One Wild Night

She knew that there would be no problem with getting Candace to come out since that was the reason she was here, and she was also sure that Sonia wouldn\'t mind them going ahead with their plan for the evening since it was for her after all.

She knocked on Jade\'s bedroom door, and Jade, who had just ended her phone call with her mother, opened the door and was a bit taken aback to see Lucy standing there.

After what had happened earlier, Lucy was the last person she had been expecting to see at her door. Not because she was mad at Lucy but because she thought Lucy was still very mad.

She knew they shouldn\'t have confronted Lucy the way they did. If anything, they should have asked Tom who was their brother instead of asking Lucy about it that way and putting her on the spot.

"Lucy?" Jade asked, unsure of what to expect from her.

Was she here to yell some more? Jade mused.

"I was hoping we could talk. Can I come in?" Lucy asked uncertainly since she wasn\'t sure Jade would want to talk to her.

"Sure! Come in," Jade said as she made way for Lucy and shut the door behind Lucy after she walked in.

"Before you say anything, I want you to know that I\'m sorry about what happened earlier. You were right and had every reason to be mad. Bryan and I had no right to put you on the spot that way," Jade rushed to say the moment she had shut the door, and Lucy looked at her, slightly taken aback by the apology.

"I didn\'t think you would apologize," Lucy said honestly.

"What? Why not? I was wrong. I know how to take responsibility and apologize when I\'m wrong," Jade said, and Lucy sighed as she sat on the edge of Jade\'s bed.

"I knew you and Bryan were going to eventually find out about it. I just didn\'t expect it to come out like that at that moment. I\'m sorry, I yelled. I could have made my point without yelling at you both that way," Lucy said, and Jade nodded.

"Can you forgive my mom? She isn\'t usually like this. She is just…"

"You don\'t have to make any excuses for her, Jade. And there is no reason for me not to forgive her either, as long as she learns from this. All I want is for everyone to stop meddling. Meddling creates more problems than it solves," Lucy said, and Jade nodded.

"Yeah. I get your point," Jade said as she sat down.

"Will you consider it meddling if I ask why you don\'t want to marry Tom?" Jade asked hopefully.

"That is a personal matter between me and Tom," Lucy said with a small smile, and Jade sighed.

"Fine. I don\'t want to know," Jade said, making Lucy\'s lips twitch since she knew that Jade was dying to know.

"I\'m seeing a therapist," Lucy told Jade, wanting to at least share something personal with her. She wanted them to be friends, and she wanted to make an effort, no matter how little it was.

"Seeing as in dating? Or seeing as in receiving therapy?" Jade asked with a raised brow, making Lucy giggle.

"How can you ask me that?" Lucy asked, and Jade shrugged.

"I asked why you didn\'t want to marry Tom, and you said that out of the blue. So, I\'m trying to connect both. Maybe you don\'t want to marry him because you are dating a therapist," Jade said with a silly smile that made Lucy laugh.

"I meant to say I\'m receiving therapy."

"What for? Since when?" Jade asked with a concerned frown, and Lucy shrugged.

"Why do people go for therapy? I guess I\'m yet to entirely heal from my trauma. Last week was my first time," Lucy said, and Jade nodded.

"Why are you telling me this, though?" Jade asked curiously, and Lucy shrugged.

"Because it is something I want you to know. I will always tell you the things I think you should know, and in exchange, you have to promise not to pry into my relationship with Tom…"

"To be honest with you, Lu, I\'m not sure I understand what you all mean by prying and meddling. What is so wrong with asking questions or wanting to know more about what is going on in the life of my loved ones?" Jade asked with a slight frown.

"Asking questions is not wrong, as long as you drop it when the other person makes it clear they don\'t want to talk about it. And you shouldn\'t ask questions that make people uncomfortable. You do that a lot to Candace. There is a very thin line between asking questions and prying. Knowing when not to cross that line is very important," Lucy explained.

"I see. I guess I tend to pry and interfere a lot, and it has become a habit. So, please don\'t be mad when I do it. I would appreciate it if you point it out to me whenever I do so without thinking. That would make me more conscious of it," Jade said, and Lucy nodded.

"Sure, I will," Lucy said, and before she could speak further, her phone started ringing, and she pursed her lips when she saw that it was a call from Evelyn.

"Excuse me for a moment. I need to take this call," Lucy said as she rose and quickly walked out of the bedroom.

She cleared her throat as she received the call and walked down the hall so she could speak freely on the balcony with no one around to eavesdrop on the phone call.

"Lucy?" Evelyn called tentatively when the call connected.

"Were you expecting someone else to receive the call?" Lucy asked, mildly amused.

"I didn\'t think you would want to talk to me after what I did," Evelyn explained with a sigh.

"Well, I received the call mainly because I was curious to know why you were calling. Are you calling to directly put the blame on me, or am I to expect an apology from you?" Lucy asked as she opened the door to the balcony and stepped outside.

"I\'m sorry, Lucy. I shouldn\'t have done or said all of that. I was wrong to let my emotions get the best of me. Can you find it in you to forgive me?" Evelyn asked, not wanting to make any more excuses.

