Leila's POV

Mr Carter had apologized to me earlier about his behavior, but the last thing I expected was for him to sit with us for breakfast. I looked at Emilia and saw that she was very happy to see her father sitting with us for breakfast, and it made me feel sad for her. A child with no mother, whilst the father was rarely around. At least he'd sat with them for breakfast today.

I, however, avoided his gaze at all cost. The smile he'd given me earlier in the morning made me see just how handsome he was. Pearly whites and all. He even had a dimple on his right cheek. I feared that if I looked at him right now, I would act like I was crazy or something like that.

He left for work and Emilia left for school, leaving me with nothing to do. When I was done with the dishes, I left the kitchen and was on my way to my room, when I heard the women who came to clean whispering among themselves in the dining room.

"I saw Mr Carter having breakfast this morning with that nanny and the girl."

Her blonde hair was tied into a tight pony tail, fully exposing her pretty face and deep blue eyes. Her condescending nasal voice, however, threw all the compliments of beauty out the window.

"I bet that she seduced the poor man. She doesn't seem like the type to lay still. I don't like her. Not one bit."

Anger rising, I thought of all the colourful words I could throw at her, but, being a hater of conflicts, I decided to leave it like that and go upstairs. The bubble of anger hadn't burst itself yet.

I suddenly got a better idea. Instead of going to my room, I went outside to the garden, where there was a small little table and some chairs surrounding it with an umbrella on top. There were some light showers spraying about, which offered a nice ambience.

Sitting down, I took my phone and played some classical music, my mother's favorite, Yiruma - Kiss the rain. Sighing, I put my head on the table. I suddenly felt homesick and decided to text my mother.

Me: hey Mom. I miss you already.
:-\
Putting my phone down, I looked around seeing how the flowers nearby bloomed and flourished, being hit by the rain and shaking ever so slightly. A ding came from my phone and I saw that it was a message from Mom.

Momma(✿ ♡‿♡): oh, my beautiful daughter, I miss you too. A little too much than I'd expected. How is work and how are you?

Me: I am good, Mom. No need to worry. I was just feeling a little homesick and I wanted someone to talk to.

Momma(✿ ♡‿♡): You can always talk to me, babygirl. Your father said hi, he saw me talking to you. You upset him a lot, dear, but he's fine now. He misses you too.

My heart squeezing from the love I felt for my family, I asked about my little sister.

Momma(✿ ♡‿♡): Oh her? She's fine. She doesn't even see that you're gone. And........ have you found anyone special?

I groaned out loud, wishing she hadn't asked that. She always said that she worried about my lack of interest in the opposite sex. It wasn't that I didn't want to date. I honestly did, but I never came across anyone who caught my attention for me to even think about it.

Me: No, I haven't. I just started my job. I don't think that I can juggle a relationship and a job at the same time right now. Relationships demand time and attention, which is something that I do not have at the moment.

Momma(✿ ♡‿♡):Well, you can't rush God's plan. When the time is right, he'll come along. My not so little girl will be gone from my side.

Laughing to myself, I replied back to my mother's messages and we had a blast. The homesickness was gone and I was less angry. The songs playing, the rain pitter pattering, I found myself waking up three hours later, when I realized that Emilia would be home soon.

I got up and stretched, hearing some bones cracking here and there. After the good stretch, I blew out a breath and went inside the house. Looking around, I was pleased to see that the house was very clean and that the women were gone as well.

Humming to myself, I went into the kitchen and began to look at what was on the menu that evening. I saw it best to make rice with beef stew and, maybe have ice cream for dessert. Emilia loved her cherry ripple flavoured ice cream, and I could say the same for myself.

Emilia came rushing into the house and tossed her bag on the couch, then came into the kitchen.

"Good afternoon, Aunt Lei."

Looking down, I saw that her uniform had some mud stains on it. Frowning a little, I crouched down to her level.

"Good afternoon. What happened to your uniform? Where did you get all this mud?"

She furrowed her brows and made a mad expression, something that I never thought I would see on her sweet angelic face.

"There was a boy who picked up a ball of mud and hit me with it, causing mud to splatter all over me."

"Did you tell your teacher?"

She smiled then, a smile that showed victory.

"Yes! And, he got detention for it. Whilst we played outside at lunch time, he was told to sit at the table with Mrs Smith, writing that he was sorry. He later came and apologized to me."

Smiling, I ruffled her hair, took her hand and led her upstairs. Giving her a fresh pair of clothes, we went downstairs together and had a snack while we watched Hotel Transylvania 3.

