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Chapter 380 Exhausted

　　Lucy had a broad smile as she waved goodbye to Aaron and Harry as Tom drove out of the restaurant\'s parking lot.

　　"A lot more than I expected, considering that I didn\'t even notice how much time we had spent with them until you said it was time to leave," Lucy said, thinking about how she ordinarily hated to meet new people or interact with people, but how easily she was getting along with everyone who was close to Tom. 

　　"I usually don\'t like to go out, and I find it tiring interacting with people I\'m not directly related to. I don\'t know if it\'s because I love you, or it\'s just the kind of people you have around you, but talking to your family and friends is fun," Lucy said, and Tom smiled. 

　　"Do you remember what I told you the first day I drove you home as your driver after you kept me waiting?" Tom asked, turning to look at her. 

　　"You said a lot of things. Which of them?"

　　"About breaking every wall you set up and being in your space until you want to spend every moment with me?" Tom asked, and Lucy smiled at the memory.

　　"Why are you bringing that up now?" She asked curiously.

　　"Because I think we are gradually getting there, don\'t you think so?" Tom asked, and Lucy bit her lower lips as she thought of it.

　　She didn\'t think they were gradually getting there. She thought she was there already. Why else had she chosen to go out with him to have dinner with Harry and his dad when she could have stayed back at home to see a movie or read a book? Or why was she at his place when she could be alone in the solitude of her apartment? 

　　"I don\'t mind losing to you on that. I never planned to fall in love with you or date you after all, but here we are," Lucy said after some time, and Tom smiled.

　　"I like that. Let\'s keep going with the flow. One day at a time," Tom said, and she nodded.

　　"Yeah. One day at a time. By the way, Aaron wants me to push Harry and Jade into acting on their feelings," Lucy said, and Tom turned to spare her a surprised glance.

　　"He told you that?"

　　"Yeah."

　　Although Tom knew that Harry had a thing for Jade, he didn\'t realize that it was serious enough for him to have mentioned it to his father. He could understand Aaron knowing about Jade\'s feelings for Harry since Jade had said they ran into each other at Harry\'s place, and Jade wasn\'t exactly the type to hide her emotions. Was it possible that Jade had told Aaron that she thought Harry was into her? He highly doubted that. 

　　"Did he say Harry told him anything about Jade?"

　　"I didn\'t ask."

　　"So, what did you tell him?" Tom asked curiously.

　　"I told him I\'d rather enjoy the show than interfere with it," Lucy said with a shrug, "Besides, I\'m sure a lot of you want to interfere already," Lucy said, making Tom chuckle.

　　She pursed her lips when she remembered that she was yet to tell Tom about Sonia\'s novel, "Sonia is writing a novel about us," Lucy said before Tom could respond to what she had said earlier.

　　"A novel about us? Not her and Bryan?" Tom asked in confusion since he remembered Sonia and Bryan talking about a novel during the interview, but he had thought it was just about her and Bryan\'s relationship.

　　"More like a novel about your family, since the book is also going to comprise of her relationship with Bryan and Jade\'s possible romance with Harry," Lucy explained, and Tom\'s lips twitched in amusement.

　　"That sounds interesting."

　　"You don\'t have a problem with it?" Lucy asked curiously.

　　"Just tell her not to use my name or say anything about me that might make people think I\'m the one. The last thing I want is for people to start looking at me like a creepy stalker," Tom said with a wince, and Lucy giggled. 

　　"Do you think Harry will mind? I mean, will he be okay with being written about?" Lucy asked, and Tom shrugged. 

　　"As long as we are the only ones that know the story is about him, I don\'t think he would mind. That reminds me, are you aware that next week is the company\'s anniversary celebration?" Tom asked, and Lucy gave him a nod.

　　"Harry told me about it earlier."

　　"I never knew Harry to be a talkative or a snitch, but he\'s telling you a lot of things lately," Tom complained with a scowl, and Lucy giggled.

　　"Let him be."

　　"Anyway, I hope you realize you will be there as my partner and not as a staff, right?" Tom asked as he turned to spare her a glance when the traffic light blinked red.

　　"Is there a reason I can\'t be there as both?" She asked, her brows drawn together.

