The Nanny

Silly, Stupid Girl

All I could do was look at my hands as Grace went over what this meeting would consist of however my brain wasn't processing any of it.

It didn't help my mental absence that my heart and soul was across the Atlantic either.

That and the fact that, between Harry and me, we had a grand total of four hours of sleep after catching a late night international flight back to my home state.

The goodbyes in the middle of the night to the children as we left them in the capable hands of Anne were difficult.

For one thing I had never been this far from my son. It killed me to know that it would take more than a drive to reach Jamie if he needed me, but I also understood that being here would keep me from having to experience this again... hopefully.

Darcy had taken it hard as well.

As much as I hoped I was wrong I sensed she was feeling the tension in the house after I was handed the papers on the adorable date night Harry had set up. She had been throwing tantrums, something she never did, and clung to Harry or myself. And when we started to pack it had been next to impossible keeping our clothes in our luggage as she angrily pulled them out. I didn't even want to think about the screaming, teary goodbye.

I had tried my hardest to convince Harry to stay but he promised she would be ok and that he wanted to do this with me, he didn't want me to be alone.

I don't know if I'll ever have the words to tell him how much that meant to me.

In my already vulnerable emotional state from leaving my babies behind I damn near cried myself into a stupor. Something I felt I had been doing a lot of lately anyhow.

And after all that here we were, tired, emotionally drained, and still reeling from the flight and the whole damn situation.

My eyes flicked up from my fingers to view Harry's face as he listened closely to what Grace was saying. He looked to the world as casual and relaxed as ever but the tightness around his eyes and the worry lines indented on his forehead let me know he was just as tense as I was.

I shifted around to look up at Grace as she stood off to my left, files placed in a neat pile in front of her on the large mahogany conference table in the privet room we were seated in waiting for Mark and his attorney.

She paused in her little speech taking a breath and smoothing her hands over her pristine cream pencil skirt, her over all look being professional and confidant. It gave me a little comfort to see her assured persona.

Her sharp eyes shifted over to Harry and me with a reassuring smile on her lips. "And most of all, don't let this overpriced pompous attorney intimidate you. It's his weapon of choice but I won't let it work on me or you, ok?"

I really wanted to let those words sooth my nerves but from the moment I stepped out of the SUV with Harry and Grace I was taking inventory of the high rise building and its high priced local and luxurious furnishings.

I felt sick to my stomach knowing that without Harry I would have never been able to match this.
It seemed that, try as Grace might to convince me otherwise, Mr. Richard K. Daniels, Esq.'s scare tactics were working on me.

"Aria." Grace spoke again, catching my unsure expression with her astute gaze as she took her seat beside me. "I have this under control."

Her controlled eyes stayed on me even as we heard the door open just behind us letting us know the other half of our meeting had arrived.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Were the first words out of Mark's mouth as he spotted a glaring Harry, who had reached a hand over to tightly hold my own.