CHAPTER FOUR
"Hey, I thought you weren't coming," Lucy shouted to Indya when she spotted her racing to keep up with the twins. They ran at breakneck speed toward Tristan on the jungle gym. She was thankful she had Tristan and Olivia, and not the twins, to look after.
Indya she sucked in mouthfuls of air, bent over and hands on her hips, "Sorry, I had to make a detour. I dropped into the realtors and was longer than I expected."
"Realtors?" said Lucy, raising her eyebrow in confusion.
"Yeah, sorry it's all happened so fast," Indya said with a huge grin. She straightened up and checked to see where the twins were then continued, "Mateo asked me to move in with him! Isn't that great news?"
This was the last thing she'd expected her to say. Indya's job was a live-in one so moving in with her boyfriend wasn't allowed unless she was also looking for new employment. Her mind started to go down a track she didn't want it to go. She knew it was unnecessarily selfish of her, so she plastered on a fake smile for her friend to congratulate her.
"That's great news, Indya. I'm so happy for you!" she forced out and immediately felt the guilt seeping in. She wrapped her arms around her best friend who looked to be walking on cloud nine at her news. "I thought Mateo had a place?"
"He shares with a few guys he works with, but he's just been given a promotion and it means he can finally afford to move out and get his own place ... he asked me to move in with him," Indya explained, excitement radiating off her.
"Oh wow, that's great. Tell Mateo congratulations from me. How did Mr and Mrs Franklin take the news?" Mr and Mrs Franklin were Indya's employers as well as Ben and Sean's parents. She knew, from what Indya had told her, they didn't allow Mateo into their apartment and weren't too happy about the relationship, so she couldn't blame her for wanting to jump at this opportunity.
The grin slipped from Indya's face, a frown quickly replaced it. "They don't know yet. My position's live-in so I've not broached the subject with them. I was kinda hoping, as the boys are older now, that they'd allow me to still work for them but without the live-in part. If not, I'll be looking for a new job because I'm not letting it get in between me and Mateo moving in together. We need to find a place first anyway so no point jumping the gun."
"I know it's selfish, but I really hope they allow you to stay on. I would hate to lose you. You're my best friend." She knew there was only a slim chance of this happening, and so did her friend.
Indya slapped her gently on the arm, "You're not going to lose me, dummy! I just won't be able to meet you most days in the park, like we do now. You can always visit our new apartment, or we can meet like we normally do on your day off. Look, don't be upset. I can see it in your eyes. It might be a while until we find a suitable place and who knows what's going to happen between now and then." Lucy was pulled into a tight hug by her best friend. "You are a lot stronger than you think," Indya whispered in her ear.
"Sure," she said, not entirely convinced. She'd settled into a comfortable routine with both the Delgados and Indya, and she liked it. She wasn't sure if she was ready to have all that disrupted. She'd never made friends easily, as she tended to be too shy to make the first move. She was lucky that Indya didn't have that problem and had approached her the first time she'd taken the children to the park. They'd struck up a close friendship almost immediately and it had made Lucy's life here so much easier.
She unbuckled Olivia from her stroller and let her waddle over to the jungle gym to join the boys as she followed closely behind. "Lucy, look at me," shouted Tristan as he slid down the slide with his arms in the air and a wide grin on his face.
She remembered the first time she'd brought him here and he was too scared to go down the slide himself. He'd burst into tears at the top, refusing to go down the slide. She'd wrapped her arms around him and soothed him, told him he'd be fine as she slowly guided him down the slide, tears still falling down his tiny face. He held on to her arms with a death grip, but he'd done it and now look at him.
She wished there was someone there for her if Indya did move in with Mateo. She'd gotten too comfortable and didn't think for one second that any of it would change. She guessed change was inevitable as she watched Olivia climb up the steps of the jungle gym herself, which she couldn't do a short while ago. Yes, maybe it was time for her to make some changes too.
Yes, everybody was changing but was she ready to do the same?