The Dandelion Chronicles Ch 01-03

Chapter 1

I was in my second year of college, but the first time I ever had to live out of my vehicle. There are too many reasons for why I'm in my current situation, but the main one was my parents wanted me to move home and attend the hometown college.

Did I rebel against attending the same school they graduated from? You're god damn right I did, and I wasn't backing down. I wanted to carve my own path, and going to an out-of-state school was the first step.

The problem with my stubbornness was that I was starting to run out of money; even though I didn't have a monthly rent payment to make. My vehicle was my safe place, and was paid for; so even if I couldn't pay for some things, I always had it.

My vehicle was an old VW bus, which was a high school graduation present from my Grandpa, and he was just as excited to give it to me as I was to receive it. My Grandma had passed the year before, and she had made him promise to give it to me; at least that's the story he tells.

Anyway, I was walking through the small supermarket located on campus when something miraculous happened. A little girl walked up to me and held my hand. I know, it doesn't sound like a miracle, because my touch didn't cure some

childhood disease or provide any other discernable health benefit, but it let me run into Arthur.

I looked down at the little girl with the blonde hair that fell to her shoulders while she looked at me. She had a smile on her face and was about to say something when a man came around the corner with a toddler in his arms.

"Adeline," he said in a panicked voice. "There you are."

I tried to put an age on the man. He had light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was dressed in what people would consider business casual. He had on khaki-colored pants and a brown belt. He had on a light blue button-down shirt and a blue tie that was tied in a loose knot, like that was the last part of getting ready and he rushed it.

He had on a blazer or jacket, I'm not really sure what they are called, and brown shoes of the person that said professor. He had on wire rimmed glasses and a stubble of beard that said the time had run out to make sure he was clean shaven for work today.

"I'm sorry Miss," he said. "Was Adeline bothering you?"

After he spoke, I put his age at mid to late 30's, as people younger than that don't use the term miss the way he said it. It all made sense, a guy like him probably put his time in for college, long enough to get a Masters in something so he could be a professor. After he secured his papers of pedigree, he found another nerdy soul to start a family.

I picked up Adeline in my arms, and she didn't protest. "She's not bothering me at all. We were just talking about where her parents were," I lied, but I wasn't a fan of parents letting their small children get out of sight. There are too many weirdos in the world, and kids can't fight for themselves.

"Parent," he corrected. "My wife passed away several months ago."

The way he said the words made me feel like a piece of shit. Here I was all ready to give him the business about not minding his kids and I realize he is probably doing the physical best he could with his current situation.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said and stepped closer to him. Adeline didn't reach for him, but also didn't shy away. "That must be very hard on you and your kids."

After I finished I wondered what kind of person my parents raised. I couldn't have said anything more obvious that it must suck to lose your spouse. He was probably tired of having to talk about it and here was some idiot college girl trying to comfort him.

Thankfully, he didn't chastise me like I deserved. "Thank you for help with Adeline, I'm Arthur."

"Hi Arthur," I said, happy to move past my awkwardness. "I'm Dandelion."

Dandelion was my middle name, and I didn't really know Arthur, so giving him my actual first name wasn't high on my priority list. I smiled and bounced Adeline in my arms a bit waiting for the question that always follows when I tell people my name is Dandelion.

To Arthur's credit, he heard my name and looked at the color of my hair and he opened up his mouth, but then closed it before asking. He looked me in the eyes and then at the hair again and answered the question himself.

"It's nice to meet you Dandelion," he said while reaching out one arm to take Adeline from me.

I lifted her into his arm and smiled at her once she was settled. When the toddler saw that my arms were free, he launched himself towards me and I caught him with both arms.

"Tommy," Arthur said. "Come back here, I'm sure we are bothering this nice girl."

The color of Tommy's hair was the same as his sister, and he held on to me like we were long lost friends with the prospect of never seeing each other again. I gave him a hug and a kiss on the head.

"Do you need help getting them back to your car or something?" I asked.

"What I need is a full-time nanny," he laughed. "But I'll take the help getting them to the car for now."

He turned to go without waiting for an answer. I followed him to the checkout where he paid for several items while I made small talk with Tommy. I thought about what he said and wondered if this was the break in life I needed.

Once he had both of the kids secured in their car seats, he turned to me with a smile of thanks.

"Are you serious about needing a full-time nanny?" I asked.

He paused for several seconds while he looked at me with more intensity than before. I tried to imagine what he was thinking as he looked at me. Young busty blonde college student inquiring about watching his kids.

