Cassie\'s POV

After having a chat with Mike, I couldn\'t help but feel overwhelmed. He had seemed so distant, which made perfect sense given his memories were rewritten. However, seeing Mike treat me like that reminded me of how much things have changed between us. How much we grew close together. I never realised how much he meant to me, until now. Maybe I was an idiot for pushing him away.

"Is Jake… usually this… casual"? Maland, who appeared suddenly in front of me, asked. He appeared as if he had seen a ghost or something.

"What do you mean"? I frowned.

"He kept.. Talking about my biceps and.. As if he knew me forever. Do you think he remembers"? He asked me, sounding more hopeful than concerned.

"I doubt that. Jake is quite friendly. He is known as the moodmaker of his department" I informed him. He seemed visibly relieved after he heard that. "Speaking of which, I have run out of money. If we are to stay here we need to find a way to earn some money."

"Can\'t you just use magic"? Asked Maland.

"No" I shook my head immediately. "First of all I can\'t make money from magic. Secondly, we are in the human world now. We gotta lay low. If we keep using too much magic we might end up exposing ourselves and gaining unnecessary attention." I shrugged.

"I see," Agreed Maland. "So, what shall we do now"? He asked.

"I have been looking for a few jobs online. Currently the ones available need bigger qualifications which are out of my purview" I sighed. "Unless, we take this one"

"What"? He asked me as he tried to make any sense of the things shown on the screen. I wasn\'t exactly a computer expert, but I could go by with some meagre tasks. Tasks like looking up for a job, "Okay, so this lady is hiring babysitters for her kids. She needs two"

"Looking after babies"? Maland was shocked. "I am a warrior, I am not trained with dealing with miniatures. Besides, humans are way too fragile." He tried to brush it off.

"Well, it\'s either this or starvation. Unless you wanna go back to the island"? I asked.

He hesitated for a moment before declaring, "Fine, I\'ll do it."

"Don\'t be too excited, she might not like us" I shook my head and sent an email. After almost an hour, I received a reply asking to come to a particular address the next evening. I informed Maland the same whilst I hope this worked out.

The next day I ran into Mike (on purpose) again. He seemed to be just the same, avoiding everyone in his surroundings while he was immersed in his books. When I initiated a conversation he was pissed, but then he brushed his hand through my hair making my heart flutter. It was sort of an intimate gesture, but also a bit unexpected.

I wondered why he did that until he mentioned that he was simply thwarting off a bug. It was quite insignificant to him, but somehow I found myself blushing at the recall of that event. Today he was less hostile than before, and yet he was still preoccupied just the same.

"Why do you keep following me"? He had asked me today, giving me a strong sense of deja vu. He had asked me this very same question when I first met him… and here he was asking me the same again. I knew I couldn\'t answer him honestly, so I brushed it off by saying it was a coincidence. As a new student I don\'t have a lot of familiar faces, and therefore I stuck to him. He seemed unconvinced but didn\'t pester me further.

Later that day, I reflected upon my feelings as I headed off to the house. Once we reached our destination, I realised that it was a mansion, a huge one. Whoever was hiring was filthy rich, which made me wonder if the job paid well. Now I really hoped I\'d get this.

There was an elderly maid who welcomed us in and asked to wait on the couch of their living room. I took a quick glance around the room. The walls were painted in a shade of beige and were decorated with some amazing arts and antiquities.

"You must be Cassie" A woman who seemed to be in her late forties appeared. She wore a lilac dress with her hair perfectly braided behind her ear, giving her the appearance of a housewife from the seventies. Her posture and composure were way more elegant than me, a literal princess. I got up immediately to appear polite and Maland followed the same suit as well.

"I am Mrs Waltham. And this is"? She asked me while turning her gaze at Maland.

"I am Maland" He gave her a slight bow, making her amused.

"That\'s one heavy name. Both of your names are quite intriguing, where are you guys from"? She asked me. Maland panicked and looked at me, so I immediately blurted, "Our parents were from France. But we grew up here" I lied. I just hoped that I sold it or we were in big trouble.

"France, my husband does business there" She commented. "I see you are siblings" She mumbled while I nodded involuntarily. That was my cover story when I emailed her. " So, tell me.. Why do you want this job? Aren\'t you a bit old for babysitting"? She asked as she took a seat.

"Is it that bad to be old?" I asked her instead. "We were just settling down in this city, and we like kids, so we thought give this a try"

"Well, that\'s good to hear. I might warn you though, my kids are not like other kids. My son, who is fifteen year old… can be difficult to deal with." She added. Wait, isn\'t fifteen a bit old? Why would she need a babysitter for a fifteen year old? "My daughter is seven, she can be a bit naughty sometimes, but she gets along with others really well." She added.

"I see," I smiled.

"Just to be clear, I won\'t hire you immediately, I need to make sure you can get along with the kids," Mrs Waltham added.

"Of course," I nodded in affirmation.

"Well, if you have some time in your hand right now, we can get you introduced." Mrs Waltham added. I looked at Maland who looked back at me and shrugged.

I turned to Mrs Waltham and nodded, " yeah sure, now sounds good". She took us to the floor above. We had to walk a certain distance and I was seriously starting to worry about getting lost in the corridors. Maland however seemed unbothered; instead he appeared as if he was taking a note of everything, as if he was in the enemy\'s territory or something.

The first room revealed a tiny girl with two giant ponytails who was coloring something. "Megan, look who is here" Mrs Waltham called out. She looked up and jumped at the sight of us immediately. Her excitement reminded me of Cookie and a smile appeared on my face. " Megan, this is Cassie," She introduced.

"Wow, you are so pretty" The girl mumbled. I let out a soft chuckle whilst I crouched down to be level.

"Hey Megan, it\'s nice to meet you" I extended my hand to her. She seemed confused so she simply poked my hand making me coo even more at her adorable behaviour.

"Will you be my new sitter"? She asked.

"If you want me to," I added.

"They say that," She mumbled. "They never stay," she mumbled with a sad smile. I frowned and looked up at Mrs Waltham who appeared a bit guilty. I wasn\'t sure what else to say, so when Mrs Waltham spoke I was relieved.

"Baby, you should get back to your book. I should show her around if she will be staying here" Megan nodded at her mother\'s comment before getting back to her book.

We excited her room as she led the way to her son\'s room. "Why don\'t the other\'s stick around?" I dared to ask.

She shot me a quick glare before looking away, "You will find out."

She took us to another room, which was a bit far from Megan\'s room and opened the room to reveal a scrawny teenager busy with his phone. "Mike, there is someone who wants to meet you". Both me and Maland looked at each other before we looked back at the kid. So his name was Mike as well? That doesn\'t bring out any mixed feelings in me at all. I sighed.

\'Mike\' refused to look up from his phone but he did fumble on the screen. Rude huh! "Wanna say hi"? Mrs Waltham asked her son. He looked here and there, avoiding making eye contact before he turned away. His hostility made it harder for us to get this job. Seeing how he wanted nothing to do with us, Mrs Waltham closed the door. When she looked at us apologetically, I knew our Job was gone for good.

"Like I said, my son isn\'t exactly friendly. As much as I like you, if my son doesn\'t, I can\'t give you this job." I pursed my lips and simply nodded.

"With all due respect, can I give it another try"? Asked Maland. Mrs Waltham was taken aback, but she nodded simply allowing Maland to enter Mike\'s room.