It's been a week since I've applied to the nanny positions. It felt like I applied to at least 30 different positions by the end of that night. Although, out of those 30 applications I only got 10 responses and only 4 of those responses turned into phone interviews. But even then, no family seemed to be a good fit for me and my lifestyle and school life.

That being said, I had another shift at the diner today. Kyle was off today thankfully. Which means today should be a good day. Its the weekend so the diner will probably be busy but at least the weather was nice, automatically putting me in a better mood.

The wind blew around me and through the loose strands of hair that framed my face, I wrapped my jacket around me a little more snug and quickened my pace towards the diner, not wanting to be late.

My earphones were snug in my ears, some pop song played through my head, hopefully it'll give me enough motivation and a will to get through the day. The streets were busy this morning, families, teenagers, young couples, old couples, literally everyone roamed the streets. The shops were definitely getting a lot of business today, but I guess it's normal with this type of weather.

My speed walk was suddenly halted as I bumped into something, or I guess someone. I looked down at the obstacle and my eyes immediately widened when they were might with a little girl with tears welling in her eyes.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, are you okay?" I knelt down to get to her eye level, she stared back at me with wide eyes, her body visibly shaking.

"I'm lost." She said quietly. My heart melted and I immediately looked around, checking if there was anyone frantically looking and calling for her. There was nobody, I sighed and looked back at her, tears were now rolling down her face but she didn't make a sound. She was terrified.

"Okay, what's your name sweetheart?" I smiled at her warmly, trying to get her to feel safe even if she's with a complete stranger.

"Penelope." Her eyes wandered, landing on the ground. I watched as her shoulders jumped up every so often when she hiccuped with her tears. Her hands were clasped together tightly but I could still see them tremble.

"Where's the last place you saw your mommy?" I tried my best to get any sort of information out of the scared toddler.

"No mommy. Just daddy." She mumbled. "He was over there." She raised her small arm up and pointed at a nearby book store.

"Okay, lets see if he's still there.. What's your daddy's name?" I asked her.

"Penelope!! Penelope where are you?!" My head whipped up to see a man running around frantically, a baby in his arms and a book bag on his shoulder. His eyes searched the crowd of people frantically, his chest heaved up and down.

"Daddy!!" Penelope squealed, she bolted to her father and wrapped her arms around his legs.

"Oh my gosh, I was so worried darling. Don't wander away from me like that." He sighed, his stressed eyes gave hints of relief in them. I made my way over to them. The first thing I noticed was his voice, a deep British accent evident. Then I noticed his eyes, a bright green pair of eyes filled with concern as he wrapped his free arm around Penelope and bringing her close to his body.

"I was just about to bring her to the bookstore, she said that's where she last saw you." I smiled at him, giving him a small awkward wave. My heart rate rose slightly when I got closer, taking a good look at his face and realizing how attractive this man is. Talk about DILF.

"Thanks for keeping her safe in my absence." He gave me a small but thankful smile. I gave him a small nod in return and then leaned back down towards Penelope.

"Stay close to your daddy." I pointed a finger at her playfully and she nodded her head with a huge grin.

"Have a good day!" I checked my watch and realized I had to be at work in 5 minutes. "Crap." I booked it to the diner.

With one minute to spare, I clocked in just in time, out of breathe and a mess.. but on time.

"Ana!! You're here!" Charlotte, my favorite manager, cheered as she saw me tying my apron around me waist. "It's quite busy at the moment and the new girl is not doing so hot.. mind giving her a hand?" She laughed. I sighed, tightening my ponytail that was loose from my sprint to work.

I walked to the front of house and saw that it was in fact very busy. The area alone was loud from the chatter of the customers seated and waiting in line. I sighed, the new girl, Shirley looked across the register screen frantically, trying to figure out the different buttons and screens.

"Hi, you must be Shirley.. I'm Anastasia." I smiled at her. "I can take over the register, how about you just bring out the food to the tables? There will be a receipt on the plate, there will be a number on the receipt. Just find the number in the restaurant. I'll train you some more on the register when it dies down a little bit." She looked at me with relief.

I felt for her, knowing exactly how hectic and overwhelming all of this can get especially when you're just starting.

"Thank you so much." She sighed and hurried to the expo area.

"Hi! Welcome to Homestyle Diner, what can I get started for you today?" I smiled at the customer in front of me, the first of many many customers to follow.

The rush lasted a little over half an hour, luckily I was able to clear the line rather quickly. I started to help Shirley bring out the food to the respected tables while I didn't have any customers at the register. It started to slow down, thankfully.

We finally had a chance to sit a little and catch a breathe.

"Good first day, huh?" I teased Shirley, she looked so stressed. She groaned and buried her hand into her hands.

"I'm not used to the food industry at all, I forget that it can get that busy sometimes." She chuckled to herself, referring to the rush we just had. "I'll get used to it.. you seem to know what you're doing, you've been here long?" She raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of her drink.

"A little over 2 years." I shrugged. The bell chimed, signaling that the front door opened. I heard Shirley groan and I laughed. "No worries, I've got it. Drink up." I teased, pointing to the cup of water she held in her hand.

"Hello! Welcome to Homestyle Diner, what can I get started for you today?" I said as I walked up to the registering, adjusting my apron as I moved. I finally looked up and my eyes met some newly familiar ones.

"Oh. Hi." I smiled awkwardly. It was the father and two kids from earlier, the dad stood in front of me, baby still on hip and the top of Penelope's head poked just above the countertop.

"Fancy seeing you here.. Anastasia." He gave me a smile, his eyes slightly squinted to read my name tag.

"Hi!" Penelope shouted from behind the counter, she raised her hand above the counter and stood on her tippy toes in an attempt to see over, she tried her best but her eyebrows weren't even visible to me.

