VALENTIN - Babysitter

I faced the beach in front of Claire’s house as if I could find all the answers to the questions in my chest. I could still feel the purple ones in my arms - hurt.

I had left a lot behind and did not regret it.

There was a reason for that, of course..., but honestly? I don’t want to talk about it for now.

"Hello? Wake up from the moon world, little princess," Claire’s voice called me and I laughed, it was no longer a surprise to have Claire mock me even when the sun was still rising I was sometimes grateful that she did not treat me differently.

"I think we take the early morning roll pretty seriously."

"Do you swear?"

She lit a cigarette and leaned on the balcony of her apartment.

It had been funny after all.

I got into going away without looking back and Claire just held me by the hand and decided to help me.

"It’s 3 hours until your interview, how do you feel?"

I sighed.

"Anxious. Very anxious."

"Should I be, have you seen the rumors about the crazy twins? They’re as good as the late old Valentin."

Right, even I knew who the Valentin family was, but that wasn’t in my social circle anymore, it didn’t make sense.

It was exhausting and not my problem.

I’d just be the drool of the little heir-to-be, that’s all.

"Do you have experience with children?"

I couldn’t stop laughing and she looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I do and I like children."

"Right."

His disbelief was too obvious.

Six hours later, I was there. In the luxurious office of Alejandro Valentin, the youngest son and also the one who inherited all the fortune and companies after the incident with his father.

The glass door opened as quickly as was humanly possible and a tall man with black hair and blue eyes entered; he was truly unmistakable. It had that air of superiority that few human beings were able to possess.

I straightened my posture and watched him sit in front of me.

Thanks to Claire I had the chance to be interviewed in her private office instead of going to the company.

"Miss... Blanchard, huh?"

His eyebrows curved like he was trying to figure out what was happening. What are the chances that he would know me?

Few, I tried to convince myself before my nervousness spoiled everything.

"Yes?"

"Do you have experience with children?"

"Yes, from the first 6 months of life until the age of 14. I worked at the Russian institution during my adolescence."

It was my perfect alibi and my best chance.

His face rose toward me.

"And why did you move to Italy?"

"It’s a beautiful city and..., I wanted to start again."

It wasn’t a total lie. Only partial.

The brunette in front of me examined my file again.

"You know you’re gonna have to move into the mansion and your job would be full-time, don’t you?"

I nodded my head.

"Yes, sir. I’m fully aware of that."

"Are you willing to give up an entire external life to care for a baby at such a young age? My son deserves all the attention and honestly do not want to have to get an extra nanny whenever you decide to go out with friends or have some unforeseen."

I felt my throat tighten. His tone was mildly rude and it was obvious that he did not believe me about wanting this job, should think that he was accepting it only for the amount they were willing to pay.

I sighed.

"Sir, I understand what my duties are and do not intend to go against them. I am aware that this requires me to devote time to the child and as I said earlier, I like to take care of children. Different from what you think, I don’t usually go out and as you saw in my resume, I didn’t have time to bond here and much less have friends to go out to parties, but still, even if I did, I wouldn’t leave. I hate loud noises and songs that boil down to beats."

He raised an eyebrow, his face taken with a certain surprise and for the first time since entering - he seemed to look directly at me.

"Right... Miss Blanc. I’ll be in touch."

I’m fucked, that’s all I thought as I walked out of there and came home with no hope of getting that job.

As soon as I got to Claire’s house and threw myself on the couch so tired that it seemed more like a boxing fight than an interview.

I had hated Alejandro Valentin as much as I had hated the groom my mother had introduced me to as a child.

He was like them, like all of them. A rich fool who only sees his belly button. But why had I expected something different? Why did he hate the media and had been called a black sheep? Well, you can’t expect too much from someone like that.

A bath, yes. I need a bath.

I stood up without pretensions, without the slightest expectation, but when I returned from the bath, there was an email on my phone.

"We’d like to inform you that you passed the interview.

Go to the address attached to the email and bring your bags with you. You must meet the young master Valentin and settle into his chambers."

"I... did it," I said to myself as I hugged my phone, "it’s time to start living my own life."