One Wild Night

Later that evening after they had all had dinner together, Lucy saw her parents off to their car, leaving Dawn with Tom and the rest of the family.

"How are you coping with everything?" Andrew asked referring to the rumors which had been circulating all over the internet.

"I'm okay. It has been taken care of already, remember?" Lucy said, since they had all followed the news and seen the public statement from I-Global addressing the rumors of Tom's relationship with Kimberly.

They had issued a warning asking all sites and blogs who had posted the news to take it down immediately or be ready to face legal actions, and just like that, every news site had done so, since they didn't want to have problems with I-Global, especially as Tom had brought out evidence.

Although the comment section of the sites and blogs which had carried the news of the I-Global's public statement was still filled with speculations about the relationship between Kimberly, Tom, and his grandfather, nobody was talking about Lucy anymore.

"It must not be easy dealing with all of this. By the way you mentioned going home with us when we spoke over the phone earlier. I assumed it was because of the rumors. Or did something else happen that we are not aware of?" Janet asked curiously.

"Nothing serious. I sort of got Evelyn and everyone else upset earlier and thought I should leave, but everything is fine now," Lucy said and Andrew raised a brow.

"What did you do?" he asked, since Lucy wasn't the type to cause trouble for others.

"I asked them all to butt out of Tom's personal affairs," Lucy said without bothering to go into details and her parents frowned.

"Why would you do something like that?" Janet asked with a disaaproving frown unable to imagine Lucas' girlfriend or wife telling her something like that.

Lucy shrugged, "I felt like they were meddling too much. You know how I like to keep my nose out of other people's business and I like my business to be private. Over here everyone loves to be involved," she explained and Andrew shook his head.

"I don't see how that is wrong. And even if it was, I don't think it was your place to do so," Janet said before her husband could speak.

"Yeah. I regret doing it already," Lucy said and her dad looked at her.

"Every parent has their own parenting style. Before your mom and I had you and Lucas, we agreed to only guide and not to impose or interfere in your decisions. We wanted you both to be yourselves wholly. Has it ever occurred to you that if we had not done that and had meddled in your business as much as we should have as your parents, none of what happened would have happened?" he asked, and Lucy's brows pulled together.

"You didn't have to bring that up, Drew," Janet said with displeasure.

"Yes, I had to. We can't keep skirting around what happened. We should be able to talk about it. It's time she knows that minding her business the way she does isn't always the best, and she shouldn't expect everyone else to be like her," Andrew said before facing Lucy.

"As much as your mom and I blame ourselves for not noticing all that was going on with you until it got to the point where you were abducted, it would have helped had you also been more open and come to us when you needed us. If only we had meddled enough in both your life and Lucas' you both wouldn't have had to deal with that psychopath and Rachel," Andrew said and Janet sighed.

"I have often wished I was more like Evelyn. I don't think you would have experienced any of that had I been like her. Evelyn is a good mother," Janet said and this time Lucy sighed.

"All I'm saying is, Evenlyn and Desmond did such a great job raising their kids, hence they turned out the way they did. You shouldn't make them feel like they are terrible parents simply because their style is different from ours," Andrew said softly and Lucy nodded.

"I've heard you. Have you been hearing from Lucas?" she asked, wanting to change the subject. She was tired of it already and was now regretting bringing it up again.

"Yes. He is doing well thanks to Tyler. I can't wait for him to come back. I miss having him around already," Janet said and Lucy nodded.

"Me too. He should be back in six months after his program," Lucy said and her father looked at her with interest.

"How is your therapy going? You've started right?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah. It's going much better than I thought. I like my therapist," she said and her parents smiled in relief.

"That's good to know," her father said as he placed an arm around her shoulder.

"By the way, have you seen the news about Rachel's dad lately?" Janet asked and Lucy gave her a nod.

"Tom is behind it, isn't he? He doesn't plan to reveal Candace's identity, does he?" Janet asked with concern.

"That's not up to Tom. It's up to Candace," Lucy said and they spent some time talking about it before her parents finally got into their car and drove off, and once they left, Lucy sighed as she returned inside the house.

Away from there, as Harry walked into his apartment after work that evening, he felt all the stress of the day drain off him as he was greeted by the delicious smell of dinner and laughter coming from the kitchen.

The thought that in a couple of days he would start returning to an empty apartment once again, made him feel unexpectedly sad. He had not imagined that he had gotten used to having them all in his apartment at such a short time.

He would definitely miss them all when they returned to Sogal. The sadness which had enveloped him disappeared when Jamal sighted him at the dining and ran out of the kitchen to welcome him.

"Uncle Harry!" he screamed excitedly as he jumped on him as though they had not seen each other that morning.

"If you keep welcoming this way, I might not let you go back with your mom and grandpa when it's time to leave," Harry said as he picked Jamal up and spun him around, making Jamal chortle.

"Is that your way of saying you don't want me to leave, so you plan to hold Jamal hostage to keep me?" Candace asked sweetly as her and Aaron stepped out of the kitchen to meet Harry and he scoffed as he set Jamal whose eyes were spinning on one of the dining chairs.

"What you need is a wife and your own kids to welcome you home, not your nephew," Aaron said and Harry shook his head.

