When I came home Thursday evening, I saw Jess and Beth waiting for me at home.
"Welcome back sweetie". Jess said, carefully hugging me.
"Glad your back Hun". Beth then said, also hugging me.
"Thanks girls". I said.
Paul had dropped my bag, Beth brought to the hospital on Tuesday, in my room and came back in the living area.
"You want something to drink"? I asked him, but Jess ran to the kitchen saying she would get it.
"A beer is good". He said, while I asked for a mint tea.
************
When Paul arrived on Friday he was surprised to find me downstairs at work.
"Hey babe, shouldn't you be resting"? He asked, after giving me a kiss.
"Nah, I'm fine. Had great night and work has to be done. Jess is at a new house, while Beth is talking in a meeting to a potential new nanny". I said, saving the file I was working on, on the computer.
"Ok, but only if you let me take you out for lunch in a half an hour". Paul smiled.
"Sure". I said, just as my desk phone rang.
Answering it, I heard it was Beth, asking me to come over.
"Why don't you head upstairs, Beth needs me. I'll come and get you to go out for lunch". I told Paul, giving him my loft key.
He nodded and went to the stairs, while I walked to meeting room and knocked on the door.
"Vanessa, this is Negin the second CEO. Negin this is Vanessa Davis". Beth introduced us.
I smiled at the young blonde, offering my hand.
"Vanessa, could you wait outside for a bit? I have to talk about some things with Negin and then I will call you back".
The woman nodded and left the office. Beth told me about Vanessa and how she used to be a nanny for 3 children with the age of 4, 9 and 14. Vanessa was their nanny and travelled a lot with the parents, who needed to travel the world a lot.
"She's 28 and was their nanny for 5 years, what do you think"? She told me, handing me Vanessa's resume.I read it and nodded.
"She would be a good addition to our team".
"And she can be Meadow's nanny." Beth said, I looked up, confused.
"What about Anna? I thought Paul and his mother choose her as Meadow's nanny"? I said, remembering Paul's text from last Sunday, when he gave me his address.
"Anna has problems with her right wrist and needs surgery. She'll be out for at least two months and the file said, Meadow needs a nanny next week. If Vanessa agrees, she can be the nanny". Beth explained.
"Paul is upstairs, were going out to lunch; I'll show him the resume and ask his opinion, then I'll give you a text, you should know the answer within 10 minutes". I said standing up.
"Deal, will you let Vanessa back in, then I will have her sign the contract and have the celebrity confidential contract ready". Beth asked.
I nodded, walked out, telling Vanessa to go back in and went upstairs.
There I told Paul about the new nanny and about Anna. He agreed to let Vanessa meet Meadow later on today, when he would bring her to the office. After sending Beth the text, the two of us went out and had lunch.
************
The meeting between Vanessa and Meadow went great and Vanessa signed the confidential contract. Meaning she couldn't tell anyone who she worked for and everything that happened while being Meadow's nanny had to stay secret. She would start Sunday evening, when Paul came home, from the dinner with his family.
Sunday came, and I was in my room checking myself in the mirror, feeling a bit stressed. I wore a pink summer dress, with tight bodice, short sleeves and flowing skirt. I had pulled the sides of my hair up and pinned it there with a pink rose.
In my ears I had pink hoops, with a small part covered in fake diamonds and a thick pink bracelet. My makeup was just my black eyeliner, some mascara and my brown lip-gloss.
I sighed and felt butterflies in my stomach. My inner voice stayed quiet the last days and I kinda missed talking to her.
I was happy to see Paul and Meadow, but also nervous about meeting his family. Yes Paul and I agreed that this dinner was just a way to say thank you for what I did for Meadow, but still they would meet me and know I'm Paul's girl.
"You look beautiful". I heard and turned around, seeing Beth and Jess standing in my doorway.
"You nervous"? Jess asked coming over to me.
"Very". I told her.
"Don't worry Hun, you'll do great; from what Vin told me, his parents are very nice". Beth said.
"I do hope they will like me, but what if they don't"? I said unsure.
"They will love you babe". I heard, looked back to my door and saw Paul standing there, leaning against the doorway.
"Hey". I smiled.
"Oh I forgot. Surf boy here rang the bell so I buzzed him in and let our front door open for when he arrived". Jess smiled, using the nick name, Tyrese gave him. Paul stuck his tongue out at her, before walking to me and leaning down to give me a kiss.
"You ready"? He asked.
"Yeah, let me put on my shoes first". I said, sitting down on the bed and grabbing my pumps, which were in the same color as my dress.
Just before leaving, I grabbed my purse, phone and keys from the table at the front door.
As we entered his truck, I asked Paul if I wasn't overdressed.
"Nah, you look nice". He smiled, before stealing another kiss.
************
After a short drive we arrived at his parents place, Paul parked his car across the street and I looked a bit nervous at the two story house.
