Chapter 532 A Step Ahead

Anita seethed in her seat beside her sister as they listened to some of the other ladies around them gossip about Lucy and Tom, and how beautiful and lucky she was to get a man like Tom.

They were all seated there waiting for their turn, while Tom and Lucy were receiving such special treatment. Of course, Anita had heard all about the VIP room, and it was reserved only for the one percent of the one percent in the society. That meant not just anyone could go in there, yet here she was, and a nobody like Lucy was in there.

Tiffany placed a hand on Anita's hand when she noticed how she kept pinching at her nails as she usually did when she was irritated, "Don't worry, I'll handle it," Tiffany promised.

"What are you going to do?" Anita asked, and Tiffany smiled.

"Wait and see."

"I would love to be friends with her," one of the ladies was saying, and another nodded.

"Me too."

One of them turned to Anita, "We saw you talking with her earlier. Are you friends with her?"

Before Anita could respond, Tiffany took that as the cue she had been waiting for and joined the conversation, "It's a sad story. They used to be really close friends, and Tom used to be her boyfriend. That girl may look all sweet and innocent, but she snatched my sister's man," Tiffany said, patting Anita's hand, and the ladies gasped in disbelief as they looked at Anita.

"Is that true?" One of them asked.

"That sounds like something that happens in a soap opera," another said as they all looked at Anita, eager to hear this piece of gossip from the horse's mouth.

"How is that possible? Seeing how he revealed his identity because of Lucinda, I don't think there was anything serious going on between him and your sister," another said, earning her a glare from Tiffany.

"He was in love with her! That Lucinda lady seduced Thomas!" Tiffany snapped at her, and Aurora who was now dressed in a uniform as the rest staff and had been passing by to pick up a beauty product from the display shelf to show Tom and Lucy slowed down so she could hear what was being discussed.

"Go on. Tell them," Tiffany urged Anita.

Knowing that Tiffany was trying to paint Lucy in a bad light for her sake, and because she was already fed up with all the nice things the ladies had been saying about Lucy, Anita decided to tell them what they wanted to hear, since it was true after all that Lucy had snatched her man.

Anita tried to put on her most modest smile, "You really didn't have to bring that up, Tiff. It's all in the past now. I've healed," Anita said with a shake of her head.

"Oh, dear! Don't tell me it's true!" Another lady said, and Anita smiled in embarrassment.

"Lucy is really a nice person. You can't blame her for falling for my man. Tom is quite a catch after all," Anita said, and the ladies exchanged a look amongst themselves.

"So you mean she snatched your man? Why did you both speaking with her?" One of the ladies asked with a frown.

"Oh, Anita is much too sweet for her own good. I even offered that we go some place else so she doesn't have to face that backstabbing man snatching lowlife tramp, but she said there was no need to be on bad terms with them, and that she wished them well. Can you imagine anyone so sweet?" Tiffany asked, and the others looked at Anita pitifully.

"You are such a sweet soul, you poor thing," one of the ladies said as she reached out to pat Anita's hand.

Anita smiled awkwardly, "They found love in each other. I can't blame them for that, can I? Maybe I was meant to bring them together. Tom did thank me for helping him find his true love," Anita said with a pained smile, and the ladies exclaimed in outrage.

"No, he didn't do that!"

"He can't be that cold, can he?"

Anita shrugged, "You think you know a person, but you never can really tell how a person is until you go close to them."

"Did you notice he didn't say hello to her? He acted like he didn't even know her!" One of the ladies pointed out, and the others agreed.

"And Lucinda had the guts to approach you with a smile after she stole your man? We should teach her a lesson!" A lady said, and the others nodded in agreement.

"You don't have to. I hold nothing against her. Really. You know, I think I understand her better after seeing that interview about all that happened to her. She deserves to find love and be happy," Anita said with a sweet smile which only infuriated the other ladies the more.

"Not with your man! That is unacceptable! It is because nice people like you allow people like her get away that we have so many ladies doing things like this they're not supposed to do," one of the ladies said.

"What should we do to her? We should teach them a lesson," one of them asked, and as they whispered amongst themselves, Aurora drew closer to them.

"Do you think maybe we could convince one of the staff to tamper with her skin or hair treatment?" One asked, and the others nodded in agreement and one leaned closer to the others.

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"You know when Mira and Issa had their fight some months ago, it was really dirty, and they even used some of the girls to ruin each other's treatment. Of course, Tracy had to fire the girls, and canceled Mira's and Issa's membership at the salon, but I'm sure for the right amount, someone here could do it anonymously," one said in a conspiratorial whisper.

"I don't want to be a part of this," Anita said with a shake of her head as she moved away, but not without first exchanging a knowing glance with Tiffany who was more than thrilled to see that her little plan had worked out perfectly.

She couldn't wait to share the news with their mother and Bernice. They would all have a good laugh.

For Tiffany, she was doing this because, like her mother, she wanted Anita's transition as Tom's woman to be smooth. They knew just how easy it was for people to point fingers at the person considered to be the 'other woman'.

Lisa had also been seen as the other woman in her relationship with Ron, since he had been engaged when she met him. Because of this, Lisa didn't really flow well in these circles since she was considered to be the outsider who snatched the fiancé of someone else. No one cared if Lisa and Ron were in love or if Ron's previous relationship was only a business arrangement between two families, since most of them had gotten married by arrangement.

