505Well, what do you know? An update! Has to be a record for me!
A note: Spoon ring, thanks for pointing out about the error of Leland moving in, I had jumped about three chapters ahead of myself. Just goes to show that a long absence from writing tends to make you an idiot. I have changed the previous chapter to Leland simply staying at the house for the night to ease his nerves about Elise's first day at school.
Chapter Seven
Mary Poppins: That's a piecrust promise. Easily made, easily broken.
Needless to say, school was a big hit with Elise.
It was none-stop chatter about the classes she was in, the large pond the school had and all of the friends she had made. Leland couldn't keep up with all of the names and he would often be admonished by Elise for not paying attention. He was just glad that she enjoyed it and was fitting in so well.
"There's a boy at school he keep following me around at break time," Elise told him in a matter of fact tone when Leland served up dinner of spaghetti bolognaise. "His name's Peter. He just stares and doesn't say a word."
"He probably likes you," Leland teased her.
Elise's expression was comical. "Oh gross!" she exclaimed.
"I think its sweet," Leland put the plate in front of her and called Dominic for the fourth time to come and get his food.
She gave him an offended look that would have fitted someone twice her age. "Don't you know anything about cooties?"
Stupid Leland. "Ah, right. Sorry."
"Besides, boys smell."
And that was the end of that conversation.
Dominic had made more of an effort to leave work at the office rather than brining it home with him. Leland suspected it was because Elise was now at school and he would see less of her. Dominic made it a point to drop Elise off at school and be the one to pick her up after the day had ended for one-on-one time. Leland heartily approved of this idea.
It also meant that Dominic would have at least one cooked meal a day, as most of the time he grabbed something very small for breakfast and most probably forgot to eat his lunch. The guy was a living working machine and would forget to sleep if Leland wasn't there to throw something at his head to remind him.
How he had survived this long was a bloody miracle.
Leland and Dominic hit their first working relationship snag in the fourth week of Elise attending school, right before the October half term. Considering what a workaholic Dominic was, Leland shouldn't have been surprised, but he couldn't help it. Leland had thought Dominic had everything under control. He was always so collected when he didn't have to be the one to drag Elise from her bed.
Obviously not.
The ringing of the telephone was startlingly loud in the quiet of a Thursday afternoon. Leland was just finishing up the last of the dirty laundry and dumping it in the tumble dryer, enjoying the peace of not having Elise and Dominic in the house to cause chaos and confusion.
Drying his hands with a wad of kitchen roll, he picked up the phone whilst simultaneously turning on the dryer to half heat with his foot. "Hello, Bosworth's residence."
"Yes, hello, is that Mr. Dominic Bosworth?" Said a woman on the other end of the line.
"Ah, no, I'm Elise's nanny. I'm afraid he's not at home right now. He should be back once the school run is over. Can I take a message?"
The woman made a confused sound. "Well, that's just the problem. I'm Miss Avery, Elise's school teacher."
Leland felt suddenly sick. "Is something wrong with Elise?"
"No, no, nothing is wrong, exactly. It's just that school has ended about thirty minutes ago and Mr. Bosworth hasn't come to collect Elise. I was phoning to make sure everything was okay at home."
Leland blinked stupidly at the dryer. "Dominic hasn't picked Elise up yet?"
"I'm afraid not. Does he have a mobile phone so I can get in touch with him?"
A little niggle of worry began to creep up on him. He remembered Dominic telling Elise to wait for him at the school gates, had expressly made her promise each morning.
"Don't get into a car with a stranger, don't talk to anybody you don't know, and for heaven's sakes don't take candy from strange men."
"I know dad. Jeez, I'm not dumb."
So what had happened? Was he involved in an accident, oh god, what if he was in some hospital somewhere, unable to use a phone and in agony?
Leland shook his head to dispel his morbid thoughts. "No, that's okay. If I can't get hold of him, I'll come and pick up Elise."
