Disclaimer: You all know I don't own Danny Phantom. :) I only own my OC's. All rights go to their respective owners. :)
A few months of investigating who 'M' was wasn't an easy task. Vlad searched through all of his contacts, including his yearbook, and never found any friends that he once had in college who's name started with the letter 'M'; of course, he also didn't have that many friends either.
He closed his yearbook, it not helping his investigation, and stood up then looked at the clock, sighing when he remembered he was supposed to be at work in thirty minutes. He walked towards the door, straightening his bow tie, then over to Elizabeth's room, wanting to check on her before he left.
He opened her bedroom door and peeked his head in, spotting the new nanny he hired rocking her as Elizabeth teethed on her frog teething toy. Soft sounds escaped the seven month old's lips as she teethed, trying to push the toy further into her mouth but unable to because of how big it was.
He cleared his throat, earning the nanny's attention. "I'm heading off to work. I'll be back in a couple of hours, Mrs. Robinson," he informed.
She smiled. "And I'll be here with your adorable daughter, Mr. Masters," she replied.
"Call if something happens."
She nodded. "Of course."
He nodded once then closed the door, leaving the new nanny alone with his daughter.
"No, no, no," Vlad disagreed, talking to one of the bank manager's for the company over the phone, "judging by how much money the company has secured in the last few months, I believe we have the opportunity to expand our business."
"I know you're making a lot of money but that's not the problem," the manager responded, his southern voice high in pitch, "the problem is where you've selected you wanted to expand your business."
"What's wrong with expanding it to Illinois?" He narrowed his eyes. "I don't see a problem with that."
"The problem is that your company isn't nearly as popular with the state to expand to another state and when you don't have enough popularity-?"
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes in frustration. "You don't sell enough of your products."
"And what happens when you can't sell enough of your products?"
He clenched his fist as well as the phone he was holding. "You won't acquire enough money to pay for the store."
"And?"
He glared. "And you won't be able to pay your employees."
"Exactly. If you would choose someplace here in Wisconsin, then you could gain more popularity and then expand to other states."
He sighed again, this time in annoyance. "And how long would that take?"
"Well." He listened as he heard some papers shuffling on the other line. "Judging by the sales of your products and if you'd open a new company, I'd say in another few years."
"A few years?" He narrowed his eyes and stood up then pounded his fist on the desk, causing a pen to roll off of it. "I need it to happen faster than that!"
"Sorry, Mr. Masters, but it's because of your sales that you're unable to expand to other states."
He sighed, it more in disappointment than in despair, and sat back down in his chair, slouching. "I have to wait then?"
"For at least a few years. After that much time has passed, we'll see where your company is at."
He nodded once, pursing his lips. "Very well." He glanced at the clock, noticing it was half past four in the afternoon. "Well, I should be going. Have a good day."
"You as well, Mr. Masters."
He hung up, placing the receiver back on the phone body, then picked up the stray pen he dropped and started to finish signing the paperwork that was needed to be filled out for the expansion of the company.
Vlad arrived home late that night, having taken upon himself the responsibility to check on all of his employees to make sure they were working as hard as he paid them to; but, he was also looking for possible candidates to help him oversee the second company when he wasn't there. Fortunately, he found at least three possible candidates, but he decided he wasn't going to make his decision until after the building of the newest company was close to completion.
He walked in the door and headed upstairs, knowing his maid would lock it for him when she heard him shut the door. He quietly strolled over to Elizabeth's room, wanting to check on her and relieve her nanny from her duties before he went to bed. Once he reached her door, he slowly turned the handle and peeked his head in. He widened his eyes in surprise when he noticed his nanny wasn't the one watching over Elizabeth; his maid was. "Ms. Harrison?" he asked in a whisper, seemingly surprised.
When she didn't respond, he stepped further into the room. "Ms. Harrison?"
When she didn't respond for the second time, he then tiptoed over to her, finally noticing her eyelids were closed as she had her elbow propped up on the arm of the chair and her cheek rested on her fist. He narrowed his eyes, annoyed that she fell asleep on the supposed job of watching his daughter, who was also asleep in her crib. Not wanting to wake Elizabeth, he gently shook his maid's shoulder. "Ms. Harrison, wake up," he whispered.
A few moments later, a soft moan rumbled in her throat, making him lift his hand from her shoulder and watch as she fluttered her eyes open. A yawn escaped her lips, and she glanced up, widening her eyes when she saw her employer towering above her. "Mr. Masters," she started, briefly glancing at the crib before looking back up at him, and stood up, "I-"
"Where's the nanny?" he asked, wanting to get straight to the point and to know if he needed to fire the new hired help.
