by Emelia Blair
“No!” Darren sounds panicked now and there’s a trace of anger in his voice as well.
Lucas gives him a mocking look. “Oh? Is something the matter?”
Darren struggles, and bites out, “I was on my way down when Elise stopped me for the computer glitch.”
Lucas glances down at his watch. “Why were you going outside? Have you suddenly been assigned field work?”
“It’s nearing lunch so—”
“Your department’s lunch break has been shifted to an hour later. An email was circulated throughout the company announcing the change in certain hours for some departments. For someone so tech savvy, you don’t even check your email? Or do you think that the company writes out emails and sends out instructions that hold no value to you? Are we wasting your time, Mr. Hall? Are our emails inconveniencing you? Or do you consider yourself above the subject matter?”
Darren is shaking now.
Satisfaction is running rampant in my heart upon seeing this man so utterly humiliated in front of me. I may not be able to hurt him but Lucas isn’t sparing him any self-respect.
Seeing this side of Lucas is oddly arousing.
I can’t ever tell him that or I’ll never hear the end of it.
“No, sir,” Darren is gritting out his words.
It’s blatantly obvious that Lucas is ignoring my supposed role in this. He doesn’t even look in my direction, his frosty gaze fixed on Darren. “I’ll have a word with your supervisor. If your abilities aren’t being utilized to their full capacity, that should be amended.”
Darren is left speechless.
In my heart, the pain of the humiliation that had just been doled on to me lessens, because Lucas rips the man apart with a handful of words.
Although he’s just the company lawyer, everyone knows that Lucas is one of the top senior staff alongside Oliver, Lana, and Caleb. Other people may not realize but I know that Caleb has simply surrounded himself with people that he trusts. They may not have as much authority as he does, but they are all his right hand men. So, one word from Lucas can very effectively get somebody fired.
And Darren knows this.
I chance a look at Lucas, his hair ruffled, his gaze withering, and I feel safe.
I don’t usually like sharing my problems because I’ve never been one to do so and it’s always hard, but right now, I feel that maybe leaning on this man once in a while might not be so bad. Everyone knows him to be the most approachable one out of the senior management and very few have seen him act so ruthlessly.
I watch as he sends Darren packing.
It’s only when the elevator doors close behind him that Lucas turns to face me.
I’m still holding Sophie to me.
He narrows his eyes at me. “What did he say to you?”
I shake my head. “Not here.” I glance around and then ask in a low voice, “Have the lunch break hours really changed?”
Concern is rampant in his eyes but he still manages a smile that probably has no good meaning. “It was implemented today. The concerned departments got an email. It’s a temporary measure.”
“I didn’t get an email. Oh, wait, Rueben said he was going for lunch at two. I thought he was just taking a late lunch.”
Lucas nods in understanding. “Yours hasn’t been changed, his has. Somebody has to be manning the reception at all times. Come on.” He lets me put on my baby carrier and helps me put Sophie into it. He’s oddly fascinated by the baby carrier and I have a feeling that he might insist on trying it on one day. There is nothing I wouldn’t put past this man.
I could even imagine him strutting around, carrying Sophie in the baby carrier.
Lucas gives me a strange look. “What?”
I become aware of the foolish grin that I have on my face. Biting my lower lip to hold in my chuckle. “No, nothing. I just remembered something.”
I let him usher me out, his eyes boring holes in the back of my head.
He takes me to a small pizza joint to my surprise and pleasure. We take a booth in the back and after we place the order, he turns to me, his expression tight. “What did Darren say to you?”
My light mood evaporates and it also causes me to register the fact that while around this man, I’m prone to letting go of my worries, his presence a drug for me. I rub my wrist under the table as I recount the encounter, word by word, not leaving anything out. The only way out of this is if Lucas chooses to help me. He’s already said he will and I force myself to dispel the lingering doubts that I seem to have a fetish for collecting at this point. “I’m not going to do it,” I say, fiercely, when Lucas watches me with an indescribable look. “I’m not letting him scare me into walking away from you and I’m not handing Sophie over to him!” When he doesn’t say anything, I glower at him. “I want you to help me.”
A slow smile forms on Lucas’s lips at my demand, and he drawls, “So, forceful. Am I even allowed to say no?” His tone is playful but his eyes are frosty.
I know they’re not aimed at me but I can’t help but shudder.
When the food comes and I reach for a slice of the pizza, I feel his eyes linger on the light bruising on my wrist but he doesn’t say a word and I don’t have a good feeling about it, the pit of my stomach twisting at the icy gleam in his eyes.
However, he doesn’t mention it and in the midst of the meal, he asks, “What are you doing on Saturday?”
I’m chewing my food and say, slowly, “I’ll probably be home. Lana asked me if I wanted to have lunch with her since you keep hogging me on my lunch break.” I give him a wide smile. “She also called you a pretty nasty word which I’m not going to mention.”
Lucas winces. “I bet she did. I want you to go with me to Debra’s wedding.”
I put down my slice to stare at him. “Are you asking me or telling me?”
“Te- Asking you?”
