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Hiseyesbecamestormy, his light mood seemingly gone.“Do you haveany questionsabouttheposition?”
Feelingasif shewaswalkingoneggshells,shecarefullyreplied, “Umm, yes. What’sexpected of me,exactly?”
“Ideally,I’dlikethistobe alive-inposition.Myhoursofworkareunpredictable,andifyouwere livinghere,itwouldmake everybody’slifeawholeloteasier. You’dberesponsibleforcaringforErin anytimethatI’maway,which includesfeeding,bathing,changing and dressing her. I mightalsoneed you totakehertoanydoctor’sappointmentsshe mayhaveaswell as doing somelightcleaning and occasionally getting some groceries.”
Giginodded.Her jobwastobeastand-inmother.“Whereisher mother, ifyoudon’t mind me asking?”
“Idomindyouasking.”Shenoticedhishandscurlingintofists.Hegotupabruptly, and picked up hisdaughter,holding her close. “Look,Ineed an answer.Doyouwantthejobor not?”
Didshe?Hermotherhadalwaystoldhernottolookagifthorseinthemouth.Somehowthat didn’tstopherfromsaying,“I’veappliedforaninternshipoverthesummer.IfIgetit,Iwon’tbe abletoworkforyou aswell.”
Hefrowned. “That’sweeksaway. Doyouhaveanotherjobnow?”Sheshook herhead. “ThenI don’tseewhattheproblemis.Workfor meforafewweeksuntil theinternshipstartsup.Thatwill givemeenough timetogothrough an agencyand hiresomeonetoreplaceyou.”
“I—”
Max’sphonerang. Putting up afinger,hestopped her from speaking and answered thecall. “Yeah?...What?...No,I’llcomein now.”Hehung upand stared atGigi. “Dutycalls,I’mafraid.Can you startnow?”
Gigi looked atErin in his arms. “I’mnotsaying yestothelive-in position. I can’tleave Jen high and drywithoutsomeoneelsetohelp herpayrent.”Max’snostrilsflared in irritation. “Ican,however, watch Erinforyou nowuntil you getback. When do you thinkthatmightbe?”
“Ineedtogetaplumbertocomeoutafterhours.Itcouldtakeallnight.Look,”he raced onwhen hecouldseeGigiwasstartingtosecond-guessherdecision,“Ineedtoknowyou’llbeherewhenI getback. Ineedtoknowsomeoneislooking aftermy daughter.”
“You don’tknow me,”shemuttered,still unabletobelievehe’d justmether and wastrusting her with hischild.
“I’mgoodatreadingpeople,”he saidinreply,growlingwhenhisphonerangagain.Heanswered theperson on theother end in short,sharp, monosyllabicbursts. “Gigi,I reallyhavetogo. I’ll payyou two hundred dollarstostaywith her.”
Gigi methiseyes. “Keepthecash. I’mstaying becauseyou’restuck.”
Heexhaledheavily.“Thankyou.WecandiscussthearrangementwhenIgetback.”Andwith that,Maxkissedhisdaughteronthe head, passed hertoGigi andlefttheapartment.
