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Once Chloe was fast asleep and settled in bed Paul made himself some dinner before sitting down at the computer and getting on with his work again to at least try and get this done before his deadline or he'd have to beg for an extension.
He had been so desperate to finish it he had paid no attention to the time and only really looked at it when he heard Chloe crying over the monitor and when he looked at the time he groaned, it was past midnight which meant he was going to get very little sleep. Quickly saving his work he abandoned turning the computer off for the night and quickly warmed up the feed he had already prepared for Chloe before he took the bottle upstairs to feed her and then get her back to sleep.
As soon as his daughter was fast asleep he crawled into bed to get a couple of hours before she had him up again.
Before Paul knew it it was six am and his daughter was wide awake. Rolling over he wasn't surprised to see the side of the bed where his wife normally slept empty, nothing about her surprised him any more. Rolling out of bed he went to begin the day the best way possible, with a cuddle with his baby girl.
Two hours later and he had actually fed and dressed Chloe and managed to feed himself and get showered and dressed. Staring at the clock he wondered if it was too early to call the best friend, he knew she had a little one so she would probably be up but would she actually be free? Deciding to just try his luck he went to grab the papers and a pen to make the most of Chloe being settled quietly.
Jade was not having the best day, actually she would probably rank it as one of the worst in a long time and it wasn't even nine o'clock in the morning yet. Firstly Tyler had decided he did not want to go to school today so he made her life as difficult as possible whilst getting him ready and then her parents rang deciding that they now wanted to be 'Grandparents of the Year' but for her it was three years too late.
With her son watching cartoons for five minutes whilst she finished getting ready she was just finishing tidying up when her cell phone rang, looking at the screen and not having any idea who it was calling she put it to her ear, "whatever you're selling I'm not buying."
Shocked by the reaction he didn't really know what to say, "uh, I'm not selling anything."
"Well that's one less reason for me to hang up on you. What do you want if you're not selling anything? I don't know the number."
Leaning his arm on the back of the couch he loved the spunk this woman had, "I actually called to talk about Stephanie, I wanted to get your thoughts on her."
Before she even asked why he was asking she started to gush, "she's the best, she is the most amazing best friend a girl can ask for. Stephanie is so warm and kind and generous and . . . wait, you're not like some weird creep are you?"
"Weird? Quite possibly, a creep? Definitely not I am afraid. My name is Paul Levesque and she interviewed to be my daughter's Nanny so I was just calling her references."
Unable to stop herself she squealed with delight, "oh my God, she might actually get the job?!"
Laughing at her response he smiled, "providing her references work out she will yes. Don't tell her I said this but she was the most down to earth applicant I had and she was everything I would want in somebody watching my daughter. Why are you so happy about it?"
Realising that he probably thought she was a few sandwiches short of a picnic she reigned in her excitement, "Steph is my best friend, she is like the sister I never had. When I was pregnant and my family and my boyfriend abandoned me she stayed right by my side and was there for every scan and every Doctors appointment whilst juggling her degree. After I had Tyler she was still there for me whenever I needed her, she would always be here lending a hand making sure I was resting and eating properly and even now I know she is just on the other end of the phone to call if I need her like I did a few weeks ago when both myself and my son were ill and I was calling her at three in the morning to help she didn't complain she was just here. Her Mom gave her two weeks to find a job otherwise she would have to go home and I was terrified of her leaving, I don't know if I could do it alone."
Smiling softly as he heard her talk with such passion about her relationship with Stephanie and how important she was to her made him confident in his decision, "so how is she with babies and kids then? Try to be as unbiased as you can be please."
Taking a moment to think as she put her son's lunch box in his backpack she need to be unbiased, she couldn't cost her this job, "she is really good with them, she is gentle and kind and loving towards them. She always seems to know what they want to keep them happy when they're babies and when they're older she is amazing, I don't think she realises it but she makes everything a lesson for them but not in a teacher sort of way. I've been so distracted I haven't even had chance to tell Steph that my son's teacher says he is way ahead of his classmates in a lot of ways and I genuinely think that is her influence on him and on me as a Mother. I know this is unbiased but I genuinely don't think you could pick a better Nanny for your daughter but I'm not saying this because I want her to stay in New York, I'm saying it because I genuinely believe it."
Putting a tick next to Jade's name on Stephanie's resume he had heard everything he needed to hear, "well thank you Jade, you have made my decision a lot easier. Good luck with everything and thank you again for your time this morning."
Not sure if that was even a good response or not she hated that she would now have to wait for him to tell Stephanie his decision, "you're welcome. I hope I helped in some small way. Goodbye Paul."
"Goodbye Jade."
Both hung up with Jade then in a rush to get her son to school and Paul clock watching trying to decide on the best time to call Stephanie's current boss.
Shoving Tyler's lunch into his bag she walked into the lounge and turned the television off, "we have to leave right this second."
Looking at his Mom strangely she seemed in a rush, "we late?"
Nodding her head she reached her hand out towards him, "we're very late. Mommy was taking a phone call to help Auntie Stephy stay here in New York with us so now we need to hurry."
Deciding not to argue with his Mom any more this morning he took her hand and walked with her as she grabbed his bag and led him out to walk to school.
It was only when her son was safely walking through the school gates did Jade pull out her phone and send Stephanie a text about her phone call:
OH MY GOD HE CALLED ME! P.s. This isn't about me.
Sending the text she went about her daily routine of checking for new jobs at the job centre.
