Page 12 of Daddy's Little Worker
“Freeze!” he commanded.
She froze, her eyes wide as she looked at him. She hated when people used that tone with her, the one that meant they were business. The one that meant if she didn’t stop or did what they said, there would be consequences.
“You are not leaving yet. Sit down and eat some more,” he told her, his voice holding no room for argument.
Frankie plopped down in the chair and picked up her plate of food.
“Good girl,” he praised her. “Now I want you to eat slowly while I talk to you about something.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew where he was going to go with this, and she didn’t want it.
“I’m not going to tell you to move in with me,” Noah said, and her eyes went round.What did he just say?“As much as I want to, I can see how much it bothers you that I know where you live and that it isn’t in the best part of town. So we are going to do something about that.”
Her eyebrows rose. They were going to do something about it?
“Like?” she asked.
“Someone is going to pick you up and drop you off. I don’t want to hear it. They will pick you up and drop you off every day you have work. Next, I am going to come by and we will install some other cameras and place a lock on your door,” he told her.
“How did you know?” she whispered.
“I had a friend who lived there. I know what it looks like. Now, take a bite of your food.” He raised an eyebrow.
Frankie dunked one of the nuggies into the ketchup before bringing it to her mouth. Yummy. Her legs kicked back and forth as she happily munched on her food.
“You will earn five dollars an hour more than what was on the flyer. I’m not doing this out of pity. I meant to tell you before that we had changed the hourly rate,” Noah explained.
“Really?” she looked at him skeptically.
“Yes, really. I can call our finance guy if you want me to so you can hear him say it. Better yet, let me call Mac.” Noah got his phone out and swiped around on it. “Mac, you’re on speaker.”
“Yes?” Mac grumbled over the phone.
“I have the new hire here, Frankie. I’ve just told her instead of earning twenty dollars an hour, it will to be twenty-five since we decided to raise it,” Noah explained for Frankie’s benefit.
“Why are you calling me when we agreed this last week? Are you having second thoughts? We can bump it up another two dollars if we need to.” Mac sighed. “If you think it needs to be another two, we can do that. It’s within the budget.”
Frankie gasped as she stared at his phone. Noah was telling the truth. They had decided that they were going to raise the pay before she’d got here.
“I will bump it up another two to make it twenty-seven dollars an hour. Thank you,” Noah replied before hanging up.
“I,” she whispered, not knowing what to say.
“Twenty-seven dollars an hour. Is that okay with you?” Noah asked.
She nodded. Frankie needed to keep this job for as long as she could. It was her highest-paying job yet, and it came with insurance. She would be able to move out of her apartment sooner than she thought if she kept to a strict budget.
“Now, someone will pick you up and drop you off. I’m going to come by and install some cameras and another lock. If at any point, you feel unsafe and want to move somewhere else, let me know. I own a couple of apartments around town that you can stay at. And before you say you can’t, you’ll be paying rent. Itwill be a little lower than what I normally charge, but youwillbe paying rent,” he explained before she could say anything.
Frankie opened and closed her mouth several times.
“I just want you to know that you have that option. And if I hear that anything dangerous happens in that part of town, your street, or your apartment I will be moving you out of there.” He looked directly into her eyes. “I know I said I wasn’t going to move you right now, but if anything happens, I will be moving you out.”
What he was saying was reasonable. Frankie didn’t want to live there. She didn’t feel safe there. But she also didn’t have the money to move. Noah had just offered her a place, but she’d feel bad if she took it. What if someone else needed it more than she did? What if he was just taking pity on her? She didn’t want that. She’d got herself into this mess, not really herself but it was what it was, and she was going to get herself out of it.
“Do you understand?” he asked. “Do you consent to that?”
She nodded.
