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“I trust my instinct when it comes to these things,” he revealed, and there was something about the way he said it that assured her this was so. “First impressions usually make it or break it for me, and you left a good one.”
“Despite the fact that Parker wouldn’t even come out to greet me?” she asked, with a shy smile.
She was hoping that she would at least get to say hi to him, but that was obviously not happening. Despite that, the whole conversation was going exactly how she wanted it to. She was grateful for that.
“Like I said, don’t take that personally,” Hyde shrugged his shoulders. “He’s an introverted child. He takes after me. But, once he decides he likes someone, well then, you won’t be able to get rid of him.”
Rene grinned at this thought. Was he like that, too? Suddenly, she got overly curious about him and his wife. Was he still in love with her? What happened between them? Did she cheat on him or did he? Judging from the way he talked about her, the look on his face, the sound of his voice - she was sure that it was her decision to divorce. Not his. She could bet her life on it.
“I hope that I’ll get to see what that’s like,” she replied, realizing that she took a little too long to reply, and he was waiting for her, with a puzzled look on his face.
“Are you free to come tomorrow morning?” he asked.
“I am,” she nodded.
“Then that’s settled,” he said, getting up.
She wasn’t sure if that meant that their conversation was over. She got the job, didn’t she?
“I’ll just need you in the mornings, as my new job allows me to get off work earlier, and if there are any things that need to be wrapped up, I can always do it from home.”
“That sounds really convenient,” she replied, feeling a little envious of this kind of work, where he got to choose his own work hours, instead of having others do that for him.
But, it was the line of work she had chosen for herself and, despite a few drawbacks, she wouldn’t change it for the world. She never saw herself working in an office. She was more of a people person.
“I got lucky,” he answered, sounding just a little proud.
“Or they really wanted someone like you,” she corrected him.
“Oh, I’m nothing special,” he waved his hand dismissively, “there are millions of people like me out there.”
“And yet, you got the job,” she smiled at him, feeling like he was putting himself down unnecessarily. “It’s OK to feel proud of yourself and your achievements, you know.”
“It’s been a while since I felt proud of myself,” he revealed. “Actually, the last time I felt proud of myself was when I got Parker.”
Rene smiled. This man, who was standing before her, was a broken soul. His outer appearance presented a god-like being, a strong powerful masculine persona, but his words revealed the deep, seething pain that was echoing deep within him. He had been hurt so badly, so deeply, that even she, who knew little about it, feared that it might leave scars that would never heal.
She felt a sudden urge to hug him, to caress his cheek and tell him that there was nothing to worry about, that things would be alright in the end. Scars heal, if only we let them. Brooding and constantly thinking about the person that caused us pain is never a good road to recovery. Instead of telling him this, all she could do was smile, as she shook his warm, gentle hand.
A minute later, she was waving goodbye from her seasoned, worn out Chevrolet Caprice, begging it to start and get her at least around the first corner. Luckily for her, it started up with a heavy cough, like a smoker who knew his lungs were filled with dark liquid, killing him slowly but surely.
Chapter 2
Rene was back the following day, knocking on the same grey door, a few minutes before 7 am, which was the time she was expected to be there. She was dressed in a pair of plain pants that allowed for easy stretching, as she expected to be physically active with a child Parker’s age. Her blouse was buttoned up almost to her neck. She was wearing zero make up, grateful for good genes that didn’t allow the few wrinkles she had to be overly visible.
Hyde immediately opened the door, and as soon as he did so, the faint smell of his cologne filled up her nostrils and her mind filled with dirty images. Quickly, she got them out of her mind, like an annoying swarm of mosquitoes that threatened to suck her dry.
“A few minutes early, I like that,” he smiled, inviting her in.
Rene wanted to tell him all about how her car wouldn’t start t
his morning and how she had to call a cab, and how she thought she’d be late, but the only reason she wasn’t late was because she initially started super early. If all of those things didn’t happen, she’d be way too early, waiting down the street, so they wouldn’t notice her.
That was one of her little quirks. She couldn’t allow herself to be late, under any circumstances. That was why she always started crazy early, knowing full well that she’d have to wait 15, sometimes even 20 minutes, but that never seemed to bother her. Being on time was more important than anything. Maybe it was about leaving a good impression. Maybe it didn’t have a reasonable explanation, and it was just a part of what made Rene Olsen the girl she was.
However, instead of explaining all of this, she just nodded and smiled. He probably didn’t want to be bothered by this silly story anyway.
She entered his home again and nothing had changed since the previous day. She had no idea why she expected it to be different. Maybe messier, or maybe cleaner. But, she expected it not to be the same. Maybe because she herself was entering it now with a different frame of mind. This was her job now, this child was hers to take care of. This man… she wasn’t sure what he was. Just her employer? Of course that was all. He couldn’t be more. Not in a million years.
