One Wild Night

Chapter 345 Missing

　　She moaned softly when she felt a slight discomfort in her lower abdomen and struggled between waking up and continuing to sleep since she was exhausted and had just barely fallen asleep.

　　She sat bolt upright when it suddenly occurred to her sleep muddled brain what was wrong. It was her menstruation. Her period started when she was lying next to Tom on the bed! She thought in alarm. And she knew without a doubt that the sheets were stained since she had somehow adjusted in her sleep and was lying on her back now.

　　Her period wasn't supposed to start until the next day, so why now? She had chosen to shop for her menstrual hygiene products the previous day to avoid such an embarrassment yet this still happened, she thought in distress. 

　　Because of her sudden movement, Tom was jolted awake too, and he sat up immediately and switched on the light.

　　"What is the problem?" Tom asked with concern in his eyes as he looked at her, wondering if she had a nightmare like the other time.

　　Lucy looked at him, her face red with embarrassment. She didn't know how to explain the situation to him. Although it wasn't supposed to be a big deal since he was her boyfriend, it was a very big deal to her. Things like this still embarrassed her very much.

　　She knew that she was stained already, but how was she going to check to see how stained the sheet was when he was watching her?

　　Seeing the discomfort in her eyes, Tom frowned slightly, "Are you okay?"

　　She shook her head, "I think I might have stained the sheets," she said in a small voice without meeting his gaze, and Tom looked at her in confusion for only a moment before what she was talking about dawned on him.

　　"Oh!" He exclaimed softly, "It started this morning?" Tom asked, and Lucy's ears burned with embarrassment as she gave him a nod. She wasn't used to talking to the opposite sex about something like this.

　　Seeing how embarrassed she looked, Tom shook his head as he raised the duvet, making Lucy's face flush a deeper shade of red when she saw a red spot on the sheet between them. 

　　"It's barely noticeable. Do you have the things you need to clean up?" Tom asked as he got off the bed, acting like it was every day he woke up with menstrual stains on his sheets. 

　　"Yes," Lucy said without getting off the bed, even though she knew that the longer she sat there, the deeper the stains she was going to leave on the mattress. She just couldn't bring herself to stand up.

　　"Alright, go and clean up. I will take care of the sheets," Tom said, but Lucy remained there looking at him uncertainly, and mentally willing him to excuse her.

　　"Go on," Tom urged her as he glanced at the wall clock. It was almost 6 AM already. They had barely slept for three hours. By the time they would be done cleaning up, it will be time to leave for work. 

　　"Are you having cramps? Do you need me to get you anything? Perhaps a hot water bottle or something? I think should have one in the house," Tom said, and Lucy shook her head.

　　Knowing that she was probably feeling too embarrassed to stand up because of the stain on her pajamas, he walked over to her side of the bed and placed his arm around her shoulders, gently helping her to her feet.

　　"There is no need to feel embarrassed. You won't be the first lady I've seen with..." Tom stopped talking when Lucy gave him a sharp look, and he chuckled as he led her to the bathroom.

　　"I wasn't referring to other ladies. I was talking about my mom and Jade. The first time Jade got hers, our parents weren't home, so I had to do the honors of getting her what she needed and telling her what to do. I was just eighteen then. Trust me, you don't want to know the magnitude of emotional trauma that caused me," Tom said jokingly, and Lucy smiled as she resisted the urge to turn back and see just how badly the stains on the sheets were. 

　　"Take all the time you need... And let me know if you need me to tell you what to do too," he said with a wink, eliciting a shy smile from her this time, and then he kissed the side of her temple before walking away.

　　Once inside the bathroom, Lucy shut her eyes in embarrassment. Why did it have to come now? Her cycle was usually thirty days, and this was just the twenty-ninth day, she mused as she opened her eyes and went about cleaning up. 

　　When she came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, she noticed that Tom had taken off the sheets, pillow case, and duvet and from the looks of him, he had been trying to get the stain off the mattress.

　　"I'm sorry," Lucy said apologetically, and Tom turned to look at her.

　　"Yes. I think you should be sorry for being embarrassed about something as natural as this in front of your boyfriend," Tom said lightly, even though he knew that wasn't what she was apologizing for.

　　"I will wash them," Lucy offered, and this time Tom glared at her.

　　"I can take care of it. Get dressed for work," Tom said, and without waiting for her to protest, he walked out of the bedroom with the stained sheets, more to give her the privacy he knew she needed to dress up than to actually take care of the sheets.

　　By the time he returned to the bedroom after placing the stained sheets in the washing machine, she was standing in front of the mirror, struggling to button up the back buttons of the sleeveless brown top she was wearing. 

　　Without saying a word, he went to stand behind her and packed her hair to one side as he helped her button up the top. Once he was done, he kissed the back of her neck, sending tingles down her spine before he stepped away.

　　"Sorry. I couldn't resist," Tom said with an unapologetic smile.

　　She met his gaze in the mirror, "Thank you," she said in a hoarse voice and cleared her throat before adding, "For that and this," Lucy said, and Tom's lips twitched in amusement.

　　"By 'that' I suppose you mean for helping with your button, and by 'this' I guess it's for being unable to resist kissing your neck. You don't have to thank me for either of those. The pleasure is all mine," Tom said with a playful smile, and Lucy smiled back.

　　This man was just too easy to love, she mused. 

　　"Are you sure you're not having cramps?" Tom asked, watching her with concerned eyes. 

