One Wild Night

Chapter 263 – Keep Things Down

"She is calling again. Are you sure you don't want me to take the call?" Lucy called out to Lucas from the bedroom when her phone started ringing again with a call from Rachel as they got ready to leave the house.

"Ignore her," Lucas called back dismissively, and their mother's brow pulled together in concern as she looked at Lucas who was busy packing the bags.

"She has called me several times, she has called your father, and now she's calling Lucy who she despises. She might be trying to reach you for something urgent," their mother said, but Lucas shook his head.

"I don't want to know. I don't care. I'm not interested. Let's leave. We are keeping the driver waiting," Lucas said as he walked through the door with his duffel bag, leaving the others to follow whenever they are ready.

"Do you think he is alright? I mean I know that it's a good thing that he finally ended things with her, but this is Rachel we are talking about. Someone he loved for ten whole years. No breaks or hiccups in the relationship. I don't think he can just turn off his feelings within twenty-four hours like that," their mother complained.

"Yeah, I think you have a point. I will talk to him and find out if something else happened," her husband offered as he went out to meet Adolf and Lucas who were busy transferring the bags to the stretch SUV that Tom had sent to pick them up.

"Are you sure this dress is okay? I think it's too showy" Lucy asked as she looked at her reflection in the mirror after dressing up. She had decided to wear her hair down because Tom loved it that way, and Sonia suggested she lose her glasses for the night and use contacts instead. Sonia had helped her curl her hair, and she had nude make-up on her face. 

"That's the point, darling. Less is more. The less you have covered up, the more he wants…"

"Oh, shut up! Less is more means the less you reveal, the more they want to see," Lucy said, eyeing Sonia who was grinning sheepishly.

"An idiom is allowed to have more than one interpretation. I prefer my interpretation," Sonia said with a wink. 

"Yeah, right. I just hope I'm not making a mistake by listening to you," Lucy said, taking in a deep breath as she adjusted the mini gown once again.

"What's the worse that can happen? Celebratory sex with Tom while your parents are sleeping in the room down the hall," Sonia said with a giggle and Lucy shook her head in amusement.

"I see you're back to being you. Let's leave then," Lucy said as she picked her purse and walked out of the room leaving Sonia.

"Are you sure Lucas got all my stuff?" Sonia called to Lucy since she had been in the bathroom when Lucas came to get their bags.

"I think so. You can confirm," Lucy called back as she stopped in the living room for her mother to inspect her outfit.

"Sonia is a good influence," her mother said with a wide approving smile as she looked Lucy over, and Lucy shook her head.

"Other parents would disagree with you. This is too indecent," Lucy complained as she adjusted the bust part of her dress.

"I'm sure your sense of decency makes up for the indecency of your outfit. You'll be fine," she said with a proud smile.

"Sonia should be your biological daughter," Lucy said, and her mother giggled.

"Maybe if she was, she would be walking around without clothes on," her mother joked and Sonia giggled as she joined them.

"I heard you, Mrs. Perry."

"It wasn't said in secret. You were meant to hear it, my darling. Wow, you look… Indecent! I didn't think it was possible to look more indecent than Lucy was," Lucy's mother exclaimed in amusement when she saw Sonia's even more revealing clothes.

"Yeah. I was going for that look," Sonia said with a satisfied smile as she hooked her arm with Lucy's, "We are ready to leave."

On getting outside they joined Alicia and Jasmine who were dressed in decent evening dresses as they waited to get into the car.

"Wow! You both look really sexy," Alicia said looking at them with admiration.

"Thanks," Sonia said with a wide smile, while Lucy tried to adjust the dress making the others laugh.

"You look pretty, princess. But I can tell that Sonia put you up to this. You don't have to wear it if you don't want to," Lucy's father said when he saw her.

"It's fine," Lucy assured him with a smile as they all got into the car, while Adolf reasoned whether or not he should tell the ladies that Evelyn was around. He decided that it wasn't his business.

Inside the car Lucas kept to himself while the others went from discussing how lovely the car was, to how wealthy Tom was, and then Alicia started reading through the positive comments on her YouTube channel, feeling excited about how many followers she had made in just one day. 

Lucy's parents exchanged a look when they noticed how silent and withdrawn Lucas was, but Lucy's dad shook his head, subtly asking his wife to let Lucas be when she looked like she wanted to say something to him.

Immediately they arrived at Tom's house forty minutes later, Jasmine, Alicia, and Lucy's parents got out of the car and headed for the door, curious to see the interior of Tom's mansion, while Lucas and Adolf stayed back to carry the bags as Lucy fussed over her dress one final time, and Sonia rolled her eyes as she kept assuring Lucy that Tom would love it.

"I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about this," Lucy said with a small frown.

"You're too much of a good girl, Lu. You need to loosen up," Sonia said as she dragged Lucy along with her.

Once they got to the open door, they stopped when they saw a middle-aged lady standing there. Seeing the welcoming smile on her face transform to surprise, the best friends didn't need to be told who she was. They could see the resemblance. Lucy was more taken aback than Sonia, so she went to stand behind Sonia. 

