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a résumé .
I’m sorry I wasted your time.”
    “Sit
down Reece, you’re not wasting my time.” Audrey patted the couch cushion.
    “You
don’t want me.” Shit , that sounded pathetic.
    “Why
wouldn’t I employ you? You have all the right qualifications. Plus you’re
catnip to Mia.”
    No
point not being honest now. “You want a woman.”
    “I
want the best person for the job.”
    “You’re
saying that because you know that’s what you’re supposed to say. It’s
politically correct.”
    “Sit
down, Reece. You’re blocking out the sun.”
    He
scrubbed at his head and looked from Audrey to Mia. Mia was making an O face
again, then she said, “Mum, apple.”
    Audrey
focused on Mia. “We don’t have any apples. But you can have a mandarin. You
like mandarins.”
    “No.
Apple.”
    “Draw
another picture and I’ll get something to eat in a minute.”
    “No.
Apple.”
    “Mia,
honey.”
    “No.”
    This
was a useful distraction. “I’ll go. Really, I understand you’d be more comfortable
with someone else. I don’t want to waste your time any longer.”
    “Apple,
Mum. Apple now.”
    “You’re
not wasting my time. Mia, in a minute.”
    “No.”
    “What
do you like least about being a nanny, Reece? Do you prefer manny?”
    Like
a mermaid, he was trapped in the undersea world of this interview. He sat, but
on the floor beside Mia, cross-legged like before. “I hate manny. Male nurses
are still nurses, not murses. The words have the same etymology. It’s the
function, not the gender.”
    “Oh.”
He’d spoken sharply. Audrey sat on the floor as well. She put out her arms to
Mia, but Mia shied away, opting to stand on Reece’s shins, holding onto his
shoulders.
    “What
I like least is when I can’t work out what a kid is going through. If they’re
upset and I can’t soothe them.” Mia hummed and walked up his leg, holding on to
his hair. “If they’re sick and I can’t make them feel better on my own.” Mia
stood on his thigh and he moved his arm so she could lean over his shoulder. She
poked her finger in his ear. “That’s what I hate. The not being able to find
the answer.”
    “Sometimes
the answer is they’re going to scream.”
    “Yeah,”
he ducked his head to dodge another ear poke, “but if you know they’re
screaming because you’re out of apples or they’ve been bitten by a mosquito, or
they only want something that’s purple, you can try to distract them with a—”
    “Human
climbing gym. Mia, don’t hurt Reece.”
    “Not
hurty him.”
    “You
don’t need to let her—”
    He
looked around Mia to Audrey. She wore an expression that suggested she
empathised, but that wasn’t enough.
    “I
want this job. To be able to concentrate on one kid, to have the job for at
least twelve months like you’ve said, with an option to stay until she goes to
school. That’s what I want. I thought I wanted to build houses, but I’d rather
help build people.”
    Maybe
that was too much. Audrey reached for Mia and dragged her off him. But she
studied him with eyes that were unguarded for the first time. “Living in when
needed is not a problem?”
    “No.
I still live at home. I pitch in with the girls. My baby sister, Pippa, is ten and
my oldest, Etta, is sixteen so it’s her turn.”
    “Sometimes
there might not be much notice.” Mia crawled from Audrey’s lap towards the TV.
    “I’d
cope.” Should’ve made that ‘I’ll cope’. Should’ve spoken as if he already
gotten the job because this interview was tilting, maybe he wasn’t done yet.
    “How
long have you been looking for a nanny job?”
    She’d
know it was four months since he finished with the Flannery’s. “This is my eleventh
interview.” He lifted his hands, rough and calloused, despite using gloves and
Etta’s moisturiser. Audrey could make of that what she wanted. He’d never
figured the hardest part of choosing to work with kids wasn’t the mocking he
got from mates, or the pay and conditions;