"Thank you." The relief in Miss Avery's voice was obvious. "I'll keep Elise entertained until you or Mr. Bosworth arrive."
"Thank you, one of us will be there shortly."
Leland hung the phone up and immediately hunted around for the piece of paper with Dominic's phone number on. "Foe emergencies only," Dominic had said.
Well, this definitely constituted as an emergency, Leland thought. Finding the piece of paper stuck to the bottom of the corkboard in the kitchen, Leland quickly dialled the number, only for his call to go straight to answer phone.
"What was the bloody point in having a damned mobile phone if you don't keep it switched on?" He growled as he ended the call and dialled Dominic's office number.
"You have reached Dominic Bosworth's office, how may I help you?" Came a cheerful female voice.
"May I speak to Dominic please?"
"I'm sorry, he's in a meeting right now. May I ask what your purpose is in calling."
Leland's blood pressure hit the roof. A meeting? A god damned meeting?! "Yeah, I wanted to tell him that he's an asshole." Leland stated simply.
There was a shocked pause on the other end of the line. "Um, did you want me to pass on the message?" He voice almost trembled.
"Of course I want you to pass it on. I wouldn't say it otherwise. If he was going to be stuck on some stupid meeting, he should have contacted me so I could pick his daughter up from school and not have her waiting for over a-"
"Ah, you must be the new nanny." She hastily cut in. "I don't think any of the other nanny's have lasted as long as you have. No one can deal with Mr. Bosworth twenty four seven."
Leland lost the heat of his argument at her words. "Um, what?"
"You should have said who you were at the beginning of the call. I'll patch you through to him."
Before Leland could reply, the receptionist put him on to another line. A couple of seconds later, Leland heard Dominic's voice. "Leland? Why are you phoning me at work?"
Leland wanted to say something vexes thee? at his annoyed tone of voice, but he reigned himself in. Sarcasm would get him nowhere. At least it reminded him why he should be angry in the first place. "Have you checked your watch lately?" He asked, curbing his desire to just let go and let him have it.
"My watch?" He asked, confused. "I'm in a meeting right now, I don't have time for these games."
"You know you are, that's the point. If you had checked your watch, you would have realised that your are now thirty seven minutes late in picking up your daughter from school."
The ensuing curses that was heard down the phone line was well worth the effort in holding back his need to shout. Well, almost worth the effort.
"If you knew you were having an afternoon meeting or if it was going to run on later than you expected then you should have phoned and I could have picked her up. Her teacher thought that something had happened to you to prevent you from being there." I thought something had happened to you.
Dominic let out an annoyed huff of air. "I didn't realise it was so late. Elise's teacher should have contacted me instead of you."
"I'm sure she would have if you had kept your mobile switched on. As you didn't, she phoned the house and got me instead. Does this mean that I'll be picking Elise up as your still in a meeting?"
"If you could. Tell Elise that I'm sorry and I'll make it up to her when I get home tonight."
"This won't become a habit with you, will it?" Leland asked suspiciously. "Because if it will then I might as well be the one to pick her up after school."
Dominic's voice turned to stone and Leland got his first glimpse of the steely lawyer that made even the most cock sure man want to piss his pants and break into a cold sweat. "There won't be another time. As I recall, I'm the employer and you are the employee. I get to tell you what to do, not the other way round. You're just the nanny, leave the parenting to me."
The words were like pieces of glass piercing Leland's skin. His mind went blank, his shock leaving him speechless. The abrupt change in Dominic's manner almost gave Leland whiplash. His jaw finally unhinged. "Right. Sorry."
"I have to go. I've kept the board members long enough."
Leland was left listening to the dial tone. Dominic had ended the call without saying goodbye.
Not that Leland had expected him to, not really. Saying goodbye once you have told the person their nothing more than the hired help would seem a little insincere.
"Asshole." Leland cursed and put the phone back on its cradle.
Elise now. Bitch about it all later.
