Unbearable Boss, page 13
“That sounds more fun than these ones. Just people who think I have information that I don’t,” I said.
“Oh, like a wrong number.”
“Yeah, exactly. A lot of people have the wrong number.”
I rejected another call that came through. A text instantly followed from the same number. It was like a game of whack-a-mole. As soon as I declined one call, another came in its place.
Amelia was in the middle of a block of reading time, absorbed in a book about a unicorn. Originally I planned a lesson on research methods where we would look up the origins of unicorn myths together. Now, I had no idea how I would get through the day.
I barely got any sleep the night before, refreshing my phone with new ‘juicy details’ that were all news to me. Like how I was having Paul Woodring’s love child. Another one speculated that, with the age difference, I was his long-lost love child.
I had thought living in the Woodring household had been crazy before. But after trying to cling to sanity through a whirlwind celebrity gossip media circus, $2 million pianos suddenly seemed about as exotic as buying a gallon of milk.
People who I hadn’t heard from in years suddenly came out of the woodwork. It was all out of concern for me, they said, but I knew better. It was pure rubbernecking. They were voyeurs who wanted to look in on a brush with luxury so they could be grateful for their uneventful lives in comparison. I envied them.
I cringed with every new escalation. The press was blowing up a non-story into the scandal of the century. Even if it was taken at face value—a nanny dating the father of the girl she’s watching—was there even anything that wrong with it? Look at The Sound of Music. But this time, there was only one question everyone seemed to be asking. How do you solve a problem like Melissa?
On the one hand, I wanted to close my eyes and pretend none of this had happened. On the other hand, I was desperate to know how my life would be affected going forward. I pulled out a notebook to try to gather my thoughts and orient myself amid the chaos. I needed to keep track.
TMZ, People, In Touch, Us Weekly, Gothamist, Page Six. All of them had run the story. Even if the sting from the story eventually faded, the memory of the headlines, and the betrayals of people who took part, never would. Sticks and stones can break my bones, but nothing hurt like when I saw words like these in print:
The Sugar-Baby Babysitter
Mary Poppins, Daddy’s Pop-Ins
From Babysitter to Face-Sitter
Nanny’s Side Hustle as Billionaire’s Side Piece
Cameras, reporters, and gawkers had started gathering around the entrance of the manor grounds in the early hours of the day. Paul had added additional security to keep them at bay, and a freelance public relations expert was hired to handle the crowds outside.
Extra guards were placed inside and out, just to make sure no one broke through the perimeter. I did my best to shield Amelia. She never had led a normal life, but she knew that something especially strange was happening now.
I felt like a product for consumption, not a person. I desperately needed a friend. I felt so alone.
Then I got a text from Ruby.
Hang in there, Melissa. This will blow over. Call me when you feel up to it.
I texted her back.
Thanks, babe. It’s craziness. Can I call you?
I don’t know what I would have done without her. I turned my phone to ‘do not disturb’ to block the outside world, then hit Ruby’s number. At least I would no longer be bothered with the constant incoming notifications. I was done with the rest of humanity for now.
“Hi, Ruby. God, what a day,” I said when she picked up.
“Hi, honey. I’m so sorry to have to welcome you to this club. It’s one I wish you never had to join.”
“Tell me about it. It’ll all be okay. My question, though, is why the hell does anyone care? It’s not like we’re famous. He’s just some rich dude.”
“Because people see a handsome man with everything and want to take him down a peg. They see a beautiful woman and want to make her out to be a gold-digger. Even if there’s nothing there.”
“It’s just so terrible. I feel like I’m not in control of my life at all. It feels like I’ll never have control again.”
“Of course you will, sweetie. This will die down. I’ll be here for you through all of it.”
“Ruby, can I tell you something?” I asked her with my heart pounding in my chest.
“Of course. You can always tell me anything.”
“And you promise you won’t judge?”
“I’d never judge you. You know that.”
“Well, the thing is, with me and Paul. I met him before I was hired,” I said, bracing myself.
“Okay… That’s not such a big deal.”
“I met him at your and Sam’s wedding. I thought it was a one-time thing.”
She paused for a few seconds. I imagined her trying to put all the information together, with all its implications.
“Okay. Okay. And… how deeply would you like me to read into that information?”
“As deep as it goes.”
“Okay. Wow. So this can’t be easy,” Ruby said.
“No. It’s not. I’m worried about Amelia. But I’m also worried… I don’t know how this will affect any of us.”
“You’re a good person. You know that, Amelia knows that, and Paul knows that. Things like this happen all the time.”
“The other staff, though. Some of them are looking at me like I drowned their goldfish. I don’t know how I can show my face.”
“You show it with your head held high. You have nothing to be ashamed of. People date at work all the time. Just because you’re part of the personal staff doesn’t make it that different. If you’re not making their job harder, you did nothing wrong,” she said.
“I guess you’re right. I just feel so embarrassed.”
“I promise, it will be okay. Just make it through today, and I promise it will all die down soon.”
“He’s been out of the house today, too, and I haven’t heard anything from him.”
