One Wild Night

Tom cleared his throat to get the attention of both ladies, "Miss Miller, although you have a good idea, I don't think it is cost-effective. We are trying to find out how to improve the company's services as lots of people have stopped using this airline, and we don't know why. Getting celebrities on board would cost us a lot of money that the company doesn't have," Tom said, and Lucy tried not to snort.

"We might not need to pay them. I have some friends. I could call in a favor," Anita suggested, not wanting to lose to Lucy.

Show off! Lucy thought to herself, "And you think that the CEO whose brother is an actor doesn't have the ability to do that?" Lucy asked in amusement and Anita's face flushed in embarrassment.

"I suppose you're right. My apologies," Anita said with a polite bow at Lucy, surprising everyone.

Lucy narrowed her eyes as she wondered what Anita was up to. She was very certain that Anita had something up her sleeves.

Anita turned to Tom, "With all due respect sir, and no offense to Miss Perry, but she may be a very efficient assistant to you, but I don't think she should be a part of this meeting. Perhaps you need an assistant from Oceans Airlines who understands the intricacies of the business and how the company works," Anita suggested in a calm and polite voice.

"Hm. Perhaps you have a point," Tom said as he glanced at Lucy with a thoughtful expression on his face. He knew she wasn't going to like it, but perhaps this was going to make her choose faster that she wanted him as the CEO and not just as her driver.

"Miss Perry, go wait for me in the car. I will join you when we are done with the meeting," Tom ordered, surprising Lucy who had expected him to take her side.

"With all due respect sir, I was sitting here quietly until you sought my opinion," Lucy reminded him in a tight voice, feeling like he was being unfair to her and taking Anita's side.

"I'm aware. Thanks for your opinion. You can excuse us now," Tom said politely, making everyone at the table wonder if something was wrong with the CEO.

Just the previous day he had taken his assistant's side and had completely ignored Anita, and today he was taking Anita's side and was ignoring his assistant.

Anita subtly smirked at Lucy, feeling happy that she had won this round against her. Maybe she didn't need Lucy's friendship after all. All she needed was to stun the CEO with her brilliance, especially now that he was taking her side, and it was obvious that he no longer really fancied Lucy.

Lucy tried her best not to glare at Tom as she stood up and picked up her handbag. Without making direct eye contact with anyone on the table she walked out of the office.

Once she shut the office door behind her, Tom turned to Anita, "I will let this slide just once because it's the first time. I won't tolerate any disrespect to my assistant. Like you said, she is very capable and efficient and she is going to remain my assistant. She will attend every meeting with me as long as this company remains mine, so it'll be in your best interest to accord her the same respect as you accord me," Tom warned, making the executives who were seated on the table and their secretaries look at each other. Why had he sent his assistant out if he was going to scold Anita? They all wondered.

"She is my friend, and I didn't mean to disrespect her. I'm sorry." Anita's hands balled into a fist under the table as she uttered the words. It seemed like the CEO still fancied Lucy. To think he was embarrassing her this way once again.

"You are apologizing to the wrong person," Tom said before clearing his throat, "So any other idea apart from what Miss Miller suggested?" Tom asked, moving on with the meeting.

Once the meeting ended and Tom was about to leave, Anita sat up, "Can I have a word with you? Alone?" Anita asked politely in a quiet voice meant for Tom alone, making his brows arch in curiosity.

He glanced at the others around the table who were waiting for him to stand up so they could also leave, "You can leave," Tom told them, and they all got up and started walking out.

"Is there a problem?" Tom asked after the last person left the office, leaving them alone. He knew he was keeping Lucy waiting, but that was what she deserved for trying to frustrate him. He needed her to realize that although he deserved to be punished, the punishment she had chosen was like a double-edged sword, and was going to affect them both equally.

"Uhm, I heard from my mother concerning what she did with the private investigator..." Anita started, and Tom tilted his head to the side to look at her when he remembered what Harry had said. He had almost forgotten about the private investigator because of his issue with Lucy.