　　"I\'m just trying to say, I hope you won\'t try to stay away from me during the events. Please don\'t bring up that talk about keeping our relationship separate from work or stuff like that. I want you there, sitting beside me as my partner and not just one of the directors," Tom said, and Lucy smiled. 

　　"After the stunt I pulled earlier at the company, do you think I have any intention of staying away from you at work anymore? You might end up being the one pleading with me to take things easy," Lucy said, making Tom chuckle. 

　　"Good. I just wanted to be sure we were on the same page," Tom said as he resumed driving again when the traffic light blinked green.

　　"Anita will be attending the anniversary events too?" Lucy asked after a moment, and Tom nodded.

　　"Yes. Why?"

　　"Well, I thought the live interview would have taken place before then, so she wouldn\'t have to come," Lucy said, and Tom turned to spare her a glance.

　　"Are you worried about running into her? You don\'t have to worry about her or anybody else."

　　"No. That\'s not it. I don\'t know if it\'s because I know so much about her and her family now, or maybe it\'s because I have a lot of confidence in you, but I\'m not worried about her anymore," Lucy said, and Tom smiled. 

　　"Good. If I had my way, I would have preferred the interview takes place this weekend. But if Eric sends her an impromptu invite, it would look suspicious as I\'m sure a lady like her would be aware that Eric usually issues an invite to his guests at least two weeks before the show day to give them time to prepare themselves. Besides, I\'m sure he already has plans with other celebrities for the coming weeks. It\'s best he follows his usual routine, so it doesn\'t appear suspicious. And asking him to alter his previous arrangements to do this for me would mean I have to owe him a huge favor, and I don\'t want to be indebted to him more than I already am. Do you understand?" Tom asked, and Lucy gave him a nod. 

　　"Yes, I do. Do you think Jamal would still be awake?" Lucy asked, changing the subject when her eye fell on the time displayed on the car\'s dashboard, and she saw that it was past eleven already.

　　Tom considered the question for a moment, "Hmm. He would most likely have fallen asleep in the Den, still waiting for you to return and take him to bed," Tom said, and Lucy raised a brow.

　　"Waiting for me?"

　　"Yes. That\'s what I would do if I were him. The kid has a crush on you. Didn\'t you notice?" Tom asked, and Lucy giggled.

　　"Really? What makes you think so?" She asked in amusement.

　　"I don\'t think so. I know so. Besides, why do you think he was commenting on your appearance that way?" Tom asked with a scowl, and Lucy giggled. 

　　"Don\'t tell me you are jealous of a seven-year-old boy," she said, poking his side playfully.

　　"Jealous? Nah! I get to do all the adult stuff with you, so there\'s nothing to be jealous of," Tom said with a grin, and a blush stained Lucy\'s cheeks.

　　"What do you mean by adult stuff?" She asked, using both palms to cover her face, and Tom chuckled when he turned to spare her a glance and saw her spying at him through the spaces between her fingers.

　　"Are you sure you want me to tell you what I mean? Or maybe I should show you instead?" He asked, sending her a naughty wink, and he blindly extended a hand towards her boobs as he returned his attention to the road, but Lucy playfully pushed his hand away while laughing gaily. 

　　"I can\'t believe I\'m out here laughing like a lunatic at this time of the night on a work day," Lucy said with a shake of her head. 

　　"Your boss is here laughing with you, so it\'s not such a bad thing," Tom said, and Lucy eyed him with disapproval.

　　"Since I started dating you, I go to bed late at night. I\'m not getting enough sleep," Lucy complained.

　　"But I stay up late with you. You don\'t hear me complaining or blaming you," Tom pointed out.

　　"You have no right to complain, not when it\'s your usual lifestyle. Did you forget that you were my neighbor before you became my boyfriend, and I can count the number of times you went out late in the evening?" She asked, and Tom wriggled his brows at her. 

　　"So you were keeping tabs on me?" He asked with a naughty smile, and she laughed. 

　　"I wasn\'t. That reminds me, who did you go out to meet that night I asked you to drive me to the pharmacy, and you were in a hurry to meet with someone? Was it Anita?" She asked curiously.

　　"No. I was with Harry both times I was out," Tom said, and she scowled.

