One Wild Night

The oppressive cloud that had seemed to permanently reside over Amy's head for the past few weeks had mysteriously vanished. Gone were the perpetually furrowed brows and downturned lips, replaced by a lightness in her step and a barely concealed smile that played on her lips.

Her colleagues couldn't help but notice the change. As Amy walked past one of the intern's desk on her way to Lucy's office, the intern couldn't resist a playful jab.

"Did you win the lottery over the weekend, Amy? You look positively radiant."

Amy stopped, a genuine, full-bodied laugh escaping her lips. "I don't play the lottery," she said, her grin widening. "But we can say I won something," Amy said before continuing to Lucy's office.

As she cleaned and organized Lucy's desk, she let out a deep sigh as her mind drifted back to the phone call with Lucas the previous evening, the memory sending a pleasant warmth through her.

After their phone call, Lucas had texted her a couple of hours after she got home to find out if she was home. Lucas was such a gentleman, she thought with a soft smile as she returned to her desk.

She had deliberately decided not to text Lucas when she woke up that morning. As much as he was putting up with her and being friendly with her, she didn't want to overdo it.

The notification chime of her phone startled her out of her daydream. She eagerly snatched it up, hoping for a message from Lucas, but a pang of disappointment hit her when she saw it was just Lucy, informing her she would be late and needed Amy to reschedule some appointments.

Well, it was pretty obvious that she was running late since she was usually almost always the first person to arrive at the office in their team, but almost everyone was at the office now and she wasn't.

As Amy focused on organizing the files in front of her for Lucy, her phone buzzed again, this time with a text from Lucas. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw it was from him. It was a simple message:

[Good morning, your time. Heading to bed now. Have a nice day.]

A small smile tugged at her lips. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make her stomach flutter. She liked that he thought of her before going to bed and cared enough to send a message.

[Sweet dreams, Dr Luca.] she texted back and taking a deep breath, she decided to focus on work.

Away from there, the corner of Lucas's mouth quirked up as he read Amy's message. A soft warmth spread through him. Although he had sort of expected that she would send him a text when she woke up, he had also been relieved that she didn't.

A part of him had braced for her to bombard him with texts now that she had his number and he had given her the go-ahead to text him, but he liked that she wasn't putting any pressure on him.

He appreciated the casualness, the unspoken understanding that their communication wouldn't be a constant barrage. He liked that while she was reaching out to him in friendship, she was also leaving room for him to return the energy as he pleased.

He looked at the door when Tyler knocked on it, "I didn't realize you were back," Lucas said as Tyler walked in.

"I guess you were in the shower when I knocked," Tyler said and Lucas nodded.

"So? How did dinner go? Did you see her?" Lucas asked, and Tyler nodded.

"Yeah. I did," Tyler said and went on to tell Lucas all about dinner with Henry.

Tyler sighed, "I wonder how they are going to be able to help her."

"Don't worry about it. Leave it to Tom. I'm sure he will find a way," Lucas said confidently.

"What have you been up to all day?" Tyler asked and Lucas shrugged, instinctively keeping his phone screen pointed down.

"Nothing much. Just catching up on some reading," he said vaguely, gesturing towards a book lying open on the bed.

Tyler's gaze flickered to the book, then back to Lucas's face. "Funny," he remarked, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Why do you look and sound much livelier?" Tyler asked and Lucas frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"You sound sort of excited. Did you chat with Amy today?" Tyler asked and Lucas Lucas felt a heat rise in his cheeks but covered it with a scowl.

"What has that have to do with anything?" He countered defensively.

Tyler's grinned. "Nothing, nothing," he placatingly raised his hands. "Just asking. Guess you must have then. I'm off to bed," He winked before Lucas could protest further, then turned and exited the room, before Lucas could deny it or argue further leaving Lucas alone with his churning stomach.

Lucas eyed the door with displeasure and scowled as he stalked over to the mirror, scrutinizing his reflection. Did he look different? He poked and prodded at his face, searching for some outward sign of his internal turmoil. Finding nothing, he muttered a curse under his breath. "He loves to jump to conclusions," he grumbled to himself before turning off the lights and flopping onto the bed.

Away from there, once Tom arrived at his office, he asked Harry's secretary to reorganize his appointments for the day since he had a meeting with Jeff by 10 and needed to leave the office by noon to pick Aaron.

Seated behind his desk, he took out his phone and played the recordings which Barry sent to him.

He was grateful that Barry filtered the recordings and only sent him those he considered to be important.

One of the recordings he was listening to, was a conversation between Diana and Henry after the dinner with Tyler.

"So? Do you think he knows the truth?" Diana was asking Henry.

"It doesn't seem like it. And if he knows and he is pretending not to know, then he must be a smart young man," Henry said and Diana sighed.

"Well, I'm sure if he knew he wouldn't have reached out to Dr Evans, unless of course he wanted to get favor from you," Diana said reasonably.

"You're right. So? What do you think about her so far?" Henry asked, referring to Mia.

"Are you asking me that to see if I am jealous? You know very well that I don't like that I have to share you," Diana said in a sucky tone.

"You're not sharing me. We both know she is only my wife in name. Haven't I proven that to you already? I made you the lady of my home. You're the Queen of my kingdom," Henry promised, his voice surprisingly warm.

"Well, I have news for you," Diana said, her voice sounding like she was anxious.

"What news?"

Diana cleared her throat, "I wasn't going to tell you. I mean with the new development. I didn't want to put you in a tough position…" she let the rest of her words trail off.

"What is this about?" Henry asked, sounding very curious.

"I think I'm pregnant. But you don't have to worry. I already booked an appointment with the doctor. I plan to terminate it. I know a man like you would never want to have a child out of wedlock…"

"Did you just say you are pregnant?" Henry cut in, sounding very excited.

"Yes?" Diana said, and Tom who was listening to the conversation chuckled.

This was even more interesting to him than a soap opera.

"I'm sorry. I know I should have been more careful. But considering that we were planning to get married before she showed up, I didn't really make a big deal…"

"Say no more, my sweetest Diana. You're not going to terminate this baby. My baby," Henry said, his voice firm and soft at the same time.

"But what about your wife?"

"What about her? She has no say in this matter. Don't worry. Trust me and wait, okay?" Henry said and Diana sighed.

"I wish I could do that, but I don't want to take any risks. I love you, but I need you to give me something I can hold on to," Diana said, and Tom chuckled once again, wondering why Henry was so gullible.

"What do you want? Tell me," Henry urged her.

"What does this baby worth to you? Give me something you value. Anything," Diana said and Tom could hear the wheels in Henry's brain turning.

"Everything. You know I love and adore you, Diana. I will give you everything and anything you so desire. All you have to do is say the word," Henry said, and Tom tsked.

"I will think about what I want carefully and get back to you," Diana said and the Tom shook his head as he stopped the recording.

He dialed Barry's line. "Send her a text and let her know we are on to her. I don't want her messing with my plans," he told Barry before hanging up.