The Nanny

Chapter Twenty Five

"Alice will be looking after you," I told Imad.

"Are you going to leave me again?" He asked, the excitement on his face slowly fading.

"No no I am not going anywhere. Imad you know how much I love you..." I hugged him. How do you explain to a six year old that another nanny has to take care of him, because you can't be his official nanny because I am now his aunt. It's a complicated story, and that is why Mr Ahmed and I haven't told him yet that we are married. We were planning on telling him together. I honestly have no idea how he is going to react. 

"The teacher said we are closing school for three months. For summer holiday," Imad says enthusiastically.

"That's amazing. So have you wrote down the things you want to do? Places you want to go? Some place like a theme park," I said.

"Will you help me write down the list?" He asked.

"Of-course I will." 

"Alice!" Imad says and runs to her. I turn around to see a girl, wearing jeans and a crop top. Her brown hair tied in a messy bun. I walk over to them introduce myself.

"Layla." I look at her blankly, somehow still bothered  by the thought that she is partly the reason Imad got sick.

"Alice Carson," she says, and nervously smiles. "Mr Ahmed briefed me over the phone yesterday. I know you are married to him, and now you don't have to work anymore. You can count on me." I bit my lower lip anxiously and looked at Imad. Praying that he didn't hear what she said.

"Uncle Ahmed married Layla?" He asked, his eyes filled with joy and eagerness. I glanced at Alice who looked a bit uncomfortable,

"Uh how about we talk about this later when your uncle comes back home," I told him.

"Yay! Layla is going to live with me forever," he yelled running out of the kitchen. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I am sorry, I should not have said anything. I honestly thought that Imad knew," she spoke in a sincere tone.

"It's fine. Tell me more about yourself," I said, walking over to the round table. I sat down and gestured for her to sit on the chair. She sat down and began to speak.

"Well I am nineteen years old, born and raised in Boston. I moved here about a two years ago with my boyfriend, we got accepted in the same college. I dropped out of college to peruse my acting career, and my boyfriend broke up with me the same day. Full disclosure... I only became a nanny because of the cash. But I do have experience taking care of children, I took care of my little brother since he was born. Grew up with a single parent, my dad left us when my brother was born. My mum had to start working but she insisted that I go to school. She wanted me to have a normal childhood even with our living circumstances," she spoke in a low tone. I could tell it was difficult for her to tell her story. She paused after every three sentences.

"Piece of advice, don't give up on your dreams the path to success is not an easy road nor a short one. But if you believe in your self that's all you will ever need," I said to her. "Let's get something clear, when it comes to Imad's happiness and health it is very important and crucial to me and to his uncle. You will get to know him and see what a wonderful boy he is, his well being should be your number one priority. If anything feels off, even if it's the tiniest detail that doesn't feel right, you tell me. Do we have an understanding?" I spoke in a sombre manner.

"Yes we do," she replied.

"Okay great. I will text you his schedule, I'll need your number. If you can not make it on time or you can not come in at all, notify me in advance," I said.