　　"I\'m sure you both met up after work to laugh at my expense after making a fool of me during work hours."

　　"Nah. Harry never really supported this. He only made fun of you because you lied to him, not because he wanted to mess with you," Tom assured her. 

　　"By the way, what does Harry have against lies?" She asked, recalling the disapproval on Harry\'s face when she lied to him earlier that day and what he had said. 

　　"Hmm. I don\'t know the exact details, but I know it has something to do with his high school best friend. Harry\'s best friend did something awful, and because Harry trusted him and believed his words, he supported him until the truth was revealed. Then Harry tried to explain that he knew nothing about his best friend\'s deceit, but no one was willing to listen to him because of how he had supported his friend so confidently, and his best friend made things worse for Harry by insisting that Harry was in on it with him. They were both sent to juvenile court, and luckily for Harry, he was found innocent," Tom explained as he drove through the gate. 

　　"Oh! I can see how that must have affected him. It\'s a wonder he still trusts people," Lucy said, and Tom nodded as he parked the car.

　　"Yeah. That\'s why I try my best to always be straight with him," Tom said as he reached over to her side to open the door before opening his own door and getting out of the car. 

　　"Let\'s see if the kid is still up," Tom said as they both headed for the door. 

　　They could hear the sound of the television before they got to the Den, and they both exchanged a look before Tom pushed the door open, and they saw the kid sound asleep on the couch as Tom had predicted, with his head on Samantha\'s thighs, and his legs on Adolf\'s thighs.

　　Samantha, Adolf, as well as two other female staff who were in the Den were all fast asleep.

　　"I will take him upstairs. You can turn off the television and send them to their rooms," Tom suggested as he walked over to the couch and lifted Jamal.

　　"Where is he going to sleep? The guest room is farther down the hall from us and the staff quarter. He shouldn\'t sleep alone there," Lucy pointed out, and Tom looked at her. 

　　"So, what do you suggest we do?" 

　　"Maybe he can have the bedroom closest to yours. That way, it\'s easier to keep an eye on him over the night," Lucy suggested, and Tom gave her a nod while wondering if she knew how motherly she sounded as he walked away with Jamal\'s sleeping form.

　　Lucy quickly turned off the television after she had roused the others from sleep and made sure they had all returned to their quarters, and then she went upstairs to find Tom.

　　She stopped by the half-open doorway when she saw him tucking the blanket around Jamal, and her heart skipped a beat at that homely image of him. Tom seemed very much at home doing that, and it looked like the most natural picture in the world.

　　Could someone like him really want to be with her knowing she didn\'t want kids? She mused and flashed him a smile when he straightened and noticed her presence.

　　"What do you want to do now?" He asked in a whisper as he gently led her out of the bedroom and shut the door behind them. 

　　"I just want to freshen up and then go to bed. I\'m exhausted," Lucy said with a yawn. She was yet to have a proper night\'s sleep since she arrived at Tom\'s house. 

　　Tom gave her a nod as he led her into their bedroom, "It\'s been a long day. Why don\'t you freshen up while I straighten out the bed?" Tom suggested, and Lucy nodded as she dropped her handbag on the couch.

　　Remembering that she had not checked her phone for the past couple of hours, she pulled it out of her handbag and unlocked it when she noticed her phone\'s notification light was on. She clicked on it to see a missed call from Lucas. 

　　"I missed Lucas\' call earlier," she said as she contemplated whether or not she should return his call since it was very late already, and she didn\'t want to disturb his sleep.

　　"How many?" Tom asked as he undressed.

　　"It\'s just one."

　　"It\'s late. You can return his call tomorrow or send him a text. I believe if it were very important, he would have called more than once or even called me to reach you," Tom said as though he could read her mind, and Lucy nodded.

　　"I should send a text," Lucy said and went on to do so before preparing for bed. 

　　As she lay beside Tom on the bed, some moment later, the last thought on her mind as she slowly drifted off to sleep was how she had been confronted with different kinds of drama every day since Tom made their relationship public. She wasn\'t sure whether or not she was looking forward to the drama that would come the next day, but for Tom, she was willing to face it all head on.

　　"I love you, Ace," she said sleepily as she snuggled closer to him.

　　"Sweet dreams, Jewel. And I love you more."