Nanny for the Alien Lord by Tammy Walsh

Belle

Okay,so this was awkward.

Elken had climbed off her chair and into my lap the moment I sat down.

She used me as a climbing frame and initially I tried not to enjoy it, but couldn’t help myself.

I gave up all pretenses and held onto her, cuddling and breathing in her scent.

I couldn’t keep myself from kissing her over and over again.

Elken told me about her new paintings and how her father watched as she did them in the evenings when he came back from work.

By Daynnis’s constant sniffing and stiff appearance, I guessed she wasn’t altogether pleased with that outcome.

Tauas returned with the drinks and took every excuse he could get to glance my way, but it wasn’t easy.

Every few minutes, someone came over and shook his hand.

He clearly would have preferred for them to leave him alone but he was too polite to turn them away.

The lights stopped flashing and the music took on a slow rhythmic ticking.

Was it about to begin? I wondered.

I checked my watch and found it should have started already.

Then the music swelled and the lights continued blinking again.

Sensing the show wasn’t about to begin after all, the audience’s dull whispers returned to open discussions.

“When it start?” Elken said.

“I’m not sure,” I said, peering around.

If even Elken had noticed how long it was taking, something must be wrong.

Then, Iatell appeared on the stage.

She cast around, looking for something—or someone.

Her eyes lit up when she spotted me.

She hurried over, whispering a few words to the others as she came closer.

“Is something wrong?” I said.

She bent over me and spoke in a low whisper.

“It’s your sister! She’s getting cold feet! She refuses to come out of her room and address the crowd! We can’t begin without her!”

My stomach fell through my feet and my mind immediately jumped to the worst possible outcomes.

She’d hurt herself.

She’d fallen out of her wheelchair and, too embarrassed to ask for help from her new friends, couldn’t get back into it.

“I’ll take her,” Tauas said, reaching for Elken still squirming in my lap.

“Take me to her,” I said to Iatell.

She marched at a near run up the steps, onto the catwalk, and then into the back rooms where I’d deposited Abbie earlier.

“Things were going along swimmingly,” Iatell told me, never pausing to cast a look back at me. “Then suddenly she had a funny turn and locked us out of her room.”

We dodged between a pair of models dressed in Abbie’s flashier designs.

They looked spectacular!

Far better than I ever could!

“We’re just about ready with the models and their make-up,” Iatell said. “But without Abbie’s announcement speech, the show will be about her work and not the designer herself. The buyers will think we designed them. If she doesn’t go out in front of that stage, she’ll be passing up the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Iatell stopped outside a plain door with “DESIGNER” tapped inartistically to the front.

She knocked on it.

“Abbie? It’s Iatell. Your sister’s here. Can you unlock the door, please?”

There was a long pause before an audible click sounded.

Iatell reached for the handle but I got to it first.

“It’s probably better if I go in alone,” I said.

Iatell nodded and stepped back.

I opened the door, entered, gave Iatell a smile of confidence, and shut it behind me.

I found Abbie sitting in the corner, her head in her hands.

When she looked up at me, she had the wide-eyed petrified appearance of a rabbit in headlights.

“Are they still out there?”

Her voice shook, nothing like the confident sister I’d always known.

“Yes, they’re out there,” I said. “They’re waiting patiently for your show to begin.”

I dragged a chair closer to her.

“What happened?” I said.

Abbie buried her hands in her hair and shook her head.

“I don’t want to do this. I’ve changed my mind.”

“You can’t change your mind now,” I said. “Everybody’s out there waiting for you.”

Abbie shook her head.

“Who am I kidding? I only do this as a hobby! All those other designers were only nice to me because of Iatell, and she was only being nice to me because of Tauas! Nobody really wants to see me or my clothes!”

It was then I noticed the unique opportunity before me.

The thing I wanted most in the world was for things to go back to the way they’d been, for Abbie to be at home, happily designing in her free time without anyone passing judgment on her.

And most of all, for me to take care of her.

It’d been my purpose for seven long years.

It was what I knew, what I was good at.

And right now, I could nod my head and convince her she was right not to do this.

That Iatell didn’t like her designs, that it was all a show.

And I knew that after a failure like this, Abbie would never make the attempt again.

She would be with me.

And I would be there to take care of her.

It was what I’d always wanted.

Wasn’t it?

What about my plans back on Earth?

I would cancel my course and return the money I’d paid.

I could give up any I’d already paid on my apartment and stay here instead, look for a job, and things would continue as they always had.

Yet, the idea didn’t excite me.

Abbie had a real chance to make all her dreams come true.

She’d worked so hard for them.

She deserved them.

And here I was, her supposed “loving” sister, considering whether or not to help her assassinate her dreams.

I couldn’t do it to her.

I couldn’t take those dreams from her.

I wouldn’t take them from her.

“Listen to me,” I said, leaning forward. “All those people out there came here because they want to see your designs. Yes, they’re here because of Iatell, but because they trust her opinion. There are buyers and sellers and all sorts of people out there. They won’t buy nearly so many of your designs if they don’t hear your personal story. That’s why they came here. Not because of Iatell, not because of Tauas, but because of you, your skill, and your story. Now, here’s what you’re going to do. We’re going to tidy you up, we’re going to open that door, and we’re going to roll outside and welcome everybody.”

Abbie shook her head.

“I can’t do it. Not with everybody watching me.”

“They won’t be watching you. Only I will. Look at me in the crowd, focus entirely on me, and give your speech. To me.”

“I… I don’t know what I should say.”

“Say whatever comes into your heart. They didn’t come for a rousing speech. They came to hear your story. You don’t need notes for that. Make it short and sweet—like you.”

I kissed her on the forehead and Abbie seemed to take some strength from it.

“Now, what do you say?” I said.

Abbie was silent a long moment.

Finally, she opened her mouth.

“Can you help me with my hair and make-up?”

She had plenty of professionals out there who could do a far better job than I ever could, but it was a ritual we had repeated many times over the years.

Me washing her, dressing her, combing her hair, and doing her makeup.

Preparing her for the day.

Only now, I would be preparing her for the first day in her new life.

We went through our usual process.

With each stroke of her hair, we relived a thousand similar memories and countless conversations.

When I applied her makeup, I made deliberate mistakes that reminded us of the horrors we’d inflicted on each other as children new to the world of cosmetics.

Once I was done, I took a step back and looked at her.

“How do I look?” she said.

“Ready,” I said.

She smiled and I reached for the door.

I found Iatell standing on the other side, her hands clutched in front of herself.

She wiped tears from her eyes that must have been produced from overhearing our conversation.

“Are you ready?” she said.

Abbie took a deep breath, glanced at me, and nodded.

“I am.”

As she rolled into the hallway and out ahead of us, Iatell nodded her thanks to me as we trailed behind my elder sister.

The long line of waiting models clothed in Abbie’s designs clapped as she wheeled through them, heading toward the show.

Her show.