*𝔹𝔼𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾/ℍ𝔼𝔸ℝ𝕋

There had been signs of his mother’s insanity over the years. He had always known it. Nobody had believed him so far. They said she was intense, too caring … or whatever they would find as an excuse for her absolute craziness. But there was no denying it any longer. She was insane. A nut job. who else would hire an au pair for their adult children. Or … well almost adult - because Louis was still 16. But hell they certainly didn’t need a fucking au pair. They needed space and freedom, but not another person walking around that house. 

He could hear those steps coming up the stairs and he was so tempted to get out of his room again and tell his mother she shouldn’t even dare to give this girl the spare room - but as if it would stop her? Nothing had ever stopped her. It was like this woman did whatever the fuck she pleased. This certainly wouldn’t fix their relationship. If it wouldn’t ruin it completely. 

Noah crashed on his bed, closed his eyes and tried to calm down. wasn’t really able to, but he tried at least. He knew the girl was in the room right next to him and was probably just as pissed as he was. She didn’t seem all too happy about the situation either so his anger shouldn’t be directed towards her - but he had never been someone to spare his surrounding whenever he was mad. Everyone would know. That was his nature. 

About thirty minutes later the guy was pretty damn sure his Mom would be downstairs again, so he left his room, locked the door downstairs - she could open it if she wanted, because he kept the key in the door lock. He wasn’t going to lock her up - but keep his Mom locked out for sure. He had a kitchen, a bathroom - actually two bathrooms. One next to her room, and one next to his so … they wouldn’t get in each other’s personal space. which was good. Really good. he decided it was time to take a shower to cool down - he stepped inside the bathroom, took off his clothes and got inside the shower - not knowing his Mom locked her bathroom and took the key. He wasn’t as insane as she was after all. No way he could imagine such things in his not so sick mind.

It was one thing to find your way around a foreign country, but to be locked up brought it to a whole new level of craziness. Either her dad wanted to teach her the ultimate lesson for whatever reason or she had simply been unlucky when they’ve been choosing a family for her. This woman obviously needed help and she was certain that an au pair could do little about it. Sighing, she dropped into one of the chairs, at least as far as design was concerned Mrs. Kasten seemed to have an outrageously good taste, everything had been perfectly matched and was probably quite expensive. Apparently there was even a small balcony, which could become her favorite place, especially if she wanted to be alone. But sadly, her cigarettes had been taken from her, some of her hope that night as well, and she decided to call it a day. And tomorrow she would somehow have to find a solution so that she could disappear from here. She decided to take a shower before she went to bed, with her clothes in her hand and some towels, she walked around searchingly. It was quiet, not a sign of Mrs. Kasten to be seen and so she walked purposefully to the door just next to her room and a faint clicking sound made her realize that the door was locked.

Slowly she felt like she was on a TV show and behind any door could be the big price, in this case the bathroom. She walked slowly to the next one, she peeked in through the crack in the door and realized that this had to be another bedroom. There were only two options left, one was another unknown door and the other, the way back downstairs, back to hell, and she was relatively grateful that this door had been locked to her knowledge. Tired of the long flight and her previous impressions, she squeezed the doorknob of the last door and should freeze the second she looked inside. Her clothes dropped audibly to the floor and she quickly shut the door. She was blushing and she knew that the reason was right behind the door she'd just slammed so discreetly.

His mother was strange. If he knew one thing about her then it was for sure that she was strange. He hadn’t the best relationship with her so whenever they actually talked it was awkward. And her behavior has been strange the entire day. Even stranger than usual. He had been in class and she would continuously tell him that he needed to be out until late that day. He never came home early anyways so he had no idea why she insisted. And why she even cared in the first place. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to know the reason. What if she was hosting some weird sex party at their home. Noah shook his head as this thought popped up in his head and didn’t want to leave him all that quickly. It was a nightmare come true. And the phone kept buzzing and buzzing. A reminder he should stay out - every other minute. For hours.

“What is wrong with your phone today man?” his best friend asked him and Noah simply sighed. He had told his mother to stop at least a billion times by now but she never did. She would continue messaging him - telling him he needed to be home late. After 8 preferably. “My mother is being ridiculous for no fucking reason at all. Reminding me I am not allowed in my own house until 8. Like I would want to be there before she goes to bed. Insane.” He said absent mindedly, but soon his mind was back there … his phone was buzzing after all. 