"...I'm sorry, and I want you to know that I didn't have a part in it," Anita concluded.

"If she had found out something interesting about me, how do I know you wouldn't have used the information to your advantage? You are only denouncing her now because it didn't pull through, aren't you?" Tom asked coolly.

"No, sir! I never would have..."

"I'm not interested in your response. If that's the reason you wanted to see me, then you shouldn't worry about it. I have no business with you. My business is with your mother and I will handle it accordingly," Tom said as he pushed away from the table and stood up.

"Let's not have such an awkward conversation next time," Tom advised before walking out of the office.

He had a grin on his face as he walked over to where the car was parked, and he couldn't help the chuckle that bubbled through him when he saw Lucy's face.

Lucy had a scowl on her face as she listened to Tom's not-so-silent chuckles as she turned on the car's ignition, ready to drive them back to the office. She couldn't understand how Tom could find the whole exchange funny. Anita was a very petty person, and if for nothing this exchange had strengthened her resolve to win Anita on every level. Since Anita wanted the CEO she was going to have him wrapped around her little fingers and show the bitch who owned the man.

"Miss Perry, why do you seem so upset?" Tom asked in amusement when he noticed the way she was glaring at him through the rearview mirror.

Lucy cleared her throat, "I'm not upset."

"Then do you mind explaining to me why you're glaring at me?" Tom asked again.

"I'm not glaring. That's the way my eyes are," Lucy muttered as she drove out of the parking lot, and Tom chuckled quietly. He couldn't believe that he had fallen for such a crazy woman. How she managed to look so calm yet do and say crazy things was beyond him.

Tom took out his phone from his pocket when it started to ring and received the call when he saw that it was from Harry, "Why do you keep calling me?" Tom asked dryly making Lucy look at him through the rearview mirror as she wondered who he was talking to. She briefly wondered if this was how Tom felt each time he was the one driving the car and she was making a phone call from the backseat.

"Why do you think? Because I miss you, of course. You should know that you are the closest to a girlfriend I have," Harry said in an equally dry tone as he looked around the beauty parlor where Jade was now having her manicure.

"Here I was thinking that you were calling to inform me that my sister is pregnant for you," Tom said with an eye roll.

"You're just foolish," Harry said with a chuckle and cleared his throat when he remembered that he had actually called for a different reason. "What's happening with Lucy? She called me earlier on," Harry said, and Tom glanced at Lucy through the rearview mirror.

"She did? Why?" Tom asked even though he could roughly guess why.

"She wanted to get your schedule. And she also asked that I change her driver. What did you do?" Harry asked.

Tom sighed inwardly. Was this girl possessed? Why was she making things complicated for him? She was the same person who had asked that he shouldn't tell Harry that she was aware of everything, and she had asked him not to quit his job, yet she was also the one calling Harry to fire him. What did she want?

"Miss Perry wants you to change her driver?" Tom asked out loud so that Lucy would hear him, and both their gaze met in the rearview mirror.

"Yes, she did," Harry confirmed.

"Didn't you tell her what I said the last time? If her driver goes, she goes too," he reminded Harry.

"Well, yes. But the thing is I promised to fire you the moment she asks me to. I didn't expect that she was going to do so considering that you're both in a relationship now," Harry complained, and then Tom finally understood what Lucy was doing. This was part of Harry's punishment.

"Well, I didn't ask you to make such a promise. Deal with it," Tom said and hung up the call.

Immediately he hung up the call he dialed another number, and Lucy glanced at her phone when it started ringing. She raised a brow when she noticed that the call was from Tom. Why was he calling her when they were in the same car?

She met his gaze in the rearview mirror and he raised a brow, as though asking her why she wasn't taking her call. Lucy narrowed her eyes as she reluctantly reached for her phone and received the call.

"Hey! Can you call me back? I'm with the mean CEO right now," Lucy whispered into her phone, convincing Tom beyond reasonable doubt that she was not just crazy, but very crazy.