One Wild Night

After her chat with Kimberly, Lucy returned to Tom’s office to have lunch with him and to find out how he was doing now and if he had spoken with his grandfather and Kimberly.

“You’re letting him off the hook just like that?” Lucy asked incredulously after Tom had told her about his conversation with his grandfather and Kimberly.

She could understand him not wanting to do anything to Kimberly since Kimberly was not exactly family and had only done his grandfather’s bidding, but she couldn’t quite understand why he would leave it just at scolding his grandfather and keep the truth away from his parents.

“What do you suggest I do to him? I can’t possibly tell my parents about it. Dad would be furious. Things are bad enough between them, and this might only widen the gap between them,” Tom said, and Lucy took a deep breath.

“And your mom? Shouldn’t she know the result of her meddling? Shouldn’t she know that this whole thing happened because of her?” Lucy asked, and even though Tom wanted to defend his mother, he knew that Lucy was right.

If his mother had stayed put and not asked his grandfather for help, his grandfather would most likely have not had a reason for this.

“I just think you’re making this too easy for him. What is to stop him from doing something else next time when he knows that all he has to say is that he is sorry and all will be forgiven?” Lucy asked calmly.

“But you easily forgave Kimberly,” Tom said, and Lucy raised a brow.

“Kimberly doesn’t mean anything to me. Or to you. As annoying as what she did is, she is a stranger to us. It is your grandfather who needs to be handled,” Lucy said, and Tom sighed.

“You know what? I’m just going to ask him to apologize to you. When he calls, feel free to do or say whatever to him. Handle it as you would have wanted me to,” Tom said, and Lucy shrugged.

“Just don’t regret it later,” she warned.

“I will try not to. Let’s talk about something else. This conversation is getting me worked up,” Tom said and Lucy nodded.

“So, how about we spend the night at your place? Maybe we can spend the rest of the week at your place and go back to mine at weekend? That way I can spend time with Sonia to plan for their wedding,” Lucy said, and Tom shrugged.

“That’s fine by me,” he said as he glanced at his wristwatch.

“That’s my cue to leave. I suppose you are expecting someone,” Lucy said as packed up the dishes into the lunch bag and Tom nodded.

“Yeah,” he said as they both rose.

Once Lucy returned to her office, she settled down to focus on her tasks for the day.

Although, she was still very excited that things had been resolved and she didn’t have to worry about someone else having Tom’s child, she did her best to focus on what she had to do.

She worked without distraction for a while and raised her head when her phone started ringing.

She arched a brow when she saw it was from an unknown caller and she received the call thinking it was Tom’s grandfather, “Hello! This is Lucinda Perry…”

“Lucy, it’s Rachel. Please don’t hang up,” Rachel pleaded desperately, and immediately Lucy scowled as she hung up the call.

Her phone rang three more times but she ignored it and blocked Rachel’s line from reaching instead.

The last thing she wanted was to hear from Rachel or to speak to her. Not after all she had put her and Lucas through.

She wouldn’t have taken the call had she known it was Rachel. She wondered why Rachel had used a different line to reach her, and then recalled that Rachel’s old phone which Lucas had seized was still in their custody.

Just as she returned her attention to the documents in front of her, her phone started ringing again and she glared at it, thinking it was Rachel.

Her brows pulled together when she saw it was Lucas and she received the call immediately, “Don’t tell me she tried calling you too?” Lucy asked, and Lucy frowned.

“Who tried calling me?” Lucas asked in confusion.

“If no one tried calling you, then you shouldn’t mind me,” Lucy said, not wanting to discuss Rachel with Lucas.

The last thing she wanted was for him to be upset. “How are you doing? Were you missing me?” She asked before Lucas could press her to tell him who she had been referring to.

“Yeah. I just got off the phone with mom and dad and wanted to check on you. I saw the news of Sonia’s engagement. I called to congratulate her earlier. I still can’t believe she is getting married,” Lucas said and Lucy laughed softly.

“She has changed a lot. If you were here, it would be easier for you to believe it. It was so beautiful last night,” Lucy said softly.

“I could see that from the clips,” Lucas said, and they were both silent for some time.

“A lot has changed in such a short time, hasn’t it?” Lucy asked when she heard Lucas’ sigh and could guess he was thinking about his canceled wedding with Rachel.

“Yeah. I called off my engagement, you got a boyfriend, and Sonia is getting married. Who would have guessed that any of these would happen?” Lucas asked thoughtfully.

“It all happened for the best, don’t you think? I mean, they’re good changes if you think about it. It could have been worse. Can you imagine finding out everything about her after your wedding and then being a divorcee?” Lucy said and he nodded.

“Sure. I know that,” Lucas said and Lucy heaved a deep sigh.

“How are you doing? Are you really okay?” She asked with concern.

Lucas smiled, “I’m fine. I didn’t call for you to worry about me. I wanted to know how you’re doing now that Tom is back,” Lucas said and Lucy smiled.

Even though Lucy was tempted to share her recent thoughts with him, she decided not to rush it and wait until her mind was completely made up.

“I’m doing great! Everything is going perfectly. We are finding our balance gradually,” Lucy said happily, and Lucas raised a brow when he heard the excitement in her voice.