A quarter of an hour later, Leland finally pulled up to Abbey Oak primary school gates in his beloved battered Veronica. He could see Elise sitting forlornly by the gates through his smudged window, her backpack lying at her feet. A woman who Leland presumed was Elise's teacher sat by her, talking animatedly.
Miss Avery was a young woman, in her early twenties, with sandy blonde hair tied back with a Celtic clip. Whisps of it has escaped from it to hang around her face. She was dressed in a long dark blue gypsy skirt and a black fitted blouse.
Sighing, Leland parked his car and got out. Upon seeing him, Elise's expression immediately brightened and she jumped up, nearly tripping over her backpack.
"Leland, you're here!" She yelled as she charged towards him and enveloped his leg in a crushing hug.
He pasted on a bright smile that he didn't genuinely feel. "Did you miss me that much?" He teased.
She nodded against his leg. "Dad was supposed to pick me up, but he didn't show."
Leland shrugged uncomfortably. This type of thing wasn't in his job description. "I'm sorry you had to wait so long to get picked up. Your dad was stuck in a meeting and didn't realise the time."
"I hate Daddy's meetings," she groused. "They always take so long to finish. I'm glad I'm not an adult."
Leland messed her hair up and his smile turned into a grin. "You and I both."
"I'm glad you're here," Miss Avery said as she met them, her smile wide. "Elise was worried that she would have to sleep at the school."
Leland laughed at Elise's sour expression. "Now I know what punishment to threaten you with when you don't get out of bed on time."
Elise blew a loud raspberry in reply.
Miss Avery held her hand out to Leland. "I'm Miss Avery, it's not to put a face to the name."
Leland shook her hand. "I'm sorry about all of this. We had our wires crossed. It won't happen again."
Miss Avery laughed. "That's quite alright. It was nice to chat to Elise. She really is a remarkable girl."
Leland looked down at her with a proud smile on his face. "She certainly is. I wouldn't have her any other way, that's for sure."
"She talks about you a lot."
"All good things, I hope." He joked.
Miss Avery nodded. "Not one bad word, I promise. I must admit, I was getting curious about Elise's superhero."
Leland scratched his neck sheepishly and looked back down at Elise's upturned face. "Superhero?" He asked.
"You're like batman, only without the whole pants over your trousers thing." She replied.
Oh, well, that made perfect sense.
"Well, I better get you home to feed you. To the batmobile!" He pointed to Veronica.
Elise stared at it for a few moments. "Doesn't look anything like Batman's car." She said, but collected her backpack and headed to the car anyway.
Leland turned back to Miss Avery. "Thank you for staying with her. I really am sorry for the mix up."
"It was my pleasure. I was hoping that I could talk to Mr. Bosworth about Elise's education."
Leland frowned. "Is something wrong?"
Miss Avery shook her head. "Nothing's wrong, I like to make sure that parent's are kept in the know about their children's education. If you could pass the message along, tell him to give me a ring for an informal chat, that would be great."
"I will. And thanks again." They said their farewells and Leland got back into the car.
"Everything alright with school work, Elise?" He asked as he started the car and pulled out of his parking spot.
Elise shrugged. "It's alright. I don't like Maths."
"Neither did I," Leland said. "You know, you can always ask us the teacher's for help if you don't understand anything. Or ask your dad an I if you need a little help with your homework."
"The teachers don't like it if we get our parents to help us with our homework. Besides, I don't really need it." She answered.
Leland knew she was hedging, but he decided to leave it at that. Dominic will get to the bottom of it with his call to the school.
And like Dominic said, leave the parenting to him. Leland was just a nanny.
To Be Continued.
The change in Dominic might be very abrupt to you guys, but his behaviour will be revealed in the next chapter, I swear.
Sorry that this chapter is a little shorter, I'm making a concerted effort to get an update out every two weeks at the very least.
Updates will be on Sundays, so keep checking!