Chapter 623 Selfish
A child? Tom already had a child with someone else? She couldn't explain what she was feeling or why she was feeling that way, but it felt like something sharp was piercing through her heart and it was breaking at the same time.
Perhaps she knew why she was feeling that way. It was because she felt that she was losing Tom.
Just when she thought Anita was out of the way and now she could do her best to make her relationship with Tom work something like this had to come up.
It was always one obstacle after the other and she wasn't sure they could surmount this one. It seemed like they were not meant to be together.
Anita did not even have a child for Tom yet look how much effort she had put into trying to come between them. Could she expect anything less from this new baby mama who had just shown up?
Regardless of whatever assurances Tom was going to give her she knew this was not going to be that simple.
A child was involved here. If the kid turned out to be Tom's child there was no way she would expect him not to take responsibility for the child.
And she knew well enough to know that by doing so his baby mama would remain a constant part of his life. Could she stand that? Could she live with any more drama? Lucy mused as she stepped out of the elevator stifling a sob as she headed outside.
"LuLu!" Harry who had just arrived and was headed for the elevator called out to her when she walked past him without acknowledging his presence.
"Lucy!" he called again but Lucy didn't hear him as she kept walking.
Harry frowned, wondering what was wrong with her as he quickly followed her. He was glad that other employees had not started arriving yet, else this would have given them something to gossip about.
He didn't have time to wonder for long as his phone started ringing and he stopped to receive the call immediately he saw it was from Tom.
"Let me call you back..."
"I just told Lucy about it," Tom said at the same time with Harry.
That explained Lucy's state, Harry thought as he looked in the direction Lucy had left.
"I will call you back," Harry said as he quickly hung up and hurried after Lucy.
By the time Lucy got to the parking lot, and opened her car she was already sobbing, but before she could get in and shut the door, Harry held the door to prevent her from shutting it and her tearfilled eyes gazed up at him.
"What is wrong? Did something happen?" Where are you going?" Harry asked with a concerned frown as he watched her try to pull herself together.
Even though he now knew what was wrong, he couldn't act like he knew about it. At least not until he got the details from her. He couldn't understand why Tom would share something like that with her over the phone. It was unlike Tom to be so thoughtless. He would have expected Tom to tell her that in person.
"Nothing," Lucy cried softly as she tried unfailingly to stop her tears.
"What is the problem? Where are you running off to?" Harry repeated as he watched her.
Lucy shook her head with a half sob, "It's nothing. I just need a moment to be alone before I resume..."
"You can't say it's nothing when you're crying this way," Harry pointed out and she shook her head as she wiped her tears away with her palm and forced a smile.
She cleared her throat, "Really. I'm alright. You should probably go in. Tom got back early and he's in his office," Lucy said, and Harry narrowed his eyes.
"Tom is back? You saw him?" Harry asked in surprise.
The last time they talked was when Tom called to inform him about the situation, and Tom hadn't said anything about returning.
If he was back already that meant he must have gotten on the plane not long after their discussion, and he could guess it was because he was worried about Lucy's reaction. Tom wasn't one to sit around and do nothing when he was worried about something.
"Yeah. I really want to be alone..."
"You didn't even hear me when I was calling out to you, what makes you think I'm going to let you drive out of here in this state? And you can't possibly just sit here in your car to cry either. Soon, others will start arriving and they will easily see you. And then everyone would start coming up with stories and whispering," Harry said reasonably.
"I have no idea what could have transpired between you and Tom. But if you really want to get out of here I could drive you to wherever you want, and after you are calm you can tell me about it if you want to," Harry offered, and Lucy merely stared at him blankly.
"The key, Lucy. Give it to me. If you want to go somewhere, get into the passenger seat and tell me where. I will be your driver for today," Harry offered softly as he extended his hand to her.
"Don't you have work to do? Don't you want to see Tom?" Lucy asked and Harry shook his head.
"I've come to like you even more than I like to work. If anyone asks why I'm late I'm sure you can come up with a story for us," Harry joked, reminding her of her lie, and Lucy gave him a wobbly smile.
"Besides, Tom will have my head if he finds out I let you drive off in the state I saw you just so I could say hello to him," Harry assured her, and she sighed.
"Maybe I don't need to go anywhere. I will just return to my office," she said with a shake of her head as she fished inside her handbag for a handkerchief to fix her makeup.
"That's fine too. Do you want to tell me what Tom said or did to upset you?" Harry asked and she shook her head.
"It's nothing," she said without looking at him.
She did not want to talk about Tom's private business at least not until they were sure that kid was his. And she was certain that if Tom wanted Harry to know about it, he would tell him about it soon, or he probably has told him already, Lucy mused as she turned to take another look at Harry.
If she was in Tom's shoes and something like this happened to her the first person she would talk to about it was her best friend. She would most likely run it by Sonia before presenting it to Tom.
"Tom talked to you already, didn't he?" Lucy asked, and Harry raised a brow.
"About what? I don't even know he is back..."
"You know why he had to return early, don't you?" Lucy asked, and Harry shook his head.
"If you're asking me a question, it's best you ask a direct question so I can know what exactly you want to hear," Harry said and Lucy got out of the car.
