CHAPTER TWO
"Who wants to go to the park?" Lucy Young asked the two small children who were currently hanging on to a leg each as she attempted to walk down the hall without tripping. She had been a live-in nanny for David & Sylvia Delgado and their two children, Tristan four, and Olivia two for the past three years. She loved working with kids and as it was a beautiful sunny day she'd planned to take them to the park and let them run off steam.
"Me! Me!" they shouted, as they untangled themselves from her legs and started to jump up and down with their hands in the air.
"Is Ben and Sean going?" asked Tristan with wide expressive eyes. Ben and Sean were twin horrors who were the same age as Tristan, luckily, they were the charge of her best friend Indya, also a live-in nanny. They'd made friends at the park almost as soon as she'd moved to the city with the Delgado's. If she was honest, Indya was her only friend here. They'd moved here when Mr Delgado got a promotion at work which meant leaving her old life behind.
"Now, what shall we pack?" she asked as she tapped her forefinger on her chin. Even though they went through this routine every time she took them to the park, they loved it. Lucy pulled out the 'park' backpack that she kept in the hall cupboard, which she always kept fully stocked, so they could just add the few fresh items and go.
"Pajamas?" she asked.
"No," they shouted, shaking their heads. "That's for bedtime."
"It's not bedtime?" she asked as she scrunched up her face in confusion.
"No, it's park time," they shouted as they grabbed her hand and led her to the kitchen.
"What do we need for park time then?" she asked.
"Juice boxes," they shouted, "and snacks."
She walked over to the refrigerator, with her two shadows close behind, "Hmm, now what do we have in here?"
"Juice boxes," they shouted as they jumped up and down, clapping their hands.
"Juice boxes," she agreed and pulled out five juice boxes. Two each for the children and one for herself. Next, she went to the fruit bowl and grabbed a few pieces of fruit to take with them, adding them to a chill pack she'd pulled out from the freezer.
"Does anyone need a toilet break before we leave?" she asked.
"Yes," they shouted. It was part of their routine that they'd all go before they left. She'd made the mistake of not asking after Tristan was potty trained and vowed not to do it again. Once they were all ready, she got Olivia's stroller out of the hall cupboard and strapped her into it, then went to wait on the elevator.
"Tristan can you please call the elevator," she asked as she looked down the hall to see where all the noise was coming from.
She couldn't wait to get out into the fresh air and to catch up with Indya. She'd often spent her days off with Indya where they'd explored the city together or enjoyed a night out sampling the many restaurants and bars on offer. Unfortunately, for her, Indya had found a boyfriend on one of these trips and had got pretty serious about him. She'd often canceled their standing date as Mateo was off at the same time. She understood it, but it made her realize just how lonely she was here. She was grateful to have the children to spend most of her time with but couldn't help being envious of her friend.
Just as they'd got into the elevator and she made sure Tristan was still holding the handle of the stroller, she went to press the button for the lobby when she heard a few voices call out for her to hold the elevator.
In a fluster, she pressed the hold button and three handsome men barged into the elevator. They all looked similar and she assumed they were related. She knew the apartment along the hall had recently been sold. Were they her new neighbors?
"Thanks for holding it," one of them said with a smile. "You live on this floor? We've just helped our little brother move into his new apartment. Seems like a nice place." His attention was still on her and she wished for the elevator door to hurry up and close and get to the lobby.
She nodded and smiled. They looked friendly but she let her shyness get the better of her, and didn't volunteer any more information, although she wanted to.
"I'm Alex, these are my brothers, Marcus and Finn. It's nice to meet one of Adam's new neighbors," he continued, obviously he didn't notice her discomfort, or maybe he did and was trying to put her at ease.
"Lucy," she managed to say before sucking in a breath, "and this is Tristan and Olivia." There that wasn't too bad.
"Nice to meet you, Lucy," he said. The other brothers gave her a friendly smile and kept their distance, so as not to crowd her and the children. It wasn't that big of an elevator.
Luckily, nobody else called the elevator on their way down and they reached the lobby in next to no time. They waited patiently while she got the stroller out of the elevator and she made sure Tristan was still holding on. Then one brother slipped by her to open the lobby door for her.
She smiled and thanked him. He was certainly a gentleman and she began to wonder what her new neighbor was like. If he was anything like his brothers, she couldn't wait to meet him. Now where had that come from?