and not adults that know how to play, hearing her whimsical giggles made my heart swell.

“Hi.” I looked up at Alexis couch, standing in front of me, I took a quick look around to see the team was taking a break. I don’t know why he is talking to me. I just hope that I didn’t miss something while my attention was on Ava. That would only set me back even further with Alexis.

“Hi.” I greeted him back with a familiar friendly smile playing out across my face. I want to be friendly because I’m going to be seeing a lot of him while working for the family, but I don’t want to be so friendly that the kids spin it as something else in an attempt to get me fired. Since it is one of the rules that can cause my termination.

“Are you enjoying the polo training? Isn’t Alexis good?” It was a loaded question. Yes I do seem to enjoy the sport, but not understanding makes it a no and as far as I can tell Alexis is very good, but with my limited knowledge I have nothing to compare it too.

“It’s something I’ve never experienced before and Alexis dedicated her whole life to being a polo player.” Two very ambiguous answers ones that have double meaning, but according to the conversation it seems to sound good, when in doubt being ambiguous is a shield you want to carry for protection.

“How are you related to Alexis?” It doesn’t really seem like he was all that interested in my answers, just small talk to get to what he really wants to know, once again it is a hard question, especially after the fit Alexis had thrown about me watching her practice. Apparently the previous nanny didn’t follow the schedule completely which is why she was fired. I want to show my support to the kids, they need to see someone is in their corner. Sebastian obviously try, but as far as I can tell that brooding behavior of his is what is rubbing of on them.

“I’m a family friend. I’m staying with them while I’m in town.” It’s just then that Alexis showed up, the look of astonishment on her face, she clearly came over in attempt to rescue her pitiful nanny from embarrassing her, but instead I had made sure not to mention that she was a seventeen year old girl with a nanny. I took the relieved looked that followed as a good sign, a sign that even against Alexis will, I was earning some brownie points.

“Great, how long are you in town for, maybe we could go out sometime?” Alexis went from relieved to furious in seconds and the glare she was giving could melt skin. It’s not like I tried to get his attention. I wasn’t even paying attention. I was playing with Ava. He was the one to approach me.

“She has a boyfriend! You know what why don’t you go and check up on my brother. It’s not like you were interested in me playing anyway, you were only interested in playing with Ava, I saw you.” Alexis stormed off without giving me a chance to explain or offer a sorry. Not wanting to anger her anymore I grabbed Ava’s bag and walked towards the tennis courts, at least this will be easier to follow, I played tennis in school for a short while. I understand the basics and enjoyed it, it was my lack in hand and eye coordination that prevented me in attempting to stick with it longer. 

I walked over to the tennis court and looked for Matthew. I couldn’t see him and everyone was busy so I sat down on the bleachers and decided to wait. He probably went to the bathroom or something. I got busy with Ava. She was a bit fussy from having to sit around waiting for her siblings to finish up. I wonder if Sebastian will have Ava join the swim team,because then she can practice here at the club. It was a rude thought, but it does feel like he just pushes the kids in certain activities to keep them at one place. I shouldn’t have thought it maybe Alexis really like polo and Matthew enjoys tennis. Or maybe he just wants to keep them busy away from the house so that he doesn’t have to deal with them. I was shocked at my train of thought. I know he is a good father and he wants the best for them. He does try to be there for them, like being at dinner every night and tucking Ava in, but I’m so use to more. The parents I’ve worked for before was very involved, but I’ve never worked for a divorced couple it is a different scenario and I can’t judge him on my previous experiences. I can’t be so close minded. Playing with Ava made the time go by so fast. Before I knew someone cleared their throat. I looked up to see Matthews tennis coach.

"Are you waiting to speak to me? You're Matthews nanny right?" The guy standing in front of me asked. Why he would think I wanted to talk to him escaped me.

"No I'm just waiting for Matthew. Do you know where he went?" I asked him while packing up Ava's toys. I'll have to disinfect them when we go home since she likes putting them in her mouth and these bleachers aren't exactly clean.

"Matthew didn't have practice today. His father emailed me that he wouldn't be attending today." My head shot up from Ava's bag.

"I don't know anything about that. I dropped him here for his lesson." I dropped him right here at the tennis court before I took Alexis to the polo field. He had his tennis racket and everything. I’m sure Sebastian would have let me know.

"His father must have come and picked him up. You guys need to communicate better." I felt the judgement role over me. Then the guilt hit me. It was my job to look after these kids and now I don’t know where the one is. The guy turned around and walked away. I took out my phone and dialed Sebastian’s number. I felt nervous and hesitant about this phone call. One of the rules that I had to follow was that they always need to attend their lessons. He made a point in the contract to tell me how good Matthew was at tennis. It isn’t my fault though the coach said that he received an email from Sebastian.

