Seeing Red

Monaco...Baby?

My third week at Monaco was now dull, I had explored the areas and just done about everything I could afford to. It was a sunny Friday afternoon, Harriet and Julia went to get their hair done.

Julia tried to convince me to join them but I could not be bothered, I had no where to go why should I spend so much money on it? Both of them were working people who met high profile people all the time, it made sense for them.

I was on the couch, reading a short story when Harriet walked into the apartment. I was going to tease her about her hair but she looked annoyed, I did not want to mess around with a ticking time bomb.

"How's the job search going?" She asked me.

"Horrible." I sighed.

"You like kids right?"

"They're okay I guess."

"Well, then I found you a job. Finally, my electricity bills won't be sky rocketing anymore."

"What do you mean? Can you please elaborate?"

"Get dressed first you filthy thing!" She cringed.

I looked down at myself, I was wearing an ugly but comfortable pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt which was now covered in food crumbs.

I changed into, hopefully more acceptable clothing and joined Harriet who was already marching out of the apartment.

"Where are we going? What job have you found me?"

"Just follow me!"

We walked to, what looked like a hair salon to me. She nudged me to walk in, I waited by the reception desk because I had no idea what I was doing here.

"Harriet what the fuck are we doing at a hair salon?"

"Bonjour! Pouvez-vous dire à Pascale que je suis là?" She poke to the receptionist completely ignoring me.

"Oui, une minute, asseoir." She smiled.

I sat down on one of the chairs in the waiting are, without the slightest idea of what was going on. I kept bothering Harriet but she was too busy talking to the receptionist, both of them were chatting away and laughing.

"Harriet, please just tell me what is going on."

"As you can see, this is a hair salon. I get my hair done here, all the time."

"We've established that, you've been chatting up with Amelia there for a while so I figured that out."

"The lady who runs this salon, Pascale has a granddaughter."

"Oh okay."

"She was talking about how hectic it is to take care of such an energetic kid and how dangerous it is to keep her around the salo-"

She was cut short when we heard a loud thump from inside the salon, "Mia!" We heard people yell. That must be the kid, I thought to myself and let out a chuckle.

"Harriet! Thank you for coming back so soon!" A kind woman smiled walking towards us.

She was fashionable and her hair looked very neat, there was an air of sophistication to her. Pascale, the owner of this salon and grandmother to Mia, she introduced herself to me.

"Mia! Viens ici!" She called for the girl.

"I'm Tara, Harriet's older sister." I smiled.

"Tara, this is my granddaughter Mia."

The little girl hid behind her grandmother and peeked at us, she was shy or maybe just uncomfortable. She had a sweet face and big hazel eyes, a beautiful little girl for sure.

"Hi!" I waved at the little girl.

"Can you start tomorrow? Please?"

"Sure! Just let me know what I have to do."

"Pick her up from school, I'll let her teachers know, lunch is always ready at home, help her with schoolwork and keep her occupied until 6."

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow then."

"We'll meet tomorrow dear, stop by to get keys to the house first." She smiled.

Great! I had landed a job, fit for a 13 year old. It was better than doing nothing, it was also a good way to make some money and support myself.

We walked back home, Harriet had a big smile on her face. I asked her why she was smiling so much, she shook her head and said that it was nothing. I brushed it off, took a shower and changed into pajamas, I was definitely not going to do anything more today.

Julia came over for dinner and the three of us had a good time eating and watching, as you've figured out by now shitty reality TV. I told her that I had managed to land the job of babysitting a child after all this headache. She beamed and congratulated me and cheered that this called for a celebration.

I woke up next morning, to chaos. There was loud music blaring through the speakers and Harriet singing along as she cleaned the place. I walked into the kitchen and decided to start on breakfast. Pancakes? I yelled. I got back a quick yes.

I walked to the dining table with the pancakes, she was already seated there. We ate them and discussed the work that had to be done today, she told me that she wouldn't be coming home until 9 today, Julia was taking her to meet some new celebrity chefs.

"Really? That's awesome!"

"She's like my second big sister, always looking out for me and finding me new opportunities."

I felt a tinge of pain, maybe it was jealousy. Julia was being a better guiding figure to Harriet than I could as her sister. I was living in her apartment like a bum on her couch while Julia was helping her advance her career.

"I know that look, Tara. You are fine and you are perfect just the way you are-"

"I am a failure. I failed you as an older sister, I failed mom and dad as a kid and now I'm failing as a person. I went to business school yet couldn't run a business well, failed two of them in fact." I laughed.

"Tara! Things will work out just fine! You're not going to remain a babysitter forever! Be patient and try harder! Today's your first day with the kid. We can't have you in such a bad mindset."

"Thanks for the pep talk champ!" I smiled weakly, "You're going to be late if you don't leave in the next five minutes." I informed her looking at the wall clock.

"Oh shit! Tell me how your first day went love! Bye bye." She quickly got up to leave.

It was 9 in the morning, I had practically the whole day to myself until noon. When I would pick up Mia and start my first ever job.

I watched TV for a while, did laundry and picked up the whole place. Time was moving rather slow today, I even started meal prep for lunch and dinner!

It was noon at last, I quickly ate the little meal I had prepared for myself and left to pick up Mia. I felt nervous at first, the uneasiness settled down ultimately.

I reached the gates and noticed that parents had just started showing up, the teachers were talking to the parents as they handed their child to them. A teacher looked at me and asked me to stay behind, oh gosh what was going to happen?