His Nanny Mate (Moana and Edrick Morgan) novel Chapter 54

#Chapter 54: Gala Day

Moana

On the morning of the gala, I woke up early with Ella to get ready for the day. She had an appointment with a stylist and hairdresser before the gala. Selina explained to me, after I questioned the reasoning behind this for such a little girl, that it was commonplace for these sorts of events. Even though Ella was not publicly known as Edrick’s daughter, everyone in attendance at the gala was aware of it, and it was important for public relations for Edrick’s daughter to look her best — even though she was only eight years old. It felt a little ridiculous to me for such a young girl to be subjected to hours of having her hair done and being fitted for a perfect dress, but I didn’t complain.

Once Ella was bathed, we walked out to the dining room for breakfast. Much to my surprise, Edrick was sitting there with his plate of food, a coffee, and a newspaper.

“Good morning, Daddy,” Ella said, walking up to him and planting a kiss on his cheek.

“Good morning, Princess,” he replied, not so much as looking in my general direction. “Are you excited to get your hair done?”

Ella sighed and sat down at the table. “No,” she grumbled as she began to pick at her eggs and sausage with her fork. “I hate getting my hair done.”

“It’ll be alright, Ella,” I chimed in as I sat down next to her and tucked a napkin into the front of her shirt to keep her from getting scrambled eggs on her clothes. “It’s no different from now you play with your dolls and do their hair.”

“Except I’m not a doll,” Ella said. “I’m a real girl.”

I smiled and, wanting to cheer her up, gently tickled her waist and made her giggle. “Well, you look like a doll!” I exclaimed. The air became filled with the sweet sound of the little girl’s laughter. I glanced up momentarily to see Edrick’s eyes gazing at me over his newspaper, but he quickly hid his face again.

Just then, I turned around to start eating… but that was when the smell of the eggs and sausage hit me. I felt as though I was about to retch. I couldn’t keep a gag from coming, which Ella unfortunately saw before I covered my mouth.

“Are you okay, Moana?” she asked. “Are you gonna puke?”

I shook my head, my eyes watering. I was still holding my hand over my mouth to steady myself as I breathed deeply through my nose — but as I did, the smell only worsened, and I gagged again.

Selina, who had poked her head out of the kitchen at Ella’s mention of vomit, suddenly saw what was happening and rushed over. She took my plate away. I heard some banging around in the kitchen for a few minutes before she reemerged with a black coffee and plain toast.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Selina only nodded. I took a sip of my coffee, feeling relieved, but that feeling of tension only returned as I looked up again to see that Edrick was now staring daggers at me over his newspaper. Surely he noticed that something was awry, but before I could say anything, he finished his meal and quickly stood. I watched as he planted a kiss on the top of Ella’s head, then disappeared without a word.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Moana?” Ella asked, c*****g her little head to the side with a concerned expression on her face. She spoke with her mouth full, giving her the appearance of a funny little chipmunk with her chubby cheeks.