The aroma of lemongrass and ginger hung heavy in the air as Tom and Lucy exited the bustling Thai restaurant, brown paper bags filled with their dinner for the evening securely clutched in their hands.
Lucy inhaled deeply, her stomach growling in anticipation.
"That smells heavenly. I can't wait to dig in," she said, her eyes sparkling with delight. "I'm starving."
Tom chuckled, nudging her playfully with his elbow. "You wouldn't be so famished if you hadn't insisted on those Danish cookies earlier instead of my cuisine."
Lucy stuck out her tongue, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Are you sure you want us to talk about that disaster? I'm trying hard to forget about it."
"Whatever," Tom muttered as they got into the car.
As Tom settled into the driver's seat, his phone buzzed with an incoming call. He glanced at the screen and a smile tugged at his lips. "It's my parents," he announced, holding up the phone for Lucy to see it was a foreign number and she smiled.
"Why don't I drive while you talk to them? Since this might take a while and we don't know when next they might reach you?" She asked and he shook his head.
"We are not in a hurry. So let's talk to them before we leave. You can dig in since you're very hungry," he suggested as he answered the call, a smile playing on his lips. "Hey, Mom, Dad. How's the sugarmooning going?" He teased, making both his parents laugh.
"Everything is great, darling," Evelyn's voice, warm and familiar, crackled through the receiver, filling the car. "How are you doing?"
"I'm good," Tom replied. "Just picked up some takeout. We're on our way to Lucy's place."
"That's great. We were just wondering how you're all doing. We don't want to bother Jade since she is on her vacation with Harry, and we don't want to bother the honeymooners either," she said and Tom nodded.
"I guess you don't mind bothering me since I am not honeymooning or vacationing like the rest of you," Tom said and both Lucy and Evelyn laughed.
"Precisely. Have you heard from them? How are they doing?" Evelyn asked with concern.
Thus far she had kept her word about not intruding in their lives too much, and she restricted her phone calls to once a week just so she would intimate herself with what was going on with them as she toured the world with her husband.
"Jade is okay. Bryan and Sonia are back..."
"So soon? It's barely a week. Did something happen?" Evelyn asked, her voice sharpened a touch.
Tom hesitated, debating how much to share over the phone. He looked at Lucy who was busy sniffing the takeouts and shook his head in amusement as he reached out and opened one of the brown bags and gestures to her to eat already instead of just sniffing it.
"Well, it's about Mia..."
"Mia? What about her? Did something happen to her?" Evelyn asked in concern.
"No. Not exactly. It's just that Mia's husband came..." Tom paused, wondering if that was the best way to answer the question since his mother didn't know about her being married.
"Henry found her? I had a feeling something like this might happen. I should have told Bryan," Evelyn said, sounding worried.
"What do you mean?" Tom asked, surprised.
"You knew she was married?" Tom asked in confusion and Lucy looked at him with interest since she couldn't hear the conversation on Evelyn's end but she could piece it together from Tom's end.
"Of course. I recognized her the moment she first began to work for Bryan. I confronted her, and although she didn't exactly tell me what happened between them, I knew she was running for her life. I offered to intervene, but she said was too scared and pleaded that I turn a blind eye," Evelyn explained to Tom.
Tom finished her sentence. "Unexpected? Interesting?"
Lucy nodded. "Unexpected is the word. Your parents seem to know everyone important."
Tom laughed. "My mom, you mean? My dad doesn't care about things like that. But my mom made a lot of connections working as my grandfather's aide. And seeing as he was always traveling from one country to another, it was easy for her to meet so many important people and connect with them. This is a huge weight off my shoulders."
"Yeah. She is such a lifesaver," Lucy said as she raised a spring roll to Tom's lips so he could take a bite.
Tom bit into it and groaned, "Let's leave this place already, else we might end up having dinner here," he said as he started the car and drove out of the parking lot.
Lucy giggled, "See? This is what really good should taste like..."
"Lucinda Perry!" Thomas growled as he kept his eyes on the road and she gasped.
"I can't believe you just called me that!" Lucy said in disbelief.
"Why not? Isn't that your given name?" Tom asked and Lucy shook her head.
"Well, anyone else can call me that, not you! I thought we already agreed on that?" She asked as she eyed him with annoyance.
"Agreed on what?"
"I'm only Jewel, babe, baby, love, and the likes to you. Not Lucy!" She hissed and he chuckled.
"I didn't call you Lucy. I called you Lucinda," he pointed out.
"Isn't that worse than calling me Lucy? Huh, Thomas?" She asked and he laughed.
"Thomas, huh?"
"Yeah! Thomas Hank!" She said and he chuckled again.
"I love the sound of my name on your lips, Lucinda," he drawled.
Before Lucy could respond, her phone rang and she smiled when she saw it was Sonia and received the call immediately, "Hey, baby..."
"Lucy!" The single word was a desperate plea, a cry for help that shattered the carefree facade of the evening.
On hearing the pain and distress in her voice, the smile slid off her face.
"What's going on? Is everything okay? Where is Bryan?" Lucy asked in alarm.
Tom, sensing the sudden change, whipped his head around, his smile dissolving into a frown etched with concern.
"I think I'm having a miscarriage," Sonia cried.
Lucy's heart lurched, a cold dread washing over her. Her mind raced, desperately searching for the right words, the right comfort, but all she could manage was a choked, "Oh my God, Sonia."
"Lucy? What's wrong?" Tom asked as his frown deepened.
Terror welled up in Lucy's chest, constricting her throat and making it difficult to breathe. She forced the words out, a choked whisper that sent a jolt of fear through Tom. "Sonia... miscarriage..."