Suddenly, we heard the front door open. I left her to watch while I went to check who it was. It was Mr Carter, and I wondered what he was doing back home so early.

"Mr Carter. Good afternoon."

He looked up from his phone and smiled at me before he shoved it in his suit pocket.

"Good afternoon, Ms Rollins."

"Daddy!"

I looked behind me to see Emilia run towards her father. She jumped into his open arms, and he twirled her around while she giggled. Smiling at this beautiful moment, I realized just how caring he was towards his daughter.

"My little pumpkin! How was school today?"

She began to tell him all that happened while they went upstairs. I looked at the time.

17:36

I rushed into the kitchen to make dinner, while Emilia and Mr Carter watched another movie together. When I was done with everything, I called them to eat. After I was done setting the last cutlery piece at the table, they walked in. Emilia voted to pray for dinner, and after our prayer we dug in.

"Woah! This taste way better when it's just served."

Looking up, I saw Mr Carter staring at me. I smiled back and nodded, before I continued on with my food. Conversation went on as per usual, Emilia being the centre of attention while we listened to her. It was more comfortable than it had been in the morning, and in a few minutes, all plates were empty.

Emilia dragged her father out of the room, and he looked like he didn't want to go with her. Laughing to myself whilst I shook my head, I put the dishes in the dishwasher whilst I cleaned up the eating room and the kitchen. When I was done, the dishes were clean. I put them where they belonged and looked around the kitchen. Satisfied with how the room looked, I left and went upstairs. I checked in Emilia's room to see how she was, but she was already fast asleep and tucked in her blankets, snoring as usual.

The weather was cool now, and I wanted to go sit outside again. Taking my phone and earphones with me, I went downstairs. The door that led to the garden was already open, but I remembered closing it earlier.

Tip toeing into the garden, I saw Mr Carter sitting on a lawn chair, looking up. His gaze was fixed on the sky, and it seemed like he was looking for all the answers to his unanswerable questions. He also looked like he didn't need any disturbances, so I decided to go back into the house.

"Ms Rollins!"

Stopping abruptly, I slowly turned to look at him. He was sitting upright now, facing me.

"Come, and sit with me."

Shaking my head, I replied.

"No, no. It's okay, Mr Carter. I'll just leave you to whatever you were doing."

He stood now, when he realized that I was slowly reversing in the direction of the house.

"It's okay. Come and sit. I insist."

Everything in me wanted to go away, to leave that beautiful garden and my employer. Sensing my hesitation, he grinned, the same smile that made him look almost ethereal in the garden.

"I don't bite."

Laughing to myself, I shook my head.

Of course you don't.

I slowly walked towards him until I got to the chair on his side and sat there. He then sat down on his chair and looked up. We observed some silence for a while, a silence that made me feel his presence next to mine.

Authoritative. Controlled. Composed.

My body could somehow just feel his strong aura, and all I wanted was to disappear.

"Nice weather we're having."

Not knowing what to say, I just said what came to mind.

"Yeah. Beautiful rains."

Internally face palming myself for my stupidity, I closed my eyes tightly, trying to get rid of the embarrassing emotion that ran within me.

"Are you okay, Ms Rollins."

I opened my eyes, and looked at him, to see that he seemed concerned yet also amused.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

He smiled and looked back up.

"You looked like you were in a pain just a few seconds ago."

I shook my head and looked up too. The night couldn't get any more embarrassing than it had just now.

He began to ask me some trivial questions, some questions dumber than the other, but I answered them all because although they seemed unimportant, it was fun.

He asked about my favorite color, hobbies and my family. What ever question he asked me, he'd give me his own reply. I now knew that his favorite color was brown, he once had a pet cat but it died when he was fifteen, he was an only child in the family and both of his parents were dead.

I realized how much of a loner he was, how his only family was his daughter. He never said anything about his wife, and I was sure that it was because of the accident. Maybe it still affected him.

"And Emilia's mother?"

His face set in stone, and it seemed like I had touched a delicate subject. He didn't say anything for a while, and his expression was unreadable. I slowly began to regret asking about her.

"I'm so sorry, Mr Carter for asking about her. I didn't know-"

He raised his hand, eyes downcast, but I could see that his mouth had formed a thin line. His voice was a little hoarse.

"It's okay, Ms Rollins. You were only curious. I couldn't blame you."

He stood up but he made sure that his gaze did not connect with mine, and I felt my heart sink into my stomach.

"Goodnight, Ms Rollins."

He turned quickly and left the garden, leaving me to stay with my guilty thoughts. I ran a hand through my curls and sighed, looking at the sky which seemed to be getting darker and darker as the clouds assembled again.

What had I done?