A/N: So firstly, i apologise for the slight delay in the posting of chapters here for you all. There were a few situations that came up in my personal life that i needed to handle and work was a little crazy lately. However, next week should be more straight forward and i can hopefully post a few more updates. There are some decent sized steps made in this chapter, that have an impact on where this story is going to go next...but what happens? Read on to find out!
Chapter 10
Elliot had watched Elizabeth approach the pond and seem to be familiar with a brunette woman who was near the pond at that moment. He watched the interaction between the two and from reading the body language of Elizabeth, he could tell that she was very fond of this other woman and the other woman seemed to be very familiar with Elizabeth. The more he stood watching the pair as they interacted, the more Elliot started to notice some familiar features about her. It was like he was watching someone he had seen a lot and somewhat knew. The lady looked reasonably tall, had longer beautiful brunette hair and that seemed to shine in the afternoon sun. She was very good with children and she had a simply stunning figure. Get your head out of the gutter Elliot tried to reprimand himself as he watched his daughter whilst trying to entertain his son in soccer. Elliot couldn't help but think this woman that Elizabeth was talking to looked a lot like her teacher, there was serious striking resemblance to Olivia. Elliot wasn't sure how Elizabeth was so friendly with this woman when there was really a very little chance that it could be her teacher. Elliot didn't really know Olivia but he was sure that nay teacher would want to be as far from children as possible on the weekend. There would be no way they would want to come and spend an afternoon surrounded by them at the park.
"Daddy, Daddy!' Elizabeth called as she came running over.
"Hey honey, what's up? You ok?" Elliot stopped playing with Dickie and turned attention to his daughter.
"I saw Miss Benson, that's her feeding the ducks by the pond where I was…See daddy she's over there" Elizabeth explained and pointed over to the exact brunette lady that Elliot had been looking at earlier. He had been right in thinking it could possible be Elizabeth's teacher as it was.
"What's Miss Benson doing here?" Dickie asked as he joined the pair.
"She's feeding the ducks with her daughter, Chloe…Can I go to the playground with them? Please?" Elizabeth begged.
"Leave Miss Benson alone…It's the weekend…I don't bother mrs Hawke on the weekend" Richard replied, clearly not as invested or caring about the situation as his sister is.
"I don't know…"
"Please daddy? Please? Miss Benson said she'd watch me so you can play with Dickie" Elizabeth continued to bargain with her father and Elliot couldn't help but agree. He stated that he would be over soon though and they would be leaving after that. Elizabeth quickly grabbed an apple out of the basket that they'd brought for afternoon tea and took off back towards Olivia.
Olivia stood by the swings, pushing Chloe slowly on the toddler safe swing whilst Elizabeth continued to swing on one of the other swings close by. Olivia was surprised with the attention by the little girl, she could tell that Chloe was loving it all. Olivia didn't mind it either. Chloe didn't have any siblings and didn't have any extended family either, apart from her father, so it was really nice for Chloe to be able to interact with an older child so well. Olivia hoped that one day she would have at least another children but she really wasn't sure if that time would ever come with her dating history and her current prospects. Olivia knew that Chloe would see other children around her age at day care during the week and occasionally she went out with a few other people from daycare on the weekends for a playdate. But not that many of Olivia's friends even had kids yet and the ones that did, didn't live in New York so there wasn't much opportunity to see them. Olivia looked up from the girls and saw Elliot walking over towards the group, so she knew it was likely time for Elizabeth to be heading him now. She also knew that it was probably passed the time she had originally planned to get Chloe home too. Though Chloe still seemed to be holding things together alright.
"Daddy, look how high I can go!" Elizabeth called out as she spotted her father coming over to them and clearly wanted to show off a bit. Elliot was a little concerned by this, he didn't want her to get hut. Olivia watched as Chloe started to wriggle in the seat like she wanted to do that too but just couldn't get the swing to work in her favour.
