"𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞."
***

"Gianna I swear to God if you don't get your ass outta that door in the next three seconds I'm leaving without you!"

I rolled my eyes in annoyance at the screeching sound of my best friend's voice echoing throughout our apartment, I chose to ignore her and instead continued my sleep, snuggling further into the warm couch.

I could have sworn I heard her mumble something along the lines of 'no wonder you can't keep a job' but I ignored that too and shut my eyes, hoping to fall back asleep. My eyes were clouded with images of my dreams when I felt my body hit the floor with an extremely painful thud.

"What the fuck?" I gasped. "You did not just push me off the damn couch!" I yelled at her, over the sound of her booming laughter. I got up and wiped the imaginary dust off my ass before glaring at her and stifling a yawn, grabbing a seat cushion and shoving it in her face, finally shutting her up and she groaned, the sound muffled by the pillow in her face.

"I'm going to ignore that because we're late." She said, grabbing her keys off the table and slinging her bag over her shoulder. I rolled my eyes for what had to be the thousandth time today and followed her to the mirror in the hall, where we both fixed our messy hair.

I was met with the reflection of two extremely tired twenty two-year-old girls who looked like polar opposites in every way. One blonde with shimmery straight hair and gloss plumped lips who looked like she had her entire life planned out, and a brunette who couldn't achieve a normal sleeping schedule and survived on ice coffee and hopes for the future. The only form of makeup on my face was the remnants of sleep-smudged mascara which I used a hoodie sleeve to wipe off.

"Remind me again why I have to come with you to pick up your sister? I'm pretty sure you can handle a five-year-old on your own." I asked, popping a mint into my mouth as we entered the elevator.

We lived on the second floor, much to Celine's disagreement but my fear of heights over-powered my needs to let her have her way. Despite being so close to the ground, our apartment was still unbelievably expensive, but definitely worth the thousands we pay each month.

Despite being so young, Celine had managed to score this apartment using some of her saved up cash, and with a little help from her parents, the deed was put in our name just two years ago.

The idea of me leeching off my best friend didn't sound so appealing, I luckily, after endless months, convinced her to let me take care of the utility bills to which Celine reluctantly agreed, if only to make me feel better.

"Yes but, the whole point of having a best friend is not to be alone during boring stuff like this." She spoke, breaking my train of thoughts and backing out of the driveway.

"I'm a thousand percent sure that's not the reason but I'll let you think so." I said, causing a grin to spread over her face. I placed my head on the window and watched intently as the heavy New York traffic flashed by my eyes.

Celine and I had been best friends for the best part of ten years. We were attached by the hip. Two peas in a pod. Despite the obvious differences in personality and style, we were the same person. She was beautiful of course, much like me in that department.

It was when I caught her stuffing socks in her bra in grade school that I knew we'd be friends for life. I smiled at the distant memory, inwardly chuckling at the mess of Victoria secret perfume and puberty we were at that age.

Her glossy lips parted as she began to speak, breaking my train of thought. "Alright we're here. Let's get in, get Lily and leave, before any of them get the chance to put their sticky little fingers on me." She visibly shuddered at the thought while I just laughed at her distaste for children.

We were different in that way. I loved kids and planned to have many of my own, while she decided to be the rich aunt who travels the world and spontaneously shows up at Thanks Giving dinner with a foreign husband. Christmas too, if we were lucky.

I opened the door and stepped out, in awe of the school in front of me. It stood tall, shiny and intimidating, further away from the bustling noise of the city. We instantly spotted Lily from afar, her platinum blonde hair and dazzling smile standing out in the crowd.

She sat in a circle with two other girls, the three of them passing around dolls and giggling once in a while at something the other had said. It reminded me of this exact situation Celine and i were in at that age.

Ripping off the doll's head just to traumatize my bestfriend was my favorite past time.

We walked down the rose filled pathway that led into the playground and crossed the threshold. The silence that once filled the air was instead invaded by the sound of little feet padding the asphalt and distant cries mixed with laughter. She noticed us and immediately smiled, her being the only girl who wore a Disney princess dress to school was one of the reasons why she stood out so much. She was as out there as her sister.

I smiled when she ran up to us and clung to both our legs with her tiny palms. When she let go, a look of realization flashed across her face and she frowned. "I thought I asked you guys to wear your princess dresses too!" I faked shock and tapped Celine on the arm. "How could we forget?" kneeling down I kissed the toddler on the cheek and whispered something in her ear which instantly made her smile a toothless grin. She skipped away and grabbed her small pink backpack, waving at her friends and leading the way to the car.

Celine gave me a questioning look and I just shrugged. Opening the door and hoping back into the front seat, sneakily smirking.

"Cel! Gianna said we could go for ice-cream. Can I get two?"

I laughed at the groan my best friend let out, silently cursing me for not letting us go home.

We arrived at a cute local ice-cream shop a few minutes later, Lily had almost jumped out the window at her excitement. I held her hand tightly in my grasp as we walked through the door together. "Oh my gosh strawberry! Can I get strawberry? I like it, its pink! Please Gi?" she gushed. I looked down at her doughy brown eyes and smiled as she squished her face and hands against the cool glass, admiring the sugary substances.

"Yeah of course." I reached into my pocket and grabbed the money, paying despite Celine's protests which I shrugged off.

"I can't believe you convinced me into bringing this little brat to buy dessert at one in the afternoon." Celine grumbled from besides me, her sister immediately caught onto what she was saying and frowned. "Hey! I'm not a brat." she whined and I giggled teasingly at their interaction.

she never shows it, but hanging around her sister is the highlight of any day for Celine. despite the little spat they just had, i knew nothing was as special as a sister-to-sister bond. I sighed sadly but my straying thoughts were interrupted when I heard a little squeal as Lily looked up at our order.

