The Babysitter

By:  Jessica

Ring Ring

Jennifer put down what she was reading and grabbed the phone sitting next to her. “Hello! Fatone residence.”

“Hey! Is Joey there?” the voice on the other end asked.

“No he’s not. May I take a message?” Jennifer began to look around for a piece of paper to write on.

“No, no. That’s alright. This is Lance and I was just wondering if I could drop by to pick up something I left there.”

“Well, Mr. Bass...” Jennifer began.

Lance interrupted, “Mr. Bass is my father.”

“Sorry!” Jennifer laughed. “If you need to come by, I’m sure that they wouldn’t mind. I just put Brianna to bed and am reading. You can come over if you want.” A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. Jennifer answered the door and was greeted by a smiling Lance. “Come on in.”

“You’re Jennifer, right?” Lance asked as she closed the door behind him.

“Yeah. How do you know who I am?”

“Well,” Lance explained as they walked into the living room, “Joey had told me his babysitter’s name before. I expected you to be a teenager though.”

“Thanks!” Jennifer scoffed. “No, I work with Kelly and she asked me to watch Bri one night. I fell in love with that little girl and now I baby-sit for her anytime Joey and Kelly want to go out.”

“Ah.”

“So, what’d you leave here?” Jennifer asked moving what she was reading off the couch so they could sit down.

Lance pointed to what was in her hand. “That, actually. You were reading it?”

Jennifer looked down at the script. “Yeah! It’s pretty good. Kelly always tells me to make myself at home and I saw this and started to read it. I don’t like to turn the TV on once Bri is in bed.” She handed it back to Lance.

“So, what did you think of it?” Lance asked as he placed the script on the coffee table.

“Well, I’m no pro or anything, but it caught my attention in the beginning and kept it up until you rang the doorbell.” Lance chuckled as Jennifer smiled at him. “Is this one you’re thinking about acting in or just producing?”

“Haven’t decided yet. What do you think?”

Jennifer picked up the script and began to flip through the pages. “Well, I’d have to finish reading it before I could give a knowledgeable answer, and most people would disagree with me, but I could definitely see you as the killer.”

“The killer? You don’t find out who the killer is until the end. Did you already figure it out?”

Jennifer blushed as she pulled her legs up on the couch. “I always read the last page first. It's a bad habit of mine.”

Lance opened his mouth to say something right as a cry came out of the baby monitor on the coffee table. In a flash, Jennifer was off the couch and sprinting up the stairs. Lance got up and followed Jennifer. He walked into Brianna’s room and saw her in Jennifer’s arms falling back to sleep. “Wow!” Lance whispered. “She never quiets down that fast.”

Jennifer placed Brianna back in her baby bed and covered her up. She pushed Lance out of the room and shut the door behind them. “It never takes me long to get her back to sleep.”

Lance and Jennifer walked back down the stairs. “Well, you must be a babysitting genius. I can never get her back to sleep that quick.”

Jennifer started walking towards the kitchen. “Well, with years of taking care of siblings you learn how. Would you like a drink?”

“Sure.” Lance replied. Jennifer nodded and fixed them both a drink. They went back into the living room and sat down. “How many siblings do you have?” Lance asked.

“Three. One older, two younger.” Jennifer softly laughed. “I was the only planned one.”

“What do you mean?” Lance asked, turning to face Jennifer.

“Well, my older brother was conceived on the wedding night.” Jennifer recounted.

“Wow! There’s a wedding gift for ya.”

“Yeah! They were real excited about that. Then five years later, I came along. My little sister was born when I was ten. Then on my sixteenth birthday, my mom gave birth to my brother, a complete surprise since dad was, well, fixed supposedly. Now he’s seven and I’ve moved away from them all. Taking care of Brianna just fit perfectly into my life.”

“When does that leave you time for a personal life?” Lance asked his strategically placed question.

“What personal life? I haven’t had a date since college.” Jennifer said shaking her head.

Lance nodded. “I can relate. I haven’t had a girlfriend in over a year.”

“Well, that kinda makes sense, as busy as you guys are and all.” Jennifer patted Lance’s knee. She then stopped, it dawning on her that she was touching a superstar. She looked up into his eyes as he put his hand on hers.

Lance smiled and said, “Well, I’m not busy right now. Maybe we should go out sometime.”

Jennifer smiled realizing that Lance was just a normal guy. She had never gotten star struck around Joey. There was no reason to with this man. She cockily replied, “Maybe.”

They continued talking until they heard the front door open. Joey and Kelly walked in and were surprised to see Lance sitting on their couch. “Hey man! What’s up?” Joey asked.

“Just came over to get my script and ended up hanging out with Jennifer.” Lance smiled as he untwined his hand from Jennifer’s.

Kelly sighed. “Well, there goes the best babysitter in this town.”

The End

 

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