Although he didn't mean to, he added more nerves when he said,
"Looks like my two brothers and sisters are already here".
I swallowed and looked at him, taking my eyes from the house.
"What about Meadow"?
"She wanted to spend the night here, so I dropped her off last night".
I nodded and turned to look at the house again, was I ready for this?
Yes you are, now get your butt out of the truck and go inside. Oh and don't forget the flowers you bought for Mrs. Walker. I suddenly heard my inner voice say and smiled.
Glad to have you back. I thought.
Yeah, it was kinda boring. Seeing the things you do and hearing your thoughts without commenting on them. So taa-daa I'm back! My inner voice yelled happily.
"You ready"? Paul asked me, leaning over and kissing my cheek.
"Don't worry babe, they don't bite". He added and laughed when I look semi-angry at him.
We both got out of the truck and opened the back seat doors. I grabbed the white and yellow lily's bouquet, while Paul grabbed the big dish of meat, covered in foil.
After locking his truck, Paul took my free hand and together we crossed the street. We walked past the front door, where he let go of my hand, so he could open the little gate and let me pass first.
Seeing a pool, a guest house and a beautiful garden, I never noticed Paul stopping at the sliding door, so I bumped into him. Luckily he held the dish with his two hands.
He laughed looking at me, "Enjoying the pool"? He grinned.
"Actually, I'm looking at this beautiful garden, it's so lovely". I said, looking back at the garden.
"There they are"! I heard and turned back to the house.
A woman with blonde hair opened the sliding door, so we could enter. She smiled brightly at me, and I knew this was Paul's mother, seeing some resemblances.
"Mom, this is Negin or Ng as she prefers. Ng this is my mother Cheryl Walker". Paul introduced us after putting the dish on the table, close to him.
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Walker". I smiled holding my hand out.
She looked at me smiling, then at her son, before pulling me into a tight hug. Paul probably knew she was going to do that, because he grabbed the bouquet lilies, just in time.
"Please call me Cheryl dear and the pleasure is all mine to meet the woman who saved my granddaughter". She let me go and looked me in the eyes, "Thank you dear". She said before hugging me again.
"Come on in, the rest of the family can't wait to meet you". She said, letting go, but keeping a firm hold of my hand.
I looked at Paul and he nodded at me, while following. We walked through the living room/ dining room and entered the kitchen, where 4 blonde women were already busy with the vegetables.
"Girls, meet Ng, Ng meet my daughters Ashlie and Amie. Next to them is Felicia, Cody's girlfriend and at the sink is Stephanie, Caleb's girlfriend, who you probably already met". Cheryl told me.
The girls stopped what they were doing, dried their hands on a dishtowel and came to greet me.
"Hey Ng, so nice to finally meet you". Ashlie said, hugging me.
Amie and Felicia also came over to hug me and last was Stephanie.
"Happy to see you again Ng, you gave us quiet the scare when we were at Paul's, but thank you for helping our niece". She smiled hugging me.
"It's the least I could do," I started when I heard Meadow's squeal.
"Ng, you came"! She yelled, running up to me and hugging me. It hurt a bit, but I ignored it.
"Wonna help out"? Felicia asked me.
"Sure". I said.
She handed me a knife and asked me if I wanted to clean the carrots.
"Paul, what are you doing there with that bouquet in your hands? Go grab a vase and put those in water". I heard Cheryl say, while I was washing my hands.
Turning around I saw him looking from the flowers to his mother, then back at me.
"Erm, Ng bought them for you". He looked at the flowers, like he had no clue what to do with them.
Cheryl looked at me and smiled.
"You bought my favorite flowers, thank you dear". She said, coming over to me and hugging me again. Then she turned to Paul and told him again, to put the lilies in a vase.
"Yes mom". Paul said, finally moving.
After putting the flowers in a vase, Paul went outside where the men of the family were.
"He's gonna forget his head one day". Ashlie smiled, grabbing the dish with the meat, Paul brought.
"Ng, Hun, will you bring this outside please? The rest of the meat is already outside; just go back through the sliding doors and walk directly to your right, a bit further is the bbq". Amie asked me.
I nodded, grabbed the dish and walked outside. To my right, I saw a big bush. Passing it; I saw a bigger part of the garden, where a long table, with two sun parasols stood and in the corner, with a small roof I saw the guys standing around a BBQ.
A young man, with the same blue eyes as Paul and Caleb saw me, came over and took the dish from me.
"Hey Ng, I'm Cody, the youngest of Paul's brothers". He introduced himself and hugged me.
"Thank you" he whispered to me, and I knew what he meant.
I smiled at him, "Nice to meet you".
"Oi bro, she looks much hotter when she's awake"! He yelled at Paul, who came over to us grinning.
I couldn't help but smile shyly.
