the sitter | lewandowski

nine

9 ; face your fears

The next week, Saoirse couldn't babysit; she had school. Robert said he would find someone to do the job, and at the time, she said okay—but now she regretted so easily giving it up, for he could've already been forgetting about her and messing around with whoever he'd gotten to replace her.

But then she realized that when she started babysitting Nova, it was rare that her and Robert were ever together—that was the entire reason as to why he needed someone to babysit his daughter, anyways. So she relaxed a little, and on the fifth day of waiting, sent him a text asking if she could go visit him at work once she got out of school. He responded with an okay; if she was wearing her school uniform, people would easily assume that she was family or something.

So, Saoirse dashed outside and into the hallway the minute the bell rang—but Erik, admittedly much more handsome with his new hairstyle and all, stopped her.

"Saoirse!" He grabbed her hand, leaving her to internally groan as she turned back around to face him.

"Yes, Erik?"

"Let me walk you home."

"I don't think so, Erik. I live in the hills, you know that."

Erik groaned. "Oh, right. Let me, uh, ride the bus with you."

Saoirse rose her eyebrows. "Erik, I have somewhere to be. Maybe on Monday."

Erik bit his lip and nodded. "Yeah, okay." His lips twitched—as though he wanted to kiss her—but he didn't, and Saoirse ran off before he could change his mind. The taxi ride to the Allianz skyscraper was short lived, for Saoirse's school was already close to downtown, and to walk there would've only taken fifteen minutes anyway.

Saoirse knew that to enter the building clad in her schoolgirl uniform would be nothing short of embarrassing—so, thanks to the rainy weather, she was able to cover it up with her fashionable trench coat.

"Are you his cousin, or something?" The receptionist—Kati, by name-tag—rose her eyebrows as she picked up the phone.

Saoirse shook her head, deciding to leave the question unanswered. Before Kati could ask who she was, she was speaking on the phone, presumably to Robert's personal secretary—or, in other words, Anna. When she hung up, she sighed. "Mr. Lewandowski just finished a meeting, he'll come down and get you shortly."

"Great." Saoirse pressed a polite smile to her lips.

"I can hold keep bag here, if you want. We don't allow visitors to bring bags past the lobby."

Saoirse handed Kati her bag, filled with heavy schoolbooks, and smirked when the small secretary failed to hold it with just one arm. "Mein gott," she muttered, "Do you store bricks in here?"

Saoirse smiled. "No. Thanks for keeping it back there—will it be safe?"

Kati sighed. "Yes. No one comes back here but me. I run this desk."

Saoirse rose her eyebrows. "Alright, then."

"What's your name, kid?"

Saoirse pouted. She was nearly eighteen years old—no kid at all. "Saoirse. It's Scottish. Or Irish—or both, I don't really remember."

Kati rose her eyebrows. "Is that what your accent is also?"

"No," Saoirse shook her head. "I'm from Montenegro..."

While Saoirse and Kati began to engage themselves in conversation, Robert watched the elevator doors slide open.  He stepped into the lobby and spotted Saoirse speaking to Kati, Anna's young and naive sister who was some years older than Saoirse. The two were smiling and laughing, so he hated to interrupt the conversation—but he did anyways, the excitement of being alone with Saoirse too great.