5. More Than Enough For Her

5

MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR HER

C rystal took a deep breath and rang the bell for the second time today. Time for a second first impression. This time from a child.

She was still dressed the same as she was earlier and had battled a war on whether she should change or not.

Since she was looking at this as a second interview, it was best to keep it professional.

She didn’t know the last time she wanted something so badly and hoped to hell she didn’t blow this like she had so many other interviews for jobs in her life.

But those were the ones she didn’t want and didn’t try hard at. Or didn’t care. Or maybe it was a combination of both.

This...this she wanted!

Phoenix opened the door. He was just as handsome as she remembered from a few hours ago. His hair was messier as if he was stressed and running his hands through it, but she found it more adorable in her eyes. That might be the biggest issue she could see in taking this job.

But she was good at controlling her bodily urges, so she’d be fine. She hoped so, because there she was already going down a negative path when she needed to think positively. She couldn’t let anything stand in the way of this job.

For all she knew, he was taken anyway. That was how she’d think of it.

“Hi, Crystal. Thanks for coming back so quickly.”

“No problem,” she said. “It was my pleasure.”

“Come in. My mother and Elsie are in the kitchen. We can go back there.”

“Would you like my shoes on or off?” she asked. She wouldn’t have done that for the interview, but now that she was walking through the house, it was only polite to ask.

“You can keep them on,” he said. “I’m not that formal.”

She’d noticed his office was neat but not so organized that she felt he was OCD about it.

As she moved down the hall, there was what she’d consider a formal living room to one side and then some doors on the other that were open. A guest room, then a pink bedroom full of toys. Had to be Elsie’s. Then a hall bath.

Across from those rooms had been a dining room after the living room. This place was much bigger than she’d thought it’d be.

“Hello, Crystal,” Carolina said. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You too,” she said. “Smells like sauce in here. I love Italian food. And you must be Elsie.”

“You’re pretty,” Elsie said.

“Awww,” she said. “Not as pretty as you. I love the sparkles in your sneakers.”

“My mother liked sparkly things too. I asked Uncle Nix if you sparkled like your name.”

Crystal lifted her eyebrow over “Uncle Nix” but wouldn’t say anything else. “One of my brothers always said I did. But that is because I like to be a girl. He was all boy...liked mud and trucks and that is dirty.”

“I think so too,” Elsie said. “I’d rather play with dolls and my dollhouses.”

“Dolls are my favorite,” she said. “I love Rainbow Dolls. Barbie is a classic and you can’t go wrong there either. Disney dolls are fun too. Do you have a favorite?”

“Rainbow Dolls!” Elsie squealed. “I’ve got three of them. I want the other three. I’m going to put them on my list for Santa for Christmas.”

“Which three do you have?” she asked.

“I’ve got Sunny, Jade, and Violet,” Elsie said. “I’m going to go get them. I’ve got lots of clothes and Sunflower and Sweetpea too.”

“Oh, you have Sunny and Jade’s pets?”

“I do,” Elsie said, turning to run down the hall.

“Well done,” Phoenix said. “I just got schooled in two minutes, but at least I’ll know what is on the Santa list.”

“I can help with that,” she said, grinning. “I feel like an idiot talking about toys with my friends, but some are neat. These dolls are so much cooler than when I was a kid.”

“Don’t feel like an idiot. This is going great.”

She liked the sound of that. She wasn’t sure what to expect of the little girl but found her very open and friendly.

Elsie came back in with three dolls and two pets in her hands in different outfits than she’d seen before too.

“I’ve got a few playsets too. They are still at my other house.”

Crystal didn’t want anything to get in the way of this visit or make the little girl upset, so she just nodded.

“We are going to get everything soon,” Phoenix said. “Just finding a place for it all.”

The house seemed plenty big to her, but she wouldn’t volunteer those things either. It wasn’t her place. At least not yet.

“Do you like doing arts and crafts?” she asked.

Elsie was sitting at the big island with her three dolls and placing them just right with their two pets. “I do. I like making bracelets.”

“Bracelets are the best. But you know what’s even more fun to make?” she asked. She leaned in close and whispered, “Slime.”

“I love slime!”

Crystal started to laugh.

“I don’t want to know,” Phoenix said. “I’ve heard horror stories of slime and glitter.”