"Mrs. Hank?" Sonia asked with a wide smile as she quickly embraced the woman who was looking at her in surprise, "I had no idea you were here! What a delightful surprise," Sonia said as she pulled away to admire the woman while giving Lucy enough time to regain her composure.

"I see where the guys got their good looks from."

"Sonia…" Evelyn said after she recovered from her initial shock as she glanced at Lucy who was hiding behind Sonia, "…and Lucy," she added, and Lucy stepped to the side as she tried to adjust her dress.

She bowed her head guiltily, "Hello, Mrs. Hank. I'm sorry. I didn't know…"

Sonia placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder and pulled her closer, "Lucy here is very shy and decent to a fault. She is only dressed this way because I blackmailed her into wearing it. So don't judge her by her outfit, please. I'm the indecent one," Sonia said with a wide smile, and Evelyn nodded her head as her eyes remained on Lucy who looked completely uncomfortable.

"Please come in. I'm happy to finally meet you two," Evelyn said with a small smile directed at them both.

"Thank you. Why don't I see Bryan around?" Sonia asked as she looked behind Evelyn. 

"He is in the den playing games with his father. Follow the game sounds," Evelyn said as her gaze returned to Sonia.

"I will let him know that we are here," Sonia said as she hurried away, ignoring Lucy who was trying to hold on to her. 

Now that she was standing alone with Evelyn, Lucy looked into the woman's face and was surprised to see a smile on her face, "I like you," Evelyn said, surprising Lucy.

"Why?" Lucy asked before she could stop herself.

"I don't think I need to have a reason. I just do. If you'd like to change from that dress before dinner I can show you to a room," Evelyn offered, and Lucy smiled shyly as she shook her head.

"I feel a little self-conscious, but I'll just wear it as long as it doesn't make you very uncomfortable," Lucy said, and Evelyn smiled again.

"I really like you," Evelyn said as she reached out and patted Lucy's arm. She glanced at the door when it opened and Lucas walked in with Adolf, "We meet again, Dr. Lucas," Evelyn greeted with an even wider smile, and Lucas smiled in surprise as he bowed to her.

"I didn't know that I would be meeting you again this way. How is Mr. Hank feeling now?"

"Neither did I. My husband is fine, he is in the den playing games. Adolf will show you to the rooms where the bags should be kept while I catch up with your sister before dinner," Evelyn said as she placed an arm over Lucy's shoulder and led her away.

"My parents…" 

"They are busy looking around the house," Evelyn assured her. 

Lucy's only prayer at the moment was for Tom to come to her aid since Sonia had obviously deserted her, "Tom…"

"Tom is busy showing your parents around. I told him that I wanted to speak with you before dinner," Evelyn said, feeling slightly amused and concerned by Lucy's discomfort.

"Are you generally this nervous around strangers or are you this way because I'm Tom's mother?" Evelyn asked curiously.

"I think it's because you're Tom's mother," Lucy answered honestly, and Evelyn laughed softly.

"You don't need to be nervous. I watched the interview, and I wanted to talk to you in private before we join the others. I didn't want to keep it until tomorrow. I owe you an apology," Evelyn said, looking at Lucy who returned her gaze with a confused frown.

"An apology?"

"Yes. When the rumors started yesterday, I wanted Tom to end the relationship and fire you," Evelyn confessed, surprising Lucy.

Although Lucy had suspected it the moment Tom started whispering around her while talking to his mother over the phone, she hadn't expected the woman to admit it to her. 

"Don't look so surprised. I'm quite a simple and very old-fashioned soul. Although I hate to admit it, I can be very narrow-minded unless it has to do with my kids. I judged you wrongly. You've slept here twice, right?" Evelyn asked, and Lucy's cheeks flushed a deep red at the seemingly harmless yet embarrassing question.

She cleared her throat, "Yes, ma'am," Lucy responded before realizing why she asked the question. 

Because Evelyn knew that Lucy had been here twice, and she had probably heard of Lucy's behavior on both occasions she had assumed that Lucy was indecent and so it became easier for her to believe what was said about Lucy.

"I'm really sorry for being so quick to judge you. I think I really learnt my lesson this time," Evelyn said, and Lucy smiled.

"Thank you," Lucy said feeling genuinely grateful, and Evelyn held out her arms for Lucy to embrace her.

"I think we are both going to get along really well," Evelyn said with a happy smile as she pulled away from the hug to look into Lucy's face.

"Sonia isn't bad either. She might look and sound…"

"You don't have to defend her. I like Sonia too however she is," Evelyn assured Lucy, "Now let's go join the others."

As Lucy turned to return in the direction they had come from, Evelyn stopped her, "You're sharing a room with him, right?" Evelyn asked, and color rose in Lucy's cheeks.

"It's not a problem. My room isn't very far from his. I was only going to ask you to keep things down tonight.. Pass the message to Sonia too," Evelyn said with a small smile before walking away, leaving an embarassed Lucy to follow her.