Chapter 4 – Fill My Life With You

(Aya’s POV)

“Are you asking me if I want to accept the job?” I asked Red, clarifying if I was truly hearing it from him.

“That’s just what I’ve said, Aya,” he said as he stared into my eyes.

I blinked, wanting to tell Red to stop looking into my eyes because I could hardly think. I was sitting across the most handsome guy I had ever met, so gorgeous that if his lips kissed me, I might forget that I was here for a job and was under a pretense about my gender. He shouldn’t be my type, but her alluring sister. I just wished he would relax and show me those perfect teeth in his smile but smiling around this place seemed a mortal sin.

Ariana was the only sinner.

“If you accept the job, I will have the contract ready so you can review it,” He said, looking at my feet.

When his forehead creased, I curled my toes and was relieved he was looking at my feet. At least he would not see my cheeks turning crimson. Good thing Leslie encouraged me to join her in the nail salon yesterday because it would be truly embarrassing for Red to see my neglected toenails.

“About the offer,” I cleared my throat, wanting to jump from too much excitement. “Your children are cute and charming, Red. The compensation and benefits are beyond my expectation, so… it’s a yes.” I really didn’t care about working as their nanny or whatever he called the job title.

He only nodded his head slightly, acknowledging my answer.

“You only have to work from Mondays to Fridays, but can you work on the weekends?” A line was etched between his brows as he looked at my application form. “You work on a weekend.”

I panicked at the way he said it. “Yeah, but if I really have to be here on the weekends, please tell me ahead of time, so I can tell Lucy I can’t go to the restaurant. It’ll give her time to find a replacement for me.”

“Good,” He wrote something on my form and then stared at me, studying my face. “You know your salary here is good enough that you don’t have to work in the restaurant.” he pointed out. “I don’t care what my employees do in their free time, but you’re still studying and taking care of your daughter and father. How does taking care of yourself fit here? My employees always tell me they want their ‘me’ time.”

It was Addie’s same question, but here’s what I thought. I was born a selfless person with no ‘me’ time in my system. When Myra and I were young, I was used to receiving hand-me-downs from clothes to almost everything or letting my sister have her way because she was the eldest. It was never a problem.

Even if I had to do more tasks at home because she had to study for an important examination, do a project, or have an activity in their club, no one at home would hear me complain. Well, Myra was an honors student, a beauty with brains, and a perfect daughter for my mother, while everybody thought I was average. As my mom used to brag to our relatives, Myra would become a great doctor.

Sibling rivalry might be common in most brothers or sisters, but not in my case. I had always looked up to my sister, and that admiration ended the day she left Katie in the hospital.

Still, I didn’t complain that I had to take care of my father, shoulder the mommy job for Katie, drop some subjects in college to get another job, and get stuck in a relationship with no love. I always believed in four things.  Utopia simply does not exist. True love is a product of imagination. There are twenty-four hours a day so we can do more things. Lastly, I will rest if it will be followed by the word ‘in peace’.

“What’s a ‘me’ time?” It was supposed to be a joke, but Red raised his brows like he was asking me if I had not read the word holiday in the dictionary, but he surprised me with his answer.

“I don’t know that word either,” he shrugged, scanning my form again. “And your schedule in school?” He did not look at me this time.

“I am taking two subjects now and hopefully finish the other two by next semester. It’s a night class, so after here, I’d be running to St. Barbara College,” I muttered. Looking back, I knew how important finishing college was to my parents, so I crawled like a worm into college to finish my studies.

“St. Barbara College?” Red asked like he had never heard of it before.

I forced a smile. “It’s a community college near home.”

“I see. Aya, this is like I am breaking my own words in choosing someone to oversee my children. I don’t like women, and I don’t like you,” he muttered, not breaking his gaze from me. “I mean, you’re not qualified.”

The words he didn’t like women stuck in my brain. I leaned forward with my eyebrows knitted and eyes squinted.

“Are you gay?” I bit my bottom lip, hating myself for letting those words escape my mouth when it was supposed to be asked in my mind. I raised my hands as I explained, “You don’t like me, I understand. You have been saying that since I arrived. She’s not qualified,” I copied his voice as I uttered the last three words. “But you don’t like women. Why?”

“Aya, for the past four years, women have tended to go to my bedroom at night and lay on my bed naked. First, I find it disrespectful. Second, I have a girlfriend. Lastly, I still love my wife,” he explained. “You’re an exception because I wasn’t your type.”

“Exactly,” I faked a smile, then narrowed my eyes again. “But Red, don’t you think your last two reasons are conflicting? Don’t you love your girlfriend?”

He did not answer me, but his threatening look was enough for me to catch that I had crossed the line.

“Sorry,” I mouthed and looked somewhere else.

“Aside from the contract, you will be signing a confidentiality agreement. I love my kids dearly, Aya, and I wanted to keep them away from the public. You don’t make haste decisions when it concerns my children.”

“What if I want to bring them to the park?” My forehead furrowed, realizing they didn’t need to be brought to the park because I was sure they had much better space and garden here.  

“Then you have to ask me. Part of that is no posting pictures of my children on your social media,” he added.

I raised my hand and pointed my index finger at myself. “Well, Red, you’re looking at a person with no social media account. I deactivated mine years ago,” I said.

“Really? You?” He raised his eyebrows as if he wanted to ask me a question but instead, he pressed his lips.

“Yep!” I chuckled briefly.

What was the point of having a social media account when I would keep opening my ex-boyfriend’s page to see how happy he was after our breakup while I was crushed and smashed to bits? The lesson learned here was not to believe any guy who would promise to love me forever and would give the moon and the stars. When I broke up with him, it shattered me when he said he loved me more than his life and didn’t know how he would live without me, but after a few days, I saw his post with his new girlfriend. How could I not have known he was shagging my roommate whenever I was not around?

“I’ll get your contract ready. Please excuse me.” He stood up, taking his cell phone.

“Cora, I’m in the study room. Ask Michael if he has read my email and tell him to come here.” He turned around and walked back in my direction.

“I’m really sorry about what happened earlier,” I murmured, my cheeks blushing again.

“It’s okay. It can happen to anyone, plus you don’t have a car.” His eyebrows knitted. “So, how do you go to places?”

I pressed my lips, suppressing a laugh. “They invented a bus and train. That’s how I go to places, Red.” My forehead creased, unsure about calling him by his first name. “Are you sure it’s okay to call you by your first name? I mean, it’s so-”

He shook his head, cutting me. “It will be weird if you call me by my last name when everyone here calls me Red.”

“Ah,” I exclaimed, breathing out when he rose to his seat and walked toward the large glass window. I began to murmur, “Roses are red, violets are blue…” I sighed, forgetting the next lines, so I decided to come up with my own. “But please, Red, fill my life with hue.”