The next morning, I walked down from the kitchen with Zackary to find the courtyard brimming with people. Upon inspection I realized that the playground had already been purchased and was being installed.

I was amazed at the speed in which he had acted, even as I tried to ignore the prick in my chest that he hadn't called to inform me of it.

Zackary slipped his hand into mine and tugged to get my attention. “What are they doing?”

“They're building a playground for you," I answered.

His eyes widened. “Like in the park.”

I smiled. "Exactly. I think you will love it, and you'll have such a blast playing in there.”

“Wow. Is all this just for me?”

I nodded. “You're the luckiest boy in the world, do you know that?" I lowered myself down to his height.

"You have your own personal playground, and a father who loves you so very much. He bought it all, you know? So the next time you see him, you tell him how much you appreciate them, alright?"

He nodded in response and I ruffled his hair. He froze suddenly and jerked away. Taken aback by his response I stared at him as he carefully slicked his hair back.

"But what about Mummy?" he asked.

That was a great question. No doubt Mummy would be very unhappy with this new development that she had no say in. I smiled at Zackary. “I don’t see why Mummy won’t love it too, can you?” I grinned. “What’s not to love? It’s swings and slides and sandboxes.”

I settled Zackary for breakfast and hurried up to my room. As I approached the intercom, I felt a frisson of anxiety, but I convinced myself that there was no need to be nervous. Perhaps he was no longer even at home. I heard Mrs. Blackmore say that the helicopter had come and taken him to London yesterday.

I pressed the main button, and spoke. “Hello? Brett?"

There was no response.

“Brett," I called again, and already a sensation of longing was settling in the pit of my stomach. I so wanted to hear his voice again. I was just about to disconnect it when his voice came through. My heart jumped to my throat and I could feel my blood rushing in my ear. And this was just the sound of his voice. I had it real bad for this man.

"Charlotte?"

I cleared my throat. "Uh, I just wanted you to know Zackary loves his playground. Thank you for doing that. You make my work so much easier."

“Not at all," he said. "The men will be gone by lunchtime so be sure to create some time for Zackary to use them after his lessons this afternoon."

"I will,” I assured. “It will help him loosen up a bit. He is a bit wound up most of the time."

"He is? How so?"

"Um," I hesitated. This was not the reason why I had called and I really didn’t want to seem to be complaining or telling tales all the time, but now that I had said it, I had to follow through. "It’s not anything serious. After he spends a bit of time with me he’ll probably stop being so anal about his hair and clothes and shoes."

He was silent for a while. "I know he will learn to loosen up as time goes on, especially with you in charge of his care. I just want it to happen before he starts school. I don’t want him to be different than the other kids or get bullied because he doesn’t know how to behave."

"I think he will do very well at school. He is incredibly well mannered.”

“I hope so.”

“Hey, I wanted to thank you for sending the photos.”

“That’s okay. He had a really good time.”

“I could see that. There was a photo of you too.”

I could feel the fire rush up my throat. “Yeah, I wasn’t going to send it, but he looked so happy there I thought you might want to see it.”

“It was a great photo. I’m glad you sent it. Now I can put a face to your voice.”

Something happened between us. The energy changed. We were no longer employer and employee. I swallowed hard. I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing would come out. I don’t know whether the heavens took pity on me and saved me, decided to punish me because at that moment, the door to my room burst open and Zackary's mother walked in, an expensive dressing robe tied around her tiny waist.

"What the fuck is going on outside?"

"It's just a little playground for Zackary—”

She folded her arms across her chest, her gaze full of disbelief. "How dare you do something like this without asking my permission?”

“His father—”

“Don’t pretend that butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth,” she snarled. “I know it’s you. You instigated this.”

I straightened my spine, determined to get a word in edgewise. “Madam—”

But she cut me off again. “I told you to give my son a little time off yesterday in the garden, and you turn his whole life into a circus show?”

"A circus—”

"They praised you as being the best at the agency, however your actions so far have served only to irritate me and make me think you are not the right person for this job." She looked at me as if I disgusted her.

“Could you please let me explain, Madam?”

"No,” she said, her voice was cold and hard. “I think you’ve done enough damage. I’ve had enough of you trying to undermine me behind my back. You think you can take my place. Hmmm? Well, I’ve got news for you. You’re fired. Pack your things right now and get out of my house. Barnaby will call a taxi for you. Needless to say, I won’t be giving you any glowing references."

I felt my own temper rise to the surface. What did this selfish bitch think? That I was desperate for a ride from her? I made my voice cool and uncaring. "I’ll be packed and gone in an hour. I don’t need a reference from you, glowing or otherwise, and I can get my own taxi."

“We understand each other then. I’ll send Mrs. Blackmore to check your luggage before you leave in case you accidentally pack anything that is not yours.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. You are classy to the very end.”

Her eyes flashed and she was about to say something else when her phone began to ring. When she lifted it up to check the ID, her eyes almost rolled into the back of her head. "Of course," she muttered and with a last glare at me, stormed out of the room.

A barrage of emotions and sensations flooded into me. The first of which was a strange sense of loss which sapped me of all my strength. I had been here less than a week, but it felt like a year. I was just starting to get attached to Zackary ... I had hoped to make a difference and I could already see changes in him. And his father ... I don’t know what I wanted or expected from him. It was all getting too complicated. Maybe this was for the best.

I sank on the bed and looked at the wall blankly. It was stupid but my eyes stung with unshed tears. No crying here, Charlotte. You walk out of this place with your head held high. You can cry all you want when you get home, okay. I swallowed the lump in my throat and had just taken a deep calming breath when the intercom crackled.

“Charlotte.”

Startled I jumped to my feet. The intercom had been on the whole time. "Brett!"

"Don't do a thing," he said, his voice not warm and friendly but so cold and hard I almost didn’t recognize it. "I'll handle this."

The intercom clicked and became silent as he disconnected the line.