Occupational Hazard

“Auntie, can you fix my hair?” my little niece Jessica asked, tugging on my pant leg.

I smiled down at her, smoothing back her blonde hair. “Sure Peanut. Go get me a bow.”

She smiled widely before galloping down the hallway and disappearing into her bedroom. I kicked my feet up onto the coffee table and flipped through the channels as I waited for her to return. Just as I was getting into the second Harry Potter she came sliding back to me, knocking herself into my knees.

“Turn around,” I said, grabbing her shoulders and spinning her small frame to the tv, which she was immediately attached to. I combed my fingers through her long hair, separating and making the parts even before snapping the black bow into her light blonde locks. “Perfect.”

She leaned back into my legs, her eyes still attached to the tv, watching as Harry talked to Ron through the large pile of rocks. Her thumb found it’s way into her mouth as the lights flickered across her face.

“How about we go to the park Peanut?” I asked, shutting the tv off. “You’ve seen this one about a million times.”

She looked up at me and grinned, her blues eyes had a spark to them as she ran and grabbed her coat. She slipped it on and was bursting out of my door. I barley had the time to grab my bag before running after her.

“Jessica, stop!” I yelled, grabbing her shoulder. “Don’t you go doing that again!” I scolded, trying to catch my breath.

“Sorry Auntie.” she said, taking my hand as we walked the short distance to the park. Once we were there she spotted her friends and went to drop my hand. I quickly pulled her back and buttoned up her cardigan before letting her skip off.

I sighed and sat down at the nearest bench, keeping my eyes on her blonde head as she climbed on the play set. The sun was shining brightly and I pulled my sunglasses out of my purse and pushed them onto my face before sitting back and letting out a soft sigh.

“Aren’t children great?” a deep voice asked from above me. I jumped a little before looking up.

It looked as though he was a few inches taller than me. His bleach blonde hair shone in the light and caused me to squint even behind my sunglasses, but overall, he seemed oddly familiar. Even his voice. I waited before answering, trying to place where I knew him from.

“Uh…sorry for bothering you.” he said, quickly turning to leave.

“Oh, wait no.” I called out, reaching forward and grabbing his hand that was trailing behind. “I’m sorry, you just look very familiar and I was trying to place it.” I smiled. “Sit.” I gestured to the empty space next to me.

He wasted no time and plopped down next to me. We smiled at each other for a bit, the screams and laughter of the children around us was loud in our ears as I thought of something to say.

“So…is one of them yours?” he awkwardly asked.

“My niece,” I replied, pointing out Jessica from the ever moving crowd of children.

“Oh.” he nodded. “You watch her or something..”

“On the weekdays while my brother is at work.” I smiled, crossing my legs. “So, I’m Audrey, and you are…?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Tom.” he smiled, offering me his hand. I laughed a little and took it. “So, what’s your niece’s name?”

“Jessica.” I smiled, watching as she swung on the monkey bars. “She’s a ball of energy, I’ll tell you that.”

“Many children are.” he chuckled, drumming his fingers on his knee. “How long have you been watching her?”

“Oh dear, since she was born. Her mom died while giving birth to her. It was horrible. But I’ll never forget when I first got to hold her, I knew I’d do anything to help raise her.” I said, a sad smile on my lips.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Tom said, awkwardly placing his hand on my arm.

I shrugged, “It’s okay. It was years ago, she doesn’t ask about her, but I’m sure the time will come.”

“How old is she?” he asked, trying to keep the conversation light.

“Six.” I nodded, thinking back to the day that she was born. “So…what are you doing here? One of these kids yours?”

He chuckled “No. I just wanted some fresh air.” I turned to look at him, but his blue eyes were watching Jessica as she fell from the monkey bars, his eyes shone with concern as she jumped back up and ran after her friends.

I played with the ends of my braid as he turned to face me. We started talking more, I lost track of time, and where Jessica was. But it didn’t concern me, I was so wrapped up in the conversation.

I was completely shocked to feel a tug at my hand. Jessica had run up to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me as hard as she could. “Auntie, he’s a bad guy!” she hissed, glaring up at him. Part of me wished that she would just continue to play with her friends, since I had a feeling Tom was about to ask for my number.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, the amusement in my voice ringing through.

But Jessica didn’t answer my question, instead she looked up at Tom and spoke with venom in her voice, “I hate you.”

“Jessica!” I yelled, my eyes grew wide as I glared down at her. Why in the world does she have to do this when I’m talking to an attractive boy?

“You’re always mean to Harry and Ron and you call Hermione mean names!” she exclaimed, wagging her finger at him.

That’s when it dawned on me why Tom looked so familiar. He plays Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter. And I was just watching the second one before we left the house. I closed my eyes, both with fear that he wasn’t going to find this amusing, and with embarrassment that I didn’t recognize him earlier.

But, without missing a beat, he made his voice a little deeper and his eyes grew slightly into slits. “The Mudblood deserves it. As for Potter and the Weasel,” he shrugged. “I just don’t like them.”

“Being mean isn’t nice!” Jessica scolded, putting her hands on her hips. “Auntie, come on, we should go talk to nice people, that’s what Daddy says.”

I looked over at Tom, who was suppressing a laugh, then down at the furious six year old. “Jessica, honey, go back to the monkey bars and I’ll try and give Draco some lessons on being nice, okay?”

She didn’t look fully convinced, but when her little friends started to call her name, she was gone.

I fearfully back at Tom, who was looking down at me. “I am so sorry.” I hastily said, “I didn’t…I don’t….ugh, I am so sorry.”

“It’s okay. It‘s just an occupational hazard.” he laughed a little and looked at his watch. “I actually have to get going.” he stood up and fixed his shirt.

I bit my lip to hide my frown and stood up with him. He reached into his pocket and pulled own a pen and reached for my hand again. I allowed him to pull my hand forward and felt the cold tip of the pen press into my flesh. He gently blew on the wet ink when he was done and smiled up at me.

“Just in case you don’t hate me too.” he winked before walking away. My mouth hung slightly open as I looked down and saw a phone number etched onto my skin and smiled to myself, reaching into my purse and punching the digits in. After it was saved, I called Jessica back to me, holding out my hand.

Her little feet came sprinting towards me and she held onto my fingers as we walked back to my apartment. She swung our hands between us as we went. I looked back down at my free arm, where the blue ink as staring back up at me and grinned, thinking about the best time to call Tom.