One Wild Night

Tom watched as the surprised expression on Lucy's face shifted into disbelief and then amusement as she raised a hand to her mouth to muffle her laughter, "You almost got me for a moment," she said, hitting his shoulder playfully with her other hand. 

Tom grabbed her hand on his shoulder as he gazed into her eyes, "I'm serious, Lu. I don't want to have to lie to you about this too."

Lucy's brows pulled together in a confused frown, "Too? You've lied to be about something else?" 

Tom sighed as he let go of her hands, "Yes. And I'm not going to tell you the truth yet either. I'm just trying not to tell you too many lies, that way when I finally tell you the truth you won't be too mad at me hopefully," Tom said still looking into her eyes.

Lucy looked back at him without saying a word as she tried to remember most of the things he had told her and which one of them could be a lie. When she was unable to come up with anything after a while, she decided to think about that later, and just focus on the issue on ground. 

"So you mean Anita is one of the ex-girlfriends you told me about? How? What happened between you both?" Lucy said as she looked at him curiously. 

If Anita was truly his ex as he has said, then he sure did have a high taste in women. What had she been thinking, assuming that someone like him that liked someone like Anita would ever be interested in her. She and Anita were far apart in many ways, and she wasn't even thinking so because she suffered from an inferiority complex. No. It was nothing like that. Anita exudes grace and elegance in every way... While she on the other hand, she was just there. She was pretty and had a good dress sense, and she loved to believe she was intelligent too, but Anita was all of those things and more. 

"Remember the first time we met? At the club?" Tom asked, and Lucy gave him a nod to say she was following, "I was waiting for Anita to show up, but she stood me up as usual," Tom said, making Lucy's eyes widen in alarm.

"How could you be waiting for her to show up and then take a random stranger home? What if she had arrived at the time we were leaving the club and seen us together? Maybe that's why she broke up with you and became friends with me," Lucy blurted out. 

"If you are not here to watch the damn movie can you both get the fuck out of the hall? People are trying to concentrate here! We didn't buy the tickets just to hear your stupid discussion!" The guy behind Lucy growled at them angrily. 

"Sorry," Lucy apologized guiltily.

"We should leave," Tom said as he stood up and waited for Lucy to do the same.

"But Anita..."

"She can find her way home. Let's continue outside," Tom said, and Lucy reluctantly stood up and followed him outside.

Neither of them said anything until they both got into the car. Tom asked took the driver's seat this time, and Lucy sat in the front passenger seat before turning to look at him, "What if she saw us leaving the club together that night?" She asked with a concerned frown, continuing the conversation from where they stopped in the movie hall. 

"She didn't."

"How can you be so sure?" 

"Just listen, okay?" Tom said and then went ahead to explain how he had met Anita and how her attitude towards him had changed once she realized he was a handyman, and how he had finally broken up with her. 

Lucy couldn't say she was very surprised by his revelation that her attitude towards him changed when she found out he wasn't as wealthy as she probably assumed he was, since that was the impression she already had of Anita after spending such a short time with her. She couldn't imagine a person like Anita settling with someone she would consider to be 'beneath her.

"If that is the case, why did she ask that we hang out together? Maybe she has realized her mistake and wants to make up with you?" Lucy asked thoughtfully.

"No. She is trying to matchmake us, in the same way, you were trying to do," Tom announced, making Lucy's eyes widen in surprise, and then she burst into a fit of laughter.

"You mean we were both playing cupid?" She asked as her body shook with laughter, while Tom watched her, unamused.

Lucy stopped laughing when she noticed the annoyance on Tom's face, "I'm sorry. I really thought she was the one you liked and that she liked you too. I was only trying to help," Lucy said apologetically even though there were still traces of amusement in her eyes. 

"You see? This is more reason why you should just show me the lady you are interested in. How can I help you if I don't even know her?" Lucy asked defensively.

"I already told you how to help me. Just stop being so curious about who I like, and focus on being my girlfriend instead," Tom said, making her sigh. 

"It must have been really awkward being there with her, right?" Lucy asked with pursed lips, as she tried to imagine how he must have felt, while she kept gloating like she was doing him a huge favor. There was no way she could open that matchmaking agency now.

"It was."

"Well, at least now I have no reason to go to her place anymore and be forced to sip tea as though I'm having lunch with the Queen of England," Lucy said with a sigh of relief which made Tom chuckle. 

He remembered she had mentioned something about her friend being a perfectionist and a little too proper for her. So she had been talking about Anita then? "You don't like her?" Tom asked curiously, wanting to know what Lucy honestly thought of her. 

"Well, I don't hate her either. I'm just indifferent. I just think she's a little too much," Lucy said, making him chuckle once again

"What do you mean by too much?" 

Lucy pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully as she tried to figure out the best way to explain it, "Although she tries not to show it, I think she feels like she is better than everyone else. I'm not sure I know how to explain it, but everything about her is just too organized for my liking. I won't like to have an enemy like her," Lucy said with a sigh. 

