Chapter 141 - Familiar

Lucy let out a sigh of relief once she took out her contact lens and tied her hair in a ponytail. She was so glad that she was back home and could finally get her hair off her neck, and also get the lenses out. Her eyes could finally breathe.

Once she was done she walked into the bathroom to shower while thinking of Tom. She realized that he had been on her mind for most of the day even when she was talking with her boss. She wondered how he had spent his day and if he had eaten all day o had been too busy with his work. She was certain that he would be very tired after spending the day doing physical labor. Perhaps she should prepare something for him to eat? That was the duty of a girlfriend, wasn't it? Besides, he deserved that much since he had been the one making sure that she had something to eat since she got to Ludus. 

Once she stepped out of the bathroom, she toweled her body dry before she picked up her phone from her dressing table and went to sit on her bed, as she used the Google search engine.

"How to help your partner deal with stress," she typed, and soon many articles popped up on her screen. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she went through the articles one after the other. She noticed that most of the articles had several things in common, and they were; listening to your partner talk about their day, preparing a nice meal for your partner, offering them a foot or body massage, and sex. 

She decided to do the easy ones that were within her control. She couldn't initiate sex between them. Or could she? Her cheeks flushed a bright red at the thought of doing something as brazen as that, but she felt her toes curl as a tingling feeling spread over her lower abdomen. She wished she had half the guts that Sonia had. Maybe if she did, she could have attempted something that daring. Even the one time in her life that she had decided to do something daring she had ended up too drunk to not know that she had remained untouched... Or was it undicked? Seeing as he had touched her but had only failed to penetrate. Perhaps unpenetrated would be better? Or unpenalized? She giggled at the silly thoughts in her head. This was the side effect of having a crazy and corrupt friend like Sonia.

"Focus, Lu," She cautioned herself, but her mind returned to the thought of having sex with Tom. She almost jumped out of her skin in surprise when she heard the sound of her doorbell, and her eyes darted to the door guiltily. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she looked like she had been caught red-handed thinking something she wasn't supposed to be thinking. 

Her heart skipped a beat when it occurred to her that it was likely Tom who was at the door, and she quickly stood up from the bed and moved to her closet where she contemplated dressing up. When the doorbell rang again, she decided to get the door covered in just her towel. Where the boldness was coming from she didn't know, but somehow she just wanted him to see her in just her towel as she had seen him in his the other night.

"Hold on," she called out as she quickly put on her glasses and hurried to the door. She took in a deep breath before pulling the door open.

Tom who was standing there and had been about to dial her line, did a double-take when he saw her standing in front of him wrapped in just her towel. He noticed the blush that stained her cheek as his eyes moved over her body, and he couldn't help wondering what she was thinking about. 

"Wow!" Tom exclaimed with an appreciative grin. He made no move to step into the house or retreat as he stood there staring at her. Even though he had spent the whole day with her at work, and in the restaurant, he realized that he had missed her. He missed this version of her with her hair packed up and her glasses on. He missed this unguarded part of her. 

"Hi!" Lucy said with a shy smile.

"I missed you," Tom murmured as he took a step forward, and to his surprise, Lucy looked away from him shyly.

"I kind of missed you too," she said, surprising him even more. 

"You want to come in?" She asked, stepping away from the door so that he could get in. 

"You missed me?" Tom asked in disbelief as he walked through the door. He definitely had not been expecting her to admit that she missed him even if she did. 

"Yeah. Give me a moment to dress up and I'll join you," Lucy said as she turned to leave, expecting Tom to stop her as he usually did, but he just remained where he was staring at her as she left.

Although he was very tempted to stop her as he suspected she wanted him to, he was still too stunned by the fact that she had just admitted that she missed him. To think she had missed him even when she was with 'another' man was something significant for him. They were certainly making progress. 

Once Lucy got to her bedroom she sighed in disappointment. It seemed like he really wasn't interested in touching her yet. Not that she wanted sex or anything, but she had thought answering the door covered with just her towel was going to be provocative. 

'I guess I don't know much about men and their desires,' she muttered with a sigh as she picked out a pair of jeans bum short and a gray-colored tee-shirt from her closet. Once she was dressed she looked at her reflection in the mirror and adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose as she contemplated how she was going to offer him a massage. That wasn't supposed to be a big deal, was it?

As she walked out of the bedroom she paused hesitated by the door and returned to add a touch of lipgloss to her lips, and then adjusted her tee-shirt before walking out of the bedroom, "I hope I didn't keep you waiting?" She asked as she joined him in the living room, and Tom raised his head from his phone to look at her. 

He smiled when he noticed the lipgloss on her lips, and held out his hand to her, "No, you didn't. Although I don't mind waiting for you," he said, making Lucy smile shyly as she took his hand and Tom brought her to sit on the couch next to him.

"How was your day?" They both asked in unison and then smiled at each other.

"You go first," they said in unison again, and this time they laughed.

"Have you had something to eat?" Lucy asked instead.

"Yes, I ate something earlier, what about you?" Tom asked, even though he knew they had had lunch together earlier. 

"Oh!" Lucy said with a sigh. Now that preparing him a meal was out of it, all that was left was listening to him, and offering to give him a foot rub or a massage. Sex was certainly not part of it. 

"I had lunch with the CEO earlier," Lucy explained.

"Oh! That reminds me, how did it go with the CEO today?" Tom asked, turning to look at Lucy curiously since he really wanted to know what she thought about him. 

"Not bad. He's not as bad as I thought he was. I think I enjoyed conversing with him," Lucy said with a shrug, and then her eyes lit up when she suddenly remembered Anita.

"Guess what?" She asked excitedly, making Tom wonder what was making her so excited.

"The CEO said he likes you?" Tom asked, making her roll her eyes.

"Why would he like me? Anyway, I think I finally figured out why Anita has been coming so close to me. She is interested in the CEO," Lucy said in a conspiratorial whisper, making Tom raise a brow.

"She told you that?" Tom asked in surprise even though he had suspected that. 

"Not exactly. But I realized that she has been asking me a lot of questions concerning my job and the CEO. And the dress she wore to the meeting today was exactly the same dress she made me go shopping with her for. She said it was for a special occasion. I guess the CEO is the special occasion," Lucy said with a small giggle when she remembered how the CEO had made her go get them drinks in her special dress. 

"I guess she must have swept the CEO off his feet then?" Tom asked disinterestedly.

"You wish. You won't believe how he treated her today," Lucy said with a wicked glint in her eyes as she told Tom all that had happened at Ocean Airlines.

"Wow! The CEO must be a very mean person," Tom said with a slight frown.

"I thought so at first, but after speaking with the CEO, I don't think so anymore. I think he saw through her and treated her that way to put her in her place. Don't feel sorry for her, she deserved it," Lucy assured Tom when she noticed the frown on his face. He was too soft and kindhearted for his own good, Lucy thought.

"Seeing how you speak so highly of the CEO, I guess he must have made quite an impression on you," Tom observed, feeling slightly relieved that she didn't think he was mean.

"Yes, he did," Lucy said, nodding her head in agreement.

"Enough about them, tell me more about how much you missed me," Tom said as he moved closer to her. 

"Hmm. Now I know why," Lucy said thoughtfully as she looked at Tom with narrowed eyes. 

"Why what?" Tom asked in confusion as he looked at her. 

"Why I kept thinking there was something familiar about the CEO.. He kept reminding me of you," Lucy said, making Tom's heart skip a beat.