Babysitting

ChapterThree

"Holding these two strands quite tightly, grab another section of hair and combine it with this third strand then bring it through," I said to Sasha, demonstrating on Kira's hair. "Then hold these two strands tightly and grab a section from this side, combine, bring it through."
I let go of Kira's hair, unraveling the French braid that I had done then stepping aside.
"Try it," I told Sasha.
She stepped forward, taking three strands of hair from the front of Kira's head. Sasha had finally plucked up the courage to ask me to show her how to braid hair.
Alex sighed, clicking through channels on the TV.
"I'm so bored," she said, turning to her sisters. "What's the point of this huge house if there's nothing to do?"
"Why don't you also practice hairstyles?" Kira asked. "Ciana has such pretty long hair. You can do everything with it."
I laughed, my cheeks warming at the small girls comment.
"I know how to do most hairstyles. And I only ever need to do a French braid on you two," Alex said, moving behind me and taking a few strands of my hair in her hands.
"I'll start asking for a crown braid then," Sasha blurted and we laughed.
"Your hair is horrifyingly thick, how do you manage?" Alex muttered.
"I'm lucky enough to at least have straight hair with this thickness," I said, taking Sasha's hair in my own hands. "I just need a brush."
We had created a braid train.
"So what's there to do around here?" I asked.
"Bungee jumping," Jake spoke up. "I wish Nathaniel was here cause I'm surrounded by girls. I need to feel like a man."
"You're barely a man," Alex scoffed. "Get your buddies to come over."
"So you can try get with them again?" He shot back.
"He came onto me," I felt Alex's hands stiffen. "How is that my fault?"
"Well you gladly accepted," Jake tapped away at his phone.
Alex sighed, letting my hair fall. I let go of Sasha's hair as well to turn and see Alex's face. She fiddled with her hands as she chewed away at her bottom lip, her eyes gathering a layer of moisture.
"Are you alright?" I whispered, glancing to Jake.
Luckily he was across the room on a different sofa.
"I guess," she mumbled.
"Speak to me," I said.
"Luke's brother, Ashton, he's two years older than us. But he comes over whenever the rest of the boys do. I started liking him and he definitely knew that," she scowled.
Her fists clenched and she looked down.
"They slept over here one night. I came down to get water and Ashton was up. He started complimenting me, saying I'm hot and a prized possession," she sighed, her lower lip trembling. "He started touching me and eventually we kissed. Jake, Luke, Jo and Sam saw. Ashton shoved me away and said that it was just for fun."
"Oh, Alex, I'm so sorry," I whispered. "Jake doesn't believe you when you said it was Ashton's fault?"
She shook her head.
"He's a pig," I scoffed. "You're way too good for him."
"I'm not. I have such strong feelings for him and whenever he's here, he'll laugh it off. When I try talk to him, he'll make a big scene, shouting that I'm bothering him," she closed her eyes. "He's such an asshole but I want him to be my asshole."
I smiled slightly at her words, wrapping my arms around her shoulders.
"Maybe he'll come to his senses and realize you're an amazing young girl," I said. "Or maybe one day you'll wake up and realize he isn't worth this feeling."
She relaxed into my arms, smiling a bit.
"Have you ever been in love?" Sasha asked me, the two girls focused on our conversation.
"Yeah," I smiled sadly now. "Once. It was bittersweet."
"Tell us about him," Kira hopped onto the sofa next to me.
"His name was Cristiano. We fell in love when I was fifteen, he seventeen. He was the reason I never cut my hair," I sighed, memories appearing in my mind. "We saw each other almost everyday and he drove me around anywhere I wanted to go. When I turned nineteen, we planned for our future. We were going to get married. Our families loved each other, some members long lost friends. When I turned twenty, we would have our wedding. I loved him with my entire being."
"What happened, Ciana?" Alex asked. 
"He was in New Zealand for the week before our wedding. His flight back was the morning of our wedding day," I felt the painful tears filling my eyes.
"I don't like where this is going," Sasha whispered.
"As you can tell," I smiled at Sasha. "The plane went missing. I sat and cried in my wedding dress for hours on end. We waited almost a month before any news appeared. The plane was found, it had crashed just entering the Portugal border. No one survived."
The girls huddled themselves around me.
"I'm so sorry," they each said.
"That was three years ago. I've grieved for my loss already. Even though we loved each other so dearly, he would want me to basically forget about him and go on with life. I would want the same for him if it was me that were taken," I told them.
There was a slow loud clapping from the door and our heads shot up to see what it was.
My eyes landed on a handsome man in a tux. His dark blonde hair was slightly disheveled and his crystal blue eyes were narrowed at me. Through his clothes, you could see defined muscles and broad shoulders.
"Wonderful story," he mused. "Tell another."
"Nathaniel!" Jake whooped, jumping up. "Finally you're here."
"Natie!" Kira gushed, jumping off my lap and running into the arms of who I guessed was Nathaniel.
Alex and Sasha also scrambled to hug him while his eyes were still trained on me.
I got up, smoothing my skirt slightly before walking up in front of him and holding out my hand.
"Luciana," I smiled.
My smile faltered as he scowled, ignoring my hand and turning towards the children.
"Would you guys give me a second with... Her?" Oh lord, the smoothest voice I had ever heard flowed out of his mouth even though it was laced with disgust.
Alex glanced at me, worry filling her eyes before she took Sasha and Kira's hands and steered them out, Jake following them.