Luckily due my brown skin, no one knew when I blushed. But I saw in Paul's eyes, he already figured out, this kind of shy smile was the same thing as blushing.
"Cody came to the hospital last week". He explained.
I looked back to Cody who nodded.
"When Stephanie came here with Meadow, I was here with my girlfriend; somehow I knew I had to be at the hospital for my brother. And also to translate the medical stuff, knowing he wouldn't understand all the things the doc would say".
When I look confused, Paul, who had his arm around my waist, said, "He's a paramedic".
"Yep, that I am, the smartest of us all". Cody grinned and winked at me.
"Dream on bro, dream on". Paul said, giving his younger brother a friendly shove.
We didn't notice their dad coming over, until he stood behind me and cleared his throat.
"Well son, aren't you going to introduce this beautiful lady to me? Or do you wonna keep her all to yourself". He smiled.
I turned around and held out my hand, while still smiling.
"Hello sir, I'm Negin or Ng as most of my friends call me. Your son will have to do a lot to keep me all to him, since I'm a people person". I said.
His dad laughed out loud, before taking my hand and dragging me into a hug.
"Nice to meet you Ng and please call me dad, 'sir' is way too polite in my opinion". He said.
After letting me go, he pointed to me, but looked at Paul, "I already like her. A lot". He grinned at his son.
Then I met Ashlie and Amie's husbands and they also welcomed my whole heartily into the family.
Spotting Caleb standing alone at the BBQ, I walked over to him.
"Hey Caleb". I smiled at him.
"Hey Hun, so you've met the family, what do you think? Still nervous"? He asked me, after kissing my cheek.
"Nah, the nerves are gone, and you were right, they are all wonderful lovely people".
"And they don't bite". He added grinning.
************
The family dinner was over before I realized and soon me, Paul and Meadow were in his truck on the way back to my loft.
"At what time is Vanessa coming"? I asked Paul, who turned the ignition off. He looked at his watch and said he had half an hour left.
I said bye to Meadow and stepped out of the truck, while Paul did the same. Standing in front of his truck, I felt a bit sad, because I wasn't going to see him for at least three weeks, maybe longer, depending how the shooting on the first location went.
Then he would be home for 3 days, before going away again for another 5 weeks. I knew what I gotten myself into, when I agreed to date him, but still it felt strange.
"I'm gonna miss you, but I promise I shall try and call you every night". He told me, while pulling me into his arms.
I hugged him back and let my head rest against his chest. "You better call, or at least text, so I know you won't forget me".
"Babe, I wouldn't forget you, never". He smiled, lifting my chin so he could place a kiss on my lips.
I kissed him back with all the love I felt for him.
Suddenly Meadow put her window down and yelled for us to get a room. Smiling we let go of each other and after a short kiss; Paul got in his car and started the truck.
************
The three weeks went by quickly. Faster than I thought they would. Paul and I used the FaceTime call every night, just before he went to bed and he texted me during his lunch break.
One week he had night filming so we used FaceTime during his lunch break and he texted me when he would go to bed in the early morning, which I then read when I woke up.
Luckily for me, Beth and Jess were in the same situation. So when one of us felt a bit down, and missing our man was becoming too much, we would sit together and have a girl's night at our place.
Work was also a good distraction for us, we got a call from a famous family magazine, and the second week, the interviewer stopped by, he had a conversation with the three of us, talked to some nannies that were at that time off duty and took some pictures of the three of us together.
The last Tuesday before our men would come back; the magazine came out, meaning we had more applications for a nanny, but also more job applications, so we decided to hire a secretary, and some more staff, to handle the case load.
On Friday the girls and me decided to go out to the club Vin took us, and introduced us to Paul, Tyrese, Michelle and Jordana.
Since it was a warm night, Jess and Beth both wore a short skirt, with top and pumps, but I wore my black short, black tank top and black converse boots, the only jewelry I had on was a tick black bracelet.
"Someone is in a dark mood". Beth said, seeing me exiting the bathroom, wearing more makeup than normal.
I had black eye shadow on, with eyeliner in, above and under my eyes, mascara and dark red lipstick.
"Who wouldn't be pissed? Paul texted me yesterday, he was finished and would be home today, only text me an hour ago that he and the rest are coming home tomorrow". I said a bit angry.
"Here Mrs. Grumpy, have a whisky, then we'll go out and before we know it, it will be morning and our boys will be back". Jess said and I knew they both had the same kinda text like I had.
I took the whisky shot and drank it in one go. Feeling the burn in my throat I relaxed a bit.
"I so badly wanted to see Paul today". I pouted.
"I know Hun, we couldn't wait also to see our men, but hey, it's already 22:00, won't be long now". Beth said hugging me, then Jess did and soon we stood in our living room in a group hug.
"Just one other shot then we're out of here". I said, going over to the bar.
