One Wild Night

"Let\'s be clear on one thing though. You don\'t plan on repeating today\'s episode at the office with me anymore, right? As funny as it was to you, it was pretty frustrating for me," Tom said as they both picked up their cutleries and resumed eating.

Lucy giggled at that but waited until she had swallowed the morsel of food in her mouth before responding, "You do realize that Anita would have found out about you today had I not acted the way I did, right? You should be thanking me," Lucy pointed out thoughtfully.

"And what makes you think I care about her or anyone else finding out about my identity?" Tom asked with a blank expression.

"What? You don\'t mind? What about all the stress you have gone through just to keep your identity a secret from everyone? You\'re going to blow it all away just like that?" Lucy asked with disbelief as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Now that I have you, I really don\'t care about anyone else. So please cut out the drama, okay?" Tom pleaded, and Lucy\'s brows pulled together with a slight frown.

"How else can I punish you if I cut it out so soon?" She asked making Tom shake his head.

"You don\'t have to punish me to prove any point. I already apologized, and I learned my lesson. Punishing me won\'t make me feel any more sorry than I already am. One thing I can assure you is that I won\'t lie to you about anything going forward," Tom promised.

"You had better not, else I really won\'t forgive you," Lucy warned, "Anyway, we still can\'t let others know about our relationship. At least not yet," Lucy suggested.

"And why is that?" Tom asked, watching her thoughtfully as he took a sip from his glass of juice.

"Even though I want to be in a relationship with you, I don\'t want the pressure that comes from being in a relationship yet. Everyone is going to have an opinion on our relationship if we make it public now, especially if you reveal your identity anytime soon. So I\'d rather we work on our relationship first. Let\'s take our time to build what we have before involving the likes of Anita," Lucy said, trying not to let her concern show in her voice.

"You do realize that Anita or any other lady doesn\'t stand a chance where you are, right?" Tom asked just to be sure.

"Hm," Lucy grunted noncommittally.

"You don\'t sound very confident," Tom observed with a sigh, "Don\'t worry, you will be with time," he promised.

"Still, we can\'t let them know yet. Please," Lucy insisted.

"Okay, let\'s reach a compromise. Why don\'t you treat me normally when we are alone, and then when anyone else is around we can pretend like nothing is going on between us," Tom suggested instead.

"Hm. Sounds like a fair deal," Lucy said after a while.

"Now that we\'ve settled that, how was your meeting with Anita? What did she want?" Tom asked curiously as they both set down their cutleries.

"Gossip as usual. At least now I know for a fact that she is interested in you."

"Why? Did she say something?" Tom asked curiously, and Lucy\'s gaze moved away from him guiltily as though she was contemplating whether or not to tell him something.

"Not directly. Just that the CEO is her ideal man," Lucy said, choosing not to say everything else Anita had said.

"And what did you tell her was the reason I was close to you?" Tom asked, remembering what she had said in the car earlier.

"Oh, that! I told her my best friend is your brother\'s fiancee," Lucy said with a shrug.

"I don\'t think she\'s going to like that in any way," Tom said with a grin.

"At least it\'s better than telling her you favor me because I\'m in a relationship with you, right?"

"Are you scared of her? You know you don\'t have to be, right? I can handle her," Tom assured Lucy.

"I was scared of her, but not anymore. I can handle her myself. But first, I need to do the dishes," Lucy said as she stood up to clear the table.

"Let\'s do it together," Tom suggested as he stood up and joined her in clearing the tables.

They both moved to the kitchen and while Lucy washed the dishes, Tom rinsed and dried them.

Once they finished and dried their hands, Tom turned to Lucy, "Are you in a hurry to return to your apartment, or do you have time for dessert and a movie?"

"Uhm... I\'m sleeping over, so I guess I have all the time," Lucy said with a shy smile.

"For someone who wasn\'t interested in being in a relationship, you\'re doing quite well for a first-timer," Tom said with an encouraging smile as he took her hand and led her to the living room.

"Considering how quickly you dozed off the last time, let\'s talk for a while before we see the movie," Tom suggested once she was seated, and then he excused himself to go get the dessert.

He soon returned with a tray of apple pie which he set on his thigh as he sat down beside her on the couch.

