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I can hear my mother sigh from the other side of the room. “Fine, Pierce, I will cancel the interviews, but I’m going to reschedule them for the weekend and I don’t expect to hear another word about it. Understood?”
I turn to face the stove and roll my eyes. My mother still treats me like a child.
“Don’t you dare roll your eyes at me, mister.”
My jaw drops and I turn back around. “How in God’s name did you know I rolled my eyes?”
“I know everything,” she says as she disconnects from the video chat. I shake my head and hand Chloe a cup of apple juice. I may not have been given a stay of execution on the nanny interviews, but at least I have a reprieve, and it will give me time to get things done today. I pick Chloe up out of her high chair and am just about to make my way to her bedroom when there is a buzz from the phone that connects the penthouse to the doorman. I walk to the phone with Chloe on my hip and answer with an awkward shoulder balance move.
“Morning, Thomas,” I manage to croak out to the day guy as Chloe tries to pull the phone away from me.
“Good morning, Mr. Cochran. I have a young woman down here, says she has an appointment with you. Something about being a nanny for Miss Chloe.” His voice is impatient — people just dropping by don’t go over well with the older gentleman, as it makes his job of screening guests more difficult. I can’t say I’m any more thrilled about it than he is.
“My mother was canceling all of those appointments. Can you let her know that Carol Cochran will be calling her to reschedule, please?” I bounce Chloe on my hip and listen as Thomas relays my message. When he returns, his voice is exasperated.
“She says she’s come a long way for the interview and it’s very important she see you today, Mr. Cochran. Would you like me to send her away?”
I look at my watch and grumble to myself. I have exactly enough time for a twenty-minute interview, but that is it. “Never mind, Thomas. You can send her up. What is her name?” I hear him ask, and then shout in his gruff manner, “I can’t understand you when you mumble, young lady! Oh, forget it… Mr. Cochran, I will send her up.”
I laugh and hang up the phone, then take Chloe to her playpen, where I give her a few toys to fiddle with before putting on a t-shirt. I’m still in nothing but my pajama pants since it’s already been “one of those mornings,” and the last thing I need is some snotty au pair thinking that selling pictures of me is a quick way to fame and fortune.
The elevator from the lobby leads right up to my apartment, but only with a special key, so when I hear the door ding in the foyer, I assume that Thomas has let the woman straight up into the penthouse. Once I’m sure Chloe is safe, I pad toward the entryway, stifling a yawn, and trying to plaster on my best fake smile.
“Good morning, and thanks so much for…”
And then, my voice catches in my throat. The whole room goes hazy, as if a thick San Francisco fog has somehow rolled into my apartment. Standing in the elevator, looking just as shocked and terrified as I’m sure I do, is Arie.
Her once-curly black hair has been cropped short into a very becoming straight ear-length structural cut, and she looks thinner than I have ever seen her. Her emerald green eyes don’t seem to be sparkling the way they used to, as if she has seen as much in the years since our parting as I have. She clutches an over-sized messenger bag close to her side that seems to be on the verge of overflowing, and she is practically swimming in an oversized pink sweater that drapes over a pair of dark skinny jeans. She looks tired, but to be fair, I’m sure I do too.
“Aaa… Arie? Is that you? Is that really you?”
She shrugs with a sad smile. “In the flesh! Jesus, Pierce. You look exactly the same. I can’t believe it.”
“I doubt that’s true,” I say quietly, instinctively reaching down and touching my thigh. “What are you doing here? Thomas said there was a woman here to apply to be my nanny? You can’t be here for a job.”
Arie bites her lip as she steps out of the elevator and pulls her bag closer to her side. “As a matter of fact…”
I slap my forehead and gesture for her to come in. “I’m such an asshole. Where are my manners? Please, come in. Can I get you something to drink? Juice? Coffee? A Bloody Mary?”
She laughs as she follows me through the foyer and into the kitchen. “You know, in all the years we were a couple, I don’t think you once offered to get me anything. I’m starting to wonder if I’m in the right place.”
“A lot has changed, Arie. More than you can imagine.” I see a flash of something cross her face — something different than sadness. It’s more like deep melancholy. But she forces a smile.
“Coffee would be nice, but don’t go too far on that Bloody Mary. How have you been, Pierce? I heard a little bit about what happened in the Navy, but not much. You were injured?”
I hand her a cup from my instant-brew machine, and slide over the cream and sugar, which were still on the counter from earlier. “You could say that. A raid went bad, and I took the brunt of it. Now I work for the firm, and walk a little slower on my way to the office. What have you been up to? I looked you up on social media a few times over the years but never found anything. Are you one of those rare sorts that actually keeps their private life private?”
She laughs and starts to say something when I look over her shoulder and notice that Chloe is trying to crawl out of her playpen. She is smiling from ear-to-ear, and waving her hands around, as if she wants to meet this new person in our apartment. Arie turns around, and then spins back around just as quickly.
“Oh, you know. This and that. I’ve been around. I take it that is your little girl? I can’t believe you’re someone’s daddy, Pierce.” Her voice sounds wistful, and it makes me sad for reasons I can’t pinpoint.
“I can’t believe it either most days.”
“How did you end up a father? What happened to her mother, if I may ask?” she inquires with her eyebrow raised. I sigh and lean back against the counter.
“It’s a long story. For another time. But it’s just Chloe and me at the moment. Arie, I’m going to be blunt. What the hell are you doing here? It’s not that I’m not thrilled to see you. I am. But are you really here applying for a job? Why in the world would you want to work for me?”
Arie hoists herself into a bar stool with a little more effort than seems appropriate given how small she is, and she gives me another sad smile. “Things have been rough for me, money-wise. Life-wise. I’ve been working at Uncle Sal’s shop when I can, but they are having trouble paying me, and I am in… debt. Loan debt. I was never able to finish school and I’ve had an impossible time finding a job. Then I heard from a friend of a friend that you were looking for a nanny for your daughter and I thought, well, you know I’m trustworthy. And I know I will make a great caretaker for your little girl. It seemed liked the perfect solution for both of us I guess.”
