“It’s quite something, isn’t it?” I heard from the yard behind me.
I turned to find a man riding atop a black horse. His face was plain and his chin was full of stubble. Cropped brown hair , almost unkempt in a fashionable way, topped his head, and he was a little above average height. It didn’t mean much to me, though, as nearly everyone was taller than I was, save for children.
“It is,” I said.
“At least it isn’t as garish and gaudy as the rest of the mansions in the area. I would have gone smaller, but there’s a certain level of stature I have to live up to, I suppose,” he said.
Sudden realization hit me.
“Oh, hello,” I said. “That’s a wonderful…er...horse.”
He looked at me quizzically for a moment, and then he laughed it off before hopping off the saddle and handing the reins to Bill.
“Well thank you,” he said. “I’m sure the horse likes the compliment. Shall I show you around?”
“If you ask like that, how can I say no?” I laughed.
“Right,” he said.
He stepped close to me and offered an elbow for me to grab. I didn’t need to be led like a horse, but still I chose to grab his arm so as not to cause a scene.
We walked through the double doors and into the manor. I tried my best to keep my mouth from falling open but failed miserably.
“I told my decorators to keep it simple. I didn’t want something extravagant. Nor did I want something that felt cheap. The quality of the materials is what matters. There are four stories in total, three above and one below.”
The inside was full of natural light that fell in beams through the windows. He led me up the rich wood stairs. I was intimidated by this man, and I couldn’t tell why exactly. It wasn’t as though he was pointing a gun at me. He just made me feel smaller than I already was. I did my best to straighten my back and show what little confidence in myself I could.
“My name is Erica, by the way,” I volunteered.
“Ah, right. Where are my manners? My name is William,” he said.
He began to lead me down one of the many hallways, but I stood in place and pulled myself from his arm to lean over the balcony.
“This house is a lot to take in. Maybe I can see a little more every day and keep it mysterious?” I asked.
He smiled and joined me on the balcony overlooking the stairs. I was still having trouble coming to terms with his intimidating presence. It was as though something was telling me to run, but I didn’t. There was a measure of the common man about him, and that spoke to me. As he leaned over the railing with me, I could tell that he was lacking a certain measure of sophistication.
“Should I just take you to your room? It’s rather nice. I figured you could just get settled in for today. Kevin has been saying nothing but good things about you. Really, I left the choice to him, and he said your name immediately,” Will said.
“I was starting to wonder,” I said. “It sounds like you have a lot of faith in the decisions of your son.”
He flipped himself around and leaned his back against the railing and stared up at the domed skylight above us. I followed suit and did the same. The circular staircase looked like it went on into the sky forever from this angle.
“Kevin knows what he wants,” he said, “and I’m glad that he’s capable of making the decision himself.”
“I’m sure you still had the final say in the matter,” I said.
“I’d like to say yes, but in reality, I trust his judgement.”
I loosened my hair from its clip and let it dangle over the railing and toward the ground as I stared upward. The tiny flecks of blond in my hair shone brightly in the early morning sun.
“What made you want to be a nanny?” he asked.
It seemed that everyone wanted to know. Really, I just liked it. There was no explanation for simply liking something that you did, and it was difficult to explain the goings on in my own mind.
“Would you accept that I just like it?” I asked.
“It’s an answer, but not the answer I was hoping for,” he replied.
“What were you hoping for?” I wondered.
“I looked at your resume myself before they even conducted the interview that got you the job. Perfect score on your SATs, perfect grades, and several accolades for sports. You probably could be running a company right now if you’d decided to go to college and work for it,” he said.
I knew he would have looked into my background, but I hadn’t thought he would have so intimately. Something made me wish that I knew him a little better.
“What made you want to be a billionaire?” I asked.
He laughed a loud and raucous belly laugh.
“I just wanted to be,” he said.
“Then we’ve both found what we want to be,” I added.
“Fair enough, Ms. Jacobs,” he replied through stymied laughs.
“Erica,” I said. “You can call me Erica.”