************
Once we arrived at the club, the bouncers recognized us from the last time and let us pass immediately.
"Now that the boys aren't here, do you think we're aloud upstairs"? Jess asked us over the music.
"Let's try it". I smiled, walking to the staircase. And to our luck the bouncer let us in.
"First drink, then dance, who's with me"? Beth yelled over the music. Both me and Jess agreed, while walking to the bar.
Beth ordered 6 tequila shots and when we had them in front of us, she gave each of us two shots.
"Ok my girls, on 3, one... two... Negin"! She said as I said three and downed my first glass.
"What? I was thirsty"? I grinned, licking the salt of my palm.
"Oh well". Beth said, and both her and Jess downed their drinks.
"Will you now wait till I said 3"? Beth asked as soon as she finished.
"Scouts honor". I smiled, while holding a hand up and the other on my heart.
"One... two.... Three... go"! Beth yelled, we downed our drinks, slammed the shots on the bar and licked our palms.
Flo-Rida's 'Low' started to play and I grabbed my friends to the dance floor.
While dancing I had a feeling someone was watching me, looking around I saw no one so I kept dancing.
Too soon the song was over, so we both went back to the bar, ordering another round of tequila.
When Jess handed the bartender the money he waved it off, saying some guy already paid. We looked to our right, and saw three guys sitting on the couches; we held our drinks up to them, then downed it.
"One more". I signed the bartender.
"Ng, no please, I'm already getting tipsy". Jess said.
"Really? What about you Beth"? I asked, feeling nothing, she shook her head, so I ordered a Coca-Cola and two tequila's.
Will.I.Am's song feat Britney Spears 'Scream and Shout' started and Beth dragged me to the dance floor.
"If you see us in the club, you gotta turn, turn it up; everybody in the club, they're watching us; they're watching us". We both sang out loud.When the song was almost over, someone grabbed my hips and tried to dance with me. Turning around, I looked at the young bloke angry.
"Sorry dude, I have a boyfriend. No touching". I said, getting his hands of me, and walking away.
"Pfft, some boys will do anything to get a girl's attention". I told Beth.
Some hours later, Jess, Beth and me were swaying to Kevin Little's song 'Turn me on', when again I felt someone grabbing my hips and pulling me close.
"Listen buddy, this is the last warning. I already told you I'm seeing someone, so back..." I started to say, but stopped when I saw it was Paul.
"Paul"! I screamed happy and jumped in his arms.
"Glad to see you missed me". He smiled, putting me down again, before leaning down and giving me a kiss.
"But also happy you won't let any other guy touch you, because you're my girl". He added, while looking at me from top to bottom.
"Hmm, something's changed". He grinned, so I explained, I was moody and that it had been a long time since I dressed gothic.
"Doesn't matter, you look good in any kind of clothes. But I have to say, although I like this kind of makeup, I prefer you with just the eyeliner and lip-gloss; it's more natural". He said and I rolled my eyes.
I looked around for my friends and saw they also met Vin and Ty. Turning back to Paul, I took his hand and together we walked to the couches.
"I thought you were coming back tomorrow"? I said as he sat down and pulled me on his lap.
"We wanted to surprise you all". Paul smiled.
"Yeah, but you surprised us, when nobody was home. We the decided to have a boys night at Paul's, when Meadow said, Vanessa had spoken with Jess and told her you girls were going out". Ty said, while dropping his arm over Jess's shoulders.
"Wait, you guys didn't tell her we're dating you guys? Cause we want to keep it a secret for a while". Beth said.
"Don't worry sweetie, we didn't say anything". Vin told her.
"And I told Meadow and the rest of the family not to say a thing about us, being together to Vanessa". Paul said before I could ask.
Smiling, I leant back and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you". I whispered.
We stayed for another hour, before calling it a night, since it was already 2 o'clock in the morning.
"I wonna take you to my place, but with Vanessa being there, that will be a problem". Paul whispered in my ear.
"I'm gonna take Jess to my place, see ya". Tyrese said.
"And I will take Beth to mine, that way you'll have the loft just for you and Ng". Vin told Paul.
We all agreed and went our separate ways. Since Jess had the least alcohol, she drove our car to our place, and there she stepped into Tyrese his car.
"Mmm, what to do; now we have the place to our self". Paul said in my ear, while kissing my neck.
"Not much though, I'm not ready to take us to a higher level; hope you understand". I told him.
"I understand completely, all I want to do, is snuggle up to you while falling asleep, I won't do anything you don't want". Paul said.
We took turns in the bathroom, before climbing in bed.
"I love you, Ng". Paul whispered in my ear, while he spooned himself behind me and taking me in his arms.
"I love you too, Paul". I said, looking over at him, kissing his lips and nestling my back against his chest.
"Night, love". I said.
"Good night, babe". He whispered, just before I fell asleep.