Chapter 139 - Talented Actress

Tom watched Lucy in amusement as she told him about her fiance's 'accident' which had resulted in her resuming at the office late. 

"....We were so glad that he only fractured his scapula and femur," Lucy concluded, and Tom nodded his head in agreement. Not in agreement with what she was saying, but in agreement with what Harry had said. 

Harry had been right when he said Lucy was a natural born actress. If he didn't know better, he would most definitely have fallen for all the lies she had just told him. He needed to inform Bryan that Lucy had the potential of becoming an award-winning actress. 

"And he chose to call off your engagement simply because you were not there at the hospital to look after him?" Tom asked, wanting her to continue with the entertaining story. 

Lucy gave him a nod, "Unbelievable, right? He said I was a workaholic and that wasn't the kind of person he wanted to share his life with. After dating him for three years I still can't believe he did that to me," Lucy looked away from him as if she was too sad to meet his gaze, but she was actually feeling shocked hearing the words that were coming from her own mouth. How did that come out of her mouth? Where did she get such inspiration to tell such a magnitude of lie? Three years relationship? How? 

'Lucy, when did you become such a liar?' she asked herself inwardly.

"Aww. That must have really hurt you. How did you get over the heartbreak so soon?" Tom asked, leaning forward in his seat to look at her while he sipped from a glass of wine a waiter had served them some minutes ago. 

Talking to him this way, Lucy realized that her boss wasn't really as frightening as he had seemed a moment ago. The more she looked at him and talked to him, the less weird he became in her eyes. She was becoming more and more comfortable talking to him. He sounded like a regular guy having a conversation. 

"Work. I buried myself in my work." 

"Yeah. Work. That always works," Tom said with a nod and leaned back in his seat when two waiters approached the table with their orders. 

Neither of them said a word until the waiters were done, "Thank you," they both told the waiters in unison.

The waiters gave them a polite bow as they left, while Tom and Lucy stared at each other. Lucy was impressed to know that someone as wealthy as Tom still had the good manner to thank the waiters for serving them.

"I noticed that I've been the one asking all the questions, is there nothing you would like to know about me?" Tom asked as he picked up his cutlery, waiting to know how curious she was about him. 

Seeing how much effort he was putting into trying to get her to talk freely, Lucy decided to loosen up some more, "I actually have a question. Why do you like to stay hidden?" She asked the first question that came to her mind. 

"Stay hidden?" Tom asked, cocking his head to the right to look at her as he diced the steak on his plate into smaller sizes. 

"Yeah. Most people don't know what you look like, not even your staff. I'm just curious to know why you try so hard to not be known," Lucy said with a shrug before picking up her cutlery set.

"Not everyone loves to be seen or known. Some of us prefer to live like a wallflower," Tom said, and Lucy looked at him curiously.

"Don't you think yours is extreme? I mean someone like you should be known, right?" Lucy asked, making Tom's right brow arch.

"Someone like me?"

"Yeah. I mean someone as successful as you are shouldn't be completely faceless," Lucy explained and looked at Tom in confusion as he switched their plates, giving her the diced steaks, while he took hers, "Thanks," she murmured.

"Why do I need to be known? I shouldn't be my introverted self simply because I am successful? Only an unsuccessful person is allowed to remain unknown?" Tom asked with a curious smile. 

"That's not what I mean. I'm just trying to say, apart from the fact that it raises speculations which may lead to harmful gossip and rumors, there are people out there who could easily impersonate you, and anyone would easily believe them because you are faceless," Lucy pointed out, "Also, don't you feel somehow when most people think Mr. Harry is the CEO?" She added. 

"Maybe the first thing you should know about me is that I don't care what people think about me. If I did, I won't be where I am right now. I don't have any issue with people thinking Harry is the CEO. He puts in almost as much work as I do into the company, so it's okay for others to think he is the CEO. I have no problem with that," Tom said making Lucy sigh in resignation.

"Okay."

Hearing her resigned tone, he smiled, "I guess I will just have to work on my personality then," Tom murmured as he chewed on a piece of steak, "You will help me, won't you?"

"Help you with what?" Lucy asked in confusion. Why was everyone asking for her help now? 

"You should help me work on my personality," Tom said, making Lucy look at him with a slight frown. How was she supposed to do that? Lucy decided it was best not to say anything, so she picked up her glass of wine instead, and took a sip from it. 

"You haven't touched your meal," Tom told her, jerking his head towards her plate as he ate from his. 

Lucy picked up her cutlery set to eat again, but dropped it when Tom spoke, "You are not in a relationship at the moment, are you?"

Why was he asking that all of a sudden? What was she supposed to say? If she said she wasn't in a relationship, he might start getting ideas, and she didn't want that to happen. Lucy's thoughts drifted to Tom and she was quickly reminded of their relationship. Although it was temporary, it was still a relationship.

Tom watched the different expressions that flickered across her face as she considered his question. He wondered what her response would be. Was she going to deny being in a relationship?

"I am in a relationship," Lucy said, and Tom raised a brow. 

"Already? I thought you just broke up with your fiance sometime last week? Were you cheating on him?" He asked making Lucy's face redden in embarrassment.

It was beginning to seem like whatever she said to either Harry or the CEO was always going to be used against her. Every lie she had told them seemed to always come back to haunt her. She needed to be careful with whatever she told them. 

Thinking fast to come up with a suitable response, she said, "I wasn't. I just figured that there is no need to cry over spilled milk. He broke up with me, not the other way around, so why do I have to suffer any heartache over him?"

The corners of Tom's lips twitched at that, "Ah! I see. So who is the lucky young man? Someone you met here in Ludus?" He enquired, making her shift uncomfortably in her seat. 

Why did he want to know? Was he perhaps suspecting that she was dating her driver? Was there any company policy against it? "No. He is my childhood friend," she said making Tom's brow furrow slightly. 

Childhood friend? What was she talking about this time? Now he was beginning to wonder who told more lies between them. 

"I see. Please eat," Tom urged her and decided to remain quiet since he noticed that she wasn't the type to eat and talk at the same time. 

They ate in silence and after they were done, Tom paid the bills and they left. Once they got to the car he turned to her, "I think I like conversing with you. Let's do this again sometime soon, okay?"

"Yes sir," Lucy said with a nod. He didn't seem as weird anymore as she had thought. She couldn't wait to see Tom and tell him all about the meeting earlier, and also about her lunch date with the CEO. 

"Where do you live?" Tom asked innocently making her frown. She didn't want him to know where she lived. What if he visited her uninvited? Why would he visit her uninvited? It wasn't like they were friends or anything, he had better things to do with his time, Lucy reminded herself. 

"You don't have to drop me off at my home. You could just drop me off at the office if you are returning there, I need to pick up some personal effects from the office."

"The office it is then."