Someone Different [Zayn Malik Romance]

23. The New Babysitter

“Lele, would you come in here for a moment?” Debra Downey asked from the other room, and I kind of laughed.

            She was getting closer than Lilly.

            I walked in, more confident than ever before when it came to this famous fashion designer. My book was open on her desk as she reviewed the pieces I’ve drawn further; she told me earlier in the week that she was going to help me produce an amateur line and start from there, seeing how well the dresses came out.

            She glanced up at me, pushing her glasses down the bridge of her nose to get a clearer look at me. “There you are, Lele.”

            “Lela,” I corrected, like a thousand times before.

            Debra nodded. “Lela, yes. My daughter will be visiting from North Carolina today and I need you to entertain her for the day. Take her where she wants to go, make sure she doesn’t go out with anyone; she tends to slip away a lot, so keep a good eye on her.”

            I was confused – now I was a babysitter or something? “Um, sure, but what about my clothes?”

            “We’ll discuss that next week when the prototypes are all made up.” She said. “You’re free to go. She’ll be at the airport in a half hour – don’t be late.”

            Looks like I went from the nobody intern, to the model, and now to a babysitter.

~*~

            “Cecilia?” I asked, watching a bedazzled, glamorous blonde step off of the plane and into the airport, her outfit worth more than my apartment.

            She looked me up and down and snorted. “What, are you the babysitter?”

            I sighed. “Apparently.”

            She gave me one more once over before shoving her designer purse in my arms and walking ahead of me, acting like her daddy owned the airport. I rolled my eyes; typical – I get the brat who has an important mom. Fantastic. Silently, I followed her to baggage and watched as she stopped, almost in a posing stance with her sunglasses covering half her face.

            Finally, for the first time in five minutes, she turned and acknowledged me again. “I’m calling the driver. Meet me out front when you have all my bags – and don’t you dare drop them.”

            The last part she said with malice, and I scoffed. “No way. You’re helping me carry something, even if it’s one bag. I’m not here to carry all your sh–”

            “You work for my mom, right?” She asked with genuine interest.

            I stopped. “Yeah, but we may be working together soon–”

            Cecilia smiled fakely, letting it drip with “watch your back, bitch”. “Then you’ll do what I say, or else you might find that your little sketch book of designs falls into the trashcan and you’ll be unemployed. Got it?”

            At least I thought she seemed genuine.

            I bit my tongue and nodded. “Sure, go call the driver. I’ll be out in ten.”

            That was all she needed. Cecilia walked right out of the door, leaving me to continue biting my tongue until it started to bleed, keeping me from walking out there and slapping her upside the head. That little evil brat thought she could act like that all day? Well, she had another thing coming, then.