One Wild Night

Chapter 864  Instagram Handle

Lucy sat on the kitchen island, eyes sparkling with barely contained mirth as Tom gingerly extracted a casserole dish from the oven.

He cradled the casserole dish as if presenting a royal crown, a hopeful smile plastered on his face. Then, he took a bite.

Seeing the grimace on his face, she didn't need to taste it to know it was a profound disappointment.

She tittered with barely controlled laughter and Tom shot her a mock glare, but the corners of his mouth twitched in suppressed amusement as he scraped the offending casserole into the bin with a resounding clang.

"Alright. Alright. One more try," he said stubbornly, as he pulled up another recipe video on his phone, the determined set of his jaw a comical contrast to the flour smudged across his cheek.

"You've been at this for almost two hours..."

"Just a few tweaks," he muttered, more to himself than Lucy. "This time, I've got it."

"That's what you said the last two times. By the time you get this right, it would probably be morning," Lucy said and Tom frowned.

"You're not helping, Jewel. You should not be discouraging me when I'm trying so hard to impress you," Tom said with displeasure.

"I do appreciate your effort, and I'm more than a little bit impressed by your ability to create different inedible shades of casserole in such a short time," Lucy said, struggling to stifle laughter as she hopped off the Island.

Tom sent her a wounded look. "Hey, I'm a quick learner! Besides, practice makes perfect."

"And apparently, perfect takes a long time," Lucy teased, reaching out to brush a stray bit of flour off his cheek.  "How about we give your culinary skills a break? We can do this when we are both not hungry. I'm famished," she said and Tom looked at her, his eyes filled with concern.

"You should have just said so," he said as he washed his hands and took off his apron.

"Where are you going?" She asked in amusement. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"To check if there are any leftovers in the freezer," he said and her eyes twinkled.

"Or we could go out. You know, it's been a while since we last spent some time at my apartment. How about we go over there to spend the night?" She suggested.

"But you just said you're very hungry," Tom reminded her, since he didn't want to take her stomach ulcer lightly.

"I still have some danish cookies and bounty chocolates. I can munch on that," she said, and Tom narrowed his eyes.

"Why not munch on them while I fix dinner?" He asked and she laughed.

"No, thanks. I don't think an edible dinner will be ready any time soon. And I would love us to go out and do something fun. We've been indoors all day. And as much as I love and enjoy your company, I want to do something else," she said and Tom eyed her for a moment.

"If that's what you want. Don't say I never cooked for you," he warned making her grin.

"I wouldn't dare say that. This memory will be with me for a life time," she promised.

"So, what else do you want us to do? Go to a restaurant? Would you like to eat at that new Thai place we saw the last time?" He asked and she shrugged.

"We can do that. And I would love us to go clubbing tonight," she said and Tom looked at her incredulously.

"So much for being an introvert," he said with a shake of his head and she giggled.

"You have yourself to blame for that. I was living quietly until you showed up. So, why don't you clean up the mess you made here so we can be on our way?" She asked and he raised a brow.

"Are you not going to help me? I mean, I did the cooking…" he trailed off when Lucy burst into a fit of laughter.

"What's funny?" He asked, and she pointed at him.

"The fact that you have the guts to refer to what you did as cooking," she said amidst her laughed and Tom glared at her playfully.

"That's rude."

"That's a fact. Clean up the mess you made, my love. If you had stopped after the first attempt as I asked you to, you wouldn't have messed up the whole place. Don't worry. I will keep you company while you clean up. But first let me go ease myself," she said, and Tom scowled as he watched her walk away.

Lucy returned a couple of minutes later and giggled when she overheard him cussing angrily as he washed the pots.

"Need my help?" She asked sweetly.

"No. Thanks. Go enjoy your snacks," he growled and she giggled.

"Why are you so sweet tempered, my darling," she asked and she laughed when Tom glared at her.

"Alright. I will help," Lucy said as she went to join him at the sink.

"You don't have to help. It's my mess. I will clean it. Go eat your bounties," Tom said and Lucy giggled.

"Bounties can wait while I clean up my man's mess. Besides, you made the mess for my sake," she said and then poked his side playfully.

"Why are you so mad? Look at the bright side. Your efforts here was not wasted. You accomplished something," she said and Tom looked at her.

"I did?" He asked and she nodded, "And what is that?" He asked suspiciously.

"You may not have succeeded in filling my belly with food, but you filled it with laughter thanks to your nonexistent culinary skills," she said, her eyes dancing with laughter and this time Tom laughed.