"Who are you?" He hissed, grabbing my upper arm, roughly.
"Like I said, Luciana," I ripped myself back, knowing a bruise was already forming where his fingers were. "Debbie hired me as the live-in nanny."
"Well she sure as hell didn't tell me anything," he snapped.
He was around 6'4", a whole sixteen inches taller than me. I had to crane my neck back to look up to his face.
"What's your problem?" He sneered. "Wanting to inject your sob stories into me as well?"
"My sob stories?" I repeated, anger seeping into my veins. "That was one of my life stories, how dare you?"
"Stop brainwashing them," he hissed. "They're so smitten with you that you could ask them to walk off a bridge and they would."
"Brainwashing?" I frowned.
"It's obvious you're just here for the money," he stepped back.
"Well yeah that's the point of a job, knucklehead," I crossed my arms over my chest. "I care about those kids as well though, I wouldn't brainwash them. How is me telling them something about myself considered brainwashing?"
"You're trying to get your culture into them!" He snapped. "Make them go by your values!"
"What the hell do you think I am?" I shrieked. "I'm Portuguese, not from another planet!"
His jaw clenched.
"They're only used to the people around here, not foreigners," he hissed.
"Well they're obviously not like the people around here cause they are nothing like you," I scoffed. "And I definitely know why."
His scowl dropped and there was a slight flutter of vulnerability before his face hardened.
"How dare you?" He roared. "You know fuck all about me!"
"I know enough," I shoved my index finger into his hard chest. "How dare you accuse me and belittle me?"
"Because it's the truth," he grabbed my arm again, pushing me back.
"You know nothing about me either!" I yelled. "You're a fucking hypocrite!"
"Fucking bitch," he scoffed before turning and walking out.
My body sagged against the sofa from the confrontation. I had never been so rude to someone I've just met. In my defense, he did start it.
"Ciana?"
I snapped my head up to Alex.
"I'm so sorry," she sat down. "He hates basically everyone."
"He's so rude," I spat. "The cheek of him! Fuck him!"
I jumped up off the sofa and marched to the elevator before going upstairs. I stopped just as I was about to open my door. The door across from mine was slightly ajar. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. I stepped back to peek into the room.
"No," I whispered, dread filling my body.
Only Debbie, Clive and I had bedrooms on the top floor. The kids all slept on the ground floor. But gazing into the bedroom two meters away from mine, I realized that Nathaniel also slept up here.
As I saw him hissing into the phone, his jacket draped across the bed and his tie loosened, I also realized he would be staying here for awhile.
He glanced up and his eyes caught mine for a second before he practically sprinted to slam his door.
"Lovely," I muttered, shoving my door open then slamming it behind me as well.
I stood in the middle of my bedroom, anger fueling my veins. I wanted to punch my walls, rip my things off the dressing table and break them on the floor, tear the curtains from their rods.
Instead I stiffly walked to the balcony, allowing the cool air to calm me down. The way Debbie spoke of Nathaniel made him seem like a kind and warm person. What I had witnessed was nowhere near kind and warm. He was an abusive and cruel asshole to me.
I glanced at my upper arm, a vivid band of purple in the shape of long fingers staining my dark skin. I wrapped my arms around myself.
I suddenly wanted to go home. I wanted my peaceful life in Portugal. A place where no one hated me. I sighed, slumping against the railings.
My balcony overlooked the front yard of the house, where the fountain and roundabout were. I saw a sleek black car pulling into one of the parkings and a man get out.
Nathaniel then came out the front door, striding towards this man. Their mouths moved a bit, I was too far away to hear, before the man went to the boot and got out two large suitcases and Nathaniel took them from him.
Two large suitcases meant a lot of clothes. He would be staying here for a long time.
He then turned away from the man and walked back into the house. The man sighed before getting back into the car and driving off.
"Ciana?"
I groaned slightly before turning to see Kira.
"What, Kira?" I asked.
"Are you being sad?" She took my hand, smiling up at me.
"Just a little," I brushed her flyaways back.
"Was he nasty to you?" She pouted.
"No. No, of course not," I smiled. "We just didn't agree with each other. I see he's going to stay here?"
She nodded, sitting on the bench that was out here.
"He said he's gonna stay until mommy and daddy are back," she shrugged. "Alex was fighting with him and he pushed her."
My eyes widened and the anger was back in my veins. How dare he?
"Is she okay?" I asked stiffly, sitting next to her.
"She started crying and she was still crying when I came here. When I asked her what's wrong, she said that he "winded" her. What does that mean, Ciana?" She looked at me, confusion covering her features.
"It just means that the air isn't doing its job," I smiled, swallowing my fear of this man.
He wasn't afraid to hurt a stranger or his own family. Would he be this abusive the entire month?
"How about you go play with Sasha? I'm going to go speak to Alex," I picked her up.
I then piggy backed her downstairs and left her in Sasha's room before walking back to the TV room.
Alex was sitting on one of the sofas, scrolling through something on her phone. There were tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Are you alright?" I asked, walking up to her.
She glanced at me before rolling her eyes and getting up.
"Hey," I grabbed her wrist. "What's wrong?"
"Leave me the fuck alone," she spat before ripping herself away from me.
She then stomped out the room, leaving me with a gaping mouth and wide eyes.

Sasha Johnson