Nurse Or Nanny?

Chapter Twelve

Laura/Ashley's POV

It's been almost a week since I met John at the gas station and he gave me my new identification.  He told me it was a quick job, obviously, and it would hold up but not if people looked too closely at it, which meant I'd need to find a job in the service industry of some sort.  I never was asked for a background or criminal record check working as a server.  I have been driving almost ten hours a day, making short stops to rest, and sleeping in my car when I can but I'm just trying to find a place where I feel safe.  I've been zig zagging down the west coast and I've started to make my way east. I've been trying not to take a direct route anywhere in case anyone is following me. I'm just outside of Dallas and I found a camp ground to spend the night in, campgrounds are cash only so this has been working for me the further south I made it. Tomorrow I am going to find a library and look for a job, I feel I'm far enough away where I can put down some temporary roots and make a little money.  Coming such a round about way has eaten away  a lot of my cash.

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Finding the library wasn't the easiest thing. Without a phone that does everything for you I have to rely on maps, and asking people for directions, which makes me a bit nervous putting my face out there but oh well, better than being traced.  I walk in and I love the smell.  There is nothing quite like the smell of books, it feels homey.  I walk up to the main desk where there is a little old lady, cliche I know, with her head in a book. I clear my through to get her attention,
"Excuse me, do you have any public computer with internet access here?" She looks at me for a moment, puzzled, closes her book and puts it down.
"Yes we do, if you have to print anything its fifteen cents per page.  You look young, you don't have one of those phones that does everything for you?" Busted.
"I did, it was water damaged and I'm waiting for my other one to come in the mail.  In the meantime I need a computer.  Could you please point me in the direction of where I'll find them." 
"You have wonderful manners you know. They are up the stairs and off to the right, take as much time as you need my dear." She waves me off and picks up her book.
"Thank you." I smile at her and go try and find the computers.  She said I had nice manners, I didn't think I was overly nice, if this is something people notice down here I'll have to try and keep in it check.  As I'm walking up the stairs someone is coming down not paying attention and bumps into me dropping the few books he was carrying.
"Oh sorry, didn't mean to get in your way." I say and start to grab the books for him.
"You're not from around here, are you?" 
"I'm sorry?" I say confused, how could he possibly know that. I know I am a little whiter than the people around here, but I'm sure not everyone has a tan.
"There it is again, sorry haha" he says while studying me.
"I don't understand."
"Canadian?" I almost stop breathing, is it that obvious? Does he know me? Is my picture on some wanted poster because I ran from WITSEC?  I think he see's the confusion on my face and explains, "I'm pretty sure I bumped into you, you apologized for nothing, picked up my books for me and when you said "I'm sorry," that confirmed it."  He now has a big grin on his face like he just solved the worlds hardest puzzle.
"Oh, yeah, you got me." I say start to walk up the rest of the stairs.
"So what's a Canadian girl doing all the way down here?"
"Just wanted a change, maybe I'll see you around." I end the conversation,  I don't want to have to talk to people longer than absolutely necessary and he leaves me alone. 

After about an hour on the computer searching I figure I have sent a resume out to about fifteen different places.  I figure I'll wait another hour or two to see if anyone replies right away and if nothing I'll come back tomorrow.  To kill some time I look at the other random most recent postings, janitorial position at a high school, no thank you.  Accountant, pass. Someone is in search of a personal shopper, that could be fun if I didn't hate shopping so much. I'm scrolling through loads of random posts and I see Nanny/Tutor. Interested I click into it and see what people are looking for in a nanny these days. The job is in Galveston, that's near the ocean I think.  A single dad with three kids aged six, ten and sixteen looking for a live in nanny and tutor. Must be able to take kids to and from school and all activities as needed.  Help cook and clean, but family will also help with these things.  Help kids with homework, that must be the tutor part.  Fluent in French.  Able to adapt to changing situations and be okay if parent is out of house for days on end. Days on end, yikes, what does this dad do. If you feel you are up for this challenge please send in a short letter about yourself and a resume with your contact information.  We will contact you and set up an interview if you meet the qualifications. As I read this ad over a couple times I start to get the idea that this might actually be a good job.  A live in means I won't have to find a place to live, means no more bribing hotel staff, or moving to a sketchy part of town that won't ask too many questions.  I'm just going to assume it's in a better neigbourhood because who can afford a nanny. I speak french, I was in french immersion all through school - go Canada. And no one is going to give a nanny a second look.  I tweak my resume a little bit write a short tiff about myself and reply to the ad. 

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David POV

Chris has been fielding applications but none seem to feel right.  The more she sends me the more I start to think this was a bad idea. 
"What about this one, she's retired but looking for something to fill her time.  She says she doesn't need to live in but if you are out of town doesn't mind staying. Speaks a little French."
"No, doesn't feel right, and you have me sold on the idea of a live in now, I feel that would make life so much easier not waiting to see if the babysitter is going to show up." I am starting to feel a little defeated.
"Hey now, I never said this was going to happen overnight, and if you're going to be picky it will take longer."
"Picky, you're telling me you would have any of these people looking after your God children." She turns around in her chair and looks right at me, "No, you're right, we'll keep looking." As she says that she get's another resume, she opens it up and I as she turns around she is smiling, "I think I found the one." Rolling my eyes I slide over there on my chair, 
"Let me see." 

Hello/Bonjour!

My name is Ashley Davis, I'm twenty-seven years old and I am interested in the position for the Nanny/Tutor.  A little about myself,  I come from up north and I have a high school education, which I hope is enough to be able to tutor. I am great with kids, with all people really. I am easy going so whatever you throw at me I'm sure I'll be able to handle.  I'm down here just looking for a bit of a change and this sounds like an amazing opportunity and adventure!  Thank you for taking the time to review my resume enclosed in this e-mail and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Thanking you in advance, 

Ashley.

She actually sounds perfect, and I don't even want to look at Chris because she'll have an I told you so look on her face. 
"David, she's perfect." Chris finally says, "look, she even has her level two first aid."
"I know, I know, she almost sounds too perfect. Let's bring her in for an interview and get her information so we can run her name through the system. She never actually said where she was from and it doesn't say where she went to school on her resume. It actually just has a lot of odd jobs as servers."
"Stop judging before you even meet her. Okay?"
"Okay, okay. Set it up for tomorrow while the kids are in school." 
"You got it."

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Laura/Ashley's POV

Half an hour passed and I am just about to close up when I get an e-mail.  I already had a couple replies from a few restaurants and had set up interviews tomorrow but this was from the nanny job.  That was really fast. It must be an automatic e-mail or something about how they already filled the position. 

Hi Ashley, 

After reviewing your letter and resume we have decided to bring you in for an interview.  Would tomorrow around two o'clock be okay?

Regards, 

David.

Holy guacamole, I never thought I'd get chosen for this. Tomorrow at two, I will have to cancel the other interviews for this one. I google mapped Galveston and it's over four hours away from where I am.  But if this job is legit, it could really be a place I could actually hide. And if not, well I guess I could just stay in Galveston and find a job there.

Hello David, 

Thanks you so much for the opportunity, yes, two o'clock will be perfect. Name the place and I'll meet you there.

Thank you, 

Ashley.

Another couple minutes goes by and I get another e-mail.

Hey, 

There is a coffee shop downtown on thirteenth, I'll see you there.

Talk soon, 

David.

Well, guess I should start making my way to Galveston.