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Extensive (A Single Dad Box Set) by Claire Adams (41)


Chapter Two

Jess

 

I ran up to the entrance of Baker’s Brothers Records, holding the hood of my jacket tight against my face. I shouldn’t have even bothered to straighten my hair that morning. Even with the slick yellow jacket, the rain somehow managed to turn my brown hair into a rat’s nest.

The door opened, and I stepped back, letting some guy out first. He barely looked at me as he sprinted toward his car to avoid the thick raindrops from assaulting him. By the time I registered what had happened, the door had closed in my face.

“Asshole,” I muttered under my breath and pulled open the door, stepping inside of the warm record shop.

Whenever my best friend, Sierra, worked at Baker’s Brothers, she always cranked the heat since she claimed she was cold-blooded. But we both knew it was her lack of body fat. Usually, I sweltered, but today it was perfect.

I slipped off my jacket and hung it on the coat rack next to the entryway. I shivered and tossed my wet strands over my shoulder. In the heat of the room, I was sure my locks would be dry by the time I left.

“Oh, thank God you’re here,” Sierra said from the back of the room.

“What’s up?” I asked.

Sierra rushed over to me and held my arms in place by my side. “I need you to tell me if this shirt does anything for my chest.”

She posed in front of me, and I inspected her black tunic with spaghetti straps. The neckline plunged down to almost reaching her belly button, making it obvious she wasn’t wearing a bra. With her thin frame, Sierra was obsessed with making her chest look bigger. I didn’t know how many times I told her she couldn’t have it both ways. She preferred the thigh gap over chest size, but that didn’t stop her from trying.

“It draws some attention,” I said.

She grinned, placing her now bright red wavy locks over her shoulders to finish the look. She had a tendency to go with eccentric hair. “That’s what I was going for.” She headed to the front desk, and I followed her, draping myself over the counter.

She started unpacking a box of records and organizing them on the surface. “One week of unemployment and you’re already sulking?”

“I hate not working,” I moaned.

“Give yourself some time to relax before getting back on the horse,” she said.

“I don’t know how to relax,” I said.

“I’ve noticed,” she said with a smile. She adjusted the gold chain that linked her double piercings. 

“It would have been great if Ricky didn’t age at all and could stay at home forever with me as his nanny. He was the perfect kid,” I said.

“I’m sure it helped that his parents were rich as hell,” Sierra said.

Her obsession with wealth and superficial things always boggled my mind since she was the one to shop in vintage discount stores. “I’m really going to miss that paycheck each week. But the family was lovely too. Not seeing them every day makes me a little down. With Ricky’s mom being older, she felt like a surrogate mom for me. And his dad always invited me on their little weekend getaways.”

“Now you’re making me want to be a nanny for a wealthy family,” Sierra said.

“You taking care of a child?” I asked sardonically.

She made a face. “Nah, you’re right. I’ll stick to what I know.” She pulled out a few more records. “With a recommendation from his parents, I know you’ll be able to get something soon. If that’s what you want.”

“It’s more about what I need right now. I have a little saved up, but I want to keep working.”

“You know, you can always work here in the meantime,” Sierra said. “It would be so fun working together!”

“I doubt Harold would go for it,” I said.

“He’s a pushover. If I play my cards right, I might get a promotion out of it.” She winked at me.

Working at a record shop wasn’t of any interest to me, but I didn’t want to offend Sierra with her choice in career. Besides, I wasn’t in the habit of burning bridges. If a nanny job didn’t show up soon, I might need to take her up on that offer at least as a way to pay my bills.

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll think about it. I’m going to check out some nanny jobs in the area first.”

“No problemo,” she said.

“What are you up to this afternoon ?” I asked.

“I’m working until two, and then I’m going home to take a nap. I’m exhausted from staying out at that show last night. Too bad you didn’t come.”

“You know metal bands aren’t my thing,” I said.

“They don’t have to be your thing to have a fun time. Besides, the musicians are super-hot.”

“I’m sure they are under all that eyeliner,” I said. “I’ll probably head home and do some job research. Want to come by the apartment later? We can do takeout and rent a movie?”

“Only if I get to pick the movie,” Sierra said.

“Sure.” Sierra preferred the horror genre, but I was sure I could convince her of something less gory.

“I’ll text you later,” Sierra said. 