"I never really actually considered it," he admitted. "It just kind of came out."

My heart sank. I could use a job that probably paid cash so I didn't have to list an address. There's not a lot of mail carriers that delivered to a VW van that had to park at various locations so I didn't get towed.

"Okay," I said, trying to keep the disappointment from my voice. "It was nice meeting you and Adeline and Tommy." I turned to head back to the store to find the best deal on something to eat.

"Wait," Arthur said. "Do you know someone?"

It was my turn to look at him like he was a fucking idiot. Of course, I knew someone, and her name is Coraline Dandelion Hendrickson; she was me! I wanted to shout it from the heavens, but that might make me look like I was mentally unstable.

"That depends," I smiled my best 'trust me' smile. "I would need to know more about what was all entailed and the benefit package." I laughed.

Arthur laughed along with me. "There is a rigorous application process," he joked.

"Rigorous, like I'd have to run an obstacle course?" I asked, still smiling. "Or rigorous like I would need to show you that I can do the laundry and change diapers."

"More like submitting to a background check to make sure you're not an escapee from the women's prison down the road," he laughed some more.

I could tell he was enjoying the friendly banter, and I had to admit that I was also.

"It was just a white-collar crime," I said with my voice low, like I was telling him a secret. "I got out for good behavior."

"What fun is that?" he asked. "I was hoping that there was something more exciting like a breakout attempt."

"Like I broke out of prison, and now I'm trying to find a place to hide out from the po-po?" I asked. "Or I needed to find a handsome father of two young children to take me in as a nanny, where I took care of the children, but at night I took care of the father."

I didn't actually say the last part, as I think that would have wrecked my chance at finding a legitimate source of income that fit my situation. I waited for Arthur to answer, as he skipped a beat, and I could see him thinking very carefully.

"Dandelion," he said, and his tone had gone serious. "If you legitimately are looking to be a nanny for Adeline and Tommy, we can have a serious conversation about it, but right now I have to get them home."

"Give me your hand," I said as I pulled a sharpie from my pocket.

Arthur offered his hand and I started writing on his palm. I wrote my cell number and then a capital D. When I was done, I closed his hand and walked past him to knock on the windows of his vehicle to wave at the kids. After they both waved back to me, I walked around the vehicle and back to the store, not looking back.

As I approached the sliding doors of the store, I could see Arthur still standing where I left him looking at me leave. I was in a great mood and felt very powerful in how I ended the conversation. There wasn't any doubt in my mind that he was going to call me.

Chapter 2

To my surprise, the night ended without any contact from Arthur. I felt depressed and mad that I had gotten so hopeful at the prospect of being a nanny for his kids. Even though both of the kids seemed very nice and well behaved, there was something about him that made it difficult to get him out of my mind.

Day two came and I went to classes, but kept checking my phone, hoping for contact from Arthur. I silently cursed myself for not asking for his number instead of giving him mine. I was so sure writing on his hand was a brilliant move and he would see me as spontaneous and fun, but he probably saw some stupid college girl who had no regard for people's things. If that was the case, he was never going to contact me.

The night was coming to a close and my phone buzzed with notification of a text. I could feel it was Arthur. He wanted to wait until the kids were in bed, which made perfect sense. When I opened my phone, I felt the same anticipation as when I was scratching off a lottery ticket.

I kept telling myself that this was the one. It didn't matter how many times I bought tickets in the past, or had given out my number to guys, tonight Lady Luck was going to shine down on me and my life was going to change.

The message icon had a white '1' in a red circle, and I prepared myself for a polite rejection. I tapped the button and saw that the text was from my father. He wanted me to know if I needed anything; he was always the civil one. My mom was the hard-ass, but I was a daddy's girl, and he had a soft spot through my mother's steely resolve to get me home.

It was too late to start a digital conversation, so I marked it as unread to remind me to get back to him in the morning when my mom wasn't around. I spent the next 30 minutes getting ready for bed, with no communication from Arthur.

By day three, I was convinced that he wasn't interested. I hit my classes, and once done for the day, I was at a loss at what to do next. Even though I knew the chance of him texting or calling me was slim, I decided to head to the store in the off chance I would run into him and the kids again.

Arthur's vehicle wasn't in the parking lot, and my heart sunk. I knew how much money I had in my pocket and in my bank account, but I opened the banking app and was surprised to see that my checking balance was $50 higher than I thought. I checked the history and saw that my dad had transferred the money with a memo of 'I love you' attached.