My stern face makes him change his answer midair.
He gives me a lovable smile, “So, will you? Go with me, that is?”
“I’d love to” I settle in my seat, happily. “I love weddings. All the pretty dresses and flowers.”
Lucas tilts his head at me. “Well, if that’s the case, you only have to give the word and I’ll—”
“Lucas!” I flush at his words, having a vague idea of what he’s about to say judging by the mischievous look on his face. On any other man, the look might have been profoundly odd, but with this man’s natural inclination to cause trouble, it’s quite befitting.
Lucas, the charming friend, the ruthless lawyer, the mischievous troublemaker, the sadist, and the dominant lover. He has so many facets to his personality. While I may not have experienced the last one, his interactions with me have foretold of this trait. When he backs me into a corner just using his hands and mouth to subdue me and make whimper in need for him with just a kiss, it’s given me a good idea of what to expect in the bedroom.
He laughs at the mortified look on my face. “Fine, I’ll stop.”
I shoot him a suspicious look.
He adopts an innocent expression.
“It’s very last minute though. I think I might –“
“What do you mean last minute?” He looks baffled. “Who else would I take to the wedding if not you?”
His words make my heart leap and I get it under control. “I guess I just didn’t think about it.” When he doesn’t add anything, I pick up where I left off, “I might have a dress inside. It’s a blue thing that I got with Lana before…” I want to slap my forehead as something occurs to me. “I can’t wear that.”
“Why not?”
I love that no matter what I’m talking about, whether its dresses or my favorite book or television show, Lucas always listens with rapt attention. I shift in my seat right now though. “I-It won’t fit.”
“Why not?”
He also tends to ask pretty stupid questions at times for being such a smart attorney. I scowl at him in dismay. “It just won’t.”
“Did
it shrink?”
I’m starting to think it would be much better if he tuned me out half the time like other men. I glower at him. “Are you being serious right now?”
For someone who’s always prided herself for her pleasant nature, I sure do get riled up when I’m around Lucas.
He just chews his slice of pizza and stares at me expectantly, waiting for an answer.
Exasperated, I hiss, “I haven’t lost the baby weight, you idiot. I’m all round and chubby now. My dresses were for someone not this fat.”
He frowns now. “Fat? You’re all curvy, soft, and sexy! Has pregnancy made you go blind?” His expression clears. “Is that why you’ve been eating all those salads?”
His words make me blush again and I’m speechless. He always insists on saying this. I feel doubt trickle into my mind. Maybe I’m just being oversensitive to my own body. Lucas has always liked me for who I am. It’s only after I got pregnant that I started having all these self-image issues.
When I don’t say anything, he just dives into his fourth slice and says, “Besides, Debra wants you to come to her shop and pick out a dress.”
I’ve looked up Debra’s shop online and I gulp when he brings it up. “That’s very nice of her but I’ve seen the prices, Lucas. Your sister is one of the chicest designers in the States. I don’t think—?”
“It’s not a request.” He looks pained now. “I’ve been ordered to bring you there today or tomorrow for a fitting. Of course, you won’t be expected to pay for it.”
This seems a little over the top to me. “I don’t want you to pay for it
“I’m not,” he says, simply. “She wants to gift it to you.”
When I gape at him, he grins. “I think she’s just really happy that you’re not a figment of my imagination.”
I recall what Debra said back when we ran into her at the café. I’m still quite uneasy about the whole idea. “Still, it’s not right. She works really hard on her designs. I don’t want her to just give it away. It doesn’t seem very fair.”
Lucas smirks. “You want to tell her no? Good luck with that. I’m a lawyer and she still manages to beat me at every argument there is.”
I’ve already experienced some of Debra’s personality and I have a sinking feeling that denying Lucas’s sister anything isn’t possible. “So, dress shopping with Debra, huh?” I ask, faintly.
He just grins at me. “She’s not that bad. I mean, she’s not all bad.” His grin fades. “I’ll try to protect you.”
I just groan.
By the time we get back to work, it hits me how he’d completely distracted me from the problem of Darren.
Debra’s shop is bigger on the inside than one would think.
There are all sorts of lovely dresses hanging on racks and sketches posted on the walls.
Lucas is seated on one of the fancy plush couches, watching me being poked and prodded by his sister. There’s another woman standing on the side, watching me. She’s a tall brunette and was introduced as Debra’s friend. Grace.
“You don’t have to go to all this trouble, Debra,” I beg. “I can just get something off the rack.”
“Nonsense.” Debra ignores my pleading. “Do you want something to drink? Grace, get some champagne in her.”
Grace just laughs silently at my predicament and hands me a bubbling flute, advising, “It will be easier if you bear this in silence. The more you protest, the more champagne she’ll make you drink.”
The glint in Debra’s eyes makes me close my eyes in hopelessness.
We’ve been here for two hours and she’s made me try on incomplete dresses, making adjustments on them.
Lucas has busied himself with playing with Sophie, studiously ignoring my silent cries for help.
“A hem of silver would go nicely,” Debra muses, loudly.
