Nancy could not sleep that night

She had packed the little she owned. She planned to take it to the office, so that she could get a cab to take her from the office to her new quarters but she planned to get to work early so that no one would see her with those things. The less people who saw her, the better for her.

After packing all that she felt was necessary, those clothes she considered no longer good enough, she folded and kept in a corner of the room for whoever would have need of them. Then she swept the room thoroughly. That was about an hour ago. She knew that she would have to tell Sarah, if not any other person that she was moving into another apartment.

But she was determined to leave early for the office and wondered how she was going to see Sarah before leaving. She was still thinking about all these when she eventually fell asleep.

She woke early and prepared for work. She carried her suitcase and a bag that contained her cutleries and utensils. It was not really heavy because there were just a few of them and she opened the door to leave and nearly bumped into Sarah.

'Good morning pretty. You'd better be watchful '.

'Good morning Sarah. I am sorry. Hope I did not injure you?' Nancy asked.

'No, you didn't. But where are you going so early in the morning and with a suitcase too? You must be travelling'.

'Nit so. I had wondered how I would see you so that I could tell you that I was moving into a new apartment. Thank goodness I bumped into you and now you know'.

'A new apartment. Happy for you. I always knew that this place was not suitable for the likes of you and when I saw that man of yours who came looking for you that day, I knew that it was just a matter of time before you left here. I must say that I am surprised that he allowed you to stay here as long as you have'. Sarah said smiling mischieviously at Nancy.

Nancy knew what she was thinking and decided to clear up her misconception.

'Sarah. I told you before and I am saying it again. There is nothing between us. He is my boss. He came here to offer me a job and now with his help, I now have a new place of my own'.

'So you say but my instincts tell me otherwise but there is no need being troubled about it but a word of advice my friend, he will surely make a great dad!' she said and moved away into her own room.

Nancy could not believe it. She had thought that she had hidden her pregnancy well enough by wearing oversized cardigan and taking other precautions but Sarah had known all the while that she was pregnant. She wondered how many other people knew of her condition. She guessed that she would have to start getting used to it. For how long was she planning on hiding the pregnancy anyways? Anna already knew and now Sarah. Soon the whole world would know that she was going to be a single mum.

But what was that Sarah had said? That Jason was going to make a great father? She wished. But he was not the father of her unborn child. The father did not want anything to do with either her or her baby. But that was okay because she would take care of both of them: herself and her baby. They didn't need him at all.

She called a cab who took her straight to her office and as she had hoped, only a few people had reported for work since it was still too early. She quickly went into her office as soon as the security guard gave her the clearance. She hid her luggage in a part of her office for easy access when it was time to go home.

Home! The word no longer felt alien to her because she felt that she was going home indeed. For the first time in a long while, she was going to be living in not just a descent apartment but in a place she considered Paradise.

She worked efficiently as always. Her boss did not come early to the office that day. She was beginning to think that he wouldn't and that she would have to go to her new quarters alone and thank goodness, he had had the foresight to give her the address to his house. Else she would have been stranded.

But he came in layer in the day but went out again. It was evident that he may not return to the office that day. So, Nancy prepared herself to go to her new quarters alone.

It was even in her favour so that he would be surprise to find that she had moved in.

Anna saw the things and smiled at her.

'Today seem to be the day that you move in with your boss, I take it', she said dryly.

'Please do not say it that way. Anyone listening would draw the wrong conclusions. And yes, I am moving in not with my boss but into the quarters he had graciously offered me to use for as long as I felt comfortable with it. I had hoped that he would drive me o my quarters but I guess that I would have to do so myself because from all indication, he won't be coming back to the office today.

At the end of work that day, she called a cab and gave the cab driver directions to her boss residence.

She was welcomed by Tim and given the key after he had the door opened for her and moved her things from the cab into the quarters. She thanked him profusely.

'Don't mention it ma'am. Mr. Campbell sir, asked me to make sure that you are made to feel welcomed whenever you moved in. I was just doing my duty and I am happy that you appreciate it. Enjoy your residency', he smiled and gently shut the door behind him as he left her to her devices knowing that she needed the privacy.

As soon as the door shut, Nancy fell into the bed with a sigh. She had thought that she would have to sweep the apartment but there really was no need because it was sparkling clean. She decided to have a shower and sleep. The next day was a weekend and she wanted to sleep in. But then she also wanted to be part of any activity in the house and help out in any way she could so that her stay would not seem like a burden. She did not want the staff to keep thinking of her as a guest or an outsider but as one of them.