"Hi, hon. So.. What will you be having today?" I turned my attention back to the dad who was already looking back at me. He let out a small cough and his eyes darted up quickly to the menu above me, his fingers tapped against the counter almost as if he got caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.

"Right, uhh, I'll have a bacon cheeseburger with fries and a chocolate milkshake. And then.. a kids meal chicken tender, with fries and an orange juice please." He grinned, his green eyes darted from the menu to my face. I quickly diverted my eyes away from him and to the register, doing exactly what he did a few seconds ago.

It was like a dance.

Could you blame me though, the more I looked at him, the more things I found attractive.

"Got it! And your name?" My finger hovered over the keyboard on the screen, waiting for him to tell me his name.

"Harry. Harry Styles." I typed his name into the screen and froze, my eyes widening when realization hit me. Harry Styles? As in Harry Styles, single dad of two?

My mouth fell open a bit and I guess I zoned out because Harry was soon calling my name to grab my attention.

"Anastasia?" Harry waved a hand in front of my face. "Are you alright?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Oh! Sorry.. Yeah. I'm alright. I just.. I'm Anastasia." I stuttered, suddenly nervous.

"Yes, I know." He laughed at me slightly. I resisted the urge to facepalm at my stupidity.

"Right. Sorry. No, I meant, I'm Anastasia Walker. I applied to your posting about needing a nanny." I said timidly, looking anywhere but his eyes. Embarrassed that I just admitted that when he was definitely not one of the families that responded to my application.

"Oh really! I was reviewing some the applications last night, I've been so busy I just found the time to do it last night. I do recall your name and application.." His voice trailed off, he scratched the scruff on his chin. "If you could sneak away from work for a bit I'd love to talk with you a little more, come join us for a bite if you could." He smiled. He paid the bill and took his order number to a table in the back corner.

My heart was racing, I can't believe that just happened. What are the odds that I bump into Harry and his families not just once but twice in one day?

"Charlotte, I need a huge favor!" I rushed to the back office where she sat, I took a seat in front of her desk and clasped my hands together and brought them to my face to beg. "You know how I've been trying to land a nanny gig? There's a dad here that could potentially hire me, do you think that I could chat with him for like 30 minutes? I know I've only been here 2 hours but-" Before I could ramble on more she cut me off.

"Honey, just go. It's pretty slow out there and if Shirley needs help, I'm more than willing to jump on the register with her. Go get that job." She squeezed my hand and pushed me out the door. I will forever be thankful for Charlotte and how supportive she's been since I started working here.

I took a deep breathe and tightened my ponytail one more time for good measure. I really needed this job, do not screw it up. I made my way over to their table, seeing that they already had their food.

"Hey, my manager let me sneak away for a bit." I smiled at Harry. Harry smiled and told Penelope to move to his side of the booth so I could sit across from him.

"So.. I just wanted to talk a little, and get to know you some. Think of this as your formal interview." Harry chuckled. "As you already know, this is Penelope, she's my eldest and this is Daniel, we call him Danny, he's 1." He pointed at the baby in the highchair at the end of the table.

"Tell me, Ms. Walker, do you have much experience with kids?" Harry stared into my eyes. His green eyes were intimidating yet so kind.

"Well, I babysat here and there throughout high school, I was involved with the children's program at the local library for the past 3 years. I'm also majoring in education and child development." I tried to sound confident but I knew that my shaky voice was betraying me. "I'm CPR certified, I had a job as a life guard a few summers ago." I also added in.

"That's good to hear.." Harry started talking more and asking more in depth questions. I tried my best to stay focused on what he was saying but my eyes were drawn to his features, he seemed almost too perfect.

I enjoyed talking with Harry though, even if this was a job interview he kept things very casual and I could tell he was trying to make it informal, probably sensing my nerves. He asked me questions about myself and my life and I did the same, in a way it was less of an interview and more of us just getting to know each other.

"I'm new to this whole single dad thing and it's been quite a hard adjustment. I need all the help I can get and as soon as I can get it really.." Harry admitted, running a hand through his short brown curls. "But I am in desperate need for some extra help."

"Do you think we could start you on a trial run on Monday?" He questioned, my eyes widened, I was hoping for an offer but I didn't really expect one.

"Oh, uh.. yeah! Of course." I nodded eagerly, a little too eagerly.

"Great, we'll do a trial week! That way you can see how the kids are at home, and also so I can observe as well to make sure that we're all happy and a good match for each other. Although I don't think that will be much of a problem, I can tell Penelope is already fond of you." He smiled, his head turning to glance at Penelope.

Penelope looked up at me with a wide grin and she nodded her head at me. I smiled at the small child, happy that she was already somewhat comfortable with me. That definitely helps Harry trust me more too.

"Next week is the last week I have to work from home, so It'll be good for the both of us. You don't have to stay at the house just yet if you don't want to but you're more than welcome to if it would save you any trouble." Harry explained. "We'll talk more when you get there and I'll just give you a run down of their day to day. Here, give me your phone, I'll add my number to it." He held his hand out across the table for my phone.

I handed Harry my phone, our fingers grazing each other slightly at the exchange. Harry grabbed the phone and he quickly tapped his number to it, calling himself so that he too would have my number before handing it back to me.

"I'm glad we ran into each other today, twice." He smiled, "We better get going. It was a pleasure meeting you, I'll see you Monday." He said to me curtly. Without another minute, he packed all his stuff and got his kids up and out of the restaurant. I sat in the booth a little longer, smiling to myself. It wasn't a set position but it was something. And something is better than nothing.

I looked down at my phone that sat on the table, the screen still illuminated on the contact page.

I bit back a smile, locking the phone and sliding the phone back into my back pocket before returning to what would hopefully be my last shift at the diner.