Then one of the shop attendants immediately brings forward large but delicate laces of shimmering silver.
Debra sits down on the ground choosing from the many options and starts hemming it at the bottom of the midnight blue dress I’m wearing.
“Debra, you have a wedding in three days. You really don’t have to do this.”
She just gives me an absentminded smile, pats me on my butt, and keeps hemming.
It takes us another two hours to finally be done with it and Debra kicks us out, promising to have the dress sent to me on Friday.
Disorientated, I blink owlishly at the shut door of the shop.
Lucas chuckles. “She’s stressed out over the wedding and she needed to do something other than obsess over it. She needed this more than you realize.”
Sophie is in a small stroller for a change and since it’s evening and his home is close by, Lucas invites me over for dinner.
I hesitate.
So without the blink of an eye, he instead suggests picking up some takeout and taking it to my place instead.
The transition is effortlessly smooth and before I know it, we are entering my apartment, with bags of steaming Thai food.
I prepare Sophie for bed and Lucas offers to change her while I empty the food into dishes.
By the time I’m done, I find him in her room. He’s put her in her crib and is talking to her in a low, soothing voice.
She has her fist in her mouth as she blinks tiredly at him.
I watch them for a few minutes.
Lucas is resting his folded arms on the raised part of the railings of the crib as he looks down at Sophie.
I’ve never worried about raising Sophie alone. But right now, I do find myself thinking that it would be nice to have someone to share this experience with. Not just anyone…just Lucas.
Not just for Sophie, but a partner for myself with whom I can share Sophie’s achievements, her joys, her tears.
Lucas looks over his shoulder at me and smiles.
It’s a soft, affectionate smile and I suddenly wish he didn’t have to go home.
However, I banish the thought from my head as he heads over to me, whispering, “She’s asleep.”
I turn on Sophie’s night-light and kiss her on her forehead before quietly closing the door. “You’re surprisingly good with children,” I tell him.
Lucas shrugs. “Debra and I kind of raised ourselves when we were young. Mom was always working, so I would usually look after Debra even though we were the same age. And then at some point, I started babysitting in junior school to earn some pocket money.”
We sit together on the too soft couch, our knees bumping as we dig into the food. Lucas tells me about his childhood stories and I notice the lack of mention of his father. I don’t ask him about it but I listen to him. I see a responsible ten year old who takes care of the house along with his sister. I also see the despondence, the desire to be carefree like the rest of the children his age. I see the boy making sacrifices right, left, and center, and not seeing anything wrong with it. I see the devil may care attitude when he talks about getting into fist fights with the neighborhood boys and then hiding his bruises from his mother as Debra would clean him up.
But despite it all, the suffering I can see he experienced through the small stories he tells, I can see he was never unhappy.
“My parents were very religious,” I tell him as I brew him a cup of green tea. “I couldn’t move out of the house fast enough. They’re still very upset about Sophie, though. Won’t even look at her.”
Lucas frowns. “That must be very upsetting.”
I bring him a cup of tea. “Well, yes and no. I don’t want Sophie to be without any family but I also don’t want them to force their views on her which they are bound to do. I want her to live a normal life, a happy one.”
“So, they’ve cut contact with you?” Lucas asks.
I shake my head. “Mom calls me once a week to see how I’m doing. She never asks about Sophie but I tell her nonetheless. Lately, she’s actually stopped hanging up the phone when I bring up Sophie.” My smile is wan. “Maybe she’s getting curious about her granddaughte
r. Dad and I were never close to begin with but last week, I heard someone turn on the speaker when I was telling her about Sophie crawling."
“Sounds like they’re coming around.”
I shrug helplessly. “Who knows what they’re doing? I don’t exactly have time to worry about them with Darren trying to threaten me and half the workplace trying to defend his honor by tripping me and calling me names.”
“I heard someone confronted you in the building’s cafeteria.” Lucas’s lips are curved in a faint half smile. “And I heard you called that woman a dried up golem or a fried bat.”
I chuckled, wryly. “Venia. She’s in marketing. She saw me and said loudly that if I didn’t want to get rid of the baby weight, I should at least try not to wear fitted clothes.” I didn’t feel the insult, though. I’ve been trying to force myself out of this mindset and spend at least ten minutes a day telling myself positive things about my body. It’s something I saw on the internet. I found it surprisingly effective.
Venia’s words did sting a little bit but if I let them walk over me even once, they’d never stop, so I’d held my head up high and bitten back.
“Isn’t she that short thing with the awful perfume?” Lucas blinks, curiously.
I smack him in his chest to his obvious amusement. “Don’t smell women’s perfume. And yeah, she’s engaged even. I don’t know what crawled up her…” I trail off at the words and clear my throat. “The point is that I didn’t back down like she expected and told her that if she didn’t want to take a bath, maybe she should wear a stronger perfume to mask her body odor. And then I called her a few things and left.”
Lucas roars with laughter. “I didn’t know you had it in you!”
I look affronted. “What? You think just because I’m a generally nice person, I’m going to let people walk all over me? I can be mean to people. I curse too when the occasion calls for it!”