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She liked Parker and Hyde. She couldn’t deny that. But, she also couldn’t deny the fact that she needed to pay for her mother’s care. She needed a new car. She needed to give Alice some money as well, as Alice was kind enough to let her stay there free of charge until she managed to get back on her feet. There was talk of Rene staying there indefinitely, as Alice’s roommate, but that was only under the condition that she paid for half of everything. Rene of course, agreed with this fully. She would never allow someone else to pull all the weight, while she herself did nothing.
So, now, she was wondering, how come she just didn’t accept that other job and got more money? Why was she being so silly?
Rene checked the time. It was about 8 pm, and Parker was in his bed. It was a long day for both of them, as she tried to organize a nice day, full of fun activities outside, so Parker wouldn’t miss his father too much. They went to the park, to the museum to see some dinosaur bones, and finally, they had ice cream at Parker’s favorite gelato place. When they got back, they ordered a pizza, and watched a movie together, and Rene noticed th
at his eyes were droopy and he was barely able to keep them open. She managed to keep him up enough to help him change into his pajamas, then she tucked him in, leaving his night light on, and silently tiptoed out of his room.
It was a bit earlier than he usually went to bed, but she didn’t mind. She was tuckered out herself. She got comfortable on the sofa in the living room, but then thought of having a cup of warm tea. She walked into the kitchen and put the kettle on. When she went back to check on it a few minutes later, she realized that it wasn’t even turned on. No matter how many times she kept flicking the switch, the light didn’t turn red.
“Oh, great,” she rolled her eyes.
She tried the stove. The same thing happened with the stove and the lights in the kitchen. The TV in the living room was still on, and that room seemed to function just fine.
Rene sighed. She figured it must be one of the fuses in the cellar, but she was damned if she was going down there and messing with electricity, when she knew nothing about it. She immediately thought of calling Hyde, but realized that would be useless. He was still at work, and she didn’t have to bug him with such minor inconveniences such as a blown fuse. Not when she had Jesse at her disposal. He said she could call him whenever she needed something, right?
She rushed back into the kitchen, and found his phone number on the fridge. She quickly dialed it, and waited to hear his voice.
“Yeah?” he replied almost immediately.
“Hi, is this Jesse?” she asked, a little confused at first, but the moment she started talking, she felt right back on her feet.
“Yeah?” he repeated.
She felt a little offended that he didn’t recognize her voice.
“This is Rene, I’m Parker’s nanny,” she explained.
“Yeah, of course!” he exclaimed loudly, “everything OK?”
“Actually, no,” she started, and he immediately threw at her a shower of questions.
“What’s wrong? Is Parker OK? Are you safe?” he blurted out his questions.
“Yes, everyone is fine,” she tried to calm him down, surprised that he would immediately jump to the worst conclusion, “I’m calling because of a broken fuse, and I’m a girl, so I’m not much of an electrician, and I was wondering if you’re not busy, you might do me a favor and come check it out?”
“I’ll be right there,” he replied, then hung up.
Rene held the phone in her hands for a few seconds, totally surprised at his reaction. He immediately dropped whatever it was he was doing, and would be rushing over. She walked over to Parker’s room, and checked on him. He was sound asleep, and she meant to keep it that way. A few minutes later, she heard knocking on the door. She rushed over to open it, and saw Jesse standing there. There was no trace of his usual charming smile. He was dead serious.
“Hey,” she greeted him, “thanks for coming so quickly…”
But, he seemed too busy for the usual niceties. He went straight by her, and right inside. Shocked, she closed the door after him. She figured he was probably upset or something. Maybe he didn’t even want to come in the first place, but he felt obliged because he promised Hyde he’d be around.
“Where’s Parker?” he practically ran down the hallway and opened the door to check on Parker, who was still sleeping.
“He’s asleep, why?” Rene asked, confused at this level of seriousness.
“Did you lock all the doors and windows?” Jesse asked, equally gravely.
“I think so, why?”
Now, she was starting to freak out. All this because of a fuse? It was crazy.
“You didn’t hear anything?” he gave her another question, instead of a reply.
“Like what?” she wondered.
“Any strange noises? Did anything strange happen today? Did you see any strange people around you?”
