The Nanny Diaries

I sighed in frustration as I entered my dingy flat and hung my car keys up on the key holders. Today, I was fired from my job. That would make that job number three, just for this month.

I was having a hard time adjusting to the fast paced life that was London. Before this fall, I had lived in a tiny town in Suffolk, I hadn’t even been to London once. Well, my family did not have that much money to send me to my dream school, so after college, I opted to move into the city and build up a nice portion of money before attending uni.

During the summer I worked at a small hole in the wall diner that was in my small town and saved up enough money to put a down payment on this shit hole I call home.

My first job was easy enough, just a cashier at the local Whole Foods. That job lasted a short three days, seeing as the boss caught me smoking outside on my break. Apparently, they wanted to keep the “natural and healthy” look with their employees, so they fired me on the spot. Pretty shitty thing to do if you ask me.

My second job was my favorite, I think. I was a bartender at a pretty popular pub. I held that job for the majority of the month. I got tips up the wazoo and all of the customers loved me because I was a girl. I made sure I wore something tight and a lil revealing, but nothing too scandalous. My bosses even scheduled me more than the other bartenders because I brought in the most business. But I guess one little pervert couldn’t keep his hands to himself because I had to spill his beer all over him to prove my point. He threated to have me sued (on what claim, I have no idea) but my boss just decided to let me go.

My most recent job was at Tesco. And what a horrible and shitty job it was. Yeah, the Spice Girls really make it look like it’s the bees knees but honestly, I would rather get run over by a car than to clock in at that hell hole. I kind of almost wanted to get fired. I always mouthed off to my superiors and arrived late when I could. Today, I accidentally knocked over a display of tomato jars. Almost all of them shattered and I had to clean the whole thing up by myself. Once I was done with that, the boss wanted to see me in his office and my job was toast.

At least it was near the end of the month and I had just made enough money from the three other jobs to pay for rent. No money for food or Internet, but I’ll survive. I literally had no idea where I was going to find another job. I didn’t have any friends in London, so I had no real connections for any new job prospects. My little dingy flip phone started to vibrate from inside my jean pockets and I quickly fished it out. It read that my mum was phoning me so I answered the call.

“Hey mum, what’s up?” Usually I’m the one to call her, and it was usually to see if she had any extra cash.

“I was just calling to see if you were still looking for a new job. Is that one at Whole Foods still a mess?” Yeah, okay, so I didn’t tell my mum that I got fired three times. Sue me.

“Yeah, it’s not going too well. Why? Do you have a job for me?”

“Well, you remember Lou Teasdale, right?” I ran the name through my head and vaguely remembered one of my mum’s friends from college doing my hair when I was younger. I had always thought she had a cool job.

“Yeah, what about her?”

“Well, she had a kid a while ago and her nanny just quit on her. I told her that you’re great with children and gave her your number!” My mum sounded excited about this new job but I was less than thrilled. I hated children. What was she thinking?

“Um, mum, I don’t like children,” I mumbled to her. As much as I wanted a new job, my sanity wasn’t worth it.

“Yes I know that, but Lou lives in London now so I thought you could suck it up. She told me that she’s a hairdresser for some famous band so I’m sure the pay isn’t half bad.” Famous band? What band needs their hair done all the time?

“Uh, ok mum, I’ll try it, just for you.”

“Thanks, Tatum. I’ll talk to ya soon, yeah?” And then the line went dead. It didn’t surprise me, my mother and I were not very close. I closed my phone and plugged it in the charger. Just a short, little call would drain almost the whole battery.

I dug around my cabinets searching for a packet of ramen I could cook up. Since I really didn’t have any money, I needed food that cost under a dollar. I waited for a water to boil and added my noodles in just at the right time. I had picked the ever-popular chicken flavor, which wasn’t my favorite. I liked my ramen a little spicy, something that wakes me up.

My meal was finally complete and I had just put it in a bowl when my phone started to vibrate again. I picked it up from where it was resting on the counter and saw it was a private number. I usually didn’t accept calls that were private or blocked, but I figured it was just Lou calling me about the nanny job.

“Hello?” I said hesitantly.

“Hi, yeah, is this Tatum? This is Lou Teasdale calling. Ya remember me, yeah? I used to love doing your hair when you were little,” it sounded like she had a smile on her face, which made me smile in return.