“I’m sure he’s dealing with it in his own way. No matter what happens, Melissa, I’m here for you. We’ll make sure you get through in one piece, okay?”
“You’re not disappointed in me?”
“Why would I be?”
“I don’t know. They’re making me out to be some sort of…”
“Don’t even think about what they’re making you out to be. It’s a fictional story they create to sell newspapers and get page views. If they told the truth in these gossip rags, they’d go out of business in a day.”
“I’m just scared I’ll be out on my ass in a day.”
“No matter what, you won’t be. I hope Paul wouldn’t do that. But ultimately, Sam is your employer, not him. And what about your master’s program?”
“Oh, God. I forgot about that. They emailed me this morning…”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. It’s not great. I had just submitted my thesis, but they want to slow-walk the thesis defense process so that this isn’t in the spotlight. The journalists contacted my university to get information on me, too.”
“God. I’m sorry, Melissa. You don’t deserve this. No one does.”
“Yeah. I guess there is one silver lining. I mean, I don’t belong in this world. And what, I thought it would be some kind of fairy tale ending? This is a rude awakening, but one I needed. It’s not just happily ever after. If I had this kind of life, this would follow me.”
“The silver lining is, this is the worst it’s going to get. It feels like it will be forever, but it won’t be. Just focus on your job, on your school, on the things that matter. Focus on Amelia. Do something fun with her.”
“I’ll try.”
“Once this all blows over, we’ll do something fun together with Maxine, she still talks about you all the time.”
“Okay, Ruby. Thanks again. Say hi to Maxine for me.”
“Anytime. Bye, sweetie.”
As soon as I got off the phone, I noticed our maid Anna with a basket of towels in her hands. She immediately looked away, pretending that she hadn’t been staring at me, then scurried back upstairs. At breakfast, Sarah didn’t make the usual conversation with me and Amelia.
I hated that Amelia had to deal with this mess, too. I hated that she would have the press buzzing around her like this for the foreseeable future, just because of who her dad was.
Even with the do not disturb feature on, I found I couldn’t stop checking my phone. Once I got off the phone with Ruby, I kept finding myself glancing to see what else had happened. My own life was like a car accident I couldn’t look away from, even for myself.
In the eight minutes I had been on the phone, I had gotten four new voicemails. One from the local NBC affiliate, one from my hometown newspaper, and one from The Daily Princetonian. The fourth was a prank from some teenage boys who asked if I wanted to babysit them. Little assholes.
It seemed like everyone in the world was trying to get through to me except the one person I desperately wanted to talk to. Paul. He had been out all morning. The only reason I didn’t turn off my phone right away was my hope that he might try to call, or text, or email. Or something. It was the reason I couldn’t look away from my phone for long.
I felt so worthless. I had given him everything last night. Then once the news hit, it was like none of it meant anything to him at all. If this didn’t happen, maybe I would have held onto the illusion that he cared.
Instead, I had the good fortune to avoid getting my hopes up. As soon as the crisis blew in, Paul bowed out.
It was all too good to be true. In the real Cinderella, the version that was never told, I bet that they never found her. Someone else in the right social class would coincidentally wear the same size shoe. Why would they go all around the kingdom looking for her when it was so much simpler to find someone else?
I realized that no one was looking out for me. I would have to go through this alone, and I wouldn’t even have a fairy godmother. No carriage, just a pumpkin. Not even that. A jack-o-lantern laughing, knowing I’m the butt of the joke. Rags to rags.
I heard Paul’s voice right before he walked through the door. He wasn’t alone.
“Daddy! You’re home early!” Amelia yelled and ran up to him.
His expression stayed as serious as before. “Amelia, honey, I’d like you to meet Lindsay. Lindsay, this is Amelia, my daughter who I told you about. I need to talk to Melissa in private, so why don’t you show Lindsay around. Okay?”
“Sure, Daddy. Lindsay, let me show you what Melissa and I are doing. You’ll like her a lot,” she said, her voice trailing off as she took Lindsay upstairs.
He walked me down the hall, leading me to the stairway by the service entrance. I noticed that my luggage was arranged. Anna was standing nearby.
So that’s why she wouldn’t talk to me before.
“Paul? What is this?” I asked, although I feared I already knew the answer.
“I had Anna pack your things already. There’s a driver waiting outside to take you back to your apartment. I hope the sum wired to your account can compensate for some of the inconvenience of this. It should be more than we discussed. I’ve also arranged to have any remaining items here couriered to you.”
“Paul, wait. I don’t understand,” I said, holding back tears. “What’s happening?”
I saw him swallow. Apart from that, his icy demeanor didn’t crack.
“I have to let you go, Melissa. Your employment with us is terminated.”
I could barely speak. I was worried this could happen, but I didn’t think he would stoop this low. I felt like he was punishing me for something that wasn’t my fault. He had held me in the palm of his hand. Instead of keeping me safe, he had closed his fingers and crushed me in them.
My prince had cast me out and called off the search. I was right all along.
I pinched the palm of my hand to stop myself from crying. Once I started, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop. I didn’t want him to see how much he hurt me.