The only thing the ladies here cared about at the end of the day was right and wrong. As far as they were considered it was wrong to go into a relationship with someone who was in a relationship with another. It was wrong to be the reason a relationship comes to an end.

Their mother knew this, and this was why she had wanted Tiffany to accompany Anita to the beauty salon where she had first heard about Tom being the driver of one of his staff. Their mother had wanted her to start a different kind of rumor here. But who would have thought that the duo would choose that day of all days to show up?

Tiffany had wanted to give up on the plan because of their presence there, but seeing how the other ladies had been talking about Lucy, she had decided to step up and do what she was there to do, so that Anita wouldn't have a hard time after she got Tom back. That way, everyone would be aware that she had always been Tom's woman from the start and had only taken back her man from Lucy.

"That is a new face here. I'm sure she doesn't know much. We could use her," one of the ladies suggested, pointing at Aurora who was standing by the shelf, pretending to be busy while eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Hey, dear! Excuse me!" One of the ladies said, and Aurora walked over to where the ladies sat.

They beckoned her to move closer, and then one of the ladies whispered to her what they wanted her to do.

Away from there in the VIP room, Lucy eyed Tom suspiciously since they were alone now that Aurora had excused herself, "You wanted us to come here because you were aware she would be here, didn't you?" Lucy asked, and Tom smiled.

It was true that he had known Anita was going to be here, and he had wanted to see how Lucy would handle being in the same space with Anita before the anniversary.

He had wanted to also see how Anita would act— whether as a friend or a foe. Apart from wanting them to relax, this had been like a test run to see what would happen at the anniversary dinner and also to witness something else for himself.

"We were going to come here to relax. I already planned…"

"But you knew she would be here, didn't you?" Lucy asked, and Tom sighed.

"Yes, I was aware. I still have someone keeping an eye on her and her family. But I wanted us to come here because on my way home last night Barry sent me something," Tom said as he took out his phone and played a voice recording for Lucy.

It was a conversation between Tiffany and Rebekah.

"Hello, mother! Were you able to find uncle Richard?" Tiffany asked when she received her mother's call the previous evening.

"Not yet, but I have someone on it. How did it go? Were you girls able to find the designer to make your sister's gown?" Rebekah asked.

"No, mother. The designer informed us that the person who bought the gown Anita wanted, also bought the design from him, as a result he can't remake that design but he agreed to make something close to that design."

"Someone bought the design? Did you find out who did that?"

"No, mother. He refused to say," Tiffany said apologetically.

At this point, Lucy paused the recording and looked at Tom, "Is the gown in question one of those the designers brought in yesterday?" She asked, and Tom gave her a nod.

"It's the gown you chose for the anniversary party."

"Did you buy me those clothes because Anita wanted them and you wanted to show off?" Lucy asked with a frown, not wanting to believe that Tom was trying to use her to get to Anita.

The corners of Tom's lips hardened as he looked at Lucy, "I believe you know me, so why don't you tell me?" Tom asked, and Lucy's frowned deepened.

"I wouldn't be asking if I knew," Lucy said, and Tom rubbed the bridge of his nose as he prayed for patience not to get mad at her for implying something like that.

"Did we agree to go shopping or not? Is there anything wrong in seeing a gown I like and paying for it despite knowing that someone I used to know wanted it?" Tom asked, and Lucy sighed.

"Now do you want to keep listening or are you done?" He asked with hand stretched out for his phone, and Lucy looked at him for a moment as though trying to make up her mind if she should believe him or not.

"Alright, I'm sorry I doubted your intentions for a moment. It would have helped if you told me all of this before now," Lucy said, and Tom considered her words for a moment.

"Are we ever going to get to the point where you trust my judgement and action whether or not I explain them to you first?" He asked, and Lucy shrugged.

"That level of trust takes time. We are not there yet, but I believe it's not impossible for us," she said honestly, and Tom held her gaze for a moment before giving her a nod.

With that out of the way, Lucy resumed the recording.

"That's fine. Do not forget to take Anita to the salon spa tomorrow as we discussed...."

"Aren't you forgetting that tomorrow is lunch at Benny's?" Tiffany asked.

"What is so special about the lunch compared to what you're supposed to do? You can be late. Don't worry about it and just make sure Anita is there with you and you bring up the issue of how her friend snatched hee man," Rebekah instructed, and Lucy turned to look at Tom when she heard that.

"Anita isn't going to like that. What if she insists on getting her makeover on a weekday?" Tiffany asked, and Rebekah tsked in disapproval.

"You are her big sister. Convince her. If she fails to comply, give me a call. Just make sure you get it done today. I want the story out there already. If things go as planned at the anniversary party, I want people to be talking about how Anita took back her man from her evil friend and how their love prevailed. Imagine us talking about Thomas Hank as Anita's boyfriend at Eric's show! Rebekah Miller and her power puff girls," Rebekah said, and Tiffany laughed.

"Alright, I will do my best to get it done. I will have to take her there before noon so we can finish in time to make it to Benny's for lunch."

"That's fine. Do not disappoint me, Tiff," Rebekah warned before hanging up.

Before Lucy could comment on what she had just learned, Aurora returned with the beauty product she had been recommending to them.

"I was just offered quite an impressive sum of money to mess with your skin," Aurora announced in a singsong voice as she joined them.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You're so lucky I happened to be here. I bet any of the other girls would have accepted their offer considering how huge it is. I'm curious about something though, did you really snatch him from your friend?" Aurora asked as she looked from Lucy to Tom and then back again.