Fifty dollars doesn't seem like a whole lot of money, but to a broke college girl, it was like the clouds parted and the light of the heavens shone down on me. I decided to go and find something small to celebrate my windfall. I weighed plenty of options on what to buy, ranging from bakery to booze, and decided that a small bag of tropical JellyBelly jelly beans was the winner.

I always loved jelly beans, and assumed everybody did, but every time I saw the buttered popcorn ones, I made the dry heave action. A jelly bean was supposed to be tangy and fruity and delicious, not something that tasted like popcorn, and anyone that liked that kind of jelly bean needed deep psychological help. I never did a study, but they probably also liked the ones that tasted like black licorice; barf.

When I exited the store, my phone buzzed with a notification that I was getting a call. I pulled my phone out thinking that it might be Chloe wanting to hang out this weekend, but it was from an unknown number.

"I don't need to talk to someone about my car's warranty expiring," I said to my phone and sent the call to voice mail.

I waited to see if they would leave a voice mail and popped several jelly beans into my mouth. In a bit, my phone showed a voice mail was waiting and I clicked to see, ready to send it to the bin when my heart skipped a beat. The message read:

Arthur: Hi Dandelion, this is Arthur. I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, but I wanted to give the idea plenty of time and not make a hasty decision. I'd like to talk more about it over something to eat, call me back at this number if you are still interested.

Even though my phone converted the message to text to be able to read, I clicked it and put the phone to my ear. Arthur's voice repeated the same message I had just read, but it was so much better. After the message ended, I was smiling from ear to ear, and wondered how long I should wait before contacting him back. I opted for a text response to explain why I hadn't taken his call.

Me: Hi Arthur, sorry I missed your call, but I'm currently in class. I can call you after if that works for you?

I almost added an emoji at the end, but wasn't sure how he would take that, and I also didn't know which one to use. I sent the message and walked to my vehicle.

After I got in and fastened my seat belt, I got a response from Arthur.

Arthur:????????

I laughed out loud in the car, and then remembered I was dealing with a man much older than me. Of course, he used the 'thumbs up' emoji to answer me, because he probably saw it as cool or trendy when dealing with people younger than himself. While still laughing, I wondered what other emojis he used on a regular basis.

Maybe he liked the eggplant emoji, or the peach emoji, or both of them together. He probably used the three-drop emoji in conjunction with the eggplant one, like most men did when they were sexting. What men failed to realize is that women didn't want that kind of shit sent to them.

Women weren't turned on by a dick pick any more than they were an emoji of an eggplant squirting on a peach, but men are idiots. What women want is for men to remember their eye color and their favorite TV show. They want little reminders that the man is thinking about them. Believe me, several small meaningful gifts go a long way when compared to something expensive that was bought exclusively for the price tag.

I didn't want to call from the parking lot of the store, so I drove down to Lakeshore Drive and parked where I could see Lake Michigan. I loved the sound of the water lapping against the shore, and cracked a window enough to hear the sound. After the calming effects of the waves worked their magic, I took out my phone and called Arthur. He picked up after the second ring.

"Hello Dandelion," he said. "I'm so glad you called."

His words made my pulse quicken; he was glad that I called. I wondered if he was really glad, or if he was just saying that.

"Hello Arthur," I said. "Where are we going to eat?"

There was really no sense of beating around the bush, and I figured a direct path was the best one; especially since I dropped the ball initially by not getting his number.

"Do you have a preference?" Arthur asked.

"This is on your dime," I answered. "You get to choose."

"Do you like gyros?" He asked.

I wondered about his choice. Of course I loved gyros, but it wasn't really a place to negotiate a business deal. I wondered if he picked it because he thought all college students loved gyros.

"I certainly do," I answered. "Do you have a favorite?"

"There's a place close to campus called Oakland Gyros," he said. "I'm sure you've been there before."

Everybody that went to UWM knew about Oakland Gyros. Maybe he picked the place because it wasn't close to where he lived and he wanted to keep me as far away as he could until he was fully comfortable that I wasn't a felon.

"Yes, I have been there before," I answered. "It's one of my favorite places to eat."

"Great!" Arthur said excitedly. "If you're not busy, I can pick you up at your place and we can do this today."

I panicked. There was no fucking way he could pick me up at 'my place', because I lived out of my fucking car. It didn't make sense to play off that I had an actual address, and took the easiest way out.

