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“Seems kind of silly to hire me then, doesn’t it?” I said with a small smile.
“You sound like Archer,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Out with it. Tell me more about yourself.”
The question, and the way it was delivered while we shared beers, made it feel like we were on a date. Feeling things out and getting to know each other. The basics.
I shrugged. “What do you want to know?”
“How did you first become a nanny?”
“My siblings,” I said. “I have two little sisters. When I was growing up, Ihatedthem. We didn’t get along at all. We were always arguing or fighting. One time, I was sitting on my belly watching TV and Rebecca sat on my back. I told her to stop, and she wouldn’t, so Ibucked… which launched her right into the TV screen. She had to get four stitches on her forehead!”
Jordy half-smiled. “You’re not making a very good case for being a top-notch nanny.”
I laughed and replied, “I got better! When I went off to college, I realized how much I loved and missed my sisters. I had helped raise them. Soon I was driving home every weekend to visit. And when I graduated, I decided that taking care of kids was what Ireallywanted to do.”
“What did you get your degree in?”
“French Literature.”
“Well it’s not like you could have done much with that degree anyways,” he teased.
I shot him a glare and sipped my beer. “I liked Camus! After that, it took me a while to narrow down what I really wanted. I got a job working in a daycare, but I hated it. Taking care of twenty kids wasn’t fulfilling to me at all. I wanted to give individual love and care to a smaller number of kids. One family.”
“So you shifted into nannying.”
“By accident,” I admitted. “I told a friend that I was quitting my job at the daycare, and they asked why… and they happened to know of a family that was looking for a nanny. I interviewed that afternoon and started the very next day. Immediately, I knew it was the right fit for me. Both parents worked together, and their two kids—a boy and a girl—were so sweet. I actually looked forward to going to work every day. I was with them for two years.”
“Why did it end?” Jordy asked.
I sighed. “About six months ago, both parents got tech jobs in San Francisco, working for some new cryptocurrency startup.”
“You didn’t want to go with them?”
“They offered, but I turned them down. I had never been that far from home, and the prospect of suddenly moving across the country terrified me.”
And I had other things tying me down to Wilmington.
“And now here you are, nannying on the other side of theworld,” Jordy pointed out.
“Temporarily,” I said. “Big difference. And I had no idea where we were going until Archer made me sign the paperwork.”
Jordy took a long pull from his beer. “You haven’t had any nannying jobs in the past six months?”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “Are you implying you guysdidn’trun a background check on me?”
“That’s all Archer’s specialty,” he replied. “We let him handle the details. So, no other jobs?”
“Nope.”
“I’m surprised you weren’t able to find anything. You seem really good with kids. At least, based on the small sample size I have so far.”
“Inflation, and the economy,” I said bitterly. “People can’t afford basic childcare services, let alone a private nanny. Therewasone nannying job I almost took a few months ago. But I turned it down.”
“Why?”
“The pay was almost nothing. Literally less than minimum wage, when you took into account how many hours I would be working. I hated to turn it down, because the kids seemed really sweet, but I couldn’t make the numbers work. Six days a week for only three grand a month? That’s not enough for me to live on.”
Jordy barked a laugh. “That’s all they offered? Screw them. They don’t deserve you. And hey, at least it led to you working for us, right?”
