Eva was back in her apartment and watched tv to deafen out her own thoughts.
It was dark outside and the night has grown when her phone started ringing. She jumped up and answered it.
"Suzie." She said quickly.
"Eva, can you come here?" Suzie sobbed into the phone. Eva's heart seemed to skip the beat as she hurried around the apartment, picking up her handbag. She didn't care that she was in pyjamas when she put on her coat and trainers.
"I will. Do you know the address?"
"It's a big house near the park. The street has Oak in it." Suzie said between the heart wrenching sobs.
"I will be there as soon as I can." Eva promised as she rushed out of the apartment. She didn't even ask what has happened. She run frantically towards the park.
"Oak… oak… oak." She repeated Suzie's words trying to think like an eight year old. At first she searched for an oak tree but nothing.
She was angry at herself for not demanding the address before letting Callum take the girls. She swore at herself internally.
"Oak avenue!" She exclaimed happily as she run down the street. The houses became sparser but she didn't quite see the big house that Suzie could have spoke about. Until she did. At the end of the street there was a huge villa. That must've been the place.
It was about as big as the apartment complex she lived in. The front garden was illuminated with many lights.
She rang the doorbell by the gate until someone answered.
"Yes?"
"Is this Callum Anderson's residence?" She asked. Someone disconnected. Of course they weren't going to tell her thinking that she might be a maniac. Or one of those psycho girls that haunted the billionaires in hope to become lucky enough for some attention.
She kept ringing until someone came out to her.
"Please leave." The security guard came up to the gate pointing the flashlight at her.
"I am a legal guardian of Emmeline and Suzanne. They've called me." Eva said quickly as she rummaged through her bag. "My name is Evelyn Green."
"Hang on." The security guard called someone through a little earpiece and then let her into the yard. He looked Eva up and down suspiciously but she couldn't care less. Eva quickly said thank you and run to the building. The maid opened the door.
"Where are the girls?" Eva asked omitting all the pleasantries. The maid hesitated as she scanned Evelyn form top to bottom. Evelyn had sweaty pearls on her forehead and her vest clung to her body. Thankfully the latter was hidden by her jacket.
The maid pointed towards the stairs. "First floor, take right and to the end, then left. It's the second door on the left."
"Thank you." Eva managed to utter as she run up the stairs. The villa was enormous and corridors seemed endless. Eva was completely out of breath when she run into the bedroom. She didn't even bother knocking.
The kids' bedroom was huge and filled with the toys that she could never afford. There were two beds with pink canopies at the end of the room.
Emmi sat up on one and Suzie cried loudly on the other. Callum sat in the chair trying to talk to Suzie who screamed, ignoring his reasoning and negotiations. He looked up at Eva in surprise. He obviously didn't know that Suzie managed to call her.
"Suzie…" Eva uttered, only now remembering that she still wore pyjamas as she looked at Callum wearing a full tuxedo.
"Evaaaa!!!" Suzie called for her through the room.
Eva walked up to her and reached her hands out. Suzie stood on the bed and jumped into her arms. She dug her fingers into Eva's neck, acting as if she didn't see Eva in forever.
"What's wrong, darling?" Eva asked softly as she caressed Suzie's head. Callum scowled at her but bit his tongue.
"I had a nightmare." Suzie said as she hyperventilated. The tears run wildly on her face. The top of her pyjamas was soaked. She was sweaty and distraught. A truly pitiful sight.
Eva gave her a stronger embrace. Her hug was enough to help Suzie calm down.
After a few minutes Suzie was ready to lay back down in her bed. Eva tucked her and Emmi in, and sat on the edge of Suzie's bed until she fell asleep.
As their light snore filled the room, Callum stood up. Eva jumped up, just remembering that he was still there.
She hurriedly stood up and followed him out of the room. She expected yelling or something similar. She intruded on them. She run in without asking.
"How did you know?" Callum asked her sharply as they reached the hallway on the ground floor, way out of the girls earshot.
"Suzie called me." Eva looked down in embarrassment.
"Thank you for coming."
"It's no trouble." Eva was surprised. For some reason she didn't expect that to come from Callum.
"I-…" Callum crossed his arms in a form of defensiveness. "I've tried to calm her down. Everything seemed fine until…"
"Until her nightmare. I know." Eva nodded. "As I've said, it was a tough couple of months. A new place and people must've triggered her."
"I've realised that I didn't have your phone number." Callum said.
Eva took her phone out and showed him her phone number which Callum quickly put into his phone.
"I wrote it on the paper…"
"I think I lost it when I was changing." Callum responded. He put the phone away and rubbed his face, clearly stressed out. Eva understood. Suzie's distraught crying always pushed her to the edge. The difference was that she was used to it now.
"You look like you're about to go out. I'm not going to keep you." Eva said quickly, walking towards the door.
"No, I just came back. I have hired the nanny for the girls and I thought that I will be okay to leave after they fell asleep. I didn't, obviously, anticipate Suzie to wake up."
Eva bit her tongue. She was annoyed that Callum thought that it was okay to leave the girls with even more strangers, just to go out. She decided that tonight was not the night for the fight.
"Good night." Eva said instead and opened the door.
"Eva." Callum stood behind her. "It's late. There's a guest room next to the girls room."
Eva looked at him in surprise.
"I only came because of Suzie. I didn't mean to intrude."
"You already did."
Eva scowled at him. She hesitated before giving an unsure nod. Callum called for the maid who led Eva to the guest room. That single room was bigger than Eva's entire apartment. The unfairness of the world seemed to bother her more than ever.
Eva laid awake for most of the night. She was very self-conscious being in her scrappy pyjamas in the luxuries of the villa.