"How about I just meet you there," I said. "I have some errands to run first."

Arthur didn't answer right away and I tried to imagine what he was thinking. I couldn't imagine he would object, unless he had some other reason to pick me up.

One could be that if I was in his vehicle, I was almost a captive. He could ask me all kinds of things and I wouldn't be able to dodge anything uncomfortable.

"I'm looking forward to it," he said. "What time works for you?"

"I'll meet you there in 90 minutes," I said. "Does that work out for you?"

"That's perfect," he said and hung up.

HOLY SHIT! I didn't know if this was a date or what, but at least I was going to get a free meal out of it. Now I just had to decide on what to wear. I exited my van and climbed in the sliding side door, thinking about what I had that gave off the right message.

I thought about what message I wanted to give. I guess the one that said I really needed to make some money, and wouldn't mind doing it by watching two kids; plus, I'd fuck you if I needed to.

Chapter 3

You might think that getting dressed in the back of a VW van was difficult, but once you do it a couple of times, you get used to where to put your legs. I unzipped some bags and thought through my options. I really doubt that today was going to turn into something where I would have my pants down, but I couldn't rule out the possibilities. The first choice had to be underwear.

The choice was dependent on what I was wearing on my legs, and after some thought I found a pair of black leggings. I decided on going with the "fit young college girl, who could chase after your kids, but also had a great ass you'd love to sink your teeth into" look. With that being the case, I picked out a pair of white seamless high-waisted thong underwear to go under the leggings.

I got undressed and put my clothes in the 'to be washed' hamper, and slid on the underwear and then the leggings. I grabbed a white sports bra, and then my UWM sweatshirt. The sweatshirt was a size too big, but that allowed it to slide off my shoulder now and again.

Other benefits of the sweatshirt was that it helped to hide the size of my boobs if I wanted, and also helped cover my ass if there were pervs around. I hated fucking pervs. There was plenty of nudity on the internet they could jack off to, there was really no need to bother sexy young college girls like myself.

A brief reapplication of deodorant never hurt, then a spray of perfume to see if he noticed. Finally, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and wrapped it with an oversized black ribbon. I tilted the tall mirror I kept, and gave myself a look.

As the great Ted Levine said while playing Buffalo Bill in the movie Silence of the Lambs, "Would you fuck me? I'd fuck me. I'd fuck me hard. I'd fuck me so hard." I had to agree with Buffalo Bill; I was a sight to behold.

I didn't bother with any reapplication of makeup. He had seen me in the store already with not much on, so appearing different might throw him off. I could drop that bombshell on him once I landed the gig watching Adeline and Tommy.

Now that I was ready to go, I had about 60 minutes to kill. I'm not sure why I said 90 minutes earlier, and decided that I was a bit full of myself and wanted to present the guise that I had a bunch of other shit to do and was doing him a favor by squeezing him in.

Speaking of squeezing, I wonder when the last time Arthur had a pair of thighs wrapped around his head while he fought for air. A girlfriend of mine always said that instinct would kick in for the guy, and you never had to worry about them suffocating while licking your pussy. If they passed out, then kick them to the curb.

I could attest to plenty of times when I was sucking a guy's cock and fighting off throwing up because I got a bit too much in my mouth. Did I give up, fuck no! I did what I had to do, and then sat on his face while I let my weight drop and watched him squirm while his tongue was in me.

It would only take me about 10 minutes to get to Oakland Gyros, so I found a comfy spot to sit and took out my phone. I started doom scrolling when I began to wonder if I needed to set up an out for the meeting. I knew I could call Liz and she would provide a call about 20 minutes into the lunch if Arthur turned out to be creepy in any way.

After several minutes of thought, I decided that if he was a sleaze, he wouldn't have chosen somewhere public. There were no hidden places in the joint, and the door was no more than 30 feet from every table. If he was thinking of anything nefarious, he would have picked somewhere else.

Satisfied that I wasn't going to get kidnapped by Arthur, I went back to scrolling, reading the occasional post. I had muted most political feeds, so I didn't have to worry about what the orange clown was doing on a day-to-day basis.

Eventually the clock ticked away until it was time to go. I crawled into the driver's seat and started the van. As predicted, I was able to make it to my destination in 10 minutes, which was 10 minutes before I was supposed to be there.

