Michael Taylor was sure- he was in love with Lydia Saunders, even if she was engaged to someone else. He had been for years and no one else came close. Not until that kiss happened.
Suddenly, Lyanna Saunders- the woman he vowed to hate forever- was...
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Since my letter of resignation, it's been a shitshow at work. Dad and Charles have been playing good cop, bad cop; one (Dad) has been making my life hell, muttering the word 'betrayal' every time I've walked past him, while the other (Charles) has been begging me to reconsider, asking if this is the right move, and then declared that the company wouldn't be half as good as it is if I left. I told him to get out of my office.
When the weekend finally rolled around, I gladly got out of the office and headed over to my sister's house for Friday Wine-Day. Lyra coined the term a few years ago when being a stay-at-home mum to Lewis and Polly-Anna became too much for her and she decided to go back to work. Every Friday, she sends Russell and the kids over to her parents-in-law and invites me over so we can crack open a bottle of wine. Of course, Friday was a cause for celebration, seeing as Lyra has popped a bottle of Prosecco and toasted to me finally growing a backbone.
"Proud of you, Lyanna," Lyra grinned as she clinked her glass against mine. "May I just say, you will be great. Once you're out of Saunders & Taylor, you will shine and you'll finally get to be the woman I've always known that you can be. Ok, so on Sunday, I'm taking the kids to the zoo. Fancy bringing Max and meeting us there?"
I rolled my eyes. "You know I don't do zoos," I grumble. "Plus Max is with his dad this weekend so I doubt he'll want to come. Plus, he's too old for the zoo."
"Ask him," Lyra suggests. She drained her first glass of Prosecco before quickly refilling it. "He loves his cousins so he'll rock up just to spend time with them. Even if Max doesn't come, you're not getting out of it easily."
A few days later, on a sunny yet cold day, I met Lyra at the entrance of London Zoo, ready to pay the extortionate amount to go and see animals in captivity. My niece and nephew were both impatient, pulling at Lyra's coat sleeves, shouting that they wanted to go and see the lions first. Sensing that Lyra could use a little help, I take her youngest spoilt brat and lift her so that Polly-Anna was perched on my hip. Pulling funny faces, I kept her entertained enough that by the time we were through the gates, she had settled and was no longer kicking out and crying to see the animals. Lewis, on the other hand, was excitedly jogging on the spot, ready to be let loose from his mother's firm grip.