Lucy sighed as she sat on one of the seats there, "I will forgive you only if you give me your word that you will never interfere in our relationship again. I understand that Tom is your beloved son, but he is also a full-grown man, and you need to trust him to make his own life decisions…"

"I trust him. I swear to God, Lu, I do. I never would have talked to Lawrence had I heard from Tom first or had that conversation with you at the porch the other day. I meant every word I said to you on the porch. I had no idea Lawrence would go this far to prove a point to Tom," Evelyn said, and Lucy sighed.

"I\'m sorry I told Bryan about you not wanting to get married, Lucy. And I\'m sorry I put the blame on you instead of taking responsibility for my actions," Evelyn said when Lucy remained silent.

"I forgive you. But this can\'t happen again, Evelyn, especially for Tom\'s sake. You got him really upset," Lucy said with a frown as she realized that she had been more upset for Tom\'s sake.

"It won\'t ever happen again, Lucy. Can you help me plead with Tom to forgive me too? And if possible, call me so I can apologize to him properly as I should have done before," Evelyn asked hopefully.

"I don\'t think he would want to speak with you again tonight. Maybe by morning…"

"Morning is still a long time away, Lucy. Please help me. I don\'t want Desmond to sleep in the guest room tonight," Evelyn pleaded.

"Alright. I will see what I can do," Lucy said before hanging up.

Away from there, in Tom\'s bedroom, he sat on the balcony as he spoke with his father over the phone.

"Yes. I was quite surprised when I found out grandfather was behind it too," Tom told his father.

"You should cut him off. He must think he can do whatever he likes simply because we let him walk in and out of our lives whenever he pleases. I\'ve told him to stay away from every one of you!" Desmond said angrily.

"Please calm down, Dad," Tom said calmly.

"How can I be calm? Your mom is to blame for all of this! If she weren\'t always reporting everything about you kids to him, he wouldn\'t have pulled such crap! She doesn\'t listen. She seems to think she knows it all, now see the mess she has caused," Desmond said, and Tom sighed.

Tom was sort of glad that he did not bother to tell his dad how his mom was pushing the blame on Lucy. That would make him even more angry than he already was, and Tom did not want that.

"I\'m sure both Grandpa and Mom have learned their lessons. Please forgive them," Tom said, and Desmond frowned.

"How do you know they have learned their lessons? They are never going to learn their lessons unless there is a drastic consequence for their actions. Why should you forgive them so easily?" Desmond asked, and Tom smiled.

"Because you have always taught us that if there is one thing we must never postpone in life, it is forgiveness. Do you remember how you used to make us kiss and makeup whenever we fought as kids? Do you think the magnitude of offence should determine when we offer forgiveness?" Tom asked reasonably and turned when he heard the door open, and Lucy joined him.

"Is that your dad?" Lucy asked, and Tom gave her a nod while wondering why she had returned to the bedroom. She didn\'t come to take out the egg, did she?

"I would love to speak with him too," Lucy said, and Tom relayed the information to Desmond before passing the phone to Lucy.

"Hello, Desmond!" Lucy greeted him after she had taken the phone.

"Hello, Lucy! How are you doing? I\'m really sorry about everything…"

"You don\'t have to apologize. I\'m the one who is sorry for stirring things up the way I did," Lucy cut in.

"It\'s a good thing you did. If you didn\'t, everyone would have joked it off, and they wouldn\'t have realized the magnitude of damage their interference could have caused," Desmond said, and Lucy nodded in agreement.

"I\'m sure they have learned their lessons. Can we all forgive them now and put this behind us?" Lucy asked hopefully.

"You can forgive them if you want to. I have to make sure something like this doesn\'t repeat itself. I won\'t let my wife or father cause such troubles for my kids," Desmond said, still blowing hot.

"Evelyn is very sorry. She didn\'t expect that he would take things that far when she complained to him. Please forgive her," Lucy said, and Tom raised a brow, wondering why Lucy was defending his mom and whether she had spoken to her already.

"Don\'t worry about us. We will resolve things when we will," Desmond assured her.

"Please, Desmond…"

"Don\'t let it bother you, Lucy. This is not your fault, and it is not for you to fix. Evelyn needs to learn, and I know best how to teach her. I think I\'ve let her have her way for too long," Desmond said, and Lucy sighed.

"Alright. I will give the phone back to Tom now. Goodnight," Lucy said as she returned the phone to Tom.

Tom said goodnight to his father, and after he ended the call, he looked at Lucy with a slightly raised brow, "Are you done planning with the girls already, or did you change your mind?"

"Your mom called, so I had to resolve things with her. I wanted to ask you and your dad to forgive her," Lucy said, and Tom looked at her with serious eyes.

"Did she apologize?" He asked, and Lucy nodded.

"Yes, she did. I won\'t be here pleading on her behalf if she didn\'t," Lucy assured him.

"Have you forgiven her?" Tom asked, and Lucy gave him a nod which made him sigh.

"I have forgiven her, and you should forgive her. I believe everyone has gotten the message and will think twice before interfering in our relationship from now on. They must know now that even if you don\'t do anything about it, I won\'t sit back and tolerate it," Lucy said as she leaned down and kissed his cheek.

"Alright. I\'ve heard you. If you\'re okay, then I\'m fine too," Tom said, and Lucy smiled.

"I should get back to gathering the girls now. You can meet us in the Den," Lucy said before walking away.