"Looks like somebody wants to do exactly like the big girls can" Olivia remarked, pushing the swing a little more but trying to keep it safe for Chloe in the process even with all her wriggling.
"Chloe, you are only little, but maybe you'll do it too when you're bigger" Elizabeth replied as she started to slow the swing down. She knew that if her dad was around now then it would be time to go soon, not that she really wanted to leave the lovely afternoon they'd been having.
"Good afternoon Elliot" Olivia greeted as she watched Elliot walk over towards her by the swing.
"Good afternoon, thank you for looking after Lizzie" Elliot greeted as Olivia lifted Chloe out of her swing. The little girl clearly wanted ot be doing something else right now and it looked like the slide.
"It was my pleasure, Chloe and I loved the company" Olivia asked as she placed the little girl on the floor and followed her as she ran off to the slide. She hoped Elliot wouldn't think she was ignoring him, she just couldn't stay in one spot with Chloe. Thankfully it appeared he knew and she could tell he was following her around the playground too.
"Chloe is Miss Benson's daughter, she's really young but really cute. She's one and a half" Elizabeth said, taking it upon herself to explain what was going on whilst Elliot just watched the little girl. He had been so wrapped up in his business when the twins were that age, he didn't remember too much with them around that age. He knew he would have had a role in their life but he knew their mother probably took more of a role.
"She's adorable" Elliot replied as Olivia smiled at him whilst helping Chloe up the playground to the top of the slide.
"Chloe, Elliot said something really nice about you, can you say thank you?" Olivia encouraged the little girl as she sat at the top of the slide"
"Dank you" Chloe responded, before pushing herself down the slide and repeated the process to go down the slide again.
"Did you have fun playing soccer?" Olivia asked, turning the conversation to Elliot rather than herself.
"We did, Elizabeth was not so much interested but I enjoyed the time with Dickie" Elliot explained as he watched Elizabeth take over from Olivia in helping Chloe on the slide. He couldn't help but smile at how big she looked next ot the adorable little girl, so the adults could stand back watching.
"I watched you guys a big, you have quite the little soccer player in Dickie"
"He is. Though he's much more interested in basketball at school or something else though. What about you though? You play any sports?"
"Between work and this little one, I barely have time for myself never mind anything else. Besides, a toddler is kind of like a constant sport anyway" Olivia laughed. Elliot just nodded as he didn't have any experience in that as he'd not been around as much as he would have liked when the twins were that young.
"Did you get any resolve with your nanny?" Olivia asked a couple of minutes later after watching the young girls playing.
"I've still not heard from her at all. I know she's been reading my text messages though as she still has that setting on her phone. I tried calling a few of the people on that list you gave me, but the ones I spoke to all seemed to be booked up or weren't taking anyone new on"
"Yes, unfortunately it can get like that. Those are some of the best in the city so they generally get clients very quickly and book up. Sorry about that" Olivia apologised, feeling guilty that Elliot hadn't found an answer just yet.
"I honestly don't know what I'm going to do next week. I have a series of really important meetings that I can't simply sit out of as it's with a new hotel location. But they are going to go till after the school day is done and at the moment I don't have anyone to pick up the kids" Elliot explained. He didn't know why but something about Olivia really made him feel like he could tell her anything and he knew he really shouldn't. But she was just a really great listener and always seemed to be able to be able to provide the best advice on any situation. It really made sense now though why this was, she was a mother and so she knew what parenting was like.
"Hmm let me make a few calls and see if my nanny knows anyone who might be looking for clients and can look after your kids. If that doesn't work though then either I can look after your kids till you are done or my nanny, Lucy can look after them and I'll organise something else for Chloe" Olivia suggested.
"You don't have t-"
"I'll see what I can do and send you an email" Olivia placed her hand on Elliot's arm and tried ot get him to relax. She was pretty confident they would get this all resolved.
"How about I give you my direct mobile number and you can just let me know that way rather than a letter or an email. I'm sure a call would be much better" Elliot suggested and Olivia agreed. A call would be much better but surely a man of his fame and wealth didn't just want to be giving out his number.
