I don’t cower. “Is that right, Zombie? Well, guess what, if you’re a good dog, maybe I’ll let you have a teeny bit of my brain.”
David snorts. “That’s crazy. You can’t give some of your brain to someone.”
“Who knows?” I shrug. “Some say we only use a small part of our brain, after all.”
Another snort. “Maybe you do.”
An insult but I refuse to take offense.
“Besides, crazy isn’t always bad. It just means you think differently.”
David creases his eyebrows. “You’re weird.”
“Weird isn’t always bad, either. Sometimes, it can be even fun.”
David says nothing.
I stand up, looking around. “Wow. You’ve got a really cool room, you know. I wish I had a room like this when I was little.”
Still nothing.
“So, what do you want to be when you grow up – a soldier, an astronaut, a race car driver or a drummer?”
“I don’t want to grow up,” he says.
“Ah. I felt the same way. Sometimes, I still wish I was a child. Still, there are things only grown-ups can do.”
“Like?”
“Like eating whatever you want and going where you want to go and staying up as late as you want.”
“Kristine let me stay up when she was my nanny,” David says. “Will you let me do that?”
Tricky question.
“We’ll see,” I tell him.
Why not? Even Mary Poppins bent the rules, I think.
“Maybe if you’re behaved.”
David frowns.
“You don’t like that word, do you? Can you tell me why?”
He keeps quiet.
“I guess the rules can be a bother sometimes. I used to hate them, too. But I found out they were for my own good. If you follow your father’s rules now then you can make your own rules later on.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Why not?”
“You’re just trying to be nice to me so you can stay in this house and have my dad’s money or my dad.”
I arch my eyebrows. “What?”
Is that the impression the previous nannies left him?
“You don’t have to be nice to me. I don’t care. I don’t need a nanny and I definitely don’t want one, especially not you.”
All right. I guess he’s finally bared his teeth.
That’s good, though. It’s good that he’s told me how he feels.
I clasp my hands together and approach his bed slowly. “Well, I think it’s good that you don’t need a nanny because I don’t want to be your nanny, either.”
He gives me a puzzled look.
“Frankly, I think you’re old enough to not have a nanny.”
“That’s what I told my dad.”
“But I do think you could use a friend and so could I. I’d love to be your friend.”
“Zombie’s my only friend.”
I glance at the dog. “I’m sure Zombie won’t mind sharing you with me.”
“Well, I don’t want to be your friend,” David says, glaring.
“Why not?”
“Just leave me alone, okay?” David gets off his bed and goes to his fortress, hiding inside the tower.
I exhale. All right. So, maybe this isn’t going to be easy but hey, we’ve only just begun.
I just have to keep trying.
Zombie
Randall
“I’m trying, okay?” I tell Gil over the phone as I swivel my leather chair and put my feet up on the bottom drawer of my mahogany desk. Gil is the CEO of another company who also happens to be my good friend and one of my newest business partners. “It’s just like learning another language.”
“You’re probably the only guy I know who doesn’t like computers.”
“Then I’m the only human on this alien planet.”
“Doesn’t that make you the alien?”
I frown, putting my feet down and sitting up. “I know you’re a geek and all but you’re too smart sometimes. You know that?”
“I thought that’s why we get along – because you have the brawns and I have the brains.”
“Ouch.”
“Just kidding.” Gil chuckles. “Speaking of brawns, you weren’t at that Rockets party last night.”
“No. I decided to pass. I didn’t have a good reason to go.”
“There were a lot of women.”
“I know. I bet you brought one of them home.”
Gil doesn’t comment on that, only letting out another chuckle.
I really bet he did, though. Gil may not be muscled like me but he’s got – what do you call it? – finesse.
“Well, maybe if computers could help me become fit, I’d be more into them,” I say, steering the conversation back on topic.
“That’s what this partnership is all about.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.” I rest my elbows on my desk. “So, when did you say that program for the gym is going to be ready?”
“Next week,” Gil answers. “Then you can try it in one of your gyms and, if it works, you can use it for all of your gyms.”
“Awesome.”
“Thank you. So, how’s the new nanny? Is she any good?”
I don’t answer, grabbing the pen on my desk and flipping it.
“Ah. So, that’s why you weren’t at the party.” I can almost see him grinning. “You know, some men actually end up with their kids’ nannies. Look at Captain von Trapp.”
“Who?”
“And Robin Williams, though they divorced.”
I frown. “It’s not that serious.”
“Hey. I’m just saying. Anyway, I have to go. I have a meeting.”
“I know. You don’t have to rub it in that your company makes more money than mine.”
“I’m not. Talk to you soon. Bye.”
“Bye.”
I put my phone on my desk then sit back in my chair, still fidgeting with the pen as I digest that last conversation.
End up with Sabrina? What is Gil thinking?
I want to end up in bed with her, yes. Definitely yes. But marry her? I don’t know. It’s too early for that.
“So, was he at the party?” Tess asks, interrupting my thoughts.
I’ve forgotten she’s standing in front of my desk.
“Yup,” I answer, putting my pen down. “And he had fun. But you know Gil. He likes parties.”
“And what about the software?”
“He said they’re still finalizing the... what was that again? The goo-goo or something.”
“GUI,” Tess says. “Graphical User Interface.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “How is it that you don’t carry around a tablet and yet you know so much about computers?”
“I studied computers a bit.”
“You did?”
“And I do use computers. I just don’t like carrying them around or using them for everything.”
“Of course.” I clasp my hands and sit back in my chair.
Tess writes in her planner. “Well, that’s it for now. You have a meeting before lunch but that’s still in fifty minutes. Do you want to take a break?”
Suddenly, I remember Sabrina’s words. I guess we can share a coffee break.
A coffee break, huh? Well, that could mean one step closer to having her.
I get out of my chair. “I think I will.”
“Be back by eleven.”
I nod, already heading out the door only to realize that I don’t know where Sabrina is.
Now, where, oh, where can she be?
***
After several minutes, I find her in the art room, which contains wooden, marble and metal sculptures as well as paintings, some of which I’ve purchased on my travels and others which were given to me as presents.
For a moment, I stare at her, as absorbed with her standing in the middle room as she is with the painting she’s gazing at.