The Precious Nanny | Cristiano Ronaldo

Chapter 1 - life is sweet

Melissa

A huge store, two collective bathrooms, and several huge dressers that looked more like living rooms than anything else. That's what I had to clean in two-and-a-half hours, before the end of my shift.

Okay, me and two other girls, but still, that's a lot, especially considering the size of this store.

This place is one of the most luxurious boutiques in Spain, only entered by people who have money and of course, willingness to spend it on unnecessary pieces of clothing, It's appalling to witness people spend thousands of euros on a stupid dress or a pair of shoes.

And obviously, there's me, but my situation is a little different, I don't come here to waste money, in fact, I come here to earn. I spend almost every day of the week inside this store, cleaning.

Very prestigious, I know, I don't even dare or bother to look in the direction of the stacked shelves, because I'm aware that a simple shirt from this place is practically a whole salary of mine, and besides, I have this theory that I like to follow:

What the eye does not admire the heart does not desire...

At this very moment, I'm trying to get my work done and finally leave, I take a look back and appreciate the final result. Everything is clean and spotless, and the acrid odour of flowers still manages to make me sick to my stomach, it's aromatic but it makes me nauseous.

I pick up all of the cleaning supplies I had used, and place them inside my cleaning cart, checking beforehand if I left something behind or lost along the way, and head to the storage room.

I need to keep a good impression around here, I started last week and hopefully will stay as long as possible. I need this money, the salary is not all that great, it's not a fortune, but it's a substantial amount of cash, besides it was the best I could pitch upon. I need to pay all of the debts I have accumulated over the past couple of years and, obviously continue to invest in my mother's treatment.

After putting back all of the materials, I say goodbye to my colleagues and exit the shop, through the back doors. I'm exhausted and I still have to face a long walk home.

"Finally." I groan to myself as I open the gate.

"Melissa," Gloria calls out my name, as she hears the gate closing behind me. "My dear, a letter has been delivered to you, I slipped it under your door." She's a sixty-something-year-old lady who has rented me the little apartment in which I sheltered me and my sister. Consequently, making us neighbours.

Gloria appeared by the window of her flat, scaring me, she seems to love doing that. She has these stupid bobs tangled up in her hair and something slimy plastered on her face, I unintentionally twist my nose in a face of disgust. She always wears face creams during the day, but I will never get used to talking to someone with pink dripping skin.

"Oh, thank you, Miss Gloria." I smile.

"It was nothing really." Her eyes soon focused on my face and I already knew what would follow, a complaint about something I have done, or even better, something I haven't done. "And before I forget..." She begins. "Find a way to control that horrendous cat of yours. He ate all of my onions this morning. I can't stand it anymore!" She says annoyed, adjusting the hair rollers with one hand to dramatize her features.

I take a deep breath and slowly count to ten. "Miss Gloria, for the thousandth time, I do not have a cat. He must be from the house upstairs."

"Do you think I care? Just fix the problem." She practically growls.

"But I..."

"Enough, all I'm saying is that if he eats any of my onions again, You will be the one suffering the consequences, understood?" She informs me with a threatening tone, but without looking at me this time.

"Yes, I understand." I sigh in defeat. There's just no point to even bother in arguing with her, I've discovered that in the worst way possible, there's no dialogue with people who don't know how to dialogue, simple as that.

Miss Gloria is the blabbermouth of the street. There's no better way to put it. She knows everything and everyone and seems to love indulging in idle talk about other people's private lives.

She doesn't charge a lot, but if you count the amount of disrespect and discomfort she puts me through, the money I give her is more than enough.

Still, with a forced smile, I walk by my 'lovely' neighbour and head over to my flat.
I unlock the door and pick up the letter she had slipped under it. And let out an inevitable sigh when I realize what it is. Another hospital bill. I sit on the couch and open the mail.

Me, my mother, and my sister are from a small town in Portugal, but moved to Spain about four years ago, she thought that we would find better living conditions here, away from my father.

How naive.

I was 20 years old, but I never felt independent enough to be away from my mother. And I just couldn't leave her by herself. She dragged me to Madrid, with no prospects. We just came. She got a job as a housekeeper in a hotel, and I, as a waitress. We didn't earn much, a misery to be exact, but it was enough to rent a little house in Madrid. But two years later it all went downhill, when that damn sickness appeared, leaving me completely alone in this ginormous city to look after a 4-year-old.

At the time I went into absolute despair, I had to abandon the house with my sister, I had no money for rent, and I compiled countless debts from the hospital, even though I managed to divide it into small parcels, I still haven't been able to finish paying them. And last but not least I eventually lost my job because I missed too many days of work.

An absolute mess.

I had nowhere to go until I eventually came across this little house for rent in the newspaper, and here I am now. Lost in this city and urgently needing to take a big turn in life.

"Mel, you're here!" I hear my sister exclaim making me quickly glance at her and notice Miss Barbara following her. She runs up to me wrapping her tiny arms around my neck.

"I tried to get her to sleep but she wanted to wait for you," Barbara explains while smiling.

"Clary you know I get home late, please, don't wait up next time okay? You have to wake up early for school remember?" I state in disapproval, I kiss her cheek and send her to bed.

"Thank you again, I seriously don't know what I would do without you."

"Oh dear, it's okay, you know how much I love you both, it's a pleasure to take care of Clare, but now sweetie, I have to go and take care of my husband." She replies with a soft chuckle. Miss Barbara is an elderly lady who also happens to be my neighbour. She's the complete opposite of Miss Gloria. She takes care of Clary whenever I can't, which is a bonus.

After kissing my forehead she exits my flat.

I take a quick shower in my mini bathroom, eat the food Miss Barbara had left prepared right afterwards in my mini kitchen, and leave my lunch prepared to take for work tomorrow. I lay down in bed and pick up a Sidney Sheldon book that belonged to my mother and proceed to read until I eventually fell asleep.