"You know about the lady he met with at the club?" she asked, choosing to play safe.
If Harry said he knows nothing about that, then she wouldn't go further than that. But if he knew about her, then he knew the rest.
Harry looked at her for a moment before giving her a nod, "Yes."
"I think I will take you up on your offer to talk to you," Lucy said, and Harry nodded.
"Let's go to my office," Harry said, and Lucy shook her head.
"I don't want to run into Tom yet. I need to process it all before I say anything to him," Lucy said and Harry nodded in understanding.
"Let's go to the cafeteria then. It's usually quiet at this time of the morning. And I need to get my morning coffee boost. Don't worry, Tom never goes down to the cafeteria. The only time he did was when he was being your errand boy," Harry assured her with a small smile.
Neither of them said a word as they walked into the cafeteria and once Lucy was seated, Harry headed to the counter to get himself a cup of coffee after Lucy assured him she didn't want anything.
After he returned and took his seat, Lucy looked at him curiously, "Do you know the lady in question?"
"Lucy, you're supposed to be telling me what Tom said to you. I will tell you what I think you should know after I hear what Tom said," Harry said and Lucy sighed.
Harry took a sip from his styrofoam cup as he waited for Lucy to speak, and after a moment she told him all what Tom had said.
"Do you think the kid might truly be Tom's? Or perhaps this lady just wants to pin it on him because he is wealthy?" Lucy asked hopefully.
"We can't tell until we conduct the DNA test. But you should know that Kimberly Moore is a very wealthy lady from a solid background. I don't see what she stands to gain by doing this if the kid is not Tom's," Harry said honestly, and Lucy felt whatever fragment of hope she had, shatter.
"Yes. But we can't be so sure yet. Let's wait until the DNA test is done and we see the result," Harry suggested, and Lucy sighed deeply.
"That means the kid is most likely his," she said quietly.
"Yes. But we can't be so sure yet. Let's wait until the DNA test is done and we see the result," Harry suggested, and Lucy sighed deeply.
"And what if the kid is his? What am I supposed to do?" Lucy asked, and Harry shook his head.
"That's not for me to tell you. You have to make that decision on your own. Whatever I say right now will be biased because I will always look out for you and Tom's joint interests," Harry said honestly.
"He might have to get married to her since she has his kid, right?" she asked with a frown.
"That question should be directed to Tom after you've heard him out not me. Right now I'm here only to listen to you. I will tell you what I think only after the result is out and you've heard Tom out. But for now I think the most important thing for you to do is to listen to him and hear what he has to say. If the situation was reversed, Tom would do that for you too. Or maybe I'm just being biased because he is my best friend," Harry said with a sigh, and then he looked at her.
"You need to remember that Tom never planned for any of this to happen. The fact that he left everything he had to do over there tells me how worried he must be. And as much as I understand how you feel, I think maybe you should also think about how Tom feels, because I know for a fact that he has been thinking about how you might feel about this since he got the news. Tom always puts your feelings before his own. I'm not saying it's wrong to think about yourself too. I'm just saying maybe this time you should think about how hard all of this might be for Tom. Finding out he has a kid with someone he has met only once and never once gave a second thought in all these years. As beautiful as the idea of having a kid might be, this was unexpected and unplanned. He is confused and has a lot on his mind," Harry said calmly and tears gathered in Lucy's eyes as she listened to him.
"What I'm trying to say is that Tom needs you. I probably shouldn't bring this up, but remember how he stood by you when that scandal came up? He went as far as revealing his identity for your sake even before we knew for a fact that Anita was behind it. I think it's time you returned the favor. If you love Tom, it's time for you to prove it to both him and to yourself. This isn't about you, Lucy. It's about Tom. I'm pretty sure this won't be easy for either you, but I believe it will be better for you both if you stand with him," Harry said and then sighed.
"I said I wasn't going to say anything and then I ended up saying a lot more than you did," Harry said with a wry smile and Lucy sniffled as she brushed away the tears on her cheeks.
"You're right. I'm glad I ran into you, and I'm glad you said all of that. It was probably what I needed to hear. I was thinking only of myself..."
"That's only because you haven't had time to yourself to think and process things. I'm sure you would have realized everything I told you on your own," Harry said, and Lucy shook her head.
"I don't think so. Maybe I'm more selfish than I realize. I tend to think only about how I feel. I always overthink and dwell more on the negative side of things. The DNA test hasn't even been carried out yet and I ran out of his office that way. Tom deserves better than that from me," Lucy said as she pushed away from her seat and rose.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked curiously as he rose.
"I think I should go back to him. I still don't know how I'm going to navigate through this, but as you said, I will think of just Tom this time and focus on standing by him. He has done that much for me and I should do the same. Hopefully we will figure it out together," Lucy said and Harry took her hand and squeezed it softly.
"That's good. Everything will be fine. I will make sure of it, I promise. And if you need to talk, call me anytime or come see me," Harry said and Lucy smiled as she gave him a nod.
"This is the second time you're stopping me from running away. Thank you for not letting me leave once again," Lucy said before walking away.