　　"I'm feeling just a little discomfort, but I'm fine," she assured him. 

　　"Okay. Are you wearing your hair down today?" He asked when he noticed she was making no move to pack it up as usual, and she nodded.

　　"Cool. I should get ready so I don't make you get to work late," Tom said before walking away from her to prepare for work.

　　Forty-five minutes later, they both stood in front of the dressing mirror, dressed for work. 

　　While Tom was wearing a black turtle-neck in his gray suit and a pair of black Italian leather shoes, Lucy was dressed in a brown sleeveless high neck knit top, which she tucked into a pair of navy blue dress pants. On her feet was a pair of white pointy-toe pumps, which matched her blazer as her handbag matched her top.

　　"You are always beautiful," Tom said, and Lucy smiled self-consciously as she smoothened her hair. Although she had let down her hair, her glasses were still in place. 

　　"Thanks. You look good too," she said, and Tom smiled as he continued to admire her outfit. He loved her taste in clothes, and he couldn't wait to go shopping with her and watch her try out different outfits.

　　He wasn't usually one who liked to waste his time on things like that, but recently he had discovered that there were a lot of things he liked to waste his time on where Lucy was concerned.

　　His eyes fell on the cheap pair of diamond studs she was wearing, but he didn't comment on it. He was still walking on eggshells around her when it came to buying her expensive stuff since he didn't know just how much she was willing to let him do for her yet. He wanted to do a lot for her, but at the same time, he didn't want to offend her. 

　　For someone who had expressed so much happiness and excitement at the thought of her boyfriend being very wealthy, she was yet to demand anything or show any materialistic tendencies.

　　"Since you are ready, we can leave now," Tom suggested, and she nodded as she stepped away from the dressing table, and they walked out of the bedroom together.

　　"I think everyone is still sleeping. Are we going to leave without saying goodbye to them?" Lucy asked in a low voice as they walked down the silent passageway.

　　"We can't wake them up just to say goodbye, and we definitely can't wait for them to wake up before going to the office," Tom said, and Lucy silently agreed. 

　　Besides, she was tired of saying goodbye already. Two days ago they had said goodbye to Lucas, and then they had done that to her parents the previous evening. She would prefer to skip this one. She knew Sonia wouldn't mind. 

　　Once they got to the car and were seated, Lucy turned to him, "I will give the SCHF lady a call this morning once I've settled in," Lucy said, and Tom nodded in agreement.

　　"Yeah, you do that. I will meet with them during lunch break to present my offer to them," Tom said, and Lucy felt a pang of disappointment at the thought that he wouldn't be available to have lunch with her as usual. 

　　Following that, the car was silent for a short while until Tom remembered that he had to tell her about Jamal, "The kid will be staying back after Jade leaves with his mom," Tom said, and Lucy looked at him in confusion.

　　"Jamal?" She asked, and when Tom nodded she asked, "Why?"

　　Tom quickly gave her a recap of everything Jade had told him, and then she sighed, "Poor kid. Everyone seems to be having some sort of drama in their life."

　　Before Tom could respond to that, Lucy's phone started ringing, and she took it out of her handbag to see that it was a call from her dad. 

　　Seeing the call, she could tell that her father was calling because her mother was still feeling pretty awkward over what had transpired between them. That and the fact that she was probably feeling ill since she hated to travel by air, "Hey, dad! Good morning!"

　　"Good morning, princess. How are you?"

　　"I'm okay. How is mom feeling? When did you guys get home?"

　　Andrew hesitated for a bit, and Lucy noticed, "She is okay. We arrived in the early hours of the morning, but we didn't want to disturb your sleep by calling then. I suppose you are on your way to work now?"

　　"Yes, I am. What about Lucas? How is he doing?" Lucy asked curiously since she could hear the worry in her father's voice, which he was trying to hide.

　　Andrew was silent for a moment as though contemplating whether or not to say something, and then he sighed, "We don't know, Lu. He wasn't home when we got here, and we just got back from his apartment. He's not there either. His phone is off," Andrew said, and Lucy felt her stomach knot with fear.

　　Perhaps her mother had been right. She shouldn't have told Lucas about it when he was alone. "What about his car?" Lucy asked, trying to come up with a number of places he could have gone to.

　　Hearing the sudden worry in her tone, Tom turned to spare a glance, sensing that something was wrong. 

　　"His car is parked here, and none of the neighbors saw him leave the house. Although it looks like someone broke into the house through the kitchen window, I don't know if it was Lucas..."

　　"What about Rachel. Maybe we should call her and find out if she has seen him?" Lucy cut in.

　　"Yeah, I planned to do so after speaking with you. Don't worry. He might be distraught, but I'm sure he won't do anything foolish to himself," Andrew assured Lucy before hanging up.

　　"What is the problem?" Tom asked with concern, and Lucy sighee.

　　"It's Lucas. He is nowhere to be found," Lucy said, unable to help the pang of guilt in her chest that was beginning to make her stomach churn.

　　"His absence has nothing to do with you. Don't blame yourself for it. He probably just needs to get away for a while. I'm sure he will call when he is in a good state of mind. Don't let it bother you too much," Tom said as he reached over to squeeze her hands softly.

　　Lucy took a deep breath to calm herself, as she kept telling herself that it wasn't her fault. She did what she believed was best for him at that moment, and she trusted Lucas enough to not do anything stupid to himself because of something that wasn't his fault.