Chapter 236 - The Apartment Next Door

Lucy roused from sleep by the sound of Sonia's ringing tone. She couldn't believe that she had slept off on the couch. Her whole body ached due to the cramped position she had slept in.

Lucy stood up and stretched out her body before it occured to her that Sonia wasn't in the living room. Where was Sonia? She wondered as she called out to Sonia, but didn't get a response. Her eyes fell on Sonia's phone which had resumed ringing again after the first disconnected call. She picked it up when she saw that it was Sonia's editor who was calling, and silenced the phone as she walked around her little apartment in search of Sonia.

By the time she returned to the living room once again, it was obvious to her that Sonia wasn't in the apartment. She glanced at the door and sighed when she noticed that her slide slippers wasn't there. 

She dropped Sonia's phone and picked up hers to see if there was any missed call or text message from Tom. She scowled when she didn't see any, and angrily dropped the phone when she heard the sound of the doorbell. 

"Good morning, dad!" She greeted when she opened the door and saw her father standing there.

"Good morning, Princess. Whose car is parked out there? It wasn't there when we left last night," her father said as he walked into the house.

"A car?" Lucy asked as she walked outside to see the car, even though she was aware that it was hers.

When did Tom return the car? Or did he send the substitute driver from yesterday to bring the car to her? She wondered as she glanced at his apartment. She wasn't sure he was at home. 

"What are you staring at?" Lucas who had been on the phone with Rachel, asked as he got out of his car and looked in the direction of Tom's apartment, "Is that the apartment of that your friend's friend driver? Or was it colleague's friend's driver?" Lucas asked with a grin, and Lucy scowled as she turned to look at him. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said as she picked up the car key from the top of one of the tyres and returned inside the house. 

The last thing she wanted was for a nosy neighbor to capture a photo of her standing outside, still dressed in her pyjamas, and staring at the apartment next door. She could imagine what manner of caption they would give to such a photo. 

Probably something like, 'Killer of college student, targeting her next victim?' Lucy thought with a giggle as she walked into her apartment.

"What is making you laugh?" Her father asked as he watched her with concern.

"Nothing serious. Just a silly thought," Lucy said as she placed the car key on the table.

Even though she did not exactly find her situation funny, knowing that people were going to be on the look out for her, so they could continue to supply the public with all manner of rumor about her, she couldn't help but try to find the humor in her situation. What else could she do but laugh? 

"I need coffee in my system," her father complained as he walked over to her bedroom to meet his wife, while Lucy went over to the kitchen to prepare coffee for everyone.

"Now that I think about it, you didn't give me an update on the relationship between your colleague's friend and her driver," Lucas said with a teasing smile as he joined her in the kitchen with a box of cookies, "Oh, yeah, you did! He turned out to be her boss, right? And they're dating now, aren't they?" Lucas asked, and then chuckled when she glared at him.

"What is your point?" Lucy asked dryly.

"Well, it's not bad to listen to a brotherly advise once in a while. I honestly can't wait to see my future brother-in-law," Lucas said making Lucy roll her eyes. 

"Don't get ahead of yourself. I never said anything about getting married to him," Lucy pointed out. 

"Yeah, yeah. Where is Sonia by the way?" Lucas asked curiously when he realized that he was yet to see any trace of her. 

"She wasn't here when I woke up, and she didn't take her phone with her either. I think she stepped out for a stroll," Lucy said as she turned to look at Lucas who was now seated on one of the twin chairs in her kitchen. 

"Is she okay? I noticed that she wasn't her usual chatty self last night," Lucas said with concern as he opened the box of cookie, and Lucy sighed as she poured him a cup of coffee and placed it in front of him, before going to pour a glass of cranberry for herself. 

"How can she be chatty when she just broke up with the man she is in love with?" Lucy asked as she took the seat opposite him. 

Seeing how they were both seated here now, she was glad that she had followed her instincts and purchased this simple cane dining set with just twin chairs. She had been reluctant to purchase it at first, as she made plans to move over to ludus, since she lived alone and had no need for it when she could easily eat in her bedroom or living room.

"Yeah. I guess you're right," he said with a sigh as he looked into his cup of coffee and stirred it quietly.

"Is everything okay?" She asked as she watched him carefully from where she was seated. Maybe it was because they were twins, but somehow she always managed to know when something was wrong with him, regardless of how well he tried to act like he was fine. 

"Sure."

"Liar! Out with it, what is the problem?" Lucy asked, watching him as he continued to look into his coffee.

Seeing how reluctant he was to talk about what was bothering him, Lucy narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "This has something to do with Rachel, doesn't it?" She asked since she knew that Lucas was only reluctant to tell her stuff when it had to do with Rachel because he knew that she didn't like her. 

"She didn't do anything wrong," he said defensively without meeting her gaze. 

"Of course, she didn't," Lucy said with a smirk, "Your response have said it all. What's up this time? I thought everything was rosy, and you both are busy with your wedding plans and..." The rest of her words trailed off when she realized what the problem could be.

"Is she fighting with you because you're here with me?" Lucy asked knowingly. Knowing how clingy Rachel was, she wouldn't put it past her.

"She is just upset that I left the way I did," Lucas explained.

"Then go back to her. I asked you not to come anyway," Lucy said irritably as she drank from her juice.

No matter how much she tried, she couldn't really bring herself to like Rachel. And Rachel was not making it easy for her either. How could any sensible lady be mad that her mad had left to spend time with his family considering the situation of things? If she wanted his attention so much why didn't she just travel down with him? Not that Lucy wanted her to stay under her roof anyway.

"You see why I didn't want to talk to you about it? You always react this way when Rachel is involved," Lucas said with disapproval as he stood up and walked away with his cup of coffee in hand. 

Lucy opened her mouth to say something, but snapped it shut when her phone started ringing. She picked it up and received the call when she saw that it was a call from Tom.

"You were supposed to give me a call when you got some last night," Lucy said testily.

"Good morning to you too, Princess. Did you sleep well?" Tom asked cheerfully, choosing to ignore her statement since he could tell that she was in the mood to transfer aggression. 

"Why didn't you call?" Lucy asked again, ignoring his greeting. 

"Why didn't you call to check on me when you didn't see my call?" Tom asked in return.

"I was busy."

"Good. So why do you think I failed to call you?" Tom asked patiently as though he was talking to a kid.

'"Whatever."

"Did you get the grocery items?" Tom asked curiously.

"Yes, I did. Thank you," Lucy murmured grudgingly. 

"You are welcome. And you don't have to be upset that I didn't call. We only got home in the early hours of the morning, and I didn't want to disturb your sleep. We were very busy trying to find the people behind the article on the net," Tom explained making her brows furrow in confusion.

"We? Who else was with you?" 

"Oh, yeah. Bryan got here last night. Your best friend is here too," Tom informed her.

"Sonia is there? Where?" She asked as she stood up. 

"The apartment next door," before Tom could finish speaking, Lucy hung up the call and hurried out of the house to join them.