Chapter 5: Who is your Boss?

SOPHIE’S POV

FIVE YEARS LATER

The airplane descended and started to glide downward; my heartbeat raced simultaneously.  Returning to New York reminded me of the past I tried hard to forget.

"Sit tight baby," I said to Isabella, who sat beside me and his siblings.

"Mum, mum, are we in New York now?" It was Owen. He is the most inquisitive of my kids and a tech genius.

"Yes, darling, we are in New York," I answered with a smile, holding onto Isabella's hand, whose eyes were shut.

"Is Daddy here too?" He continued to ask, his blue eyes gazing at me, and I felt my heart skip at his question.

Ever since I announced to them we were moving to New York, my kids' joy knew no bond. I knew they believed their dad was here, but I always made sure to avoid their question any time they asked me about their daddy. How would I answer them even when I didn’t know their dad was?

"Hey shhhh," Lucas hushed at him playfully behind us. "Our plane does not like many questions."

"I don’t believe you, Uncle," Nathan, his younger brother, said, folding his hands. Nathan was the maths wizard and always talked like his older than his age. This made Lucas laugh and pinch him on the cheek.

The pilot announced it in his usual scratchy, recurring voice.

The plane had completely landed now, doing a casual run-up on the tarmac.

I held on to Isabella, my last child and a girl. She seemed to be frightened by the way she closed her eyes.

"Don’t worry, sweetie, we are home now," I said sweetly, patting her back with my hand to calm her nervousness.

"Are you sure, Mom?" she asked in her tiny, lovely voice.

"Yes, darling,"

We got outside the plane, and I looked around and was almost moved to tears.

"Back in New York," I muttered to myself, and Lucas came up to me, his hand brushing my hair to the back of my ear.

"I guess your vehicle must be waiting at the point of the exit now," he said, and I let out a long sigh.

"Yeah, sure," I replied as I trapped some of our luggage, and Lucas did the same.

"Owen and Nathan, hold Isabella, and stay right beside me," I stated, and they quickly arranged themselves side by side with Isabella in the middle.

"Thank you, Lucas," I said, looking at his face. "For everything."  He looked at me for a while and made a gesture with his eyes.

"How many times have I told you not to thank me, Sophie? It's nothing. I'm just helping  a friend in need of my little help." He giggled as we walked toward the exit.

Lucas was my high school friend. He was the one who saved me five years ago after the adversity I went through made me collapse helplessly on the streets. He was leaving the country after securing a job in California, and he had offered me to follow him. And I had not taken his help for granted.

Two weeks after I left New York, I discovered I was pregnant. Lucas wouldn't let me do any work, so I used the opportunity to acquire a lot more training and certifications in my discipline.

Lucas had always been there for me; throughout the pregnancy, he would take me out, listen to my tantrums, and follow me to the antenatal. Even some people believed he was my baby's daddy until my babies started calling him uncle.

Today I am a renowned financial analyst and have just gotten a job with one of the biggest firms in New York, Harrington Group. Lucas was the one who encouraged me to apply for the job; he believed I couldn't continue to run from my shadow.

I remember how much I tried to reject the job after I got selected among over 60 candidates who applied for it. I have told the company it wouldn't be convenient since I have triplets, but the company offered us a 4-bedroom apartment in one of their estates and a car befitting my type of family.

Outside the airport, the company Toyota Highlander was waiting for us. The driver waved at us with a place card on his card.

"Over here, Madam," he said, waving the card. "Over here!" He repeated, almost too excitedly, as he knew us before now, and the kids ran toward the car excitedly.

"Welcome, madam," the driver said, taking our luggage into the car. Nathan and Isabella rushed into the car, while Owen was looking at him with his face puzzled.

"What?" I asked him.

"Mum, the driver’s tie looks clownish," Owen replied, and the driver let out a tight-lipped smile upon hearing his comment.

"Owen, don’t say that as an elder," I warned him, giving him a stern look, and he smirked.

"Really? You talk just like my boss." The driver said, looking at Owen with eyes narrowed, "Come to think of it, Clownish? It sounds like something my boss would say." He laughed again.

"Who is your boss?" I heard Nathan and Isabella say this from the window of the car.

"Enough of the questions, kids, Owen, please enter the car now," I ordered, and he obeyed without any further questions. He was always like that; making comments about people's dresses was one of his hobbies. I wonder where he got that from.

"Please get into the car, Madam, so we can beat the negative traffic this morning." The driver divulged, and I nodded.

"Yes, sir, thank you."

I sat next to the driver, while Lucas sat behind with the kids, busy with his phone. I looked back casually at the kids; they were already busy with their tablets. I wondered what they were up to this time around.

"Sir, what's the name of your boss?" Nathan asked and threw him a hard glance.

"Never mind, sir; it's just some random question, but... You know…you can still tell us if you don't mind."

"Nathan!" I called, and he smiled at me, showing me his set of milk teeth.

"That won't work with me, young man; no more questions. Okay?" 

"Yes, ma'am," they replied in unison, and I returned my face to the front, looking around the city through the glass.

Lucas laughed again and patted Isabella's hair before turning his face to feed his eyes through the winded-up glasses.

After more than 40 minutes of driving, the car started to drop speed as the driver stirred his wheel gently, motioning the car onto a smooth, tarred road that had a billboard lodged at its entrance that read "Harrington D Avenue, This Way!"

I felt relieved but somehow distracted because of the kids. They were whispering among themselves. Not that it matters much but when these children stop being inquisitive, it means they are up to something.

Just as I was about to turn around to check on them, Owen's excited voice made me even more curious. 

"Yes, And I found him," he shouted cheerfully from the back of the car.

I looked back, searching their faces while Nathan and Isabella covered his mouth with their tiny hands.

"What did you find, Owen?" I asked,  my eyes darting among the three who shook their heads simultaneously.