So, she decided to be up early and go to the main house to help with the activities. Hopefully, she would get her part of the work do e and get back to her quarters for rest before her boss saw her.

The next day, Nancy felt so refreshed. She regretted not having allowed her boss to take her into the main building the day he had come to show the quarters to her.

But she refused to be deterred. She went up the doorsteps and pressed the doorbell. The door was opened after she had identified herself and it had been confirmed.

'Welcome, welcome my child. You must be Miss Nancy who moved in yesterday'. Mrs. Potts the main cook said.

Nancy smiled. She had not expected to be received as warmly like this.

'Thank you ma'am. But please it is Nancy. Call me Nancy'.

'Okay. But what have you come here for? Silly me. You must be very hungry. But I was planning on sending your breakfast over to you or inviting you to join us here if you would rather'.

'There isn't any need for that. I am not used to lazing around while allowing others do the work. I do not want to usurp your position or take over your job but I'd like to help since I am not going to the office today'. She explained. She knew from experience that cooks did not like people interfering with their jobs.

'Oh no, you won't. Mr. Campbell sir,instructed that we should not allow you to strain yourself and seeing you, I can understand why', Mrs. Potts smiled.

Nancy looked bewildered. There really was no use hiding her pregnancy since everyone seemed to have noticed it and it wasn't as though it was protruding.

Mrs Potts smiled further, interpreting her puzzlement correctly.

'You do not have to be baffled or ashamed. There is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a good thing. Please come right in, I could use some help'.

Nancy was glad. She met some other helps and they exchanged pleasantries.

Peeling the potatoes,mashing this,and that, chopping the onions and all. Soon the aroma from the kitchen was something to kill for. The coffee pot was put on the fire and .r. Campbell who had been up for sometime and was ready to go out to meet with some friends, came downstairs and Sandy, the kitchen help was asked to take him his breakfast.

'Oh no. Let me do it if you don't mind'. Nancy offered and before they could raise any objections, she carried the tray, then remembered that she didn't know her way around and definitely not to the dinning.

She smiled at Sandy who chuckled at the look on her face and directed her to the place. She thanked Sandy and carried the tray to the dinning to find Mr. Campbell already seated but with the day's papers.

'Good morning sir', she greeted.

He was so absorbed in what he was reading that he answered mechanically, thinking that he was responding to Sandy who always brought him his breakfast.

'Good morning'.

Nancy placed the tray on the table and arranged it for him. She was about to leave when he raised his eyes to ask Sandy a question when he saw Nancy's golden hair caught in a ponytail.

The hair was not Sandy'.

'Hello? Who are...'

Nancy turned back and he swallowed the rest of the words he was about to say or ask.

'What are you doing this early? I didn't give you the quarters so that you could work for me at home as well as the office. I already have people doing all that for me and why were you allowed, Mrs Potts! Sandy!' he called.

Nancy knew that he wanted to ask them why they had allowed her help out and she was angry. She was pregnant not an invalid for goodness sake.

'Okease do not be cross with them. They refused to allow me do anything and in truth, I didn't do much but I felt lonely and I just wanted to be around the people working here and familiarize myself with them. I can only do that if I come out of my quarters and socialize and while doing that, I could help put the coffee pot on fire couldn't I? If I were still living in my house, would I not have cooked for myself and washed and done other domestic chores? I am pregnant sir but not sick and I need the exercise to help me remain strong and aid blood flow for the health of my baby'. she said trying not to show her annoyance.

'I realise that you need to be around people especially when you are not at work but I am concerned for your health. You have not been taking good care of yourself till date and I want both you and your baby to be healthy but if you must, do not over exert yourself and yes, you are free to come in here to chat with them and I could chat with you as well if I am home and not busy'. he said relenting.

'Thank you very much. I shan't over do it. Just the basics'. Nancy said smiling at him happily.

Jason had not really looked at Nancy this closely before and with her casuals, she really looked good and naturally beautiful and that smile was something else. How had he missed such an alluring smile?

He caught himself. He had been staring as surprised as he felt. Nancy really looked transformed and he just wondered why he was just noticing it.

He looked away, reminding himself that she was in his care for protection and she was pregnant with another man's child. He was not supposed to get close to her that way or even allow himself to think along those lines about her.

He became abrupt to cover his confusion.

'Okay. You can leave now. I'd like to have my breakfast now'.

Nancy was surprised as his almost harsh tone but shrugged and left for the kitchen where she ate her meal with Mrs. Potts who scolded her for not taking her food back to her quarters.

Jason was not happy at the way he had spoken to Nancy but that was just what he could do at that time. He had wanted to invite her to join him at the table but the thoughts that had cropped into his mind that instant had been frightening.

