CHAPTER 3, THE JOB OFFER

The restaurant's decor was exquisite and their dishes extravagant. Maddie had gone over the menu tablet three times already, still she couldn't quite make up her mind about what she wanted. It wasn't like she didn't like the dishes being displayed on the menu tablet, she loved almost all of them, it was just that all the dishes were just so damn expensive, even the simplest of them all.

"I think I will just help you order," Andrew said after watching her for a while, and then he reached out to take the menu tablet from her. She smiled, grateful, and he returned her smile before raising his hand to signal a waiter to their table.

When the waiter came, Andrew muttered a few words to him, and then Jake also placed his order before the waiter left, with the menu tablets.

The trio were sitting in a round table of three so they were all facing one another.

"So Miss Stewart, what do you do?" Jake initiated a conversation. Maddie turned to look at him, the smile on her face being replaced with a frown.

"How about I ask the questions and you answer…" Maddie heard herself saying. The memory of Andrew squatting under the rain all drenched played in her head for the umpteenth time. She suddenly became so angry.

Jake passed the brunette before him a surprised glance, his brows raised slightly because of the tone she had just used to speak to him. She looked angry. He wondered why.

"What kind of a father are you leaving your son all drenched in the rain?" Maddie wasn't even sure where she was getting her guts from. Or why she was just so angry. Even her hand, which was resting on the table, had formed into a fist. Her eyes were locked firmly in his.

"I know right! Do you know that he was out of the country? He is always out of the country," Andrew chipped in and Maddie's expression hardened. 

Jake passed a doubtful look at his son, and then returned his gaze to Maddie.

"Don't listen to him. He is being excessive… Do you know that this boy ran away from home?" Jake ended with a question. 

Maddie raised an eyebrow as she turned to Andrew. "You ran away from home?" she asked him.

"Well, I was all alone at home. Dad always travels," Andrew said in his defence, and then turned to his father.

"At least running away from home brought you back home. Maybe I should run away from home more often," Andy taunted, earning a disbelieving glare from his dad.

"Don't even do that with me smartass," Jake retorted but Andrew just returned his gaze to Maddie. The sly expression that had been on his face earlier transformed into one of hurt.

"Miss Maddie, my dad is bad, please scold him as much as you can," were Andrew's unbelievable words. Maddie blinked. What was this family drama she was suddenly caught up in?

"You have no idea how it feels like to be home all by myself, with no one to talk to… I just wanted to go to the park and hang out with other kids. Dad would never take me to the park. And he wouldn't let me hang out with other kids either," Andrew ended with a sniff and when Maddie turned to look at him, she saw that tears stood in his eyes. She immediately reached for the lad and drew him into her arms. Wiping his tears with her palm. Jake scoffed.

"You do know that he is just putting up an act right?" Jake asked.

"But is he right about the part where you barely spend time with him? That you travel a lot?" Maddie asked with a raised eyebrow and she didn't need him to say anything because his expression at that moment screamed guilty.

"Well, I am not going to sit here and lecture you about parenting even though I very much want to," Maddie said after a brief deliberation. She was in no place to lecture him about taking care of his own son anyway. That would be her crossing the line.

Just then, the waiter arrived. Gratitude flashed on Jake's face. Maddie wasn't sure if it was because she was letting him off or if it was because of the arrival of the waiter. She decided not to think too much about it.

Andrew pulled away from Maddie's embrace as the waiter laid out the dishes on the table. The expression on his face told that he couldn't wait to dig in.

As they ate, Andrew made happy sounds and Maddie couldn't help but chuckle. What a child he was! A very unique child, she added this thought as she recalled how he usually spoke with such confidence and authority that surpassed his age.

Turning to Jake who was about to dig in, she said, "You still haven't apologised yet you know." She picked up her fork and took a bite of her food, chewing slowly.

"I thought I did already…" he retorted.

"Did you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. He clearly hadn't.

"About the misunderstanding, it was all a mistake. I didn't know," Maddie quoted Jake's words earlier in the investigation room. She even imitated his tone. Andrew chuckled. 

Jake glared at his son who just shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't hear the magic word sorry from your mouth either dad," Andrew said in a quiet voice, and then stuffed his mouth full with his food, not caring about his father's glare on him which had even become more intense.

"Whose side are you on buddy?" Jake whispered and Andrew just scoffed. Jake turned to Maddie.

"Well, how about I offer you a proposal instead," Jake said and Maddie's gaze on him became quizzical. She gave him a light nod, urging him to continue speaking.

"My son Andy is in dire need of a live-in nanny as I fired his former nanny," Jake continued and Maddie almost scoffed. Was it really so hard for him to just say sorry that he would offer her a job instead?

"I love you dad!" Andrew suddenly blurted out even standing up to embrace his dad.

Jake just chuckled before returning his gaze to Maddie who seemed amused about the little drama that had just played out before her. Was the kid seriously that happy with her father proposing that she become his live-in nanny? 

Andrew left his father and rushed to Maddie's side. Reaching out to wrap two of his fingers around her thumb like he had done in the rain. Maddie felt herself melting inside as her eyes moved to their entangled hands, and then to his face.

"You will be my nanny right?" Andrew asked, bashing his eyebrows at her. His eyes held so much hope that Maddie didn't know what to do.

Without waiting for her reply, Andy continued. "Do you know why I like you?" he paused but continued almost immediately.

"I like you because you took care of me even without knowing who I was. You weren't fake."

Maddie let out a hum. This seven year old boy was surprising her by the minute but then, didn't they say children were the greatest judge of character? 

Maddie sighed softly as she recalled the issue with the loan sharks. They had been at her house earlier that morning and had only given them 48 hours to turn in the sum of a million dollars. Even her savings wasn't up to a tenth of the amount. Mathew had only borrowed half a million from them but their interest charge had been a hundred percent. Mathew… Just why the hell did he suddenly turn out to be such a headache!

"Please say yes Miss Maddie, it would mean everything to me and actually add some meaning to this meaningless life of mine," Andrew said, emphasising with a heavy breath, and Maddie laughed. What a dramatic lad! Witty too. 

Maddie's eyes flew to Jake. "I have never even been a nanny before. I don't have any experience," she said.

"My son likes you, that's all the experience you need," was Jake's unbelievable words.

Maddie turned to Andrew. He was still holding onto her thumb firmly. She sighed. She did like this cute kid and would love to be his nanny if she was being honest with herself.

"How much?" she asked.

"Well, we could start with three hundred thousand dollars," Jake said. 

It was way more than any job could pay Maddie with her qualifications yet she heard herself saying, "I want one million dollars."

"Alright," Jake said, surprising her. "One million dollars it is," he added.

Maddie shook her head in disbelief. Was he going to be paying her a million dollars yearly or were they still talking about the monthly salary he would pay her?

"Umm, you would pay me a million dollars?" Maddie asked to confirm. Jake nodded casually.

"Is it going to be a yearly salary then?" Maddie didn't even know what she was blurting out. Was the man before her serious?

Jake chuckled lightly, shaking his head in negation. "I will pay you a million dollars monthly to be my son's live-in nanny," he clarified. Maddie gasped, appalled.