“I understand. Thank you for everything, Paul. I just hope…”
“Hmm?”
“I just hope that you’ll foster Amelia’s creativity and won’t go back to keeping her personality from shining through. I’m so sorry about everything with the press. I didn’t mean to cause this inconvenience,” I said.
“Anna, leave us please,” he said to the maid. As Anna walked away I could see his neck tensing. “I don’t give a shit about the press. I can buy and sell every single one and force them to shut up. I could print my own fake stories. I don’t care about that. I really, really like you, you know. Do you think I want to let you go?” he said.
For the first time, the sadness he was trying to conceal seeped through into his eyes.
“Then why, Paul? Why are you doing this?”
“I don’t expect you to believe me, but you really are the first woman I’ve cared for in a long time. A really long time. But I can’t hurt Amelia, and this hits her close to home. They’re reporting on her nanny, and that’s the same as reporting on her. I wish it didn’t have to be this way. It breaks my heart to let you go, but not as much as it breaks my heart to expose her to this. I’m so sorry, Melissa.”
A commotion came from down the hallway.
“Amelia, sweety, where are you?” The voice belonged to the woman Paul brought to replace me, Lindsay. “I’m sorry, did you see Amelia, she just ran off all of a sudden.”
As Paul and I turned to the door, Amelia tiptoed out. She had been in the hallway the whole time and heard everything.
I wondered if it would be a repeat of the first time this happened, when she came running out to beg Paul to let me stay. I remembered when she said to me that if her dad tried to fire me again, she would have my back. Her dad would have to go through her.
But the outburst I anticipated never rose to the surface. Amelia walked over to me, her big eyes filled with longing. She threw her arms around both of my legs and squeezed them tight for a few beats.
Then she unclasped her arms, turned from me, and walked away, down to the other end of the hall. She was out of my field of view. The spell she cast before to change Paul’s mind wasn’t summoned for me now. No one was coming to save me.
Paul and I stood in the hall with my suitcase, once again. His eyes were tender this time instead of hateful, but a change of heart wasn’t enough to spare me from my fate. My life with Amelia and Paul was over.
Chapter Sixteen
Paul
“You’re going to explain this to me right now, if you want to keep your job.”
My voice was sharp and curt enough to make my chief of security take a step away from me.
I didn’t care. At this moment, all I wanted was to find out who ruined what I was building with Melissa.
We were in the security room of my mansion. The walls were lined with cameras, and it also doubled as a panic room. Luckily, I had never had to use it.
“Surely you have some answers for me? You’ve been on this for an entire 24 hours!”
He swallowed slightly, and I was not sure why the slight motion didn’t give me the satisfaction it usually would.
Maybe it was because I was not just trying to make my subordinates respect me. Maybe it was because this time, I had lost something that was starting to mean the world to me.
I focused on looking at my chief of security steadily. I refused to look down at the image on the screen beneath us.
I had spent hours looking at that image. Fuming at it. Cursing at it.
Now, I needed to get to the bottom of it.
It was an image, a photograph of myself, Melissa, and Amelia together, surrounded by greenery. It was an intimate shot, and the closeness between Melissa and me was obvious.
“You need to give me answers.” My voice was dark, rumbling with quiet anger.
“Well, we’ve had a forensics team examine the image itself,” he started, his voice cautious. Then he swallowed again and ran a hand through his hair. “It doesn’t seem fake. The metadata, on the other hand, shows a more interesting picture of things.” He swiped the image away and brought up the metadata. “It shows that the image was taken with a cell phone camera. An expensive one, no doubt about it, but still.”
I finished his thoughts. “But paparazzi use professional cameras,” I said
He nodded. His face brightened slightly.
“Okay.” I sighed the word. I lifted my hands and rubbed my temples slightly. “Stay on it. I want to know who took the picture, who posted it, and why!”
The last words exploded from me, and his body tightened up again. He nodded and gulped, then went back to the screen.
I saw the image then, from the corner of my eye. I couldn’t avoid seeing the photograph. The image that basically had blown up my life.
Right then, there was a sinking feeling in my stomach. I hated that I lost Melissa. But I had to do what was right for Amelia.
I sighed again. “How did the paparazzi even get close enough to us to take the damn picture?” I murmured to myself.
“On that, I can assure you, sir. No one could have gotten through our security perimeter. We’re still investigating, but we’re pretty damn sure it was an inside job.”
“Why would anyone here take the picture? I treat all my staff well. I don’t have any real enemies!”
“We’ve got an entire team going through all the security footage, but Melissa has been on the premises for a month. There are hundreds of hours of footage to go through.”
I nodded wordlessly.
He turned back to his station, and I started pacing around the room.
Just then, one of the other security personnel placed some images from the kitchen cameras onto the big screen. The footage was old—it was footage of Melissa and Amelia cooking a meal together.
Everyone in the room heard my sharp intake of breath, but they were all wise enough to ignore it.
I didn’t know what I was feeling at first. My chest was aching, my ears were hot, and my palms were sweaty.