"Are you sure?"
"You're helping me out in more ways than I can explained. I really think it would be easier if we could communicate over the phone rather than email or letters. We are supposed to be in the 21st Century after all" Elliot explained. Olivia just didn't want someone to feel like they had to give out their number if they didn't want to.
Later that evening, Elliot was sitting on Elizabeth's bed, tucking her in for the night. It would be a really big day tomorrow morrow with an early morning start for him with a few meetings with partners in England first thing in the morning. Monday's often meant lots of meetings on things that were going to happen over that week.
"So, I won't be here when you get up in the morning as I have important meetings at work. But Bertie is going to help you get ready for school and will take you there in the car. Then Miss Benson will look after you for the afternoon and bring you back here. But I promise you, I will be home for reading, homework and dinner tomorrow night" Elliot explained, letting his daughter know what was going on tomorrow.
"Why won't you be there?" Elizabeth asked.
"I have a really busy day of meetings and some of them are going to go really late so I can't be there to pick you up in town. But Miss Benson offered to do that when I saw her today"
"Miss Benson really helps up a lot. I was happy to see her at the park today and meet Chloe. Were you happy to see her daddy?"
"It was a surprise but it was nice. I can tell you really like her"
"She's the bestest teacher ever, and her daughter is really cute"
"She is, now it's time to sleep as you're going to need all that energy tomorrow for more learning" Elliot said as he held the quilt up as Elizabeth got comfortable. Once she was tucked under the bedding, he pressed a kiss to her head.
"Sleep well little princess, I love you"
"Love you daddy" Elizabeth said as Elliot made his way out of the room. He checked on Dickie and reminded his son of the plans for tomorrow. Dickie was a little uncomfortable with staying with Miss Benson but Elliot explained that Dani had disappeared, so they were simply trying to deal wit it all the best they could.
Once both children were tucked in bed, Elliot made his way to the bar and grabbed a beer from the bar fridge before taking a seat on the lounge. Being a penthouse suite apartment, from his living room the windows opened up over the New York City Skyline. Elliot had found himself really enjoying sitting and looking out into the world on evenings like this, where he could easily get lost in his thoughts. Tonight, his thoughts were drifting to everything that had happened today and especially at the park. He couldn't quite put in to words how grateful he was that she'd actually been there and together they had come up with a plan for this week. Elliot wasn't sure exactly what was happening with him but he was finding himself growing to really enjoy spending time with Olivia. He enjoyed spending time with her and talking with her more than he'd found with anyone else in a long time. Olivia provided fantastic advice and he could easily tell she had a passion to helping children.
He felt like he could tell her anything and she would listen to him talk it out before knowing exactly what to say in response to him. It was like she knew exactly what he needed to hear, when he needed to hear it. She also had a beautiful little girl who looked very much like her and Elliot couldn't help to think what an amazing mother Olivia was with the little girl today and how much more of an incredible woman that made her. It almost scared Elliot with how much he enjoyed spending time with Olivia today, outside of the classroom and school environment. It almost scared him how much she had been playing on his mind since they left the park. He was sure that it wasn't normal for him to be spending this much time thinking about her, as it wasn't normal for a father to spend this much time thinking about his child's teacher But there was just something about Olivia that really intrigued him, something that made him want to properly get to know her.
A/N: Wow so Dani is definitely out of the picture right? Olivia's going to maybe look after the twins or is she going to let Elliot borrow Lucy as his Nanny? Hmmm i guess we'll simply have to wait and see. Next Chapter; The first afternoon pick up, how do things go? More thoughts from Elliot about Olivia, i wonder why he's thinking about her so much? What is he thinking?
Let me know what you thought of this chapter by leaving a review, i love to read what you thought and where you think this is going next, some of you are unbelievably close to where it is heading too, so good work.
Until Next Time ;)
