Chapter 213 - Emotional Blackmail

After watching Tom and Lucy walk hand in hand into the barbing salon, Anita had driven off as she had better things to do with her time than stay outside there waiting for them to finish with whatever they had gone there for. 

Initially, she had wanted to call Lucy but had decided to wait until she got home, so she would have enough time to clear her head. 

Now seated in her car which was parked outside her apartment, she tried to come up with the perfect way to execute her plan. Once she was sure of the first line of action to take, she dialed Lucy's line.

"Hey, girl! Can we meet?" Anita asked immediately Lucy received her call, and she placed the call on recorder.

"Uhm, not exactly. I'm hanging out with my boyfriend, why?" Lucy asked, wondering why Anita wanted to meet with her again when they had met just the previous evening. 

Even though Lucy knew that she could easily choose to ignore Anita's call or cut her off to save herself from a lot of stress and drama, she preferred to play Anita's game. She knew that Anita just wanted to use her, and she wanted to see just how far Anita was willing to go to do that. Besides, it was better to keep her close this way. That was the only way she could know what Anita was up to.

Boyfriend? That confirmed that she had not just been seeing things earlier. Tom... No, her CEO was really Lucy's boyfriend.

"You are always hanging out with this boyfriend of yours. You make single people like me feel lonely," Anita said in an easy tone that belied the anger she felt. The only visible sign of her anger was the white knuckles of her right hand which was holding on tightly to the steering wheel.

"Well, I have some years' worth of catching up to do in the relationship department, so don't blame me," Lucy said, imitating Anita's easy tone.

If only Lucy had chosen to remain single and not get involved with Tom, she wouldn't have resorted to doing any of the things she was planning, Anita thought with a sigh.

"I suppose we can't meet. I was really hoping we could hang out. I wanted to talk to you about something that has been bothering me all day. I would have stopped at your office earlier in the day, but after the CEO's warning yesterday, I didn't want to risk it," Anita said in a distressed tone.

Lucy's brows pulled together in a slight frown when she heard Anita's distress. Although Anita was her enemy and she was wary of her, she couldn't stop herself from being concerned. That was what made her human, wasn't it?

"Is something wrong? Is it very urgent?" 

"I guess it has to wait. I don't want to cut short your time with your man. I was just worried and needed someone to talk to, and I figured you're the best person to talk to since you might be able to help me," Anita said sadly.

She needed her help? Lucy pursed her lips as she tried to figure out what Anita was up to this time, "Uhm, is it something you can talk about over the phone? Or can it wait till I'm able to see you" Lucy asked, trying not to sound too cautious.

"Maybe. The thing is, after our conversation last night, I've been thinking a lot about all we said..." Anita started.

"All we said about what?" Lucy asked with a confused frown.

"You know, I mean what we spoke about concerning Tom and the CEO," Anita started, and Lucy's heart skipped a beat when she heard Tom's name on Anita's lips. 

Before now Anita barely mentioned Tom's name, as she always just referred to him as her driver, and tried not to give any hint that she was ever involved with Tom, so hearing her talk about him now made Lucy more than a little uncomfortable.

"Are you there?" Anita asked when Lucy didn't say anything.

"Yeah. Sure. Go on. What about him and the CEO?" Lucy asked, trying to sound normal.

Anita sighed, "I lied to you. I'm sorry I haven't been entirely honest with you considering the fact that we are friends," Anita confessed, making Lucy feel even more uncomfortable.

What was going on? Why was Anita suddenly sounding this way? "You lied to me? About what?" 

Anita cleared her throat. She knew she had to play this card very well, "I don't know if your driver told you this yet, but we used to be in love with each other. We were in a relationship," Anita confessed, making Lucy's heart skip a beat. Why was she telling her this now? What did Anita want?

"Oh! Really?" Lucy asked, sounding genuinely surprised since she hadn't expected Anita to bring it up.

Hearing the surprise in Lucy's voice, Anita concluded that Tom had probably not told Lucy about their past according to their agreement so she quickly continued, "You can't tell him I told you this. I just feel very sad and guilty that I'm keeping something like this away from you. I've not been myself since he broke up with me," Anita said with a sigh. She needed to tell Lucy her own version of the story and get Lucy's pity before Tom does that. 