I knew what vehicle he drove, but Arthur didn't know what mine was. I parked far enough away to see the restaurant clearly, but not too far. The minutes ticked by until three minutes before we were meeting, I saw him drive up. Luckily for him, he arrived at the right time as a spot opened up two shops down.

I waited until he exited his vehicle to see what he was wearing. He was in a black suit with a white shirt. His tie appeared to be burgundy, and he had a pep in his step. Either he had just closed a big deal, or he was excited to see his new nanny. I decided that he was excited to see me, but my body was abuzz with excitement also.

Once he entered the place, I exited my vehicle and started walking. As I approached, I could see that he was in a booth, but he was facing the opposite way to the direction I was walking. The good thing was that I let him get a glance of my ass as I walked past; I made sure to pull my sweatshirt to the side so it wasn't impeding his view.

Speaking of asses, I had a particularly fine one. All those soccer practices in high school had toned my bum to a very desirable firmness. The curve of it turned many heads, sometimes getting a husband or boyfriend an elbow in the ribs for looking.

A patron leaving, held the door for me and I gave him a smile that froze him in his place; college boys are so simple. When he opened his mouth to say something, I touched him lightly on the chest as I walked past and thanked him. I could feel his eyes on my ass as I stood a step inside the entrance looking around like I didn't know where Arthur was.

"Dandelion," Arthur said hesitantly.

I looked over and he waved at me, as if I didn't already know where he was. I waved back and walked to the booth. He actually slid out of his side of the booth to stand up while I approached. I wasn't sure if we were supposed to bump knuckles, shake hands, hug or what the proper protocol was, so I opened my arms as I approached. I figured his reaction would tell me a lot about how this meeting was going to go.

The open arms threw him for a loop and I saw a flash of panic on his face before he opened his arms in response. I'm naturally a hugging kind of person, and hugging doesn't have to mean anything more than you were glad to see someone.

Apparently, Arthur had different ideas, but to his credit he hugged me back.

The hug was a four out of ten at best, as it was more of a lean in to touch bodies while you tried not to breath in the other person's face; it wasn't what I hoped for, but it was what was expected. As we both took out seats on our respective benches, I thought about the situation, and decided I was being too critical of Arthur.

He was a late 30's/early 40's guy that was at a campus hang out meeting a sexy college girl; yes I'm fucking sexy if you're wondering. He couldn't really give me a proper hug, because the other patrons might side-eye him on why he was hugging someone that probably, technically, could be his daughter.

I was 21, so it wasn't like I was 16, but there was an age gap that was present that he had to make sure he held himself to a higher standard in public. I looked at his suit and wondered what he did. The first time I met him I thought teacher or professor, but today he looked more like a banker.

We exchanged some pleasantries, and decided to save the business for after we ate. He asked what was good, and I told him a gyro with a side of fries. Duh, we were at a fucking gyro place, but maybe he was nervous and thought he needed to ask me first.

Even before I could reach in my pocket to tap into my final reserve of paper money, he assured me that he would cover the food. He explained that since he invited me, there was no way he would let me pay.

When Arthur brought the food to the table, I made sure to eat at a pace slower than him. I was worried that my stomach might grumble, but it did not betray me. While we ate, I asked him questions about Adeline and Tommy. Nothing too invasive, more things that forced him to tell me about himself and the kids. I made sure to avoid any questions that might involve his dead wife, and was proud when the meal finished and there were no uncomfortable moments.

Arthur pushed his empty basket out of the way and moved his diet cola in front of him. I left some of my fries in the basket, and a bite of gyro. I don't know why I did it, because I certainly could have eaten it. I searched in my memory for a saying about ladies not finishing their plates, but couldn't recall.

"I didn't prepare a resume for this interview," I said, feigning embarrassment. I picked up my diet cola and took a sip, signaling Arthur it was his turn to speak.

"I didn't prepare a lot of questions," Arthur said. "I think you can learn a lot about someone over food."

I set my drink back on the table. "I agree," I said. "What did you learn today?"

Arthur smiled a warm smile, but his eyes held a spark that he wanted to let out. "I discovered that I'm very comfortable around you. I know my kids also feel this way, but I have to warn you, it might be because you have a resemblance to my dead wife."

Arthur's revelation took me by surprise. I didn't know how to respond to that. Thankfully, he continued and saved me from saying something stupid.

"It is why it took me so long to contact you," he said. "Initially I didn't want to bring someone into the house that reminded them of her, but then decided the resemblance was irrelevant if you were the right person for the job. Plus, you smell really good."