“See ya,” I said and headed out of the shop. As much as Sierra didn’t care about interrupting her work day, I knew the Baker brothers did. And if there was an off-chance I’d work there, I didn’t want to ruin my chances from the start. Though I hoped another long-term opportunity came up for me soon. I didn’t like jumping from job to job, especially when there was a child involved.

The rain had let up by the time I left Sierra to her work of organizing the latest shipment of records. I couldn’t believe the place was still in business with the invention of digital music. But from what Sierra told me about the clientele was that collectors were willing to pay a lot of money for the vintage records. And it helped that the Baker brothers inherited the building from their father who started the business.

Thinking of their family brought forward a flash of memories of mine, which I quickly pushed away. There was no need to think of the reason I’d left Australia, especially now when things were about to get more complicated after my recent unemployment.

 

I popped over to the local coffee shop around the corner and grabbed a coffee and an egg sandwich before heading home. I promised myself starting tomorrow that I would keep track of what I spent on unnecessary items. I could easily make food at home, but I enjoyed it more when someone made it for me.

The moment I got into my car, it started to rain again. I flipped on the wipers and pulled out of my spot. It was only halfway through April, and I was sick of the rain. And coupled with the cooler temperatures, going outside was not my favorite thing to do. At least with Ricky, if we needed to stay inside, his house was massive enough for us never to be bored.

Thinking of that blue-eyed little darling made tears spring to my eyes. Of course, I was happy that he was growing up and no longer needed someone to care for him as much, but not seeing his face each day was taking a toll on me.

When I got home, I raced across the lot to my building through torrents of rain. By the time I reached the door, the rain soaked through my brown paper bag and my coffee sloshed over the side of the cup from me jostling it.

I groaned and shoved my key into the front door, pushing through into the small lobby.

I took the two flights of stairs since the elevator had been out for over a week now. I was grateful I only lived on the second floor versus any of the higher levels.

Inside my studio apartment, I dropped the coffee and bag on the counter and kicked off my shoes while pulling off my jacket. Both of them left a puddle on my floor, but I was too hungry to bother with it at the moment.

I lifted the sandwich from the bag, the paper falling apart in my hand. I grabbed my coffee and the wrapped sandwich and flopped onto the couch, lifting my damp feet onto the coffee table. I flipped on the television to veg out for a little while. I turned on a recorded medical drama and got lost in the stories of the hot doctors and their many sexy affairs.

I allowed myself one episode before I got to work. I had the afternoon to get my resume out to as many nanny positions as I could. Even though it was Friday, I wanted potential families to have my information as soon as possible, even if they chose to wait until after the weekend to contact me. At least doing something productive toward another job would ease my mind more than sitting around twiddling my thumbs.

I went over to the kitchen table and sat down, opening my laptop. I didn’t have room in the apartment for a separate office, but since I lived alone, I wasn’t fighting anyone for space. Since my job didn’t require a home office, the kitchen table was good enough for the rare times I went onto the computer.

I pulled up a job website and typed “nanny” into the search bar along with my location details. The next page pulled up over a hundred results. I smiled. Finding a new job was going to be easy.

I grabbed the pad of paper I kept on the table along with a pen to jot down the information on prospective families.

The first position was looking for a nanny of four children, all of them under the age of five. I liked kids, but I was sure I wouldn’t be able to handle that, at least not without another pair of hands.

I went to the next one and from there on was a string of jobs that weren’t what I was looking for. Sure, they were all nanny positions, but many of them didn’t offer the pay I wanted, or there were too many kids. A few had age requirements for women above forty. I was sure they wouldn’t appreciate a twenty-six-year-old woman applying.

There were several I marked down, but by the end of the afternoon, I hadn’t applied to any of them. For some reason, I had a feeling I should hold off. Sierra’s words came into my mind about taking a break. As much as I wanted to get back to work, from my search, I knew there were plenty of jobs out there for a nanny. So what if I took a week off to get back to center again before jumping into another job? Most nanny positions were more than full time. I enjoyed working, but I did deserve a break.

I was very protective of my money, but I had enough in my savings to live on for several months. I wouldn’t push it to the end of my limits, but I could manage to take a little time for myself.

I sat back in my chair and closed the laptop. I stretched my arms over my head and checked the clock. I hadn’t realized I was on the computer for hours. I put away the notepad and laptop, storing it away.

I looked around my apartment, wondering what to do with my new free time. Sierra would be coming over in a couple of hours.

I eyed the television and knew that I had a date with sexy doctors for the rest of the day. I hoped I didn’t get too used to this lifestyle, but for now, it felt good to do something for myself.