One Wild Night



Lucy had a lot on her mind as she drove to work very early the next morning. Although it was not yet time to resume at office but she thought she was better off there than at home with her parents. She wanted to be alone.

Where was Tom? What was going on with him? Was he alright? She mused.

She was yet to hear from him since after the conversation they had in her office the previous day before her breakfast, and despite all the messages and pictures she had sent to him, she had gotten no response.

Well, to be fair, the messages had actually not ticked delivered as at the time she sent them even though they ticked sent.

She had tried to assure herself the night before that perhaps he was busy with series of meetings and had kept his phone off to avoid distractions.

She had hoped she would wake up to messages from him but had been sorely disappointed when she saw nothing of the such when she woke up despite the fact that she noticed the messages had delivered.

She had been in such a foul mood that she had snapped at her mother when she innocently inquired about Tom. Lucy took a deep breath as she drove into the empty parking lot of the company.

She was almost tempted to give Harry a call to find out what was going on, but decided against it since she would meet him at the office. She hoped that he would have an explanation for Tom's silence.

More than anything else she really hoped that Tom had been able to resolve whatever problem was going at the branch over there and was on his way back already or preparing to be leave there. That was if he still planned to make it in time for the dinner party.

As she walked into her office, she stopped short at the door when she opened it and saw Tom sitting behind her desk.

"Tom?" She called in disbelief, and her heart soared with joy when he grinned at her as he rose.

"Surprised?" He asked, and with a shriek of joy Lucy dropped her handbag and ran around the desk to throw herself at Tom who was now chuckling.

Before she could say anything, Tom covered her lips with his and gave her a long and hard kiss that told her just how much he had missed her.

Once Tom stepped away, he smiled into her eyes as he looked at her, "Why are you here so early?"

"I should be asking you that. What are you doing in my office by this time of the morning?" She asked, taking in his tired appearance.

"Other than wanting to surprise you when you get here?" Tom asked, and Lucy grinned, all her worries forgotten.

"Well, I have been pleasantly surprised. But why didn't you at least respond to my texts? I was very worried!" She complained and he smiled.

"I thought it wouldn't hurt to have you worry about me a little. Especially since you will get to see me soon anyway," Tom said with a shrug as he sat on the edge of her desk and pulled her close.

"I feel like I'm dreaming," Lucy said happily and Tom pulled her nose.

"Ouch!"

"I gusss you're not dreaming then," Tom said, and Lucy smiled as her arms with around his neck.

"When did you arrive? Is Harry aware that you're back? Did you go home already?" Lucy asked curiously.

"You are the only one who knows I'm back. I arrived in the early hours of the morning and came here directly after freshening up and getting some rest in my office. I wanted to see you before anyone else," Tom said, and Lucy felt ripples of joy flow through her body.

"I missed you. I can't believe you were away for just two days. It feels like a really long time," Lucy said, and Tom nodded.

"I missed you too. You haven't told me why you are here by this time. Did something happen?" Tom asked with a concerned frown.

"I was in a foul mood and didn't want to be around my parents so I decided to come in early since I left work quite early yesterday," she explained.

"I see. And here I was thinking you were drawn by my presence," Tom said dryly and she laughed softly.

"Perhaps that was it. So? How did it go? Were you able to resolve everything?" Lucy asked, and Tom took a deep breath as he scratched the back of his ear.

After his conversation with Harry the previous day, he had decided to just leave everything and come back to Lucy immediately. He was going to get the DNA done and let her know what was going on.

All through his flight he had been worried about what her reaction would be and how she would take the news if it happened to be true. He didn't want to lose her. He just couldn't afford to.

"Is everything alright?" Lucy asked with worried eyes when she noticed the slight frown that now etched his brows.

Deciding not to go into it immediately, Tom smiled, "Yeah. I haven't been able to resolve it all. Something came up so I had to put everything else on hold," Tom explained.

"What came up?" Lucy asked with concern.

"Let's not rush into it yet. Why don't we go up to my office and you can tell me about your therapy session and how you've enjoyed my absence?" Tom suggested as he straightened and Lucy jabbed an elbow into his side.

"There was nothing to enjoy about your absence. I was counting the seconds until your return," Lucy said as she let Tom lead her take her hand and lead her to the door.

Tom picked up her handbag from where she had dropped it earlier and led her to the elevator.

"You became more beautiful in my absence. Perhaps I should stay away for some time," Tom teased and Lucy smiled at the compliment.

"I wish I could say the same about you. You look really exhausted. Perhaps I shouldn't let you out of my sight again," she said, and Tom took her hand in his.

"I hope you would do that," Tom said and Lucy looked at him.

Somehow she could tell that there was something going on with him, and she couldn't help but wonder what it was.

Despite his smile, she could see the worry in his eyes. What was bothering him? Did something serious happen? Did it have anything to do with the picture Cora had shown her and the reason he had lied to her?

