Chapter 3

"Jessie, you missed it!" Luke exclaimed, dragging Jessie from her doorway and into the living room. A puppet theatre had been placed at the base of the stairs and many people were watching, namely Zuri and Jaime.

"What is all this? How did this get in here?" Jessie asked.

"We know a guy," Luke shrugged. "Lily built this for Jaime so she could invite over some actors to throw a puppet show. Then Lily decided that she liked making puppets and performing with them, so now look!"

"There's six puppets on stage. Is she back there all by herself?" Jessie questioned, trying to peer into the puppet theatre. She failed miserably because of how well the theatre was built.

"Nope, all her," Luke smiled. "Bertram was supposed to bring us snacks," Luke hinted.

Jessie sighed, "Fine, I'll go get the snacks. Stupid Lily," Jessie scoffed under her breath, disappearing into the kitchen. When she looked on the counters, she found platters of fancy-looking healthy snacks. But there were no labels from health food shops, and she knew Bertram couldn't make such things.

"Oh there you are," Lily smiled. "I see you found the food I left here for this get together. I figure it was the least I could do. You know, I was a little surprised you didn't greet us off the elevator. I've never had that happen before."

"Honestly, no one told me you were coming, otherwise I would have greeted you," Jessie said, a dirty look on her face.

"Oh yeah, we did stop by on short notice," Lily laughed. Jessie scowled. Her laugh was perfect. "Well, all is forgiven, but don't let it happen again, alright? Do you mind helping me out with these trays? You don't seem to have any other help around here."

"Oh we have a butler, a worthless one," Jessie muttered, grabbing some trays and helping Lily take them around to the others in the living area. Jessie only recognized her own kids and no one else, but she kept quiet, at least until she got to Bertram. She quickly dragged him away and into the kitchen.

"Hey, I was enjoying the show. That Lily girl is really fun. She does stand-up every Friday night at the Comedy Palooza. I've seen her many times," Bertram smiled, rocking on his heels. "So can I go back out there? Please?" he begged.

"Bertram, I'm in over my head here," Jessie sighed. "This Lily is so perfect that she might put me out of business. What if Zuri tells her parents that she's a better nanny? What if they decide she's better than I am and they get rid of me? I love my kids, but I'm nothing like her."

"You're not!" Bertram agreed with a gruff tone. "But the kids like you just as much for who you are. I doubt that would ever happen anyway. Lily seems as good as she is because there's only one child. Mind you, she was always that creative. She has a few pieces in a fine art museum downtown, one of the big ones."

"She's got artwork in a museum?!" Jessie gasped. "What doesn't she do?"

"Clown parties, apparently," Bertram shrugged. "Anyway, the kids love you. You've been with them for a while now, and they've never said anything awful about you. I'm surprised they haven't said anything bad about me, but I think they get it."

"It's just a fear of mine," Jessie sighed. "I've never been able to explain it, but I've always been worried they'd replace me with someone better because I'm not the best at this. My first week here, Zuri and Ravi got their heads stuck in the stairs, and I was so scared that I'd get fired. I love these kids and this job, but it's plausible that I could lose my job to her. Listen to those cheers from the other room. As long as the neighbors don't complain, this will be one of their greatest moments."

"Half of those people are the neighbors, and they're happy you finally invited them to something fun," Bertram smiled. "Lily set everything up herself, but they still think it's you because they like you."

"You mean, they like Lily," Jessie sighed. "I think one of those kids was wearing a shirt with her face on it."

"They were," Bertram nodded. "But they like you, Jessie, all of them."

"Lily! Lily!"

"Great, now they're chanting her name," Jessie scoffed. She sat down at the counter and rested her chin in her hand. "I'm toast, aren't I?"

"If you are, so am I," Bertram groaned. "I regret liking her now. She needs to leave."

"Encore! Encore!"

"Let her finish. They seem to like her," Bertram sighed, matching Jessie's pose…at least until his stomach growled. Then he pulled some leftover party snacks from his pocket to eat his stress away.