Inside Tom's office, Harry sat opposite him as they discussed his trip and what he was expected to do, and also talked about how Harry would take care of things in his absence.
Once they were done talking about business, Harry eyed Tom with interest, "So? What did you decide to do?" Harry asked. Knowing Tom, he knew that Tom was acting as his usual self only because he had made up his mind on what to do.
"About what?"
"About Lucy and her decision? I take it you've gotten a solution?" Harry asked, and Tom shrugged.
"She decided to go for therapy," Tom said, and Harry grinned.
"She did? See? I told you. Lucy is reasonable. She only needs time and patience," Harry said, but Tom merely stared at him.
"What now?" Harry asked, sensing that Tom wasn't satisfied.
"Well, I told her therapy is not enough," Tom said, and Harry shook his head in disapproval.
"Sometimes I can't believe you. Just yesterday, you said...."
"I know all I said. But I also got to realise that even if she receives therapy and decides she still doesn't want to get married, I won't let her go," Tom said, and Harry raised a brow.
"So what are you going to do? We both know you're a family-oriented person, and in our line of business, most old-fashioned people trust you more and believe you to be more responsible when you are married and have your own family," Harry pointed out, and Tom shrugged.
"Good you know all that. Although I haven't completely worked out the details yet, but I'm going to make Lucy my wife. I think I can settle for adopting kids if she is vehemently against that idea, but she has to be my wife," Tom said with a stubborn set of his lips, and Harry grinned.
"Whenever you have that determined look in your eyes, you almost always get what you want. I look forward to seeing how you go about this one. Although I'm afraid tattoos and earrings won't help you this time," Harry joked, and Tom smirked.
"I won't be needing those. The stake is much higher this time. I'm going to risk losing her to marry her," Tom said, and Harry raised a brow.
"How do you risk losing her to marry her?" Harry asked, and Tom shrugged.
"I will let you know after my plan is in place. Although I'm hundred per cent sure you're going to call me crazy...."
"Don't do anything crazy, Tom," Harry advised, but the wild determination in Tom's eyes told him that his mind was made up, and Harry shook his head.
"Just don't hurt her, and don't lie to her...."
"I will do whatever it takes, Harry. Whatever." Tom cut in.
"And you will end up losing her...."
"Are you listening to me? I just told you I'm willing to risk losing her to marry her. It's a gamble. Don't worry, I won't get you involved," Tom promised, and Harry sighed.
"It's not about getting me involved. Just don't hurt her, Tom. I really won't forgive you if you do," Harry warned.
"Do you think I derive pleasure from doing any of this? Don't you think hurting her is going to hurt me too? Whatever I'm doing is for Lucy and me. If she needs to experience the pain of losing me to realise how much she wants me, then she will! Don't go all protective cousin on me right now! You're first my best friend before you're Lucy's friend or cousin," Tom snapped at him, and Harry sighed.
"It's not about being a protective cousin or anything. I really do not want you to do anything you're going to regret. Your relationship with Lucy means a lot to me too," Harry said defensively.
"And it doesn't mean anything to me? If this was between you and Jade, do you think I would take sides?" Tom asked, and Harry paused and considered it.
Knowing Tom, he most likely would let them resolve it between themselves and not interfere. That was just the sort of person Tom was when it came to relationships.
Harry had no idea what to say. How was he supposed to stay neutral in this? Lucy was hardly someone he could see going through stuff and look away. Tom was his best friend, and Lucy was his friend and cousin.
Yeah, he might have only just recently gotten close to her and got to know that she was his cousin, but that didn't mean he didn't feel strongly about her.
"You're meeting with Sara soon, right?" Tom asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah," Harry said with a sigh as he glanced at his wristwatch. If Tom wanted to change the subject, that was fine by him, but he wasn't going to let Tom do anything he was going to regret. That was part of his duties as a best friend, wasn't it?
"I have checked out Wilson Peterson's (Rachel's dad) main opponent," Harry informed Tom.
"And?"
"As you must know, the polls show that Wilson is in the lead, and it will take a miracle for his opponent to close the gap. If we send what we have to him, he should be able to do what we want. He must be desperate enough by now," Harry concluded.
"What sort of person is his opponent?" Tom asked, and Harry raised a brow.
"He is a politician. What sort of a person do you expect him to be?" Harry asked dryly.
"Well, I just don't want us to help someone evil climb the political ladder," Tom said, and Harry snorted.
"That is not and has never been our business. Our business here is bringing down Wilson Peterson, not choosing a Governor for Heden," Harry pointed out, and Tom sighed.
"Alright. So when do you plan to go ahead with the plan?" Tom asked, and Harry smiled.
"Tomorrow. I'm going to tell Candace about it tonight. I want the whole drama to begin tomorrow. I will have the orphanage contact Jade's previous boss tomorrow about finding the girl he is searching for. Before the weekend, Sara should be reunited with her long-lost daughter," Harry said, and Tom smiled.
"At least one thing is going according to plan," Tom said as he played with his pen.
"Are you still worried about the Miller family? Any update from Barry?" Harry asked, and Tom met his gaze.
"Yeah. A conversation between the pregnant sister and Anita," Tom said as he pushed his phone to Harry for him to listen to the recording that Barry had sent him the previous evening while he was having dinner with his family but had only been able to listen to it a short while ago. He had been listening to it a moment ago before Harry walked into his office.
