One Wild Night

Lucy's heart skipped a beat when she opened her eyes the next morning and saw Tom watching her the same way he always did whenever he woke up before her, the only difference was that he was holding her hand this time.

Tom smiled, "Good morning, my Jewel," he greeted pleasantly, and although she was still feeling a bit anxious, she smiled back.

"How long have you been awake?" She asked, and Tom shrugged.

"Long enough to know to behold your beauty," he said with a grin and Lucy blushed.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked awkwardly and he gave her a nod.

"I did. Did you?" He asked as he looked down at their joined hands.

"I guess so," she said, as she watched him while wondering what he was thinking.

Why was he acting like everything was alright and they had not just had the most awkward day of their relationship the previous day? What was going on in his head? Lucy mused.

If he was trying to brush off all that had happened yesterday and pretend like everything was fine, she was more than willing to move on from it as well but she wasn't so sure that was the best thing to do.

"That's good. Let's get ready for work," Tom said as he kissed the back of her hand before rolling off the bed.

As they both prepared for work, Tom's gaze moved to Lucy at intervals and when he could, he watched her from the corners of his eyes as she dressed up.

Like her, he had pretended to be asleep so she could relax but had been awake when she went to the balcony to cry and he had eavesdropped on her part of the conversation with Lucas.

Now that he was well rested and refreshed, his mind and thoughts concerning Lucy and their relationship was clear.

He was going to make her his wife and the mother of his kids.

He wanted Lucinda Perry to be his wife and the mother of his kids, and he was going to find a way to make her want the same thing no matter how long it would take.

If he could get her to fall in love with him and be in a relationship with him, then he could also get her to marry him.

He was a patient man, and he wasn't the type to give up on what he wanted so easily.

Although his father's suggestion was a welcome one, he was smart enough to know that Lucy's personality was very different from his mother's personality regardless of what little similarities they shared, and what worked on his mother might not work on her.

Taking the same approach as his father had done might not necessarily work since Lucy was more reserved than his mother and he knew her well enough to know her default response to emotional disturbance was withdrawal.

He was going to need to be more careful with Lucy. He would let Lucy return to her apartment as his father had suggested, but that was as far as he planned to go. He hoped that staying apart would make her miss living together.

"What are you thinking about?" Lucy asked when she caught him staring at her and noticed he seemed lost in his thoughts.

Tom flashed her a smile as he shook his head, "I was just thinking that you look really beautiful," Tom lied, and although Lucy narrowed her eyes suspiciously, she didn't push further.

"Are you ready to leave?" Tom asked as he looked her over.

She was dressed in a black corporate dress that stopped at a knee, and had a rose colored floral scarf around her neck which matched her stiletto.

"Yeah," Lucy said, and they left the house together.

"Are you going to be very busy today?" Lucy asked as they got into the car.

"Yeah," Tom said as he started the car.

"You met my assistant yesterday. What do you think about him?" Tom asked as he drove off.

"He said his name is Eric Howell. Is he related to the television show host?" Lucy asked, and Tom shook his head.

"He is not. Harry looked into his background and it was clean," Tom assured her.

"That's quite a coincident," Lucy said thoughtfully, and Tom nodded.

"By the way, you haven't gotten someone to replace your secretary yet, have you? Do you need help?" Tom asked, and Lucy shook her head.

"No, thanks. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with working with just anyone right now. I think I can manage on my own for the time being," Lucy said, but Tom said nothing.

The conversations they were having was sort of awkward and they both knew it. It was clear they were avoiding the real issue they needed to talk about.

"I heard from Jade about Anita and her family," Lucy said, and Tom sighed.

"I should have told you about that. I'm sorry. I forgot."

"It's okay. I'm sure you would have told me had things not happened the way they did between us yesterday," Lucy said, hoping this would be an opening for them to talk about yesterday.

"About Anita's family...." Tom started and passed his phone to Lucy so she would listen to everything Barry had sent him while he drove.

Lucy sighed when she was done listening, "This changes everything, doesn't it?" Lucy asked, and Tom nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it does. But we will have to wait and see what happens next," Tom said, and he took his phone from Lucy when Harry's call entered.

"Good morning, sunshine! Sup?" Tom asked sweetly immediately he received Harry's call.

Harry chuckled, "Save the endearments for your girlfriend, I don't need it. I see you are feeling better today," Harry observed.

"Yeah. I'm sure you didn't call just to check on me when you know we would be meeting at the office soon. What's up?" Tom asked curiously.

"Don't be so sure. I missed you so much that I dreamt of you...." Harry trailed off with a chuckle when Tom laughed out loud.

"Good. I see you are okay. So, the thing is this. I just received a distress call from one of the hotel directors in one of the branches outside the country, and one of us is needed over there to resolve the issue...."

"What is the situation? Can't it be resolved from here?" Tom asked without letting him finish.

Tom listened as Harry gave him the details "....You know I can't travel right now," Harry finished, and Tom nodded.

"I will take care of it. Don't worry about it," Tom assured Harry before hanging up.

"Is everything alright?" Lucy asked with concern since she had heard the worry in Tom's voice.

"Something urgent came up, and I have to travel out of the country today," Tom said, and Lucy's heart skipped a beat.

"Today?"

"Yeah. Hopefully I won't be gone for too long," Tom said, and Lucy frowned.

"What about the anniversary events?"

"Harry will handle it. I should be able to resolve the problem and be back before the anniversary dinner party on Friday," Tom said, and Lucy sighed.

They were both silent for some time and then Lucy cleared her throat, "Um, can we talk about yesterday?" She asked, and Tom turned to look at her and took her hand in his.

"Your reaction to my observation hurt me, but I also took things too far. I'm sorry I hurt your feelings," Tom said, and Lucy looked at him, not sure why she felt like he was saying this so they won't argue further but he had other plans in mind for her.

"I'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean to," Lucy apologized, and Tom raised her hand to his lips.

"It's fine now. So which therapists did you contact? And how can I help?" Tom asked, and Lucy smiled as she told him about the two therapists and how she was still trying to make up her mind on which of them to go for.

"Maybe you can start by talking with them both and settle for the one you feel more comfortable speaking with," Tom suggested.

"Alright. I will do that. Do you still want me to move back to my apartment?" Lucy asked, her heart racing as the question left her lips.

Tom nodded, "Yeah. I think you should. You can do that after our parents leave," Tom said, and Lucy looked at him for a moment.

"Tom? Are we good?" She asked, and Tom smiled at her.

"Sure. We are," he assured her, and Lucy sighed.

She wasn't sure if she believed him. She was still very uncomfortable. He was traveling and would be away for a couple of days. He still wanted her to move to her apartment even though things still seemed sort of tense between them.

Lucy took a deep breath. She was going to move back to her apartment no doubt, since Lucas had also suggested the same thing. But the problem was that she wasn't sure how things was going to be between them going forward, and that was what made her feel very uncomfortable.