Pushing down on the wheels, I move forward as I open my eyes, seeing Maya about twenty feet in front of me, stuck in her own little world.
“Shit.”
I push harder on the wheels, willing them to move as I look down, watching them sink further into the mud on the side of the path. Maybe we should have taken the cart.
“Maya?” She doesn’t hear me as she wanders off down the path. My movements become jerky, needing to get this chair out of where it’s stuck in the mud.
“Maya!”
“Amelia?” her soft voice calls, and when she spins around, her eyes go wide.
“Help?”
She jogs back to me, assessing the damage as I continue to try and relieve myself from the spot I’m in.
“Stop!” She places her hands on the handles. “You’re sinking in deeper.”
She stands behind me, groaning as she pulls on the handles but not getting us anywhere.
“Maybe try from the front?” I suggest.
She rounds the front, her Converse covered entirely in wet mud. “I told you we should have taken the cart.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I wave her away as she places her hands on the sides. “Just help me get out of here.”
She pushes at the same time I pull back on the wheels, managing to move an inch before I sink back down again. We do the same thing for what feels like hours, not getting any traction before Maya lets out a battle cry, so loud my ears start to ring. For whatever reason, it must make all the difference because suddenly I’m shoved backward.
“Yes!” I shout, feeling like we just achieved something, but then Maya’s feet slip from under her.
Her gaze meets mine, her eyes wide and shocked as we both realize she’s going down and there’s nothing we can do about it.
“You guys really didn’t need me here today, come on! You’ve been working here for nearly a year now.” I scrub a hand through my hair in frustration. I could’ve been at home doing something with Maya and Amelia.
I look down at my watch seeing it’s still before twelve and stand up. “I’m going to go home now and see my girl because it looks like you’ve got this all under control, Jamie.”
He nods sheepishly and turns toward Henry. “I did tell him.”
I start to say something but stop myself, they’ll learn to work better together eventually. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
They say their goodbyes and I walk out of the conference room and over to the elevators, taking it down to the lot.
The drive back to the house takes longer than I want it to but when I arrive, my muscles immediately relax as I park in the garage and walk through the house—the very silent house.
“Maya, Amelia?”
When I get no answer, I walk into the kitchen, opening the patio door a little and peering out. Not seeing them out there, I decide to check the pool until I hear a growl ending in a scream coming from the direction of the woods.
I throw myself out of the gap I’ve made in the doors, bashing my shoulder and stumbling before righting myself and running as fast as I can, cursing myself for wearing these stupid brogues for going into the office on a Saturday.
“Amelia! Maya!” I shout between harsh breaths as I near the woods.
As I break through the clearing, I see Amelia in her chair facing away from me but Maya is lying down in the mud I’m having trouble running through.
“Maya!”
Amelia’s head snaps my way but instead of panic on her face like I’m expecting, she’s crying with laughter and so is Maya.
“What… why…” I put up a finger to catch my breath, feeling like my heart is about to explode out of my chest.