Harry played it, and the first voice he heard was Lisa's happy and relieved cry, "Annie, Benny is awake! She regained consciousness," Lisa cried.
"Mighty nice of her to wake up just after I left. She must be avoiding me," Anita said dryly, but the relief in her voice was unmistakable.
"Are you going to see her before you leave?" Lisa asked hopefully.
"Leave? Is Anita leaving? Where is she going to?" Harry asked Tom as he paused the recording.
Tom rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I think she has made up her mind to quit her job and move away," Tom said, and Harry frowned as he resumed the recording.
"No. There is no reason to. I'm glad she survived. I only hope she doesn't go back to Adam," Anita said with a sigh.
"I spoke with her. She doesn't plan to return there. What do you think we can do for her?"
"Good. For starters, let's help her find a good lawyer who isn't scared of going against Adam's family. She can move into my house, and then we can talk about getting her a job," Anita said, and once the sisters reached an agreement, they hung up.
"Hmm, I guess we should be glad we have one less enemy to worry about?" Harry asked with a sigh as he looked at Tom.
"And just let her go after what she did?" Tom asked, and Harry shrugged.
"Why don't we let Lucy decide if she wants to forgive Anita or not?" Harry asked, and Tom nodded.
"Yeah. We agreed to wait and see," Tom said, and Harry rose.
"Good. I have to leave you now. I need to handle some stuff before heading out to meet the old witch," Harry said, and Tom's lips twitched.
"Let me know how the meeting goes," Tom said as he watched Harry walk away.
Harry met Eric by the doorway, coming in with two styrofoam cups of coffee, so he took one from him, and instead of going to his office, Harry headed straight for Lucy's office.
Lucy was still pondering over the state of things between her and Tom when he knocked on her door, and she raised her head to see Harry standing there with a cheerful smile and a cup of coffee in his hand.
"Good morning, LuLu! Can I come in?" Harry asked, and Lucy smiled back.
"Sure," she said as she sat up and looked at Harry, wondering what he wanted to talk about.
"Please sit," she urged him.
"How are you?" Harry asked as he sat, and Lucy shrugged.
"I'm okay. Thanks for not letting me walk away yesterday," Lucy said, and Harry nodded.
"It's nothing. Besides, Tom asked me to stop you," Harry said, and Lucy's smile faltered.
"Tom asked you to stop me?" she asked, and Harry gave her a nod.
"I was busy and didn't notice you leaving until Tom brought it to my attention. He couldn't possibly let you make such a mistake after all," Harry said, and Lucy sighed.
"Thanks all the same. How is Aaron doing? I should stop by to pay him a visit soon. I miss him," Lucy said, and Harry grinned.
"He is feeling much better now doing all that grandpa stuff. I'm sure he will love to see you too," Harry said as he continued to watch Lucy with interest.
"Tom said he has to leave the country today?" Lucy asked after Harry had remained silent for some seconds.
"Yeah. I would have handled this, but I can't leave my dad right now, and I also have to meet with Aurora today, the lady you met at the spa," Harry explained.
"Oh! The date! She spoke so much about it. I hope it goes well. She is a sweet lady," Lucy said, and Harry nodded.
"Yeah. I'm hoping so too," Harry said as he raised the cup to his lips and took a sip from it.
"So, why are you here?" Lucy asked when she got tired of waiting for him to get to the point.
"Two reasons. To see if you need someone to talk to and to tell you about my meeting with Sara."
"Tom told you about our misunderstanding, didn't he? Is that why you are here?" Lucy asked suspiciously, and Harry shook his head.
"We don't have to talk about that if you don't want to. But I'm here just in case you need someone to listen to you. I mean, I know Tom better than anyone else, and I'm really rooting for you both, so maybe you can talk to me," Harry suggested, and Lucy sighed.
"Thanks, but I think I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me. And if for any reason I need to talk, I will find my way to your office," Lucy assured him.
"Is that a promise?" Harry asked, and Lucy gave him a nod.
"So why are you meeting with Sara?" Lucy asked and listened as Harry brought her to speed on his plans.
"She must underestimate you a lot if she believes that you would want to meet with her despite all she has done," Lucy said, and Harry nodded.
"People like her tend to feel superior and believe they are smarter than everyone else. I thought I should let you know so that you would behave accordingly if she reaches out to you for any reason," Harry said, and Lucy smiled.
"Sure," Lucy said, and Harry rose, ready to leave.
"I have to leave now. It's almost time to meet with the witch," Harry said with a crooked smile.
"Harry?" Lucy called, stopping him.
"Yeah?"
"Would you still be this way with me if Tom and I were to break up?" Lucy asked, and Harry considered the question for only a moment.
"You might stop being my best friend's girlfriend, but you won't stop being my friend or cousin. Also, I don't think you both would break up. I trust you both to meet in the middle and not lose each other," Harry said reasonably.
Tom had said the same thing about her meeting him in the middle, Lucy remembered. She knew that meant compromise, but she had no idea where the middle was in this situation.
"Where do you think is the middle?" she asked, and Harry shrugged.
"The point that is fair to the both of you. Where no one is giving too much or losing too much, I'm sure you will figure out your middle," Harry said with a small smile before walking away.
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