"Why?" 

"Are you really asking me that? People like her can be really dangerous. If she takes so much time in making sure she appears perfect even when she is eating cookies and sipping her tea, then imagine how much time she can spend in plotting against you," Lucy said with a mock shudder, making Tom double over with laughter. 

"If you thought this way, why then were you still trying to play matchmaker?" Tom asked after he stopped laughing.

"Because I thought you liked her," Lucy said with a shrug.

"Even if I liked her, shouldn't you have tried to discourage me from pursuing someone like her? Isn't that what friends do? Or am I not your friend?" He asked with a slight frown. 

"Mind you, I never said she is a bad person. I'm only telling you what I think about her. I could be wrong about my assumption. I can't discourage you from pursuing someone you like based on my assumptions. And I won't be telling you this either if you hadn't told me she was your ex," Lucy said with a shrug.

"Okay. Tell me honestly, from the little time you spent around her, and from the little you know about me already, did you really think she was good for me? Would she have been perfect for me?" Tom asked, wanting to know how much Lucy knew him. 

Lucy sighed, "I think she probably would have complicated your simple life. She lives an expensive lifestyle and you won't be able to afford it," Lucy said before looking out of the window instead, "Her car is no longer here," Lucy said with a slight frown when she observed that a different car was parked in the space where Anita had parked her car. 

"I guess she decided to leave after I asked her to butt out. Since she is gone, let's go somewhere else," Tom said, feeling relieved now that he had listened to Jade and had told Lucy the truth about his relationship with Anita. 

He was glad that Lucy had been able to see through Anita on her own, now he didn't have to worry too much about her hanging around with Anita anymore.

"Where do you suggest we go to?" Lucy asked as she took out her journal, wanting to see if there was something on her list that they could do.

"Somewhere that isn't on your list. Girlfriends are spontaneous, Lu. It's boring when you have to make a list for everything. Sometimes you should just go with the flow. Let's just drive around so that I can show you around the city," Tom suggested.

"Can we go to your friend's house before going home? I will like to have a good look around. I wasn't able to do that the last time cause I was in a hurry to get to the office," Lucy said, surprising Tom.

"Why do you want to see the place?" Tom asked in confusion. He would need to call the butler to inform everyone that they were coming so that they wouldn't blow his cover. 

"I don't know. It just looked really lovely. At first, I thought it was a hotel. Can we just go there? Your friend won't mind, right?" Lucy asked hopefully.

Tom's lips pulled curved at the side in a smile when something occurred to him, "Do you realize that today makes it a week since we met?"

"It is?" Lucy asked in surprise. It was just a week? Why did it already feel like she had known him for over a year? How come it was only a week yet she was so comfortable with him? This has to be the longest week of her life. 

"Yes. Would you like us to spend the night over there? We can go to the office from there tomorrow," Tom suggested.

"Didn't you say it's your friend's family's house? Will they be okay..." Her words trailed off when she remembered that if they had been okay with him bringing a lady over to spend the night the last time, then they would be okay with her sleeping there too.

"Don't worry, no one is there apart from the Household staff," Tom assured her.

"Oh! But I didn't plan to spend the night..."

"Spontaneity, Lu. You said you want to see the place. We could just go back home, pick up whatever you need or get them on the way, and then we can drive around the city before heading there in the evening," Tom said, suddenly feeling the urge to see her in his house. He wanted to see how much she liked the place, and how she would relate with his staff. 

Lucy sighed, "Are you sure it'll be okay? Isn't it a bit impromptu? We could just do that next weekend. Besides, are you forgetting dinner with the neighbors?" Lucy reminded him. 

"Oh! I almost forgot about that. Alright then, next weekend it is. After work on Friday, you're going to pack up all you need, and then we can spend the weekend there, cool?" Tom asked as he turned on the car's ignition.

"Cool..." Lucy's words trailed off when her phone started ringing and she took it out from her handbag to see that Anita was calling, "Hey!"

"I'm sorry I had to leave. Something urgent came up," Anita lied. 

"Oh! It's fine. I hope everything is fine?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, my dog is feeling sick so I have to take care of it. Let's hang out some other time. Just the both of us, okay?" 

"Alright. Take care... Of your dog," Lucy said before hanging up.

"Her dog is ill, huh?" Tom asked in amusement since he could guess the call was from Anita.

Lucy grinned, "Yeah. I guess you were right,* she said, remembering all he had said a while ago about her always coming up with excuses using her dog. That was a pretty silly thing to do for someone who looked as smart as Anita. 

"Do me a favor, don't let her know you are aware she is my ex, okay?" 

"Why?" Lucy asked in confusion. 

"We agreed not to tell anyone. And I also want to see what she is up to, and why she is trying to matchmake us. Just play along, alright?" Tom said, and Lucy nodded. 

"Cool."