We grabbed our cups and sat down in a small booth next to a little playground for kids. I turned my direction to Lily when she asked to go to the restroom, her sister opting to take her.

I was pulled out of the focus of the delicious ice-cream in front of me when I heard a loud cry. My eyes settled on a young girl. Maybe five or six, crying as she clutched her knee which looked to be dripping blood. I watched for a few seconds and noticed no one coming to her rescue. Leaving me no choice but to get up and rush over to her.

"Hey sweetie" I knelt down next to her and smiled, reaching for her small. shaking hand, which made her calm down slightly. "Don't cry okay? Here, let me get some wipes and wipe this clean for you yeah?" she sniffled and nodded as I wiped the blood away as best I could, reaching into my purse and grabbing a blue Band-Aid that I had kept from the last time I went to the park with Lily. The girl had fully stopped crying as I placed it onto her knee. Covering the small scrape.

"There you go. Where's your mom at?" Before she had the chance to respond I heard a voice shriek behind me.

"Oh my gosh, my poor baby! Come here!" I turned around and stood up, only to be met with a beautiful woman, she looked to be in her thirties, lifting up the child that was once next to me.

I stared at her in complete awe for a second, enthralled by how pretty she was. Her hair was shiny and smooth, straight out of a L'Oréal commercial. A dark red lipstick lined her heart shaped lips, complimenting her dark eyes. She had to have been some sort of model with her long, tan legs. She looked to be in her late thirties.

After checking if the child was still in pain she looked towards me and smiled, the toothy grin immediately radiating kindness and compassion "Thank you so much for helping her darling! I had to leave for a moment, you know, business." She explained, consoling her child as I stood there awkwardly. I smiled at her and nodded. "Of course. Don't worry about it." I said, turning around to head back to my table where Celine watched me curiously.

"Do you do this type of thing often, by any chance?" the woman asked before I had the chance to reach the booth

I looked at her in confusion and asked her what she meant.

"Well, you see. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't so desperate. I really have to get away with my husband on Monday and it would be great if you could spend a couple hours babysitting. It's just this little cutie, her brother and their younger sister, She's two. I know it's a lot to ask seeing as we just met but I'm willing to pay you two hundred dollars and hour, if that's okay with you."

My eyes bugled out of their sockets at the amount of money mentioned. I would be insane to pass this up. Celine's voice crossed my mind and I almost heard her say the words, 'take the offer dumbass! Not like you have anything better to do on a Monday night.'

Couldn't she ask a family member? I'd never risk putting a stranger in charge of my children—good first impression or not. But I shrugged anyway.

As if she needed to convince me more. Mystery woman took her phone out of her dress pocket and spoke. "Here, take down my phone number and give me a message if you find yourself interested okay?"

I nodded and took out my phone, taking down the numbers as she read them out.

"Anyway, it was nice meeting you..."

"Gianna." I finished off.

"Ah, Gianna. A beautiful name! I'm Sarah." she runs a hand through her long hair. "I've got to run now but I hope to hear from you soon." She smiles one last time and lifts her daughter. I smiled politely at her and waved at the little girl in her arms as she walked out the door.

This sounded perfect for me. I mean, what could go wrong?

"What was that all about?" Celine asked as I approached my seat, shoving a half melted ice-cream cup towards me. I took it gratefully and shoved the spoon into my mouth before I could get out a reply. I moaned at the taste and she rolled her eyes, a slight smile lining her lips.

"I think I just got a job." I said, twirling the utensil between my fingers. Her eyes widened and she raised her eyebrows, expecting a detailed explanation and I delved into the story. From the little girl crying on the floor to her mom offering me a job and she stared at me, her mouth agape, attempting to take it all in.

"And you're taking it, just like that?" she asked, her toned laced with confusion.

"Yeah probably. she's offering me two hundred and hour! I'd be stupid not to take it." she gave me a look that said 'you're stupid anyway.' and I rolled my eyes.

"What if her family is a bunch of serial killers?" she asked and I shrugged.

"I'll do an extensive google search on them just for you when I get home. Plus I'd rather get murdered with a bunch of money in my bank account." I smirked teasingly and she stacked our empty cups in the middle of the table, making sure to clean up for the server who would collect our trash.

"i don't know Gi." Celine sighed and stroked the hair of her sister who fell asleep on her shoulder, strawberry ice-cream lingered around her lips and I smiled. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Oh, come on." I whined, waving a dismissive hand in front of my face. "She looks nice enough. I'll be extra cautious." I said, attempting to calm her nerves which seemingly didn't work, based on the reluctant expression on her face. "If it seems suspicious or anything I'll be out of there quickly." her face relaxed slightly and she nodded.

"Come on, my sisters been asleep on me for a while and its giving me bad cramps. Who naps in the afternoon anyway?" she snickered, gently lifting her adorable snoring sibling.

I grabbed her backpack and we walked out of the shop, "You." I said, stating the obvious.

She rolled her eyes and pointed an accusing finger at me. "Whatever, we aren't done with this conversation."

I chuckled silently and shook my head, placing it against the car seat.

I may or may not become a stranger's babysitter tomorrow.

A/N:
PS : in the middle of editing Gianna's  age, if you see anywhere that mentions her being 18, point it out in the comments and I'll give you a cookie 🍪

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter <3

(EDITED)