Chapter 2

Gabriele

"Pancakes?" Sleepy Luca came in and sat down on the stool at the island in the kitchen. Luckily it was Saturday so I didn't have to rush to work to this morning although, I had to go to work for a short while, mainly for a meeting with my potential clients.

Luca nodded, it was really early for him to be awake. He yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"When is grandma coming over?" My mother would take him for the hour or so that I had to work on Saturdays. Just as I wanted to answer him my phone began ringing. It was none other than the devil herself.

"Guess who?" I held my phone up before answering it.

"Gabriele Armato speaking," I answered.

"Hi honey, are you awake yet?" I shrugged, well I did answer and if I wasn't then I would be now.

"Yes, and surprisingly Luca too." She was always up at the crack of dawn.

"Great, I've been meaning to ask you when you are going to hire a nanny?" She's also been nagging me, telling me that I need to hire a nanny so that Luca would have a stable routine. I agreed but I haven't had the time to interview anyone.

"Not anytime soon."

"I've got a few applicants if you want to start interviews. I'll bring you the list when I come over later."

Before I could protest, she told me that I  had no choice and that she'd be over in an hour.

I grunted as I flipped the pancakes over.

"Grandma will be over in an hour." Luca smiled while I poured syrup over the pancakes. I sat beside him and we ate.

After I got dressed I helped Luca tie his shoes. A loud knock came from downstairs and  Luca rushed to the door greeting his grandmother while. I went downstairs, my mother was hugging Luca telling him how fast he's been growing. I had to agree, he has been sprouting like a bean.

"You're going to be just as tall as your father one day." She cooed.

I greeted her and as soon as she had her sight set on me she gave me a paper.

"List of nannies that you should interview." She had a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Why do you want me to get a nanny so badly?"

"Well, it's been a while since you were out on a date, getting a nanny will give you some more free time." Oh, I see, she wants to try and set me up with a woman. It has been a while (Six sex-less years to be exact).

"I have other priorities at the moment but I do need someone to be there when I can't." My mother wasn't impressed at all but didn't let that be known around Luca.

I went upstairs scanning the paper, some looked promising. I rummaged through my laundry to also find the number of the nanny I met a few days back. I rewrote it on a sticky note and stuck it to the papers. This was a worry for later, for now, I have to get to work.

I kissed Luca on the head, he was too busy playing with his toy to notice me. My mother was looking at him adoringly.

"I'll be back in about four hours. It may not be in time for lunch." She said goodbye to me with a peck on the cheek. I drove to work, well actually a country club where I'm going to meet a new investor of mine.

He seemed impressed by what our firm had to offer in terms of investments. Hopefully, on Monday I'd have him sign the papers necessary to clinch the deal. I haven't been around much so I needed to show that I still had it in me to close a deal.

I drove back to my house, unknowing of what was waiting for me.

I opened the door, Luca came rushing to me hugging me by the legs.

"Hey, buddy, where's grandma?" He pointed to the kitchen. I leaned into the kitchen seeing her with another woman talking and from the shard of the conversation I overheard I knew that she was having an interview. I could feel the anger inside of me start to bubble up. I waited for her to finish and helped Luca with some of his art projects.

"Okay, we'll let you know about the position. Thank you for applying." She closed the door.

"Who was that?"I gritted my teeth together.

"One of the nannies on that list I gave you this morning."

"Why didn't you consult me before you started interviews? I'm the one who's going to be trusting my son with her, so I should be the one interviewing them."

"I wanted to save you some trouble, I have taken a few of them off your list. Luca even took a liking to some of them." I turned to Luca who was shaking his head in disagreement. My mother huffed.

"I was also making sure I could trust her with MY son."

"Don't worry about me I've been alone for 5 years no nanny is going to change that. I'll hold my own interviews tomorrow with Luca." She shrugged and said goodbye to us, she was severely pissed but my mother lets her emotions brew.

As the door closed behind her I sighed.

"Were they really that bad?" He jumped up beside me onto the couch when I sat down.

"Yes, the one lady named Helga scared me. She's twice your size daddy." He whined and I couldn't help bursting out into laughter.

I called all of the women whose numbers I got including the nanny who saved Luca the other day. A few couldn't make the interview but most of them agreed to meet tomorrow.

The first of the women arrived just after breakfast. An elderly woman no older than 70 came slowly inside. Well, she isn't going to chase after me that's for sure. I talked to her, she was a good candidate but a little too old to keep up with an overactive 5-year-old. When I asked him about her he shook his head. He had to like her in order to actually listen to her.

A few candidates later I was so tired. Luca didn't like any of them and I didn't get along with the others he liked. I was picky. I'm going to leave my only son in her care in the afternoons after school until I get home from work and anything could happen to him.

We were onto the last candidate, Heather Jackson. The doorbell chimed a few minutes later after I almost collapsed on the couch. Luca hopped to the door opening it carefully, I sat up straight when the door opened. She ruffled his hair and gave him a bright smile that he returned.

I  greeted her.

"Hi, I didn't think I gave you my name the other day-I'm Gabriele Armanto." I shook her hand and she nodded.

"Hi." We sat at the breakfast table as she handed me her CV, she was very qualified and I could see she was also studying to be a teacher in her free time. After I read through her CV quickly, leaving it so that I can take a look at it again later with the others, I started the interview.

"For how many years have you been a nanny?"

"About 3 years."

"What would you do during the day when Luca isn't home?"

"I'd do the basic things like making sure all his toys are picked up and so forth, make him something to eat, help him with homework, make sure he has everything he needs and take him to the park. I'm mostly a student so I try and manage my school work too."

"What is your relationship status. I need to know this to make sure that there aren't any unexpected visits."

"I have a boyfriend, he won't come to my workplace since he has to work too," She answered while wringing her hands together.

"Why did you quit your previous nanny job?"She bit her lip and tugged at a strand of hair hanging loose from her tied up bun.

"My employer overstepped boundaries." She shifted in her seat uncomfortably, she didn't want to talk about it and it wasn't my plan to pry. Luca rushed in easing the tension a little.

"Daddy!" I scowled at him making it known that he shouldn't just run in when we were busy. Heather didn't seem to mind.

"Luca, no running in the house."

"Daddy, my truck broke!" He looked sadly at his toy fire truck in his hand with a missing wheel and in the other hand the wheel. I took the pieces from him. Heather moved her head to the side looking intrigued by us.

I tried to put the wheel back onto the truck but it wouldn't budge. I pressed my lips firmly together as I tried again but it wasn't working.

"I think I can help with that," Heather offered reaching for the pieces. I reluctantly gave them to her. Within a few seconds, she had it back in one piece. She handed it back to an ecstatic Luca who then ran back to his playroom.

"Luca say thank you!" I yelled behind to him when he rushed away.

"Sorry, sometimes that boy can act deaf. His manners evade him." She laughed. The rest of the interview went over smoothly.

"So I'll let you know about the position."  Her green eyes were glinting and for a second I forgot what I wanted to say before I regained myself. She has a boyfriend so, me even letting a thing like that slip wasn't appropriate.

"Thank you for the interview." She shook my hand and walked back to the front door. She looked exquisite in her simple pair of jeans that hugged her curves and the white shirt that showed-

"Daddy, I like her the most." Luca tugged at my sleeve, interrupting my derailed train of thought.

"Me too, guess we found your new nanny buddy." This also means that for a while I would be able to have a social life and meet a woman. A woman that my mother didn't set me up with. I have been a sexually frustrated man for some time now, it's time for me to get that out of my system.

A/N Hi there, next chapter is a Heather POV. Mmh and so it begins.

I dunno if you'll like this chapter, do you?