"This was what you brought to my apartment the first time you came pretending to be my neighbor," Lucy said with a smile when she remembered looking through her window to see her one night stand standing in front of her door.

"And you pretended not to recognize me," Tom reminded her with a chuckle.

"How could I not? Did you really expect me to open the door and be like \'Hey! Weren\'t you the guy I met at the club last night? Wow! What are you doing here?\' Was that what you were expecting?" Lucy asked with a roll of her eyes as she picked up a slice of apple pie and bit into it.

Tom guffawed at that, "Not exactly. But pretending not to know me was a little extra," Tom said as he picked up a piece of the pie and also bit into it before turning on the television.

They ate in silence for a while until Tom broke the silence, "So did you really mean it when you said you wanted me to remain your driver? Even when we are dating now?"

"Yeah. Why? Do you have a problem with it?" Lucy asked, cocking her head to the side to look at him.

"No. As long as it allows me to spend more time with you, I\'m cool with it," Tom assured her.

"Me too," Lucy said as she snuggled closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder while her eyes remained on the television screen.

"Can you see the television clearly without your glasses?" Tom asked curiously as he ate with his left hand while his right hand rested lightly on her back.

"Yeah," Lucy said with a nod as continued to nibble on the apple pie.

"Uhm... Lu?" Tom called cautiously, making Lucy sit up and look at him as she could guess he wanted to talk about something serious.

"Yeah?"

"I don\'t know if this is a good time to suggest this, but I\'d love you to start receiving therapy. I spoke with the doctor..." Tom let the rest of his words trail off as he looked into her smoky gray eyes.

"Hm. I was going to give him a call. It escaped my mind," Lucy assured him.

"Really? Are you saying you\'re willing to receive psychotherapy now?" Tom asked, wanting to be sure they were talking about the same thing.

Lucy bobbed her head, "Yeah."

"Great! I will make sure you get the best," Tom said as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

Lucy smiled, "You are not curious to hear the rest of the story?" She asked, gazing into his hazel eyes searchingly.

"I am. But I\'m not in a hurry to hear it. Let\'s make sure you\'re fine before traveling down that path again," Tom suggested as he gathered her close to himself.

They returned their attention to the television once again as they focused on the reality show they were watching. Lucy was quiet for a long while and just when Tom was about to conclude that she had dozed off, she spoke.

"Tom?"

"Hm-hm?" He asked curiously, wanting to know what was in her head.

"So you are rich? Like very very wealthy, right?" Lucy asked, making his lips twitch in amusement.

"Sort of, I suppose. Why do you ask?"

"Apart from that building, do you have other residential properties?" Lucy asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah."

"And those cars at your private parking lot and the ones at that mansion all belong to you?" Lucy asked again.

"Every one of them."

She pulled away from him so that she was looking at his face now, "Do you own a private jet?" She asked thoughtfully, her smoky gray eyes twinkling with something he couldn\'t tell.

"About three. Yes."

Lucy\'s eyes widened in excitement, "Three? Wow! I\'ve never been in one," she said in awe.

Tom\'s lips curved in a smile, "Really? You want to go on a date in one this weekend?"

Lucy bobbed her head eagerly while he was still asking, "Yes! I would love to."

"It\'s settled then. We would spend the weekend at my house, and then go on a date in one of the Jets," Tom concluded with a grin and then returned his attention to the television.

"What about a yacht?" Lucy asked now, making Tom chuckle.

"Why does it feel like you made up with me because of my wealth?" He asked with a teasing smile.

"Of course, I did. I would never have forgiven you if you were a broke guy pretending to be wealthy," Lucy said with a serious expression that made him howl with laughter, "So? Do you own a yacht or not?" Lucy prodded, poking his side.

"I\'m not really a fan of that. But if you want one, we could get one," Tom offered.

"You can do that? Really?" She asked doubtfully.

"Really."

"Wow! My boyfriend is super rich!" Lucy exclaimed to herself as she stood up and spread both hands happily.

"That means you can take me shopping, right? And buy me lots of expensive stuff?" She asked, blinking at him excitedly as she sat down next to him.

Tom shook his head as he watched her in amusement. This wasn\'t what he had expected from her, but then again she was yet to do anything he had expected thus far.

"I can do all of that and more if that\'s what you want."