He could not allow those thoughts. He had to squash them before they took root.

Nancy had been living with Jason but in her quarters for about a week before Phoebe made her appearance again at the Campbell's mansion.

She had decided not to act too clingy. She decided that the only way to make Jason miss her was to keep a little distance from him. So for about a week,she had stayed away.

Jason had not been bringing female companions to the house but he met with them outside. Phoebe had the privilege of visiting him only because she lived just a stone throw from him and the window of her apartment overlooked his mansion.

There were alot of things she noticed that got Jason thinking that it may not just be that she could see the happenings in his place from her apartment because of her view of his mansion but that she may have a binoculars,that made what she saw clearer.

He had dismissed the thought thinking that she had no reason to spy on him that way.

It was a Friday night and she came and spent the night with Jason though he would rather not have had her visit. He was beginning to get tired of the frequency of her visit but he was too cultured to tell her so. He thought that his body language would be enough to put her off but she seemed to be oblivious to it.

The next day was a Saturday. Jason had got his emotions under control after telling himself all the reasons why he could not allow himself to be attracted to Nancy.

He asked Nancy to have breakfast with him. Do they had been having breakfast together every morning and they would go to work together and when he had to get to somewhere before the office, he always called her a cab or dropped her off at the office before being on his way. They were growing close and most times, they would discuss about the office work and the schedule for the day on the dinning table and on the way to the office.

Jason felt that he could not have been luckier having such a secretary as Nancy. She was a fast learner' and did her work efficiently.

She was also so humble and easy going. All his household staff had grown to love her in the short space of time that she had been living with them

She was also hardworking. Though that was the part that they didn't really agree

But they had agreed to disagree.

Nancy, not knowing that there was a female visitor in the house had brought Jason's breakfast as usual enough for both of them, though she was surprised that Mrs. Potts had made more food. Nancy had simply thought that Jason must have specially requested for that

She had her cup of tea because she could not tolerate coffee

And this had started since her pregnancy.

She set the tray on table and was shocked that the table had been set for three, not two as usual.

'Good morning Sir'

'Good morning Nancy', he replied softly.

'Are we expecting someone to join us?' she asked as she took her seat at the table.

Before Jason could say anything, Someone entered the room and Nancy looked up into the eye of a beautiful woman.

The lady was not very young as she was but no one could deny her beauty. And she was really curvy with flowing curly chestnut hair.

'Yes, I shall be joining you'.

Nancy could not take her eyes off the lady but she felt that the lady did not like her. It was not in anything she said or did but there was this hostile and threatening look in her eyes as she smiled at Nancy that put Nancy on her guard.

'Phoebe, this is Nancy, my personal secretary. Nancy, Phoebe Walkman, my friend'.

Phoebe did not like the way Jason had introduced her. She felt that they were more than just friends and he could have said something like, my lady friend,though she would have preferred it if he refered to her as his fiancee. But lady friend would have sufficed but she was going to make this girl know in no uncertain terms that they were definitely more than just friends.

'Jason darling, but what is your personal secretary doing here having breakfast with you?' she asked, her voice dripping honey as her eyes shot daggers at Nancy, then she turned and smiled sweetly at Jason.

'She is living in the quarters and we have developed a ritual of having breakfast together before going off to work. It is a perfect arrangement that is mutually beneficial'. Jason said eating his breakfast with a great appetite.

'Nancy,why are you not eating? Please eat so that you can tell me some of the programs I have for next week'. he said ignoring Phoebe.

Phoebe was not very happy about this. They ate in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts.

Phoebe looked at the girl called Nancy through her eyelashes and was consumed with jealousy. Nancy was very beautiful. Even that early and without makeup, her skin was translucent and wrinkle free. One could see that she had not just beauty but youth as well. Her shape was great. Though the tea shirt she wore was on the big size,her firm breasts were still visible and her firm buttocks in the jean she had on was an indicator that she was a beauty. If she were to dress up with the right make up and jewelry, then Phoebe was afraid that she would be no match for Nancy.

And she was living here and having breakfast with Jason every morning. Who knows what else, they were sharing apart from breakfast and a ride to work.

They were close at home and at the office as well. This was dangerous and not a welcome development at all.

Phoebe could see her months of scheming on how to become Mrs Campbell going to waste and her efforts, going down the drain.

She had to do something to stem this development before it got out of hand. But how was she going to do it. If they had had a normal relationship, she would have staked her claim on him but what they had was an open relationship and she dated not show her disapproval openly.

She decided that she would make out time to speak privately with Nancy.