Lydia’s Diary, Seven Years Old
Dear Diary,
Mum said the Hunter boys are gonna stay with us for a bit because their mum is in the hospital.Mum asked if I would let them sleep in the spare bed in my room.I was mad.I didn’t want a boy sleeping inmyroom.
Yuck!
Liam had flowers and said thank you and Mum cried.That was so weird!Ren looked really, really sad.I asked if he wanted to play in my room.I told him it could be his room too if he wanted.And he smiled.Ren NEVER smiles.He’s always so sad.But I liked it when he smiled because he looked happier.
I gave him all my favourite things.My new Barbie car.It felt nice to make him happy.
Love,
Lydia.
Lydia
‘I’ve had the day from hell,’ I murmured, clinging to Casey, savouring the smell of her musk perfume, my pulse quickening as I pressed her closer, almost afraid to let go.My fingers brushed lightly against her arms before pulling back.She looked a little perplexed, but she had a warm, open expression as her eyes scanned my face.
Yes, this is what I needed.Casey.She made everything better.
‘You’re not going to believe it when I tell you.’ I lowered myself into the seat.
Lily’s, Everly Heath’s best restaurant, was packed and I couldn’t help but smile at the unmistakable touch of my cousin, Kat, woven into every inch of the restaurant.She helped Liam design the space before its grand opening last year.After re-inventing herself as an interior designer, she opened her own interiors shop just a few doors down fromLily’s, filled with fabric samples, wallpaper and little brass door handles I was a little obsessed with.Kat had slipped into life here so seamlessly, it felt like it had been inevitable all along.
‘Yeah?’ Casey frowned.
She looked impossibly cool, wearing a cropped brown leather jacket, black wide-leg jeans and her favourite cherry-red Doc Martens.Casey loved dark colours and sharp tailoring, which meant we were probably the only same-sex couple who didn’t share a wardrobe.She couldn’t stand athleisure, and I couldn’t stand stiff clothes.They were suffocating, and I needed to move.
The only thing we shared was her lipstick, because Casey liked to kiss it on my cheeks, blending it with her fingers, giving my complexion a soft pink glow in more ways than one.
Casey and I met at Momentum Fitness, and celebrated our six-month anniversary last week.Supposedly, Kat had clocked that Casey liked me when we had ordered from the cafe.I was convinced she was just being friendly and, from experience, it was always harder to tell when women were flirting with you.So I took a risk, asked Casey out, and Kat had been right.Casey had blushed pink, asking for my number.
Our first date was almost too perfect.I met her at a cocktail bar, and we drank orange wine and laughed about people we worked with.I was hooked on the scent of her perfume and the sharp black of her eyeliner.Things moved fast.We spent all our time together, so I asked her if she wanted to move in after a few weeks.She had laughed, eyes crinkling, and said yes.That night I bought us champagne – and tasted it on her skin.I wasn’t sure I would forget how her lips had pressed to mine that night, soft and daring.My fingers tracing the curve of her neck, then I traced it with my lips.We hadn’t moved out of bed for hours that night.
I might have lost my job, but at least I had Casey, right?
‘Hey, you know I’m so lucky to have you, right?’ I said, leaning my hand across the table.
Casey pulled her hand back, biting her lip, ‘Lydia, I have some… news too.’
‘What’s up?’
Casey could look anywhere but at me.
She didn’t answer, making blood rush to my head.My system was already on high alert after everything that had happened with Craig.
‘Casey, you’re freaking me out.’
Her fingers twitched nervously with the gingham napkin, but when our eyes finally locked, a soft sadness settled there.
‘I—’ she stuttered, her big brown eyes shifting down.‘I wanted to tell you at a good time.But we haven’t seen each other all week.You’ve been so busy and now I’m thinking this is a mistake, maybe we should talk at home.’
‘It’s fine—’ I leaned across the table, grazing her soft hands.‘You can tell me any—’
‘I’m moving to London,’ she blurted out, pulling her hand back from mine.
Blood drained from my face for the second time that day.I took a breath, leaning back in my chair.It felt like someone had just hit me in the stomach.
