Shonee’s POV
It was the sound of my name coming from far away that slowly pulled me out of slumber.
"Shonee?" A rapid knock echoed through the wood. "Shonee, c'mon. Open the door."
"I'm coming." Still drowsy, I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed and unlocked the barrier.
Tall and intimidating Gerta stood at the door, dressed in her staff uniform. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of my appearance. "You're not dressed yet? What in the world are you waiting for? It's already past eight."
"Wait, really?" Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I stole a glance at my bedroom clock. It was a whole forty-five minutes past eight. Wow, that warm milk really knocked me out.
"Mirasol's first class begins at nine," Gerta said. "You need to get her ready."
"Shit." Realizing that I was already out of time, I quickly grabbed my robe, wrapping the material around my body as I sped-walked to Mirasol's bedroom.
I had just reached her door when it opened. A smartly dressed Mirasol stepped out with fresh pigtails and wearing a crisp white long-sleeved shirt paired with a brown plaid skirt, white socks and brown shoes. As if things couldn't get any worse, right behind her was her father.
Vincent Beckham stood tall and imposing. Jet-black hair, perfectly styled, framed his face that carried the weight of both authority and warmth. Sharp cheekbones and a well-defined jawline accentuated his striking features, giving him an almost sculpted appearance.
"Shonee, the new nanny who came in yesterday," he spoke, referencing the way I introduced myself last night. "Do you know what time it is?"
"Look, I can explain-"
"You can explain by packing your bags."
He calmly gave the order, but it sent an avalanche of chills up my spine as he and Mirasol walked past me.
I stood rooted in my spot, not knowing what to do or even think.
Twenty-four hours.
In less than twenty-four hours I'd lost the job I was counting on to get me out of debt. It would be so easy to blame it all on that warm glass of milk, but who was I kidding? It wasn't like the glass suddenly grew legs and walked up to me. I made it. I prepared that glass of milk, drank it, and got myself in this position.
Now I had to do whatever I could to get myself out of it.
Pivoting on my heel, I traced the steps of the father-daughter duo into the dining room where breakfast had already been set up.
"You can't fire me!" I yelled, right after Vincent had finished helping Mirasol into her seat.
He stood upright, watching me with an intense glare.
"I-I mean I get that you are the boss, and you call the shots around here," I backtracked. "But you have to give me another shot. You can't fire me just because I made one mistake."
"I'm not firing you because of that," Vincent replied. "I'm firing you because Mirasol doesn't need a nanny. Your role in this house is irrelevant and you need to leave, now."
"But-"
"Nothing you say is going to change my mind, Shonee," he stated with a scowl, making it very clear that I was getting on his last nerve.
"Good morning, family!" An oblivious Avril happily waltzed into the dining room and only came to an abrupt halt when Vincent fired, "Where were you last night?"
"At a friend's place. You remember Hayley, right?" Avril casually responded and took another step forward to pluck a grape from the fruit basket on the table. "You didn't tell me you were returning yesterday?"
But Vincent ignored the question and shot out his own. "You left your stepdaughter in the hands of a complete stranger to go to a friend's place?"
In just a split second, the dining room grew tense. It felt like two alpha wolves were staring each other down, waiting to see who'd take the first leap.
Avril, clearly upset, stopped plucking the grapes. "First of all, Mirasol is not my stepdaughter. Secondly, that brat made it pretty clear that she could not be handled when she deliberately spilt wine on my Versace dress. So, I did what any rational human being would do: I hired someone else to deal with her."
A chunk of bread came flying towards Avril, hitting her right in the cheek. "Ah!" She cried out.
Mirasol's arm was in the air, poised for a second throw until Vincent yanked the bread piece out of her hand and asked a nearby staff member to take Mirasol to her class.
Once she was gone, Vincent whirled on Avril, a thousand giga bolts of anger dwelling in his eyes. "You better watch your tongue when you're around me, Avril! I don't care if your dad has signed deals with my industry and announced our marriage to the world. If you push me to the wall by calling my daughter names, I swear, I will not hesitate to rip you apart, you and that stupid perfume company of yours!"
"Hmm, you sure you can do that, Vincent?" Avril replied with a smug smile, taking slow, tantalizing steps towards him. "Cuz, as far as I know, those deals my father signed with Beckham Incorporated are the only reasons your company is still running right now. You've already lost half of your hotel branches in Asia and things aren't getting any better in Africa. Isn't that why you returned so soon?"
Vincent remained silent; his jaw ticked with all the emotions he was struggling to keep bottled up inside.
On the hand, the expression on his face brought out the cockier side of Avril as she shook her head, mockingly. "Just as I thought. You, my dear friend, are in no position to make threats. So why don't you be a good little boy and do what is expected of you, hmm?"
Unable to take it anymore, Vincent shoved past Avril and stormed out of the dining room.
My boss laughed a second time before taking a seat at the head of the table. "What are you standing there for, Shonee? Have a seat and enjoy your breakfast."
"Umm...okay." Guessing that I wasn't fired anymore, I pulled out the nearest seat and settled down, helping myself to a cup of tea.
*****
I patted myself dry and stepped out of the bath, heading into my bedroom to get dressed.
It was about forty-five minutes past the breakfast incident and while I was delighted to know that I was still keeping my job, I couldn't get the conversation between the soon-to-be-wed couple out of my head.
After Vincent stormed out of the dining room, he didn't return and Avril left not long ago for work, still relishing the glee of this morning's outburst.
It surprised me to know that Beckham Incorporated was losing its assets. The company has been around for as long as I can remember, and I hadn't heard anything like this about them before. And it was even more surprising to find out that Vincent was only marrying Avril to conceal his company's fatalities.
I didn't understand the whole dynamics, cuz let's face it, I'm not a business-minded person. But from what I saw and heard this morning, it appeared Vincent was desperate, and he still is, looking at the way he was unable to defend himself from Avril's accusations. He needs Avril's father's resources to keep his company afloat and Avril is using that to her advantage.
I've always thought that arranged contract marriages weren't real and that they only happened in movies and series. But now that it was happening in my life, I didn't know what to think.
As I slipped on a sleek orange blouse over a pair of blue jeans, I decided to focus on the positives of the situation I was in. Now that Vincent's business wasn't doing well, he'd be preoccupied, giving me the time I needed to warm up to Mirasol.
He might think that his daughter doesn't need a nanny, but I was about to prove him wrong.