“I guess everything is good then. That’s nice to know,” Lucas said, feeling genuinely relieved to hear that.

Lucy pulled the phone away from her ear to look at the screen when she got an incoming call notification, and she scowled when she saw that it was an unknown number.

Was Rachel trying to reach her again with another line? She mused as she ignored the call.

“Luke?” She called hesitantly, thinking that she should at least tell Lucas about it.

“Yeah?”

“Rachel called me earlier.”

“I figured she was the one you were referring to when you received the call,” Lucas said in an even tone.

“I don’t know why she was calling. I didn’t listen to her. I hung up when I realized she was the one. She called several times but I blocked her line,” Lucy explained but Lucas said nothing.

He thought he was best to remain silence rather than say what was on his mind. He knew that Lucy would be mad at him if he asked her to take Rachel’s call and hear her out.

It annoyed him that as mad as he was at Rachel, he was still concerned about her and felt sorry for her. He had seen the news about her father, and he knew without a doubt that Tom had a hand in it.

“Are you okay? Why are you so quiet?” Lucy asked with a frown.

“I’m fine. How are our newly found cousins and evil aunt?” Lucas asked, changing the subject.

She frowned when she heard the ding of a text notification from the same line and she clicked on on it.

[Hello, Lucy. This is Lawrence Hank. Please return my call.]

“Uhm, they’re fine. I mean the cousins. I’m sure you saw them in the party photos. As for the evil aunt, I hope she rots in hell. I just received a text from Tom’s grandfather now. I need to give him a call,” Lucy said and Lucas sighed.

“Sure. Let’s talk some other time. Give my regards to Tom. Love you,” Lucas said before hanging up.

Lucy dialed Lawrence’s line immediately, and he received her call on the second ring.

“Hello, sir!” Lucy greeted politely as she rose from her desk to move around the office. It was difficult to sit still while speaking with him.

“Hello, Lucy! How are you doing today?”

“I’m alright, sir. And you?” She asked cautiously, hoping they would be done with the exchange of pleasantries so he would get to the purpose of his call soon.

She knew he probably wanted to apologize for what he had done.

“I’m fine. I called because I know I owe you an apology for what I did,” Lawrence said, and Lucy raised a brow.

“What exactly did you do?” She asked, surprising Lawrence who had not expected the question.

“I beg your pardon?” Lawrence asked and Lucy smirked.

Did he really think she was going to make this easy for him when he had not made it easy for Tom or her? No way.

“I think I should know what you’re apologizing for,” Lucy said, and Lawrence frowned.

“Well, if you don’t know then maybe there’s no need to apologize to you…”

“Sure. I’m sure Evelyn and Desmond would be pleased to know what’s going on,” Lucy said, and Lawrence raised a brow.

“Are you threatening me?”

“It depends on how you interpret it, sir. Tom might be willing to let you off the hook so easily, but I’m not,” Lucy said firmly and Lawrence chuckled.

“So what are you going to do about it then?” He asked, and Lucy narrowed her eyes.

“I should tell the family about it. I’m sure they would all be amused and delighted to know the kind of prank their grandfather played,” Lucy said, and Lawrence frowned.

“For someone that couldn’t meet my gaze the last time we met, you sound quite bold right now,” he muttered.

“I was very cautious and respectful until you crossed the line. You had no right doing what you did,” Lucy said and Lawrence smiled.

“Alright. Fine. I’m sorry. I accept that I shouldn’t have asked Kimberly to lie to Tom about her daughter’s paternity. I was wrong. What now?”

“Why did you do that?” She asked, and Lawrence shook his head.

“It was to prank Tom, and I also wanted to shake your relationship with Tom a bit to see how you would react,” he said, and Lucy nodded.

“I see. Well, you will have to report yourself to Desmond and Evelyn and tell them exactly what you did….”

“What? I can’t possibly do that!” Lawrence protested vehemently and Lucy smiled deciding it was the ideal punishment for him.

𝓞𝒱𝗅xt.𝕔𝑜𝕞

“Why not?”

“This will cause more problems between Desmond and I,” Lawrence complained.

“I believe you will find a way to resolve it. You can either tell them or I will.”

“Tom promised that he would keep it to himself and won’t tell,” Lawrence pointed out.

“Thankfully, I’m not Tom, and I don’t remember making such a promise to you.”

“I’m an old man and…”

“And you should have remembered that before playing such an expensive prank,” Lucy cut in, and Lawrence took a deep breath.

He had not expected Lucy to be so tough. He had thought reasoning with her would be easier than it had been with Tom, especially since Kimberly had told him Lucy had forgiven her easily.

Who knew she could be so tough?

“Alright. I will tell them I was behind it,” Lawrence said with a defeated sigh.

“Can I trust that this would end here and you won’t interfere in our relationship anymore? I respect you a lot, but I won’t tolerate any more interference,” Lucy said firmly.

“I won’t,” he promised before hanging up.

Lucy sighed as she returned to her desk. She knew she had been sort of harsh, but that couldn’t be helped.

She needed to start drawing the lines and putting people in their rightful places so that everyone would know they were not allowed to interfere in her relationship with Tom anymore.