"I don't understand," Lucy said in confusion since just the previous day Anita had told her that she couldn't be with someone like Tom who had nothing to offer to her. Where was this coming from now?

"To be honest with you, I'm still very much in love with Tom. Things were going so well between us until I told my mom about him. She was against our relationship because Tom was a blue-collar worker, and every time I was to go out on a date with him she would do everything within her means to stop me. She even threatened to ruin Tom's life if I didn't stop seeing him. I couldn't tell Tom about it because I didn't want him to feel bad. Eventually, he got tired of all the flimsy excuses I kept making each time I stood him up," Anita concluded on a small sob which left Lucy feeling completely confused. 

"But I thought you were trying to matchmake us?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"I wasn't. I just wanted to spend some time in his company because I really liked him, and the only way I could do that was through you. He would never agree to meet with me alone or hear me out," Anita said with a sniffle.

"But just yesterday you said he couldn't offer you anything and that you preferred the CEO," Lucy reminded her with a frown as she watched Tom who was now looking different heading for the car.

"I didn't really mean that. It's just my mom... She is very controlling and I was really trying to stay away from him so she doesn't harm him, but I just don't think I can do that anymore. It hurts to live without him. I can't do that anymore" Anita said and broke down in tears again.

Tom who had gotten to where Lucy was, opened his mouth to say something, but Lucy raised a finger to her lips to shut him up. The last thing she wanted was for Anita to hear Tom's voice in the background.

"Uhm... This is a lot to take in at once, can I call you back when I get home? I'm still with my boyfriend so I can't talk right now," Lucy said weakly, making Tom raise a brow as he watched her. 

"Sure. I'm sorry I forgot you were with him. Let's talk later. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. I feel a lot better now," Anita said with a sniffle as she quickly hung up the call.

"Is everything okay? Was that Sonia?" Tom asked as he watched Lucy's face intently.

"No."

"Who then was it?" Tom asked patiently as he looked down at Lucy. Although he had known her for only a short time, he could read her face well enough to tell when she wasn't okay, and he could see that something was wrong.

"It was Anita," Lucy said with a shrug, making Tom's frown of concern transform into a scowl.

"What did she want this time? Another hangout?" He asked in disapproval.

"No. She wants you. She says she is still in love with you," Lucy said flatly.

"In love? Me?" Tom asked with a scoff as he pointed to himself.

"Yes, you. Tom Handy, not Thomas Hank," Lucy said as she watched Tom's face carefully.

Tom chuckled, "She must have found out something."

"How? She didn't sound like she knows anything. She just sounded like she wanted me to know about her relationship with my driver, and what led to your break up," Lucy explained.

"And what did she say led to our break up?" Tom asked disinterestedly.

"She said she loves you but her mother wasn't in support of the relationship, and she threatened to..."

Tom yawned dramatically, "I can't believe you bought that silly story. Trust me, I know Anita. She is trying to blackmail you emotionally. She probably found out about my identity or my relationship with you, or even both. 

"You didn't even let me tell you everything she said," Lucy said with a slight frown.

"Because I don't care about any lie she must have told you. And trust me, when I say she doesn't and has never loved me. Her mother had little or nothing to do with our breakup. So do me a favor and don't let her get into your head, please." Tom pleaded as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"But what if..."

"There are no what ifs, Lu. I told you already, you are all I want. And even if she is saying the truth, nothing is going to change. Let her know that you are dating me now and you can't be of any help to her, period."

"If you can't do that, I will do so myself. So please make sure that the next time you speak with her, you ask her to back off," Tom said with finality in his tone. 

Without saying a word Lucy sighed as she got out of the car and handed him the car keys.

"Lu?" Tom called softly before she could walk away and he placed both hands on her shoulder, "I know this is a lot for you right now, and so much seems to be happening at the same time, so let's not add Anita to the list, okay? Let's just go home, have fun together, and after work tomorrow we take the weekend off as planned, okay?" 

Lucy gave him a nod, and Tom kissed her lightly on her lips as he led her to the other side of the car. Once she was seated and her seatbelt was in place he shut the car door and went around to get into the driver's seat while trying to figure out how Anita had discovered the truth. 

Was it the private investigator? Tom wondered. He needed to keep an eye on Anita.. Seeing how much she upset Lucy, he needed to begin to take her more seriously.