"Who likes to be deemed impotent?" Benson muttered nudging his door open. The baby in his hands clamped down his exploding emotions.
If some woman didn't decide to be selfishly irresponsible, he wouldn't be n this mess right now. He slowed down when he heard the baby moan. His heart skipped and terror gripped him. No, not again. He wasn't ready for another episode.
He had woken up to an alarm that rang earlier than usual, in fact, he rarely set his alarm at all. He was the boss so, except he needed to make it to work very early, there was no need to rush. No one bosses the boss around.
She cut his sleep short with a loud ear deafening scream. He woke up and just froze. He had no idea what to do. In fact, he had even forgotten everything about the baby.
He didn't know what to give the baby to shut her up. He had to go on the internet and search for reasons why a baby would cry in the morning. He felt his dumbest when he realized that it was because they were hungry and most babies almost always wake up from their sleep very hungry.
He had nothing to feed the baby with. It didn't even occur to him to get the baby's food.
He ordered some recommendations from his research and made something for the baby, he wasn't poisoning her while he fed her. True to his new discovery, the baby went straight to sleep again after eating. And he had peace, although quite brief -up to when he had finished buttoning his suit jacket.
He heard the now-familiar cry and his heart broke again.
He only realized he was supposed to bathe her when he reluctantly walked to the couch he had laid her down and found her wet in her pee.
He hadn't been this exhausted for longer than he can remember. Now he would never disrespect any woman who is a mother, or any woman at all. Somehow the whole stress with the baby made him tired enough to feel sorry for ever disrespecting his mother or causing her the tiniest discomfort since she definitely went through the same thing with him.
All the muscles he had were rendered useless with taking care of a baby. Turns out you need the heart and not the muscles. The whole dilemma was twice difficult since she was his daughter.
His office suddenly seemed too small for him. Having a baby there, though ironic for her size, cramped the space. Probably because he had little freedom to move as he would have to carry her around.
How did he get this low without doing anything to land him where he is?
Sitting and wiggling on his chair because weirdly the baby liked it, he wiped his forehead and reclined into his seat. His mind absorbed the drama he worked into when he arrived at the office.
Questions for which he had insufficient answers popped into his mind.
Even though he wanted to be mad at Sarah and Luke, they are right, he couldn't bear this for one more morning. He sure needed a nanny for the baby. He had thought about his housekeeper but he didn't trust her that much was why he refused to make her an in-house housekeeper. She was too much of a talkative and would blab everything out in no time.
Again, Sarah was right, somebody trustworthy was needed. He knew she understood the importance of making sure not a word about this gets out so if she says the lady is trustworthy, then she is.
His hands were tied.
Who was this good-looking, curvy, light-caramel-skinned nanny, that Sarah had brought? She was definitely going to be a problem if she employed her to care for the baby.
How he felt when his eyes trailed her body from head to toe and back scared him. He hadn't felt that blood rush in a long time. I mean he goes to clubs and sees a lot of women and actually bangs a lot of them, but all of those were just flings, stress relieves, and pain killers. Something to distract himself with. He wanted her in a way that made him feel vulnerable.
He cursed himself for feeling that way about some lady he had just met minutes ago.
It helped him at that moment to pretend he was angry because if he hadn't he would have just stared helplessly at her. Before now, he didn't believe instant attraction existed.
He could have any woman he wanted.
But how he immediately fell for her perplexed him. He had stood there behind her listening to her voice barely hearing a thing she was saying until the word impotent struck him out of his fix.
He had a decision to make but it was hard. He knew he was himself too well. He couldn't stay in a space alone with her.
He had rejected a legion of women throwing themselves at him. They were all the same to him. All of them were thirsty women that didn't mind giving their bodies to him, however, he wanted them, as long as they had access to the luxury and fame that came with meddling and associated with him.
Maybe how he behaves in the club sends the wrong message about the kind of women he likes or most women are just like that -they could conform to one's most bizarre desires just to lay their hands on your money. Once they knew you had enough, they can literally become anything you want.
Something about her was different. Maybe it was her natural beauty. She was beautiful yet it was obvious she didn't try to be. He could tell getting the job was her only objective.
He had had experiences where women dressed in provocative attires came pretending they came for a job interview. She wasn't like that. Her playful honesty expounded her allure.
Benson doesn't fall easily, especially after the accident, but her charm.
"What is this Benson?" He schooled himself, gently jabbing his temple. He tightened his jaw and raised his head to the ceiling. "You are more than this, man, come off it," he shook his head as he fuelled his ego.
After a few minutes of dangling between thoughts, he dialed Sarah up to his office.
He heard a knock on the door and urged her to come in.
"So I have thought about it. I mean really thought about it and," He looked straight into her eyes. "You are sure we can trust her? I trust you but I don't know her. This is you sticking your neck out for her, so…"
Sarah balled her fingers in front of her and nodded. She understood he was serious. And she trusted Alita so there was nothing to fear. Things were better for everybody that way, except for Luke who is she is still not talking to.
"She is perfect for the job, sir," Sarah cocked her head. "You won't regret this," She squinted he eyes and took a step forward.
Her eyes landed on the baby in his hands then she asked, "How is she doing?"
"Well…" Benson pursed his lips staring down at the baby. "She is not screaming is all that matters."
"You are doing pretty good with her," Sarah said, lifting her heels and bending forward so she can see more of the baby. "I honestly expected less, but she is in one piece."
"Okay, that's fair," He chuckled caught between feeling offended or taking what she had said as a compliment. "For the record. This is the worst morning I have had in a long, long while and I don't want this to happen again so she can start tomorrow, or this evening even, hell she can start right now. I don't want to go through this again," He batted his lashes.
Sarah was fighting the urge to laugh as she let her mind imagine how miserable he would've been. She turned away and then turned back to him and simpered.
"You are good with a lot of things, and for a fact, you are a genius, but this right here is a world different from the ones we know. I am bad too with kids so, I am not judging," she said, '... although I wouldn't do as bad as you would, surely,' she thought. "We have that in common."
"Right, this requires special knowledge and attention which a man like me utterly lacks and can't provide. I never thought I could be bad at anything but today proved me wrong," He sighed gazed at the baby.
"One question," She raised a finger in the air. "You have a housekeeper, right?"
"Yes, why?"
"Well, if you could relieve her…" Sarah looked sideways. "I hope this doesn't come out wrong, but since you didn't ask her to take care of the child, it means you do not trust her discretion so, wouldn't it be safer if she didn't badge in on a nanny taking care of a baby in your apartment? I mean, I know what I would think, and if I wasn't your secretary and if I didn't care so much about your reputation, it would be such a juicy story to sell. Just imagine the headlines," She splayed her hands in the air.
"I get the point alright, I will resolve that today, but that would be she will be a nanny plus housekeeper, right?" He raised his brows at her.
"She can manage both," Sarah said. "Better safe than sorry, especially when sorry is the end of your career," She as his eyes grew bigger.
He shrugged off the thought of losing all he had worked for. "Get her to come to the office tomorrow so we would discuss the terms."
"Will do, sir," Sarah assured finding her way out of the office blinded by joy since Alita didn't lose the job. She couldn't wait to get home and tell her.