“The evidence will be cleaned up so you won’t see it,” she said, smirking.

“Perfect,” he said. “Elsie, do you mind if I show Crystal upstairs?”

“No,” Elsie said. “I’m just going to play here. Maybe we can make a bracelet after dinner? I’ve got some beads.”

“I’d love to,” she said.

“The stairs are this way,” he said.

“This house is much bigger than it looks,” she said.

“You’ll have the run of most of it,” he said. “My bedroom is on the other side of that wall.”

He pointed to the doorway about ten feet from the stairs. So he had some distance from Elsie. She wondered if she’d bother him if she came down to the kitchen for something. Nah, she wouldn’t need to in the middle of the night.

They climbed the carpeted stairs and turned into a loft area. It was fairly big and had a couch, chair and TV already in there. There was a small galley kitchen against the wall with a thin fridge, sink, microwave and tiny oven. That she hadn’t been expecting. The oven looked new and seemed to be an afterthought added to the end of the counters.

“Did you just buy the oven?” she asked.

“I did,” he said. “There was room for it and I thought it was the least I could do, but the downstairs kitchen will be available too.”

“It’s a nice feature,” Crystal said. If she was off work the last thing she’d want to do is go into their house. “Everything is nice. It all looks new.”

“The furniture isn’t,” he said. “As we said earlier, I’m the oldest of nine kids. I’m the only one in Georgia so I’ve got this place for guests. The couch pulls out for another bed too.”

“But your siblings won’t be getting this space now,” she said.

“No. They don’t visit all that much anyway. Guess it was meant that Maryn talked me into this house when I thought it was too big. But she was the expert.”

“Elsie’s mother was in real estate?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “She was involved in a car accident on the way to a showing. Someone ran a red light and hit her in the driver’s door. She appeared fine and was taken to the hospital via ambulance because she said her head hurt. Then she lost consciousness and didn’t wake up again.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “That had to be hard to watch and wait.”

“It was almost a week. When all the swelling was down there was no brain activity. Might be the hardest decision of my life.”

Shit. He must have had to make that call. The fact that he was Elsie’s guardian led her to believe there was literally no family in the picture at all.

“Which is doubly as hard.”

“Yeah,” he said. He seemed to almost shake his head and moved toward the door at the back of the living area. “This is the bedroom, next to it is the bath.”

She popped her head in. There was a queen-sized bed, which was a lot bigger than her twin. He moved in and opened the closet door which was plenty of space. There was even a dresser in there for her. She didn’t even think she had enough clothes to fit in the space.

She looked in the bathroom and all she could think of was it’d be the first time in her life she’d have a bathroom all to herself and she didn’t care that it only had a shower stall, single vanity and toilet. It was more than enough for her.

“This is perfect,” she said. “Wonderful. It really is.”

“If you’ve got furniture, we can move this stuff out.”

“No,” she said. “I really don’t. Just a bed and dresser and they are second hand. I’ve got roommates. I don’t have a lot. I don’t think I’d even bring anything other than my clothing and other possessions. I mean, if you still want to offer me the job.”

“Are you kidding me?” he said. “It’s yours. I might beg you to take it if you don’t want it now. Which is stupid because you could ask for more money and I’d give it to you.”

He was smiling and though she wouldn’t do that, she’d bet he’d pay it.

“Then I can pack up and move my things in this weekend. When I give my notice tomorrow, I’ll just drive to my job from here on Monday and then can start on Tuesday. This weekend will help us get schedules squared away and work out all those kinds of things.”

“Perfect,” he said. “You’ll have time to yourself while Elsie is in school. If you want to make any decor changes here, please do. I haven’t painted or anything, but I don’t have a problem if you want to.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Anything that will make you comfortable,” he said. “I’m all for it.”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling. “This is like a dream come true for me. I can’t wait to start.”

“Trust me,” he said. “You have no idea how much you’re helping me out...more like saving me.”

“Well, I guess that is a first for me. My family might say I was the one that always needs saving.” The look on his face said maybe she shouldn’t have voiced that. “That came out wrong. I’m not in trouble or anything. I was the airhead of the family that couldn’t seem to stick to a structure.”

“As I’m learning, having things all lined up and planned out in life doesn’t work either.”