"She had to leave." The maid gestured to the door. "Perhaps we should leave too, so we don't wake up Elizabeth."
He pursed his lips, glanced over at his daughter, before nodding in agreement and walking out of the door then turning around to face his maid. She gently closed the door, being careful not to wake the baby. "Well?" he questioned, crossing his arms. "Why did she leave?"
"Her sister called and told her her mother was in the hospital."
He rose his eyebrows in surprise, not expecting it was medically related but grateful it was; he really didn't want to have to search for another nanny. "I see. What happened to her mother?"
"She had a heart attack." She rubbed the back of her neck. "She meant to call you, but I told her I would pass the message onto you."
He hummed. "Well, thank you, Ms. Harrison, and I appreciate that you stayed with Elizabeth until I returned home."
She smiled softly and shrugged. "Well, of course. It's what friends do for each other."
He widened his eyes, surprised yet confused. Those exact words were written on the card he received on Valentine's Day, the one from 'M'. Was 'M' his maid? "Ms. Harrison," he started, feeling rather awkward for even considering asking, and rubbed the back of his neck, "did you by any chance send me that card on Valentine's Day?"
She blinked up at him a few times, it almost appearing as if she was doing it in disbelief. An awkward moment of silence passed before a grin began to grow on her pale pink lips. "You didn't know?"
Inwardly, he sighed in relief. He was relieved it was his maid who sent him the Valentine's Day card but also confused; why would she send him a Valentine's Day card? That didn't make sense. "No, I'm afraid not. I thought it was an old friend." He cocked a curious brow. "Why did you send it to me?"
"Because we're friends." She then widened her eyes and frowned. "Unless you believe otherwise."
'Unless he believed otherwise'. Well, he did. He didn't even know they were friends to begin with. He always looked at her as an employee, the hired help he could replace if need be.
Yet, she was always kind to him and always showed loyalty to him, even though she had every right to leave him with how rude he was to her and search for work elsewhere. Even on her worst days, she was so generous and friendly to him.
He hummed, debating on what to tell her. He could be honest and tell her he didn't think of them as friends, but he could also lie and tell her he thought the same; after all, she did good work when it came to cleaning, and he could use her in the future too. He smiled, not showing any sign that it was fake even though it was. "I believe the same, Ms. Harrison."
Her stupid grin returned to her face as she beamed up at him and clasped her hands together. "I'm relieved to hear that."
"Yes, well, your shift is over." He nodded to the stairway. "You may leave, Ms. Harrison."
Her grin reduced to a small smile. "Call me Molly, all of my friends do."
He smiled in relief, grateful that her first name wasn't Maddie. "Will do, Molly."
Her smile widened a bit before she bid him goodbye and walked towards the staircase, leaving.
He waited until she shut the front door before dropping his fake smile and walking over to his bedroom to call Maddie before he went to bed.
Author's note: Hey, beautiful people! So 'M' is the maid. :) Were you expecting it? Just so you all know though, I don't plan on having Molly and Vlad getting together. With his obsession with Maddie, I felt that giving him a romantic interest with an OC would ruin the story. I'm sorry if you wanted to see him getting a romantic interest sometime in the story, but I just felt that it wouldn't work out. :(
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really wanted to reveal 'M' and show what his work life was like as Vlad Masters. In the next chapter, there will be cute moments between Vlad and Elizabeth! I swear it! XD Let me know what you thought of this chapter! As always, constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated. :)
Fun Fact: At six months old, Elizabeth grew in her first tooth. Before it did though, she would always cry because of how uncomfortable it was for her and would hardly eat anything because of it, which worried Vlad until he saw the tooth breaking through. :)
Review Time!
Thank you, beautiful Luna Latanya, for your reviews! You don't have to apologize, friend. You can read it whenever you want. :) I'm glad you're enjoying it too. Thank you. :) Also, to answer your question, I am planning on writing in Elizabeth's POV in the future. :) I agree! I just don't like the idea of an OC getting together with Vlad. If it was written in a good writing style though, I may consider reading it, but I might not like it. XP Thank you again! :)
Thank you, beautiful KitKat816, for your review! I agree. I don't think Vlad would be capable of maintaining a relationship, especially with his obsession with Maddie getting in the way of it, you know? Thank you again! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! :)
