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I can’t help but chuckle at the disappointment in her voice, but Lyra quickly changes her tune when she offers to help her.
“And when we’re done you can play with the unicorns,” she adds and Heather’s face lights up. I’m touched by this kindness and am about to say she doesn’t have to when she looks up and asks, “If that’s okay with Dad? I mean, I don’t have a client right now so I don’t mind.”
“If you’re sure,” I say, grinning, “Although I should warn you, she’s very chatty.”
“We’ll be fine. Heather, go get a chair from next to Sheldon and come here, we’ll work on my bench.”
Heather runs off to Sheldon and I decide to leave them at it. I know Lyra is just trying to make up for what she did yesterday, but I don’t want her to feel this bad. I mean, I’m over it now. Still, as I hear the two of them solve maths and giggle together, I feel a different kind of feeling towards Lyra. An appreciation, and I can tell Heather is happy to be in the company of a woman aside from her babysitter.
I get a client and concentrate on them while Lyra watches Heather. I can tell she’s done with her homework because I hear Lyra mentioning she’ll get the unicorns for her. Another client comes in and it’s for Lyra.
I’m about to get up to go get Heather but Lacy walks past, “Don’t worry JJ, I got her.”
“Thanks,” I say, surprised. I go back to the tattoo and only after I’m done do I realise that in that hour and a half, as clients came and went, Lacy, Becca, and Cindy all took a chance to entertain Heather. I feel bad now, I didn’t want to keep them out of work because I have to bring my kid here.
I go to Lyra. “Can we talk?” I ask quietly.
“Sure!” Lyra spins on her chair to look up at me, and for a moment I’m lost in those eyes.
I clear my throat, “I didn’t mean for Heather to be such a distraction.”
“Nonsense, she isn’t distracting anyone. If we all had clients and someone stopped doing a tattoo because they wanted to play with her, then yeah, that’d be a problem, but everyone who’s taken care of her so far has done so because they weren’t busy, and probably because Heather is a seriously cute kid.”
“Yeah, she is,” I admit and glance at where she is busy telling Cindy about the book she is reading at school. I smile and look back at Lyra.
“You, not so much,” she teases, “So she must get it from her mother.”
My blood runs cold, and although I know in my heart Lyra meant nothing by it, stirring up anything about Bernadine snaps me immediately.
“She got nothing from that whore,” I hiss and Lyra instantly throws her hands up.
“Sorry! I didn’t know, I was just teasing.”
I clench my fists and start to walk away before shaking my head and going back to her.
“Look, she hurt us both, really bad,” I don’t want to think about it, I don’t want to talk about it, but Lyra has done a lot today for our little family and I don’t want that to be unpaid, “So, just, don’t mention her okay? Especially not to Heather.”
“Okay, again I’m sorry, JJ,” Lyra says, and I can see in her eyes that she means it. There’s genuine concern there and I nod.
“It’s okay, really, I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” I let out a deep breath and stick my fists into my pocket.
Lyra bites her lip and swings from side to side on her chair, an awkward silence between us now. “This could really work,” Lyra says and I’m confused, I don’t know what she is talking about.
“What could really work?” For a moment I panic that she’s referring to us, to the two of us being something, and I don’t want that. I don’t want to invite the potential heartbreak back into my life.
“Heather coming here,” Lyra says, smiling again. Thank God for that. I nod and glance at Heather again.
“I just don’t want her to be a problem,” I say. “She’s my responsibility and I don’t want to jeopardise my position here because of her being here. I need to be able to support us.”
“I understand,” Lyra nods at me and tilts her head to the side, “You really can stop worrying. I think between the eight people in this studio, we’ll have it covered.”
I nod, “Still, it’s not on all of you to…”
“JJ, stop,” Lyra says, “Just stop. This is actually what I wanted. I wanted a studio that was different but still like a family, and Heather being here today has really pulled everyone together like one. You’re doing me a favour, okay?”
When she says it like that I blush slightly, and I’m not one to blush. I don’t do people favours. I work. I look after my kid. I get shit done and I hate asking for help, so this is all a weird feeling for me.
Still if Lyra is really that okay with Heather being here, then maybe, just maybe, this could work out for all of us.