"So? Tell me everything that has been going on with you," Tom urged her, and Lucy tried to fill him in on all that had happened since he left and finished by telling him about her therapist.

"I think I like her," Tom said, as he locked his office door behind door so that no one would be able to get in, and he led Lucy into the bedroom.

"Yeah. Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Lucy asked, looking at him with serious eyes.

"What?" Tom asked and Lucy raised a brow.

"I know you missed me, but I believe you were waiting for me because there was something you wanted to say to me, am I wrong?" Lucy asked and Tom shook his head.

"You are right. But I don't think we should rush into it..."

"You look restless, Tom. You are going to remain that way until you say what is on your mind. Talk to me," Lucy said with a worried frown.

Without saying anything, Tom ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath as he looked at her. How did a man tell the woman he loved something like this?

Could he trust her to understand and not run in the other direction?

"I don't know how to say this. I've spent hours thinking about the best way to explain this, but I can't seem to come up with anything," Tom confessed with worried eyes.

Lucy's brows pulled together as she took off her glasses, "You are making me anxious. Did you do something? Were you with someone else?" she asked the first question on her mind.

"Someone else? Are you asking if I cheated on you? Of course, not! I could never do that," Tom said fiercely, and Lucy let out a relieved sigh.

"If that's not it, what could be so difficult to explain?" she asked, and Tom sat down on the bed and patted the space beside him for her to join him.

Lucy put on her glasses as she sat down beside him and took Tom's hand in support, "Tell me."

"I'm not sure if I should say anything until I'm certain..."

"If it's bothering you so much when you're not certain of it yet, then you should probably tell me about whatever it is and let's worry about it together," Lucy suggested.

He had thought about it too. Carrying her along all the way so she would know how important she was to him and how important this whole issue was to him as well.

"I told you I've been with other ladies in the past, right? I mean, I've had sexual relations with ladies in the past," Tom started, and Lucy looked at him with confused eyes as she gave him a nod.

Although she wanted to ask why he was bringing that up, she didn't want to interrupt whatever he had to say.

"You remember I told you about having a meeting in a club?" Tom asked and Lucy adjusted her position as she gave him a nod once again.

"Well, the man I met with invited someone else over. His niece," Tom started, and Lucy looked at him thoughtfully.

That would explain the lady in the picture that Cora had shown her, but that didn't explain why they were alone. Unless the person he had a meeting with was trying to hook him up with his niece? Was that it?

"Are you listening?" Tom asked when he noticed that Lucy seemed distracted.

"You said he brought his niece along. What for?" Lucy asked curiously.

"The thing is, she is someone I sort of hooked up with years ago. It was a fling not a relationship..."

"So he brought her to rekindle old flames?" Lucy asked sharply.

"There was never flame," Tom said tightly.

"The fact that you slept with her says there was one," Lucy said matter-of-factly.

"Shall I go ahead or let you work with your assumptions?" Tom asked, and Lucy sighed.

"I'm sorry. Go on," she said although there was now a nervous pit in her stomach.

"According to her she had been trying to find me all these years. You know, until recently my identity has remained hidden, so she didn't really know who I was until the interview," Tom explained, and Lucy withdrew her hand from his and folded her hands together on her thighs.

She could tell now that whatever it was he wanted to say was something she was not going to like and the longer she waited for him to get to the point the more nervous she felt.

"Can you just go straight to the point and tell me what she wants? Is she going to be another Anita we have to worry about?" Lucy asked, and Tom took a deep breath.

"I don't know how it happened, but she claims we have a child..."

"A CHILD?!" Lucy exclaimed as she involuntarily sprang to her feet.

"Lucy..."

"Did you just say she has a child for you? How can you even say you have no idea how it happened?" Lucy asked, cutting him off as she put some distance between them as he rose.

"I swear I had no idea of this until she showed up at the club. I used protection when I slept with her. I can hardly believe it myself. I'm going to carry out a DNA test. This happened four years ago, Lu. Long before I met you," Tom rushed to explain while Lucy merely stared at him like she was dreaming.

"Please say something," Tom pleaded when she merely continued to stare at him speechlessly.

"What am I supposed to say? What do you expect me to say?" Lucy asked in a broken voice.

"Anything. Tell me what you are thinking," Tom pleaded.

Lucy shook her head, "I can't think right now. Let's talk about it after you get the DNA test and you know for certain," Lucy said as she picked up her handbag and turned to leave.

"Lucy, please I need you to talk to me. I love you. I need you to listen," Tom pleaded.

"I love you too. But let's talk later. I'm sure you need to rest and sort out other things too. I need to be alone right now," Lucy said as she walked away from the office blinded by her tears.

She had no idea where she was going but she knew it wasn't to her office. She needed to be somewhere else where she could be alone and think. And cry.