He couldn't help but be charmed by her infectious laughter, even if it was at his expense.

"Thanks, Jewel. I hope you remember this day. I will return this favor," he promised and she leaned closer and kissed him.

"I may not be a great cook but I can do much better than this. Why don't I do the washing while you clean and mop?" She offered and Tom readily agreed.

Thirty minutes later once they were done cleaning, Tom collapsed on the barstool by the island, "I'm so glad I have domestic staff," he said and Lucy laughed softly as she dried her hands.

"What would you do if you weren't so wealthy?" She asked and shrugged.

"We had domestic staff growing up. I never would have been so broke that I couldn't afford to have one," he said and she nodded.

"I often forget you're not only wealthy but also come from a wealthy background," Lucy said as she picked up her phone to check the time.

"Let's go clean up so we can leave," she said as she took Tom's hand and pulled him up.

As they headed upstairs to their bedroom, Lucy's phone rang and she smiled when she saw that the call was from Andy.

"I think Jamal wants to talk to me," she told Tom as she received the call.

"Hello, Andy!" Lucy greeted pleasantly as they continued up the stairs.

"Hey, Luce! Can you talk right now?" Andy asked hopefully.

"Sure. Jamal wants to speak with me, I suppose?" She asked and Andy scowled.

"What makes you think I am calling just because of Jamal? You sound like I don't call you unless Jamal is involved," she complained and Lucy giggled.

"We both know we all do more of chats. Kindly pass the phone to Jam," Lucy said and Andy rolled her eyes as she passed the phone to Jamal.

"Lucy!" Jamal greeted excitedly and Lucy grinned.

"How is my sweetest Jam in the world doing?" Lucy asked as they walked into the bedroom.

"I'm fine. I miss you," Jamal said and Lucy grinned.

"I miss you too. I promise to visit you soon," Lucy said and Jamal bobbed his head.

"Will you bring Tom along when coming?" He asked and Lucy glanced at Tom as she placed the phone on speaker.

"Do you want me to bring Tom along when coming?" She asked and Tom arched an eyebrow.

"Yes. I want to show him my company," Jamal said and Tom smiled.

"I guess you miss me too," Tom said as he took the phone from Lucy.

"A little. Not as much as I miss Lucy," he said and Tom shrugged.

"That's good enough for me. I miss you too, so I will see you soon," Tom said and Jamal smiled happily.

"Are you not going to tell her the reason you wanted to talk to her?" Andy reminded Jamal.

"There is a reason aside missing me?" Lucy asked as she took the phone from Tom.

"Will you bring Dawn too?" Jamal asked, and Lucy exchanged a look with Tom.

"Oh! Dawn is really far away right now and I can't bring her with me," Lucy said softly.

"Can we go see her when you come?" Jamal asked and Lucy pursed her lips.

"Is there something you want to give to her?" Lucy asked curiously.

"She said she doesn't have any friends. I want to play with her and make sure she is fine," Jamal said and Lucy smiled.

"That is very thoughtful of you, Jam. But we can't see her now…"

"Can we talk to her on the phone?" He asked again.

"Why don't we talk about it when I come over?" Lucy asked weakly.

"When are you coming?" Jamal asked excitedly.

"Soon. I will come soon," she promised.

"He saw me going through some Instagram pictures and he wanted to know if there were pictures of Dawn. You once mentioned something about Dawn having an Instagram account, so I was wondering if we could get her handle from you," Andy asked from the background, explaining the reason for the call.

"Sure. I will text it to you now," Lucy promised.

"Just so you know, Jamal plans to marry Dawn. So I guess if you're lucky enough you're going to be a grand godmother to both their kids in the future," Andy said making Tom and Lucy laugh.

"I will be looking forward to that. Goodluck, Jam," Lucy said before hanging up.

After texting the Instagram details to Andy, Lucy glanced at Jamal, "I guess you can have me all to yourself now that Jamal has moved on from me to Dawn," Lucy said and Tom laughed.

"He must like her a lot," Tom said, amused.

"I guess. I hope he is able to connect with her on Instagram. You never can tell what she might be going through right now," Lucy said with a sad sigh.

"Don't get all moody now. You said you wanted to go out. Let's get ready," Tom urged her, knowing how moody she got whenever she thought of Dawn.

"Aren't you curious or worried about her? Don't you care about her?" Lucy asked, unable to understand how he could not be moved.

"I do," Tom said simply before walking away to go freshen up.