I stood there frozen to the spot. Did Noah just fire me? For telling him about how his daughter felt about him working so much? My entire body went numb, but when Noah didn’t return to say anything to me, I forced myself to grab my things and leave the house.
On the way home, my mind replayed the conversation with Noah over and over again. My initial instincts were right: I shouldn’t have said anything to Noah about Gina missing him. But on the other hand, he needed to know how much his working affected his own daughter. He was too worried about his job, and now I knew one of the main reasons why Noah couldn’t keep a nanny for very long. It was mostly because of him.
Heat licked behind my eyes as I thought of Gina. What was he going to do with her now? I hated that I wouldn’t see her tomorrow, but he fired me, so there was no reason to go back.
I felt like an ass for allowing the both of them to latch onto my heart. Now I was out of a job and heartbroken. What was I going to do now?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Noah
The next morning, I woke up with the worst headache. I went to bed late last night, and the lack of sleep was starting to affect me.
I rolled over and checked the clock. I’d set my alarm for early, knowing that I’d have to take Gina to work again. I groaned. Why didn’t Jess do her job and mind her own business? I might have over reacted when I fired her, but the last thing I needed when I came home was to deal with another whiny employee.
Of course, Gina was upset that I wasn’t with her twenty-four hours a day like I was in Australia. I wasn’t working then. Why didn’t Jess explain that to her? She probably fed Gina’s need and wanted to make me feel bad when I got home from a shitty day at work.
Jess had no idea how much stress I worked with each day, and she wasn’t making it easier for me when I got home.
This transition to yet another nanny would suck, but I’d already emailed Allison last night to bring up the previous nanny applications for a second look. As much as I still wanted Jess to warm my bed, maybe things had gone too far between us. Jess distracted me, and it wasn’t in her job description to judge my life and how I chose to live it.
I took a shower and got ready for the day. Then I went into Gina’s room to wake her.
“Daddy?” she croaked and turned around. She held her arms out to me, and I wrapped her in a tight embrace.
“You’re coming to work with me today, honey.”
She rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Where is Jess?”
“She’s not watching you today,” I said. I didn’t have time to get into the details with Gina. I would later on once I finished work for the day.
“Why? We need to finish the quilt.”
I didn’t have time for this. “We’ll talk about it later, honey. Right now you need to get ready. We have to leave soon.”
Gina quirked her lips as if she somehow knew that Jess wasn’t coming back at all. But then she smiled so broadly that it made my heart ache. “I get to go to work with Daddy!”
While she dug through her dresser drawers, I made her bed. “I’m still catching up from last week. So, I need you to be on your best behavior today. I’m not going to be able to play with you that much okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
My phone chirped, and I checked my messages. I cursed under my breath. Allison had the flu and wasn’t coming in. Instead, she called the temp agency, and they were sending someone over.
That’s just what I needed today. I couldn’t trust a temp to help me watch my kid. And I would be pushed back a day for finding a new nanny. It wasn’t Allison’s fault, but it only added to another shitty day for me. And Gina wasn’t going to make this any easier.
“Hurry up, Gina,” I said, firmly. “We have to go. I don’t have time for you to go through all of your clothes.”
She whipped her head around and looked at me. Her lower lip trembled.
“I don’t want to be late,” I said in a softer tone. I had to get to the office and prep the temp with all the work for the day. This was already shaping up to be another stressful day. And with taking care of Gina on top of it, my mood wasn’t going to improve by standing there.
I managed to get Gina out of the house within ten minutes. We didn’t have time to gather toys for her, so the supplies I had at the office would suffice.
On the way to work, I picked up some donut holes for Gina and a large coffee for myself. I hoped the caffeine would help with my headache. The pressure on my temples was worse than earlier that morning.
The world weighed on my shoulders. I glanced at the rearview mirror and realized Gina was asleep again. I soaked in the silence for a little while until I got to work.
After Gina had finished her breakfast, she came over to me while I was on a call with a client. I put my finger to my lips to silence her before she started talking.