Stephanie had barely slept as she kept going over the previous day in her head wishing she had done so many things differently. When it reached seven in the morning and she wasn't even dozing any more she just got up and decided to spend what time she had before work searching for all sorts of jobs, including Nanny jobs.
She was just finished off her cereals without any milk when her cell phone beeped and she saw Jade's name and instantly rolled her eyes, she loved her best friend but right now she didn't need to hear her tell her everything would be okay, she wasn't the one being forced to go home to her family.
Almost against her better judgement she opened the text and was confused by all of the excitement:
Some guy rang you about someone that wasn't you? It's too early and I didn't get enough sleep for this cryptic shit.
Receiving Stephanie's reply Jade laughed out loud ignoring the dirty looks she got from the people around her and sent her a reply:
No, a Mr Paul Levesque rang me about you, you know the guy you interviewed for yesterday. Please tell me you've not forgotten already.
Reading Jade's reply she didn't know what to say to her, she didn't want to get her hopes up so just decided it would be for the best if she pretended that she hadn't seen it. Getting up from the table she dumped her bowl in the sink before she went to finish getting ready for work and headed out, she wanted to keep this job for now even if she'd have to quit next week one way or the other.
Arriving early like normal Gino was elbow deep in pasta dough whilst he waited for Stephanie to arrive. There was nothing more therapeutic than starting his day off with some pasta baking especially when he got to knead out any frustrations left from the day before.
It was half past nine now and Paul wondered if the owner of a restaurant would be in yet. Deciding to try his luck he decided to call the number and see.
He was laying the pasta sheets out ready to roll again when the phone began to ring, nobody normally rang this early but there was always the chance it was Stephanie saying she couldn't come in so he decided to answer it. Walking to the phone rubbing his hands on his apron as he went he picked it up off the hook, "Gino's Authentic Italian Restaurant. Gino speaking, how may I help?"
Despite knowing it was stupid and completely ridiculous seeing just an Italian name and a phone number on the sheet of paper had made Paul nervous incase it was some sort of mob boss, he knew there was no way it reasonably would be but just the thought gave him the creeps. As he listened to the phone ring he picked nervously at the couch but when the phone was answered as a restaurant he felt so much better, "oh hi. I have been given this number and the name Gino to speak with in regards to a reference for Stephanie McMahon as she has applied for a job as the Nanny to my daughter."
Slightly confused as Stephanie had told him it was unlikely he would get a call, "are you the person she interviewed with yesterday? She said it was unlikely I would get a call. Stephanie is like a daughter to me and the last thing I want to do is say something to put her in any sort of danger so I need to know you are for real."
The concern he was showing for her said a lot about the person Stephanie must be, "I promise you I am for real. My name is Paul Levesque and my daughter is three weeks old and I swear Stephanie did come to interview for the job yesterday. I am fully aware that she feels like there is no way she would get the job, her best friend Jade made that perfectly clear, but she was the best candidate so I am speaking with her references to see if I can formally offer her the job."
Gino felt that he knew too much to be anything but genuine so he decided to talk to him and help, "so how can I help you?"
"I just wondered what she was like as an employee? I know it's a different setting but one would think her work ethic would be the same in both careers."
"Stephanie is the most dedicated worker you could ever hope to meet, she arrives early in the morning and then doesn't leave until long after her shift ends. If you didn't force the breaks on her then she would more than willingly just work straight through. Stephanie is loved by everybody that she comes into contact with and is friendly and kind to everybody from the young children to the old ladies. I know it's your decision but in my opinion you couldn't do any better for a Nanny for your daughter."
Sighing softly the more he heard about her the more he was convinced his initial thoughts were right, "I know, believe me I know. When my daughter pretty much has no Mom from the second I met Stephanie I just knew she would be right for the job and apparently it is win/win for her best friend too as she will be sticking around. I will let you go though as I am sure you have a lot to do but thank you for your time Gino, it means a lot."
It was a win/win for Gino too if she stuck around because he didn't want her to leave the State, "my pleasure. When will you let her know if she got the job or not?"
"Uh, my daughter should be waking up really soon so I'll be preoccupied with her for a little but hopefully by lunchtime I'll be able to call her and tell her she got the job. Please don't tell her that she has the job though as I would like it to come from me."
Smiling softly he watched as she pushed the front door open, "not a problem. Maybe I will see you around here some day and if you do the food will be on the house but I will let you go now as she has arrived."
As much as he loved the idea of free food he could never accept it, "thank you for the offer. Goodbye Gino."
"Goodbye."
Hanging up the phone Gino smiled at Stephanie, "well good morning to you. Somebody is here extra early today."
Shrugging her shoulders she shrugged her jacket off, "I didn't really sleep last night so I decided to be productive and come in early and no, I don't want to be paid for it." Taking her phone out of her bag she went to turn it off.
Seeing that she was about to turn her phone off he didn't want her to miss that call, "why don't you leave your phone on and put it in your pocket? You don't want to miss it if you get a call back for that interview from yesterday do you?"
"I think there is more chance of my Mom changing her mind than there is of me getting the job but I guess as long as you don't mind it would do no harm keeping my phone on me."
Shaking his head he didn't mind at all as he knew better than she did, "I don't mind at all, just no other personal calls during work okay?"
Nodding her head she smiled softly and slipped her phone into her back pocket, "I promise. So where can I start helping you this morning?"
As he was a little behind from taking the phone call he decided she could help him in the kitchen, "the kitchen please. I'd love some help with the pasta seeing as you're extra early."
Closing her bag she nodded her head, "I will put this away and then I will be right with you."
Both of them walked into the kitchen to get on with work.