She got up with the first ray of sunshine, trying to refresh herself in the adjacent bathroom. But it did very little. She hid the state of her hair in the messy bun and splashed cold water on her face to get rid of the puffiness.
Then she went across to the girls room and helped Emmi and Suzie pack up before they went for breakfast. However, the maid stopped her and asked her to follow her.
She was led into the office. Similarly to the rest of the house, Callum's office was massive. It was filled with dark mahogany furniture, tenths of books, and many screens and devices. Callum stood by the window, looking out into the garden. Once Eva showed up he walked to his desk and sat down. He signalled for Eva to take the seat on the opposite side. She felt like a student in the principal's office
"Morning, Eva." He started. Eva flinched at him saying her name. It sounded forced and unnatural.
"Morning." She responded as she sat down. "Thank you for letting me stay last night."
"I was thinking about what has happened." Callum ruffled his hair. It seemed that it was still stressing him out. "Obviously the girls don't know me very well. I was away for quite awhile. I did wonder if you'd be okay to stay here for the next few times as they're here while they get used to me? It is not an easy request for me to make and I hope that you understand that."
"You want me here until they get used to you?" Eva repeated in surprise.
"Not necessarily in here."
"Perhaps you should consider a shorter visits at first." Eva suggested. "Take them out for lunch next weekend instead."
"I am given at least a day a week." Callum said with annoyance.
"I know." Eva nodded frowning at Callum.
"Also… here." Callum slid a sip of paper across the desk. Eva picked it up and then looked quizzically back at Callum.
"You can't buy me off." Eva said as she put the cheque down.
"I know. I kind of realised by now. I thought this ought to help."
"I don't need your money."
"Okay. What about a house and a car?"
"I don't want your pity." Eva said with increasing sharpness in her voice. "I don't need you to look down at me. Girls have everything they need. Even if you consider it nothing. They don't complain about living in the matchstick box of an apartment."
"You're stubborn and proud." Callum stated as if it were the fact.
"You're pretentious and selfish." Eva retaliated.
"Should I assume that you will not get along with me?" Callum tilted his head as if he was studying Eva.
"What else do you expect? You appeared out of nowhere and now you're placing your own needs and wants above Suzie's and Emmi's. You are selfish."
"I see." Callum went silent. "Aren't you selfish, too? I understand that it is challenging for them to adjust right now but in the long run isn't it better for them to be with someone who can tell them about their parents? Who can tell them about what kind of kind person their mother was and how hard-working their father was? You cannot do that. Being with you cuts them away from their roots. Not to mention that the quality of their life is significantly better with me. I can provide their every whim."
"You thought that it was a good idea to go out and leave them with yet another stranger the very first day you had them!" Eva raised her voice as she stood up. "That's selfish!"
Callum pursed his lips and his nostrils flared.
"Sir, breakfast is ready." The maid walked in. She stopped in the doorway realising that something was afoot.
Callum stood up and put the cheque away.
"You've heard. Breakfast is ready." Callum said to Eva. He walked out first and Eva followed. She was angry. He was angry.
They both tried to hide it when they sat down in the dining room whilst sitting opposite each other, with Eva sitting down between Emmi and Suzie.
"Are we going back home today?" Emmi asked with a hint of hopefulness in her voice.
"Yes, we are." Eva nodded concealing her anger surprisingly well.
"What are we going to be doing today?" Suzie asked with no sign of her upset that happened last night. She was perfectly happy with Eva by her side.
"I'm not sure. First thing first, I need to get some proper clothes. I don't think it'll be good to keep walking around in pyjamas." Eva looked down and felt embarrassed again, not only remembering about the pyjamas but realising that it was the one with cartoon characters. Her cheeks turned the deepest shade of red. "Then we can work out what to do. If the weather is nice we could go to the park."
"Okay." Suzie nodded in a form of agreement. "But me must go to the playground."
"Do we have to come back here?" Emmi asked. Eva glanced up at Callum who looked down at his plate of food. She noticed that he was rough with using the cutlery, scratching the plates with every cut of the knife. He wasn't as good at suppressing his irritation.
"Well…" Eva hesitated, trying to come up with the best answer. "Your uncle would like to get to know you better. It is hard to get to know someone just in one day." She smiled at the girls reassuringly. "Are you going to tell me what you did yesterday?"
"I did lots of drawings and we played with the dollhouse."
"Oh, that's so sweet."
"Uncle had to do some work though. He didn't want to play." Emmi said with upset. Eva looked up with Callum, biting her cheek.
"I see. Well, sometimes I have to do some work too when you're around. It can be hard sometimes to finish it all on time. It's like a homework for adults."
"Homework for adults? Are you saying that we still have to do homework when we grow up?" Suzie obviously wasn't happy with the idea.
"Not every job is like that." Eva started explaining.
"What is your job, uncle Cal?" Suzie asked Callum.
"I run a company." Callum replied shortly.
"So, like you, Eva!" Suzie said with excitement.
"It's quite different, Suzie." Eva chuckled at a comparison but Callum snorted under his nose. "I barely manage a small team. Your uncle manages many many people." Eva explained, annoyed at how much he seemed to look down on her. They were never going to be on the same level.
"Well, I am not going to run a company then. I don't want to have a work homework."
"As you wish, dear." Eva smiled at her again.
She helped Emmi cut her sausages and poured her the juice. And she spoke to the girls, trying to ignore Callum's presence. He remained silent for most of the breakfast.
Eva didn't touch any of the food on the table. She was too angry to stomach any of it. Instead she tried to give her attention to the girls.