Page 22 of Stolen Fate

Evelyn

Three daysafter I emailed my resume to the email address listed on the flyer—I had gotten a message back within an hour detailing all of the information about the nanny job, including where the interview would be—I drove to the address that was given to me

It wasn’t far from where I lived, but I was so nervous that I got there early and had to sit in my car to wait out the clock.

I hadn’t told anyone about the interview besides Katie.

We still had six months left on our lease, but Emilia was coming home in a couple of days, and I knew she would be open to taking over my lease in Boston, if I needed her to, though I felt a little bad that we would both be leaving my dad behind.

Only he and Ethan would be left living in the house.

Funny, I always thought I would be the last to move out. And I was sure my dad would have agreed.

I opened the sun visor mirror to check my makeup, making sure the mascara hadn’t smudged on the bottom of my eyes like it tended to do, and I made sure I didn’t have any of the spinach omelet I had for breakfast this morning stuck in my teeth.

The muscles around my cheeks and jaw felt strange in the practiced smile I wore. I didn’t think I had genuinely smiled in five long years.

I widened my smile a bit and looked in the mirror.

My cheeks hurt, and even with the smile, my eyes looked dead.

Awesome.

I slammed the mirror shut and looked out the window. The sun was out, which I enjoyed, but it was still chillier than I wanted it to be.

I was wearing my interview outfit, one I had worn three times—the first being my first interview for a teaching position many years back.

The outfit no longer fit me like it used to. In fact, it was a little tight, but I didn’t think to buy a new one, and it was too late now.

I took in a deep breath and pulled the waistline up a little, so it wasn’t as constricting near my abdomen, and opened the car door.

I walked into a huge company in the heart of Boston, and I could admit, I found it to be a little daunting. I hadn’t realized they were going to conduct an interview for a nanny job at such a formal place of business. All the men and women were power-walking as though they all had something important they needed to do.

I was sure that was true, but I took my time a little.

I had done some research about the place before I went. It was a large construction firm with an annual revenue in the nine figures. It was run by three men, all brothers, and they grew up here in Boston.

I wondered if my future employer worked in the construction business. They must be high up in the company, too, if they were able to conduct a nanny interview for their kid at work.

I found the receptionists’ desk easily enough and made my way to the people sitting there—two women and one man. The woman in the middle looked up and smiled at me first, so I made my way over to her.

“Hi, I have an interview today.”

“Of course. Can I have your name?”

“Yes, it’s Evelyn Adler.”

She looked back down to the computer and typed something in. Before I knew it, I was handed a visitor’s pass and told to take the elevator up to the seventh floor. I absently thanked her and walked away, wiping the palms of my hand on my black dress pants.

There was no need to be nervous. I wasn’t here for a corporate job. I was here to be a nanny. I was more than qualified, and I knew it.

It was just that, if I didn’t get the job, I had no idea what I was supposed to do with the rest of my life. I didn’t think I would be able to go back to the way things were. It wasn’t working for me, and I just couldn’t do it.

I let out a sigh and leaned back against the elevator wall when I got in, watching the numbers as the elevator made its ascent up to the seventh floor.

Thank God I was alone. I could count on small blessings, I supposed.

The elevator doors opened and I stepped into chaos—that was the only way I could describe it. I was nearly run over by a large man in an expensive-looking suit, holding onto a stack of paper. He didn’t even apologize or acknowledge me on his way to the now-vacant elevator.

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