The nanny Diaries

CHAPTER EIGHT

                                        THE NANNY DAIRIES

Lord, how my head aches! What a head have I!
My back a t' other side----ah, my back, my back!
Beshrew your heart for sending me about
To catch my death with jauncing up and down!
                                             -THE NURSE, ROMEO AND JULIET

                                         Multitasking

              Nanny,
              While you're on your play date with Alex today,
              please ask Alex's mother who catered her last
              dinner------tell her I thought Cajun - infused Asian
              was a stroke of genius.
                        Just to let you know, the parents are
              D I V O R C I N G. So sad. Please make sure
              Grayer doesn't say anything awkward. I'll swing
              by Alex's at 4:30 to take Grayer to his orthodist.
              See you then.

"Nanny? Nanny?!" Mrs. X's disembodied voice calls out to me as I jog up the block toward the nursery school courtyard.
   "Yes?" I say, spinning around.
   "This way." The door of a Lincoln town cars pops open and Mrs. X's manicured hand flanges me over.
   "I'm so glad you're here," I say, leaning down to where she's seated amid her shopping bags in the push darkness. "Because I need to ask you-----"

   "Nanny, I just want to reiterate that I'd like you to always get here ten minutes early."
   "Of course."
   "Well, it's eleven fifty-five."
   "I'm really sorry-----I was trying to find Grayer's class list. I'm not sure which Alex---"

   But she's already busy rooting around in her purse. She pulls a small leather-bound notepad out of her hobo bag. "I want to talk with you briefly about a party I'm throwing at the end of the month for the Chicago branch of Mr. X's company." She uncrosses and recrosses her leg, the lavender Prada shoes making an arc of bright color against the dark interior of the town car. "All the top executives will be there----it's a very important evening and I will want it to be perfect for my husband."

   "Sounds lovely," I say, unsure why I'm being apprised of the fete.
   She lowers her sunglasses to make sure that I have taken in every word.
   Should I bring my formal wear to the dry cleaner's?
   "So, I may need you to run a few errands for me this month. It's just that I'm so overwhelmed with the preparations and Connie's absolutely no help. So if there's anything I need I'll just leave you a note----it really shouldn't be much."