LANA MASON
It's been one month to the day since I started working for Allison and Harry. To celebrate being able to trust leaving me alone with her daughter overnight, I guess, Allison has decided to take a weekend holiday to The Hamptons with a friend. Because it was a last-minute thing, I had to cancel plans with the girls, which I'm still a bit bummed about. Allison kept saying that I could say no if I had plans since I was supposed to have the weekend off, but Maya isn't feeling very well so they canceled anyway.
Even though it's only been a month, I've been back and forth between Allison's and Harry's so often that I feel like I've been working this job my whole life. I have everything down to a nearly perfect routine and walking up to the SoHo apartment already feels like I might as well be coming home as I let myself into the building. It's weird to think I ever had to look at my phone for the code when it's just muscle memory now.
I use my key to unlock the front door and see an oversized Louis Vuitton duffle bag in the entryway with Allison's wolf-grey Ugg boots. Neither Allison nor Jane is anywhere to be found, and I'm about to call out for them when I hear Jane suddenly screaming down the hallway. It's a short and very high-pitched screeching sound that makes me wince. It's not her playful scream.
"Oh my God, you are such a brat sometimes, I swear," Allison says next, but she's not yelling at her. She sounds frustrated and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do.
"Hello?" I call out before she can potentially say anything to Jane that she might not want me to hear. Selfishly, I want to spare myself the secondhand embarrassment.
Then, sobbing out of control, Jane comes running down the hallway and around the corner. She makes a beeline for me and throws herself against my legs with so much force that I have to take a step back. I swallow and look down at her as she cries, unsure of the reason or what I'm supposed to do. It's never a good look if the kid wants the nanny more than the parent.
"What's wrong, kiddo?" I chuckle awkwardly and pat her head as Allison emerges from down the hall in an all-black Lululemon set of bootcut yoga pants and a fitted long-sleeve. Her blonde hair is blown out, as always.
"It's 2:30 in the afternoon and she refuses to get dressed," Allison scoffs and gestures to her with a heavy hand. "It's fucking ridiculous."
She just about whispered that last part, so I don't think Jane heard it over the sound of her crying before her mom walked away. Still, I'm surprised that this is the first time I've ever seen Jane truly cry since I started watching her, and it's also the first time I've seen one of the parents lose their temper. I sort of thought Harry would be the first, not Allison. Something else must be going on at work or maybe with Harry himself.
"Hey," I whisper in Allison's absence and get down on one knee to hold Jane's face in my hands. "What's wrong, babe? Why are you crying?"
Her pale olive skin is flushed as she lets out a few more forced sobs, allowing me to brush her tears away with my fingers before she hugs my neck. I smile tightly with my chin on her shoulder and rub her back before I pick her up into my arms, and then there's a knock on the door. My brows twitch together as I glance behind me.
"Do you want me to get that, Allison?" I speak loud enough that she should be able to hear me, but when she doesn't respond, I step forward to peek through the peephole. It's a man dressed in a plain hoodie, but he appears to be well-groomed and not suspicious.
Keeping the chain lock on the door, I open up and watch his head whip up as his eyes search for whoever opened the door. Then he smiles with perfect white square teeth.
