Vanessa isn't her real name. She has family in the Philippines and, if they knew the whole story, they'd throw her out in the street for sure. The best place to start to tell the story of Vanessa is at the beginning. Our family was growing, both in numbers and in age. Tanya was now five, Damien was a toddler of three and Lin had just arrived. We had already moved to a larger house as soon as we realized we would become a family of five. A growing family, affluent, a new house; wasn't everything great for Melinda and me? Not everything.
"Melinda, I've been falling behind with my contracts with just two children to look after during the day. The only way I've managed to survive is by working in the evenings when you get home. When you go back to nursing, I don't know how I'll be able to work and take care of Lin in addition to Tanya and Damien. Besides that, we never get to talk or do anything together except in bed."
"I don't mind looking after the children in the evening and the sex has been great but I agree that we need to do more for our relationship. Look, we're both working and doing well financially. I say that we can afford some help and make some time for each other."
"What were you thinking about? I notice that you're always a step ahead of me, my love."
"I called up the Phil-Can Agency and it really wouldn't be expensive to have a live-in nanny. The room and board would be nothing, if we gave her the spare bedroom in the basement so she can have some privacy for herself.
"And I suppose you've already picked one out."
"How did you know, Paul? Her name is Vanessa, she's 25 and she's a qualified nurse who can't get a job in her country. Paul, please say you want her too. A nurse can look after Damien's asthma and only a nurse can understand what another nurse wants."
"She sounds more than qualified and we can use the help. I'll have to do some work to get the spare bedroom ready. She can use the bathroom in the basement as well and that will give her the same privacy she could have with her own apartment."
Melinda hugged me. "You agree! I was so afraid you'd insist that we had to bring up the kids all by ourselves."
That was how I found myself at the airport Arrivals hall on a cold, snowy December day holding a parka and boots. As the travelers straggled towards the conveyor to pick up their luggage from the conveyor, Melinda spotted the brown, sad figure timidly descending the stairs. "That's her. That's Vanessa. The poor girl looks bewildered," Melinda shouted.
Yes, it was Vanessa. Quickly, we put the parka and the boots on our new nanny. Melinda took the light jacket and running shoes Vanessa brought from Manila and gave her a welcome hug. I got a baggage cart and found Vanessa's cheap cardboard suitcase that had somehow survived third world baggage handling techniques. Driving to our house, Melinda and I tried to make some small talk but Vanessa wouldn't or couldn't make any conversation beyond yes or no. She said so little I couldn't tell if she spoke English well or what kind of accent she had. Vanessa just sat there, looking at the snow and occasionally shuddering. Personally, I think my city looks beautiful under a fresh layer of snow. Obviously Vanessa didn't share my enthusiasm.
By the time we got home, the wind had increased, bringing miserable windchill. I mean, the temperature was already minus what Manila usually gets as plus temperatures. As she got out of the car to go to the house, I could forgive Vanessa if she thought she had landed on the face of Mars. Melinda took Vanessa down to her room while I paid the babysitter. I put up the temperature in the upstairs part of the house by one degree. Then I took one of Melinda's sweaters down to the basement.
Vanessa and Melinda were sitting on the edge of the bed. Vanessa was in tears and Melinda was hugging her trying to comfort her and maybe warm her up. Melinda said:
"I know exactly how you feel. I came to Canada from a tropical country in the winter and I thought, 'This country sucks.' I wanted to go back to Vietnam right away, even if it was overrun by Viet Cong. I froze at first but then I didn't die and neither will you. Besides, summer is very nice here."
I gave Melinda the sweater and left the two women alone. Melinda came up after 20 minutes and gave me the thumbs-up sign and said, "She'll stay." Vanessa came up for supper bundled in the sweater and wearing Melinda's fuzzy slippers. Her own clothes consisted of a tight pair of jeans and one of those "I 'heart' Baguio City" T-shirts. She brightened up a bit when she saw the Vietnamese feast Melinda was cooking.
Vanessa cheered up even more at supper when we introduced her to the children. Vanessa liked them and they seemed to take to Vanessa. Vanessa took up her duties first day by warming the baby formula and feeding Lin. As she warmed up to the children and warmed up physically, Vanessa unbuttoned her sweater. I could clearly make out the outline of firm tits with erect nipples offsetting the ventricles of the heart on her T-shirt. She wasn't wearing a bra under her T-shirt. When Vanessa got up, I noticed that that her breasts didn't jiggle much. Nice and firm. As much as I enjoyed the view, I made a note to tell Melinda that she should get Vanessa fitted with a brassiere. Another thing I noticed when Vanessa got up was the outline of her panties. They looked more like Queen Victoria than Victoria's Secret.
After her inauspicious arrival, Vanessa became part of the family. As her shyness melted and she became used to us, her face always bore a wide smile. She was a natural nanny, almost a surrogate mother when Melinda was at work. Vanessa would do anything with he children without consulting with us first as to how we would handle it. With Vanessa taking care of the children so expertly, my productivity shot up. I was able to get so many contracts completed that Vanessa literally paid for herself.
Vanessa quickly became Melinda's best friend. In fact, I wondered if they were becoming too close. I didn't mind when they taught each other their cooking. I think that Filipino food is underrated in this country. Melinda and Vanessa would argue good-naturedly over such weighty matters as whether the Filipinos stole the lumpia from the Vietnamese or vice versa. They grew so friendly that they traded clothes with each other. Sometimes Melinda would lend Vanessa her ao dai and she would wear Vanessa's sarong. I thought that was cute whenever we had a party at the house.
Despite the way Vanessa and Melinda were growing closer, she would always address me as Mr. Miskeivitch and Melinda as Mrs. Tran, as a sign of the employee/employer relationship. She never used our first names to our face. Melinda spent a lot of time of time in intimate women-only conversations with Vanessa. In fact, Vanessa rarely went out of the house, except with the children. It didn't think it was natural for a 25-year old woman not to go out and boogie once in a while. One day, I mentioned my concerns to Melinda:
"Don't you think that Vanessa should go out a little more? All she does is stay around the house. It's warm out now. She should enjoy our summer. Can you tell her to start taking her days off?"
"Paul, she likes it here. She enjoys the children and I just love her as well. You know that I don't have many friends in the Vietnamese community. It's great to have someone who knows what Southeast Asia is all about, even if she doesn't speak Vietnamese."
"Melinda, that's another thing. Don't you think that Vanessa and you are getting too close. After all, she has to return to the Philippines in eighteen months. You'll be very hurt when she leaves. It's not a good idea to be so friendly with an employee"
