AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ChapterOne
Ivy
I wheel my shiny new suitcase out the door and into the southern Florida sunshine, excited to begin my trip across the country for Christmas.
A vacation like this is not one I can typically afford. But the other nannies and I pooled our money to book a suite, and we’re all meeting for three days and three nights of wine, amazing food, and sweater weather.
My heart skips a beat when my Lyft driver pulls up. Here we go. I wave to the driver excitedly, just as the Frosts’ SUV pulls up behind it.
The twin 12-year-olds, Sunshine and Starlight, exit the SUV and sprint straight into the mansion. Neither of them acknowledge my presence, nor wish me safe travels.
Returning home from a pre-vacation family spa treatment, Gwen and Brad, my employers, do not look super relaxed when they meet me on the front steps of the house. “Where are you going?” Gwen asks.
Uh, has she been hit on the head?
“To the vineyard, remember? For my winter vacation? Remember, I told you about the nanny group on Facebook and how we’re all meeting for the first time on the West Coast to spend the holiday together?”
Gwen frowns, genuinely shocked at this news. “I just don’t understand how you can walk out on your duties.”
My stomach drops. “What do you mean? I have the time off. I put in for it months ago.”
“Yes you did, and you’ll be on vacation with us!” Gwen says, her smile returning as if she’s just waved a magic wand.
Have we had a massive misunderstanding or is she lying to me about what we discussed?
As the Lyft driver kindly hoists my bags into the trunk, I search my memory banks, going back to the day I requested these days off.
When they first hired me as their nanny six months ago, Gwen and Bradley Frost assured me that I wouldn’t have to “work” over any holidays.
I remember what Brad had said to me after I filed my request. “You’ll have so much downtime, it will feel just like you’re on an exclusive vacation by yourself,” he’d said.
I’d been on my laptop in organizing mode—in the process of booking the family’s Christmas Day flight to the private boutique ski resort owned by their spiritual guru in Colorado. More on that later.
The point is, I was spinning so many plates to create all the Christmas magic for the children that the comment barely registered.
As I stand here with my heart racing and my stomach still plummeting, I remind them, “But I earned time off. Time off means away from my duties.”
Gwen pulls out her phone and taps something in a search bar. Meanwhile, Brad shifts his weight from one foot to the other and scrubs a hand over his chin, as if he’s trying to solve a puzzle. I look at him pleadingly. “I think there’s been a miscommunication. I have a vacation in the Pacific Northwest, and my flight leaves in two hours.”
Brad drops his hand from his face and folds his arms across his chest, his frown matching his wife’s energy. “Honey, is that correct?”
Gwen shakes her head no and shows me her phone screen. “Here. See? You signed a contract.”
I read it, and now I see the fine print that I missed.
My mouth dries up as I read the words that Gwen has highlighted for me.
Oh my gosh.
I am such a sucker.
Gullible.
A rube.
Whatever you want to call it, that’s me.
Why do I believe this about myself, you ask? Because my employers hoodwinked me into working on Christmas.
