She followed a routine: go into the apartment, take care of the child, wait for Ryder to come home, and then leave. Skylar didn’t expect to have her routine come crashing down the same way the storm did that day. She was gathering herself and waiting for Ryder to come home, snowstorm warnings rang on the television. The weatherman warned of heavy snow and high winds for tonight. Even in the middle of January, the snow was intense. It was clear Mother Nature was angry tonight. 

He made it home just in time. Ryder, the CEO of “Asset House Corp.,” spends hours at his office in D.C., but tonight he couldn’t risk it. The forecast called for snow, and it was going to be a big one in this winter season.

Held captive in the home of her boss with his young daughter, Bria, she was privileged to get to know the mysterious man who kept her life afloat. She learned of his past and how he is the way he is now. Before this moment, she would’ve thought the only thing they had in common was their love for the little girl. But now, it is something else.

“I didn’t think you were the type to lose your sanity over a woman.”

“I didn’t either.”

---

Babysitting was just her side hustle. Skylar didn’t intend to have this job for too long. As a student at Georgetown University studying digital marketing and creative design, she just needed something that would provide her with enough cash to pay to finish school. Somehow she managed to land a goldmine part-time job, babysitting for a young and handsome CEO.

---

Ryder’s last nanny ended up quitting on short notice. She was moving away to California to be closer to family. He was worried his little girl, Bria, wouldn’t be able to connect with another nanny as she did with the last one. Alas, he needed the help, and he took a chance on Skylar. Not only did she have a good resume and no criminal background (which is always a plus), she was a very pretty girl. Yet, Ryder couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by that. He hired her and only hoped that things would go well and he wouldn’t have to look for a new replacement again. 

---

On Skylar’s first day, she decided she would arrive early. Being punctual is something she was always good at. She always had this constant fear of making people wait on her, so she did her best to always abide by a schedule. As she was traveling, she finally had a chance to think about what she was stepping into. She actually had known nothing much about the company he worked for other than it mainly surrounded finance. She also wasn’t focused on appearance herself. She could care less if he was an older, less attractive man; money was money, and it was just babysitting. However, when her brown eyes were met with his hazel ones, she was slightly taken aback not only by his looks but his talent. A man his age looks to be in his early thirties, meaning he had his daughter in his mid to late twenties, and he was still able to build a company. Impressive in her book. 

---

On Skylar’s first day, she was early, which made things easy for Ryder because he was able to get out the door quicker. “Money waits for no one,” was a common mantra he always had. The plus side to being early on her first day was being shown an extra layer of kindness from her new boss. Ryder wasn’t unfamiliar with having people being late. Because of how punctual he was, he often wondered if everyone was just on time when he was early. He liked to make sure he was always running on schedule, yet it was always difficult when you had a seven-year-old daughter. He always thought that she took after her mother, with the same brown curly hair, doe eyes, and rounded nose. Ryder couldn’t help but see his former lover when he looked at Bria’s face. Unfortunately, the girl’s mother was never able to see it herself as she passed away giving birth to their daughter. A part of Ryder has never recovered from that, and he always wondered if he would ever find a woman suitable in his life, not only for him but his daughter as well. 

---

“Thank you for being able to start on such short notice.”

“No problem, Mr. Daniels.”

“Ryder is just fine.”

“Okay, Mr. Ryder.” He laughed. Even with the privilege of calling him by his first name, she still kept it professional.

“It’s a respect thing for me and it’s just what I am comfortable with. For now.” She grinned. What a pretty smile, he thought. 

As the man left for the day, he wondered how things would go back inside the apartment, how his daughter would react to a new sitter, and how the girl with the pretty smile could possibly change his life.

Performance

Process

My inspiration was to write a story about two people who get stuck together and end up falling in love. It started as a short summary of what an elongated version of this story would be. Unfortunately, because of the word limit, I felt like I couldn’t get the story I wanted across in 850 words. So instead, I wrote this piece as if this was a book and you were starting to read it. The first section in the piece is the back of the book summary. The second piece would be considered chapter 1 of the book. I felt like I couldn’t tell you a story about people falling in love without taking you through the journey of how you got there. If I were to write this book, I want readers to see the full story, and I didn’t want anything to be missing or incomplete because I had to fit this novel-worthy story into less than 900 words.