I Try

Prologue

Previously in the Nanny Diaries Series

Lauren fidgeted uncomfortably in the presence of her ex-boyfriend, though he was not much of an ex, Zack, and looked up at him. She knew she had to propose this idea. It was the only way. "Zack?" she said. 

"Mm?" he mumbled over the top of her head. 

"I've been thinking about...the next few months. What are we going to do? No one really knows, um, our history." she visibly blushed at the thought. "And I don't want them to. But we can't act like this--" she gestured to the two of them. "--around other people. Especially not Nash."

Zack tensed at her fiancé's name. How wrong this all felt. Eventually, he admitted defeat. "You're right," he sighed. "So what to do, then?"

Lauren pulled a face, knowing this next part, expressing her idea, wouldn't go over too well. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure you're going to like it." He nodded for her to continue. "Well, if we don't want people onto us, what if we act like we hate each other?"

Zack stayed unresponsive. "Um."

"Just hear me out. If we act like we hate each other in others' company, no one will be able to figure out what really went on between us." That was understatement; it was like calling the Pacific Ocean a lake. "As far as anyone knows, we were screaming our heads off at each other in here. And that way, we can protect ourselves from any suspicions and...I can still see you."

Zack contemplated this for half a second, but he knew it was futile. Where Lauren was concerned, he was on board for anything. So when he answered, "Okay." a minute later, the only one surprised was Lauren. 

A new deal had just been made. 

Lauren went in search of Nash, who was in a room a few doors down being tended to by his father's secretary while his father sat idly in a leather desk chair, staring out the building's window in stony silence. Immediately Lauren felt the tension and crossed to Nash, who looked up at her with such a pitiful and heartbroken expression it pained her. She already knew how terribly he felt for the scene he caused with Zack and the violence it ensued, but she shushed him with a finger to his lips and a stroke to his hair. He gratefully accepted both and closed his eyes exhaustedly. 

Lauren still did not know what Nash was keeping from her, and intended to find out, but the day had had enough twists to call an end to. She spoke quietly with the secretary, Fern, who was attempting to clean and bandage Nash's wounds. To Zack's credit, they were far worse than his. Lauren couldn't help but smile a little before wiping all traces of it away and assisting Fern. His father was no help. 

Nash eventually passed out from the blood loss and they had to call an ambulance. He would be fine, but the trip to the hospital was eventful as Lauren had a few episodes of panic in the back of the vehicle. Merely thinking of the white walled sterility of the hospital was enough to gag her. 

She pulled herself together long enough to get news of Nash's condition and then travel back to his apartment. His father would send a car for him when he was released. 

Lauren was a state when she arrived there, frazzled and tired with a hint of hysteria in her system. However, when she looked in the mirror, she couldn't help but detect a twinkle, a gleam, in her eyes. And she knew why. 

It was all because of Zack. 

When the car arrived containing Nash, who was wrapped in gauze, drowsy and drugged, she helped him inside, once again with Fern. Nash wanted to lay down, which Lauren struggled to understand since his coherency was questionable. She told Fern they could put him on the leather couch in the living room, but when they got there it was missing. 

As strange as that was, they still needed a place to put him, as he was currently drooling on Fern's shoulder. The quiet, complacent girl that she was - as Lauren was quickly coming to learn - she didn't show an ounce of discomfort or complain once as Lauren hurriedly led the way to what she remembered as Nash's bedroom. 

With the sun slipping steadily below the horizon when they were finished tending to him, Fern and Lauren smiled at each other, silently congratulating the other on the accomplishment. Fern left to return to Nash's father's office. 

Lauren wound her way into the kitchen, seating herself at the bar and setting her sights out the window. Reflecting over the last few hours, she was astonished even herself at how many sequential events had occurred, and she had been present for all of them. 

With a warm cup of tea and an afghan around her shoulders, she sat on the balcony in the reclining chair Nash had there. Training her eyes on the darkness settling in her surroundings, a skill Lauren had mastered, she sat in complete quiet. 

The chaos was not behind her but before her, she knew. The problems and fights and troubles were only beginning. And so, she stayed out on his balcony until sunrise. 

Preparing herself. 

I wanted to give you guys the prologue before I finished the other chapter. Thought you'd enjoy. Hope you do. 

To get a dedication: Predictions for this book? 

LOVE YOU ALL <3