Chapter Text
The funniest thing nobody prepares you for about college is the overwhelming financial panic. Many misguided grade-school counselors later, and you were left quite disillusioned about college when you arrived at Utah Tech your freshman year. Two years passed by and it seemed like this problem could not be remedied. That’s why you were here, on Craigslist, at two in the morning trolling for the least suspicious job offered in the vast display.
So far, nothing. You thought to yourself.
And now that you were on page seven, maybe that first post requesting feet pictures wasn’t that unappealing. Beggars can’t be choosers, and if coughing up a few well-lit shots meant getting your journalism degree and not starving to death… maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. A pretty lengthy post halted your strange train of thought. Your eyes scanned the long-winded paragraph that read as follows;
To whom it may concern,
Male (21) looking for a nanny to watch over two children in my care. I work long shifts and have two younger siblings who need care while I am away. My hours vary significantly, but whoever is selected for this offering will be provided transport home and adequate pay (to be discussed later). As for more information on the children, the boy (8) is quite shy and takes a bit to warm up to new people. The girl, (10) is bubbly and very talkative. If you are chosen for this position, your duties will range from taking them to school to tucking them in at night.
Contact me if interested:
XXX-XXX-XXXX
You wondered who wrote this. It absolutely did not sound like a college-aged boy, or anyone who had been on Craigslist for more than five minutes. You had to give him credit though, he (or whoever was actually writing this) had certainly piqued your interest with this offer. But, as tempted as you were to call whatever number was listed in the post, you definitely couldn’t. Your schedule as a full-time student didn’t allow for flexibility like that. But then again, what were the actual odds of this man responding to you? That is if it was his real phone number and not some weird scheme to lure you somewhere.
You decided that you would sleep on it, given that it was now three forty-five and you would have to go to an early lecture on news analysis the next morning. You quietly traipsed to bed, begrudgingly setting your alarm and hoping that somehow five hours of sleep would get you through the day.
Soon enough, you were greeted with the harsh yelling of your alarm. You looked around bleary-eyed for your phone before slamming the off button. Slowly, you began to get up and go about your morning routine. You picked out a comfortable outfit, grabbed a quick cup of coffee and your backpack, and started walking to class.
After you had sat down, you pulled out your notebook and opened your laptop. Internally you groaned at the thought of having to give an intelligent take on any articles today after your long night. As you began to pull up the assigned story of the day, something caught your eye. How funny, you thought, the ad from last night was still open.
Your mind began to wander from the tedious lecture, and you started to picture what the mystery man from the ad was like. The more you thought about it, the more the idea of taking on this job appealed to you. Sure, the hours seemed demanding given your enrollment. But, a little extra money couldn’t hurt, regardless. Surely it couldn’t go that wrong, right?
You discreetly pulled out your phone, carefully typing the number listed in the ad into the recipient bar.
YOU: Hello! I have just seen the ad that you posted online. I am interested and would love to talk with you about it in person. Thank you.
Almost instantly, you heard your phone ping.
There was no way this was about the job listing, right? I mean, you had just texted them.
You quickly peered down at your phone to see one new message.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: Hello! This is Charlie, Mr. Afton’s personal assistant. I can meet you tomorrow around noon to talk about the position. Does that work for you?
Mr. Afton? You could have sworn you had heard that name before. But if the guy had a personal assistant, surely he had to be more financially stable than his age would suggest. You quickly sent Charlie a text saying that tomorrow worked just fine.
Now it was time to panic.