"I've had a long day. I don't have the energy to banter with either of you tonight," Harry said as he looked from Candace to their father.

"So, how was your day?"Harry asked Jamal as he took off his suit jacket and tie.

"Great! Grandpa got mummy lots of gifts. He got some for me too," Jamal announced.

"I don't suppose you thought of getting any for me?" Harry asked his father and Candace shook her head.

"I guess he forgot about you. Don't worry, you're welcome to share my makeup and perfume set," Candace offered and Harry chuckled.

"We saw the news about Tom. You must have had a busy day," Aaron observed.

"I did. And I'm glad the day is almost over. I can't wait for weekend to come," Harry said and Candace raised a brow.

"Why? You can't wait for us to leave?" she asked and Harry chuckled.

"Yeah. I can't wait for you to leave," Harry said with a nod and before Candace could respond, Aaron stepped in.

"Why don't you go and freshen up and come back for dinner? The table should be set before you are done," Aaron suggested, knowing that if he didn't interrupt them now they were going to continue going at each other.

"Sure. I will join you shortly," Harry said as he walked away to his bedroom.

Just as he walked into his bedroom he received a call from Jade and smiled as he took it, "Hey, baby!" he greeted and Jade grinned.

"Not esquire?" she asked and Harry smiled.

"I can call you whatever at any given time. Right now I'm just so happy to hear from my baby," he said and Jade felt her grin widen even more.

"Are you home now?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah. I just got in a while ago," Harry said with a yawn.

"You must have had a really long day," Jade said sympathetically.

"Yes, I did. But let's not talk about me. I would rather talk about you. How have you been? How did you spend your day?" he asked as he connected his phone to his airpod so he could take off his clothes without having to hang up.

Jade shrugged, "As you already know, things have been crazy around here. So, there was nothing fun about my day. Not that I expected to have fun since we are here because of my grandpa. Still, it's like we are not even mourning him and are too busy with trying to fix this mess he left us. Everyone else has someone to talk to, but I'm alone," Jade said with a sigh.

"Is that your way of saying you're missing me?" Harry asked so she would smile, and she did.

"No, that's not my way of saying it. There is no reason to be subtle about telling my boyfriend that I miss him. I miss you, Jonas. Very much. I wish you were here with me, or I was there with you," Jade said and Harry couldn't help feeling bad at the loneliness which he could hear clearly in her voice.

Perhaps he could sort out all he needed to do at the office and move his trip up so he could be with her tomorrow?

Sure, he could push all his meetings for Friday to Thursday, but there was no way he could leave his family behind when they were leaving by weekend.

He had to at least stay with them and see them off to the airport when it was time to leave, Harry thought with a sigh.

"I miss you too, and I wish I could leave everything behind to come be with you. I'm sorry I'm not there for you the way you need me to right now," Harry said apologetically.

"You don't have to be sorry. It's not deliberate after all. Besides, it's enough that I'm able to call you and speak with you this way," Jade assured him.

"How about we switch to video call?" she asked and Harry chuckled when he looked down at his naked body.

"I'd rather not. I'm not properly covered," Harry said and Jade's eyes lit up.

"Really? Are you just not wearing a shirt or are you naked naked?" she asked and Harry shook his head in amusement when he heard the excitekent in her voice.

"I'm naked, naked. Why? You want me to send you my nudes and have phone sex with you?" he asked dryly and Jade giggled.

"That would be wonderful," she said and Harry chuckled.

"You know what I just remembered?" Jade asked and Harry raised a brow.

"What?"

"The first time you called me, I was undressing. The entire time I spoke to you, I was naked," she said with a giggle.

"Really? I wasn't dressed either (chapter 153)," Harry said with a grin and Jade giggled more.

"For real?" she asked, her eyes gleaming excitedly at that piece of information.

"Yeah. I just got out of the shower and when I saw the missed calls I decided to call back," Harry explained.

"You see? We are a match made in heaven," Jade said and Harry chuckled.

"So, why don't we repeat history? I could just undress now and we can switch to video call. That way you don't have to be embarrassed that you're the only one who is undressed," Jade drawled suggestively and Harry laughed.

"God, I love you so much," he said, and Jade grinned.

"Are you telling me that just to distract me from my request?" She asked, and Harry chuckled.

"No, I'm telling you that because talking to you makes me very happy."

"Good. Show me how happy I make you by switching to video call. I'm your girlfriend after all and you don't have to be shy about letting me see your body. Soon it will be all mine and I have a right to see and make sure that everything is in order," Jade said and Harry chuckled.

"As you said, soon it will be all yours. So, why not exercise patience? And you don't have to worry, everything is in order," Harry assured her.

"Talk is cheap, Jonas," Jade said and Harry laughed again.

"You're not going to goad me into doing anything, esquire," Harry said and Jade grinned.

"You can't blame a girl for trying. I love you. I know you're exhausted so I will let you go freshen up and spend some time with your family. Call me before you go to bed, okay?" Jade said, and even though Harry was reluctant to hang up the call, he knew he had to since they were waiting for him to join them for dinner.

"Sure. And I love you more. Talk to you later," Harry said before hanging up.

Once he hung up her chuckled as he dropped his phone on the bed and walked into the bathroom.

He was really looking forward to the day he would make love to her.