“Brooke?” Dammit I was spacing.

“Sorry. I was just calling to confirm that Matthew is with you?” I asked him, but deep inside I knew that Matthew wasn’t with him and I have screwed up. I don’t know how I have screwed up so early into working with them, but it seems like I have.

“What do you mean, you want to hear if Matthew is with me?”

Sebastian POV

I was sitting in my home office with a massive headache having just gotten of the phone with my ex wife. We use to be so in love. That changed after Matthew. She let the money get to her. She wasn’t from a wealthy family like me. She wasn’t use to it and the more successful I got the more money we had and the more she bought into it. After Matthew we had more money than anyone could ever need. She spend it like she was trying to use it all up, but when it came to giving the money away she was stingy. It was ridiculous how little she cared for charity, but how much she was able to give to clothing shops. I turned a blind eye to it all even though I knew I should have stopped her then when it was still just about spending. After that she turned to cosmetic surgery. She wasn’t happy with herself anymore. She blamed me. The money attracted young women, gold diggers. I never paid them any attention, but she was sure she would loose me and at that time I wasn’t sure if she was actually worried about loosing me or loosing the money.

I always only had eyes for her. We were high school sweetheart. My family didn’t understand why I chose her when I could have anyone else. My family called it a true rags to riches. They warmed up to her eventually. We went to couple counseling after I canceled her cards right before she could under go another procedure. She wouldn’t go for counseling by herself, so I suggested couple counseling to work on her insecurities. Things were getting better, we were better. That’s when she got pregnant with Ava. All her insecurities came back worse than ever. It was apparently common for pregnant women to feel insecure due the changes in their bodies, but she wasn’t like that with Alexis or Matthew. Those insecurities turned to hate, she didn’t want to be pregnant and I had to stop her from aborting the baby. It was a very difficult process.

The courts don’t protect the fathers right when it comes to abortion. They are afraid if they give the father the right to stop a women from getting abortion that same law can help fathers force women to get an abortion. I fought really hard out of court with mediators. In the end we came to the agreement that we will get a divorce as soon as she has given birth and in return I would pay for any surgeries she needed to get her body back to the way she wanted it. She also fought against our prenup. She knew that the way our marriage ended she wouldn’t be getting much money, so she threatened to take the kids from me and then I’d have to pay child support. I knew if we truly went to the courts I’d be able to win custody, but I didn’t want to put the kids through that. It was only money and it answered my question of if she wanted me or the money. We set up a contract that said I would pay her monthly expenses. Which included her rent, groceries, medical aid, car and gas, electrical and water bill. She also get’s an allowance of 10 000 dollars to do with as she wishes.

With all those perks she also had to get her fair share of responsibility. I made sure that she also moved to California and she needs to see the kids on Saturdays for a couple of hours. She can’t just have them at her home, she needs to do something fun with them - that I will pay for. I didn’t want the kids to know that she abandoned them for money. I want them to think that she fought for them. Alexis was really close to her so I didn’t want that bond to be broken, but most of all I wanted Ava to still have a mother. I never want her to know that her mother tried to kill her and never wanted her. My phone rang stopping me from my thoughts. I just hoped that it wasn’t her again. She wanted more money. It’s not like I don’t have enough money, but she gets her fair share, she doesn’t need more than I give her. She is just being greedy.

“Hello, Sebastian speaking.” I answered my phone, but there was no answer. I looked at the screen and saw Brooke’s name on the screen.

“Brooke?” I asked after just hearing silence on the other end of the line.

“Sorry. I was just calling to confirm that Matthew is with you?” It was the last thing I expected her to say. I didn’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this.

“What do you mean, you want to hear if Matthew is with me?” I felt the anger and worry bubble up in me. She is telling me that she doesn’t know where my son is. She has only been doing this for two days, how can someone mess up this bad so fast.

“I dropped him at his tennis lesson, by when I came to pick him up his coach said you emailed him and canceled the lesson.” Damn, Matthew was at it again. He has walked out on his lessons before telling them that I told him to cancel. Which is when I started emailing them. I told them to only follow the confirmed schedule that I send out every week. He must have hacked my email.

“He isn’t with me. It’s your responsibility to keep track of them. You have an hour to find him and bring him home. If you don’t you are fired.” I ended the call. I need to be strict with her. I can’t have those green eyes melt my heart. It’s easier on the phone though. I knew it was a mistake to hire her. She is to young and she a walking temptation. I quickly texted Matthew to hear is he is okay and that something serious didn’t happen to him. He texted back a thumbs up emoji.