It was after 8 so his Mom couldn’t really say anything about his appearance. He hoped so at least. She had stopped texting him for an hour or so. His nerves were basically dead. They were killed in the most brutal way - first cut in half, then she had poured gasoline over them and burned them … until they were all gone. He didn’t even want to talk to her. He just wanted to get inside, climb the stairs quickly and get in the shower. His day had been long and annoying as fuck. But he got stopped right at the door step - his mother was right there like she was expecting him. He rolled hi eyes. “What is wrong with you?” he asked her right away, as she tried to keep him from moving towards the stairs. “I need to show you something.”, she insisted then and for a second he still wanted to just get up there but he tried to be nice for once. She obviously had prepared something - that was the reason why he had to stay out, right? It made sense somehow. He nodded and followed her. And as he entered the kitchen he saw a girl … blonde, tall, pretty for sure … “You got me … a call girl?” He asked and furrowed his brows. He was obviously aware that this was offensive as fuck, but he never cared. Not really. “No … she is our new au pair.” “What?” “Yes, she will live up there, in your free room.” “We don’t need a fucking au pair mother, I am in college. Louis is 16. YOU ARE HOME… all day. What will she be up to all day? Doing your nails?” “I thought she could keep you some … company.” Noah rolled his eyes and just turned around. “I don’t talk to insane people … call me if you got to your senses.” He looked at the blonde for a quick moment before sighing and leaving the room. He could still hear his mother speak in the kitchen as he walked the stairs up. “Don’t listen to him sweetheart. I will show you the room - upstairs. It will be fun.”

This was simply un – fucking – believable. All that was missing were the cameramen, who jumped out of their hiding spots and announced loudly that all of this had been a stupid prank. But none of it happened and Nina had trouble understanding how Mrs. Kasten had come up with the fantastic idea that her son might need a babysitter. He was handsome, but that wasn’t important right now, even if she kept secretly looking at him. And apparently he was as excited as her about his mother's plan, she quickly bit her tongue when she heard his remark, a call girl. Slowly but surely, she actually felt like one and she would have enjoyed nothing more than to pack her bags and disappear if there hadn’t been this problem. First of, she hadn’t gotten a flight back and second she had little to no cash on her. As the two quarrelled, Nina thought about her chances to disappear until Mrs. Kasten spun around and reappeared in front of her. She wanted to show her the room and Nina doubted that it would be fun, quite on the contrary. "I don’t understand all of this, I was told I would take care of your children as an au pair, but your son obviously isn’t a child anymore." She stated the facts, while trying not to lose her own mind. It all resembled a bad movie, but unfortunately this movie was currently her reality.

"Yes, but he still could use some help, trust me." Which was almost impossible given Nina's situation. "I would have understood if I had to clean up the house or buy groceries." But since, according to the son, the mother was at home anyway it made no sense. God, she needed a cigarette. "We'll find enough tasks for you and there’s something else I wanted to tell you." She walked towards Nina, who was obviously uncomfortable and suddenly she had taken out the cigarette pack from her jacket pocket, which Mrs. Kasten threw with an irritating smile into the garbage. "That's forbidden in our house. And now please follow me, I'm so excited!" She went ahead and Nina stared speechless at the bin. Whenever one thought it couldn’t get any worse fate had to surprise you and she was about to fumble the pack out of the garbage when Mrs. Kasten's demanding call reminded her to keep up. How wonderful.

She followed her upstairs and when the two stopped in front of a door, Mrs. Kasten patted her on the shoulder. "We'll have so much fun." She opened the door, pushed Nina inside and then she closed the door behind her. Immediately, the blonde turned around to find out that the door had been locked. "This is ridiculous." She hissed. She walked further into the room, looked around and wasn’t necessarily certain if this was the better choice compared to spending time with her dad's new girlfriend.

She took the next taxi at the airport, gave the address to the driver and finally they drove off. It was late in the evening, she had long lost her sense of time and only when the car stopped and she took her bags out of the trunk did she realize what she was doing here. This was her new life, at least for the upcoming months, and yet it was hard for her to grasp this situation. She paid the taxi driver, thanked him, and purposely let herself be dropped off a bit further away from the house, she pulled out a cigarette. A habit her father hated about her, he often claimed that Nina had inherited it from her unreliable mother, but she didn’t care. It calmed her down, especially when she got nervous. She blew the smoke into the darkness and looked at the house. These people undoubtedly had money, as expected from someone who could hire an au-pair, and while she was sitting there on her trolley and smoking, she didn’t notice a vehicle approaching. It stopped right next to her, the window went down and she almost jumped when she heard a voice. Accordingly the cigarette fell out of her hand and she quickly kicked it out. "Hey! Are you Nina?" A woman had asked and she finally recognized her. "Zut." She swore softly in French, before she smiled at Mrs. Kasten. "Oh, yes! And I was just on my way to your house." - "Let me help you with your suitcases!" So far to her relaxed preparation with the help of a cigarette, she loaded her suitcases into the car and then they drove to the house. "You must have had a long flight, would you like to have a drink?" Mrs. Kasten offered after helping her carry everything inside. They were in the kitchen and while Nina looked at it in awe, she couldn’t prevent, that she tried again and again to see where the child could be.