Lydia walked to John's with a sense of comfort and excitement about Tommy. She had decided to put aside the twang of jealousy she felt about what had happened with Grace as Tommy had very eloquently announced that he wanted Lydia and only her.
As Lydia reached John's steps she noticed a familiar blonde female. She had long blonde hair and wore a little too much makeup. It was Lydia's ex-best friend who she hadn't spoken to in years. Not that Lydia was complaining she didn't want anything to do with Madison.
Madison was the kind of girl who seemed lovely and sweet from the outside but used people to get what she wanted. And that was exactly what she had done to Lydia. Madison used her to get in with the Shelbys; in an attempt to marry and use them for their money.
All Madison cared about was wealth and how good she looked. Lydia still felt betrayed by the girl even years after.
Lydia confidently walked up the steps to greet John who was talking to Madison. She made the conscious decision to ignore the blonde.
"What is she doing 'ere?" Lydia asked John, who was surprised at the cool tone in which Lydia spoke.
"Madison just came round to ask if I needed help picking up the kids from school or anything-" John explained but was interrupted.
"-Well I do that. So no he doesn't." Lydia snapped and glared at the blonde before walking past John and strutting into his house.
Lydia headed straight for the kitchen to greet John's children who all seemed delighted to see her. She immediately picked up Jack who was sat on Katie's lap and placed him on her hip as she picked up random items of clothing around the house in an attempt to tidy.
"Bloody 'ell Lyds. What was that all about?" John asked walking into the kitchen.
"John she's a worker, she only wants ya for your money." Lydia explained.
"She was only being nice." John defended Madison.
"No she was only trying to seem nice, so she can scam you in some way. Anyway, I'm here to take the kids to school. I'll see you later at the Garrison?" Lydia asked.
"Yeah yeah, I'll see ya later." John kissed her cheek and then gathered up his children and guided them out the door with Lydia.
As Lydia walked with John's children to their school, she thought about how Madison only flirted with John as a way of getting in with the Shelbys again. Now that John wasn't marrying Lizzie Stark due to her discrepancies which Tommy unravelled, Lydia would have to ensure that John didn't fall for Madison or the entire business would end up bankrupt.
After dropping the Shelby children at school, Lydia made her way to work and finally completed her usual long shift. She was pleasantly surprised to see Tommy waiting outside the hospital after her shift.
"Hello Miss Thorne, how was your day at work?" Tommy asked formally, jokingly of course.
"Why hello Mr Shelby. My shift was perfectly adequate, how about your day at work?" Lydia joked back in a posh accent.
"Perfectly adequate." He mimicked. They walked arm in arm through Small Heath together, in that moment everything was bliss. If only it would last.