Chapter 4 Meet And Greet

Nissiah

I had gotten a call from Mrs. Farmer regarding someone who wanted to hire me as a nanny. To have a potential job this quickly would be amazing. If it ended up being live-in, I’d be able to pay the fee to break my lease and all of that, but I was getting ahead of myself. The meeting was set up for the day after tomorrow. That would give me a whole day to get the rest of the apartment set up and my laundry done. Then I could even go to Mom's house and spend some time with Maya and Michael, and check on Mom.

I spent the evening missing Josh, and even wiping a few more tears at feeling his loss. I attempted to enjoy a simple dinner and some documentary I found on television. So, I curled up and watched while I sipped my favorite tea, and felt thankful at the possibility of not having to stress about a new job.

With my day off, I’d managed to get several things around my apartment accomplished, and then I was able to go and spend all afternoon with my siblings when they got off of school. I had dinner with the whole family, and I told Mom about the interview set up for the next day. She was proud of me, and she told me not to worry about them; she was moving back to full-time hours now that she was in remission, so she wouldn't need as much help from me. I nodded, but I'd keep an eye on things anyway.

The next morning I dressed for the interview and made sure I had all of my necessary documents and things, and climbed into my small car for the drive to the hotel where I was to meet with the family. I was wondering why we were meeting at a hotel rather than their home, but I’d be sure to ask just that. The hotel in question was extremely fancy, and I felt very much out of place as I went to the desk and explained I was meeting with a guest. They took the name and then called the man who was the father of the child and had requested me. The woman behind the desk said he was on his way down.

I fidgeted, waiting for him to arrive, and I must say I was very much not expecting the man who stepped out of the elevator. Then it suddenly dawned on me that he had been one of the men with Philip when I had dropped Josh off. They had mentioned needing a nanny, and Philip had provided the business card of my agency.

He walked up to me and held out his hand. “Hello, Miss Ardelean. I am very pleased to see you again. I am Constantin Striglimor. Philip Mercer was very complimentary of your services while we spoke, and thus I wanted to set up for you to meet Crina and see how you two do together, so how about you follow me up and have a chance to meet her.” I nodded after shaking his hand.

We entered an elevator and headed up. When the elevator stopped, I was surprised when the elevator doors opened directly into this suite. It was very large and very fancy, but it was still a hotel.

“Is there a reason why you are currently staying at a hotel instead of a home?” He turned and smiled.

“We are finishing up the purchase of the house. With the contract negotiations, we had started the process, but the acquisition happened before the house closing.” He nodded, smiling at that answer.

I saw one of the other men who had also been with Philip come around the corner holding an absolutely beautiful little girl. She was probably between 4 and 6, with long soft brown hair and big brown eyes. She said something to the man beside me, but it wasn’t English, which surprised me.

He smiled and turned to me. “She was asking if you spoke our language, and I explained that no, you spoke English, as we’d explained to her she would need to do here.” I nodded.

I walked up to her, and she was smiling at me. “Hey, my name is Nissiah, and I heard your dad say your name was Crina. That is a very unusual and very pretty name. I very much love unusual names. How old are you?” She smiled widely.

“I’m five.” She surprised me by lunging for me out of the man’s arms, and I was glad I caught her. She was fairly light, but I had not expected her to be that affectionate, although I hugged her and patted her back.

“How about we sit down, and you can tell me all about you, and what you like to do, and if you are going to school, and all of that. Would that be okay?” She nodded, and I sat her down on her feet. She turned and grabbed me by the hand and pulled me to the living room sofa.

Both men followed us, which I expected, and took armchairs, watching us. As I spoke to the child, it seemed that she was being watched by the housekeeper, and she was being schooled by her and a teacher who came to their house. She loved the garden, and the horses they had in the barn apparently.

Both men chuckled at her descriptions of everything. “Just so you know, Miss Ardelean, there are four of us brothers. This is Vasile, and my other two brothers, Ioan and Nicolae, are out getting some things we needed as well as picking up lunch for us.” I nodded.

“Do you mind me asking about Crina’s mother?” He shook his head.

“She is not our daughter in that sense. She is technically our ward. Both of her parents were killed in an accident, and we took her in and have been her family for the last year. We had been trying to find a nanny, as we told Philip; it was harder than we expected.” I just nodded and concentrated back on Crina, not sure how all of this would translate with a live-in nanny and four single men. Granted, technically Philip Mercer had been a single father, but I had never once looked at him as an attractive man. So far, both of these men were extremely attractive and younger than Philip. If I remember correctly, the other two were very similar-looking to these two brothers. So, that might pose a few problems for a nanny.

I guess I would just have to weigh my options, look at it from all angles, and make a decision if they offered me the position. Crina was very much adorable, though, and I could very much see myself falling in love with this little girl.