“Yeah, I remember you. You always used to braid my hair in the coolest ways and I’d get mad at my mum cause she couldn’t do it.” Lou barked out a laugh and I giggled along with her. It had been a while since I had seen Lou. My mum would stop asking her to do my hair once I turned twelve and instead just had lunch dates with her to catch up.

“Well, love, I wanted to ask ya a question. I’m guessin’ your mum gave you a heads up on this, but I wanted to see if you wanted to nanny for me, yeah?” She sounded a tad hesitant but I couldn’t quite figure out why.

“It’s just, I don’t trust people right off the street nowadays, especially with the boys in the light and all that. There are some crazies out there, ya know? I was catching up with your mum, and she mentioned you, and I couldn’t think of anyone more perfect.” She rambled on without pausing to see if I would agree or not.

“Lou, of course I’ll nanny for you!” I heard her breathe out a breath of relief.

“Thank the lord! You don’t know how much this will help me. Of course you’ll have to travel with the boys and I, but I’ll pay for your hotel expenses and such, no worries. Babe, I just can’t wait for you to meet Lux, I’m sure you’ll love her. How about you come ‘round tomorrow and meet her and get accustom to stuff? I’ll text you the address and I’m free around three? Great, I gotta go, love.” And with that, she hung up. I was so overwhelmed, I couldn’t think straight.

Travel with the boys? Hotel expenses? Who was this woman?

I silently closed my phone and stared off into the distance. What have I gotten myself into? I slumped down in one of the chairs at the table and started to dig into my noodles. I started to think about Lou’s job and who this famous “band” was. I was really starting to regret not keeping those jobs because Internet connection sounded really good about now.

I finished my noodles and checked the time. It read half past five and I had no clue what to do with the rest of my day. I had no money, so I couldn’t go out for a drink, I had no TV to fall asleep in front of, and I had no friends to mooch off of.

I puffed up my cheeks and got up to go to my room to change. I guess I’ll do whatever I do when I get bored in London. I window shop.

I know, I know, usually only six year-old girls or married couples did this, but I had nothing better in my fucking schedule to occupy my time. I pulled on my leggings, an Artic Monkey’s oversized tee, an infinity scarf, and my winter jacket. Now that it was winter in London, no one could escape the cold. I walked the few blocks it was from my flat to downtown London. I walked past Big Ben and that never failed to take my breath away. I know I had lived here a couple months already and that I should be used to the grandeur of it, but the clock tower will always be my favorite thing about this town.

I walked past Topshop and yearned for new clothing. I hadn’t gone shopping since the spring when my mum took me to goodwill to find some hidden treasures. I wasn’t bitter about not having so much money. It really didn’t bother me at all, but living in London just made me more envious of others. Sometimes I would daydream that I would find the perfect man, handsome, smart, and very nice. We would fall in love and he would propose and I would find out that he’s a millionaire and I could spend the rest of my life as a housewife.

Another dream of mine was to finally go to uni and become the lawyer that I’ve always wanted to be. I was always fascinated by the cop shows that my mother would obsessively watch and I vowed I would become a huge big shot and I could support myself and finally support my mum and dad, like they deserved.

Before I knew it, I had walked up and down Oxford, traveled over to Bond and Mayfair Street and was staring at my reflection in the Burberry store. I saw the clutch that I have been lusting over since I was twelve and put my hand up to the glass as if I could reach in and just grab it. I moved over the Tiffany store and picked out my engagement ring. I had picked out the Tiffany Soleste. It had a huge diamond in the middle, incased with tiny diamonds all around it and a diamond band. It might look like a little too much, but I really didn’t know the first thing about jewelry. I just picked what was pretty.

I looked down at my watch and realized that it was almost nearing nine at night. I swore softly and saw that I was a little far from my flat, so I fished my tube card out from my purse and headed towards it. My mum and dad had given me the pass as a present and I was so grateful for it. Sometimes I wandered so far off, so late at night, that it was a blessing that I had this little plastic card.

I finally made it back to my flat and decided to make some tea before I showered and went to bed. I was thinking about Lou and all that awaited me tomorrow. To be honest, I was really nervous about seeing Lou after all this time. I wanted to impress her and make her see that I have grown up since the last time that she’s seen me.

After I was all done with my shower, I cuddled up in my bed with three blankets and wearing two sweatshirts. The heat in this place wasn’t the best, but at least I wasn’t sleeping on the streets, or worse, still living with my parents. I closed my eyes and prayed that tomorrow would go smoothly.