Chapter 7

Felipe rushed into the house as he always did after coming home from school. He ran up the stairs at the same speed as he entered the house, then went to his room, took care of his personal hygiene, came out of the bathroom with wet hair dripping water on his superhero shirt, which Valentina didn't know the name of.

Valentina, who was absent-mindedly waiting for the boy to come out of the bathroom so she could introduce herself, was stunned when she realized that the boy was a copy of Aslan.

- Who are you? - Felipe asked trying to understand why there was a woman sitting on his bed, the little boy looked at her, she wasn't wearing a maid's uniform, he got ready to run, because he was afraid of the woman who stared at him as if she were seeing a ghost.

- I'm Valentina, your new nanny! - Valentina said in a sweet tone before the boy ran out of the room.

Embarrassed, angry and sad that his father didn't think about him for a single minute, and, of course, didn't listen to him when he said he didn't need a babysitter. He was already 8 years old, he didn't need a nanny 24 hours a day. Felipe went downstairs and threw himself on the sofa, crossing his arms and pouting in frustration. Valentina came downstairs right behind the boy, he was upset, not with her, as far as he could tell, but with his father.

Valentina approached where Felipe was sitting and sat down next to him.

- Felipe, can I tell you a secret of mine? - Valentina asked after a while, thinking about what she could say to make the boy trust her more.

- You can!" said Felipe, still sulking. - I don't want a babysitter.

He whispered the last part, but Valentina listened, completely changing what she was going to say to the boy.

- I didn't want to be here either. - Valentina confessed, surprising Felipe, who looked at her curiously. - And here I am, because I need to work and pay the rent on where I live.

- I like you, Valentina. Can I hug you?" Felipe asked with shining eyes. None of the previous nannies had been honest with him, they just wanted to know about his father all the time.

"Uncle Tomás was right, they were a bunch of cunts!" Felipe smiled at the phrase his fake uncle always said when he knew he had kicked out yet another nanny that Aslan had ordered him to hire.

- Come here and give me a tight hug. - Valentina replied, relieved to see the boy unburdened and with a beautiful smile. She hugged him, feeling something she wasn't sure what it was, but she knew it was something very good.

- Now we can go to the library and choose a book to read until lunchtime. What do you think? - Valentina suggests to Felipe, who has seen his happiness disappear completely.

- Dad won't let me go into the library. - Felipe replied sadly, got out of Valentina's embrace and took her hand, leading her to his room. Even though she was puzzled as to why the boy couldn't go into the library, she agreed to be taken to his room. As they entered the room, Valentina noticed a bookcase full of children's books in the left-hand corner.

Now that she was less anxious about meeting the boy she would be responsible for, she was able to see his room, the decoration was beautiful, but sober and minimalist. Everything had its place, she thought it looked more like an adult's room, it seemed that Felipe had never moved anything.

"So that's why he won't let his son into the library." Valentina thought as she was dragged through the huge room.

- Sit here. - Felipe said, pointing to an armchair. She sat down, not knowing what to do, and he smiled, pleased that his nanny had done what he had suggested. - Now I'm going to choose a book for us to read.

Felipe, who was in front of her, walked over to the bookshelf and picked out a book that Valentina, as a future teacher, thought was too thick for his age. The book was around 250 pages long, but if it was within the boy's reach it was because he had already read it.

- This one is very good. I've read this book five times. - Felipe said puffing out his chest, showing how proud he was of himself. - Tell you what, I'll read one chapter and you read the next.

Valentina simply nodded, so shocked she was. Felipe was a lovely person, as well as apparently being a boy with an unusual level of intelligence. He sat down next to her, opened the book as if he was used to doing everything himself, flipped through it until he reached chapter one and started reading.

"Thank heaven I got my dream job!" Valentina thought of an internal celebration. Both didn't notice the time passing, distracted by the story, and only realized what time it was when they heard a knock on the open door. Valentina looked up from the book she was reading aloud to see Ella, the housekeeper.

- The Young Master's lunch is served. - Ella said, wasting no time.

- I told you to stop calling me that, I don't like it. - Felipe said, even though he knew the housekeeper wouldn't stop calling him that. He rolled his eyes and got up, walking slowly past Ella, who didn't say a word.

Valentina followed behind them, wrapped up in her thoughts, remembering her childhood, which wasn't easy at all. She and her brother ate the bread the devil baked with their alcoholic father, who always beat his children when he was under the influence of alcohol, and their mother, who connived at everything he did.

After lunch, Felipe's routine followed its normal schedule like any other day of the week. She would never have thought that a child could be so responsible and focused at the age of eight.