Chapter Seventy-Eight – Jim.
Lucy washed her face with cold water from the tap.
Her head was burning up.
She looked at the voice note from the call she just had. She wanted to listen to it again but she was scared to.
What was that those girls said? Her mother did what? Tried killing Arya? Blew up Uncle Stark’s house? Was dating Uncle Stark? Did that make sense? It didn’t even correlate.
“If mother was dating Uncle Stark, why will he let her blow up his house?” Lucy wondered. “Or was he part of the plan too?”
Lucy knew Arya and Anna weren’t lying. The matter was so big of an issue to lie about. And Lucy had been hearing news about attacks on the Wades group.
Could it be her mother too? Was she finally psycho?
“That woman couldn’t get me a job! She couldn’t provide anything for me! Why is she trying to ruin the biggest connection I have!” Lucy cried to herself.
The company she worked for were friends with the Wades group. If they find out her mother was attacking one of their friends, they wouldn’t hesitate to fire her.
Not only that, she might never be able to get a job in any big corporation. Her reputation would be soiled too.
“And it’s almost a month working here! It’s so nice here and all.” Lucy soliloquized. She ran her hands through her hair and dialed her mother’s line.
“Could it be someone was influencing my mother? She wasn’t crazy enough to go this far. And she has been discovered so what was she really up to?” Lucy kept talking.
It didn’t come as a surprise that her mother didn’t answer her call, it only scared Lucy that everything had been true.
She was willing to believe Arya and Anna but if her mother said it was a lie, she’d take her mother’s words.
Her mother might not have provided for her, but she never lied to her about the things she couldn’t provide, nor did she make promises she couldn’t keep.
“And dating Mr. Stark? That’s low.” Lucy frowned.
Why ever would her mother date her dead sister’s husband? It was disgusting. And since when did they like each other? Had she really divorce her own father for that wasted man?
“I really don’t want to believe this stupid story.” Lucy sighed, washing her face again then walking out of the restroom.
She walked to her desk, keeping a plastered smile on her face.
Being friendly was the key to not having problems in the workplace. A smile should be on her face whether she felt like it or not.
Her manager walked up to her just as she sat down. “Lucy, right?” the young woman asked.
Lucy attempted standing up, but slipped and fell back on her seat. She smiled nervously. “Sorry. And yes, I’m Lucy.”
The manager handed her a letter. “It’s weird that someone posted this to our building. It’s for you. Tell whoever to take it to your house or use emails. This shouldn’t happen again.”
As the manager walked away, Lucy turned red from embarrassment. Which of her friends were playing this prank on her? Mailing her a letter? That was so twenties.
And now she got scolded by her manager who was speaking to her for the first time. Could her day get any worse?
She quickly tore the letter and dumped it in a trash can not minding it’s contents. Right now, she had to reach her mother and get to the bottom of this matter.
After her closing hours, she went back to the restroom to get another call across to her mother. She had forgotten to try again when lots of clients came to her desk.
“Mother, pick up, pick up.” she whispered as the line dialed. There was no response at the end, Lucy brought down her phone in defeat. “She didn’t pick up again.”
Someone walked into the restroom and she immediately walked out. That’s messed up. Her mother actually attempted murder? It was impossible.
“I don’t know what to do? If she’s not picking then does it mean it’s true? She really did that?” Lucy asked out loud.
She paused when she sighted someone, walking towards her. It was a young man. He wasn’t coming to her, that she knew, but she wished he was.
She raised her hand to wave as he came close. “Jim? That’s you, right?” she walked to him.
The man turned to her and gave her a questioning look. “Um, yes, I’m Jim. Do I know you from anywhere?
Lucy felt hurt but she didn’t blame him. She didn’t know the words to say next. A lot were already on her plate and now she had to meet him. “I’m Anna’s cousin, Lucy. Remember?”
She hated introducing herself with Anna’s name but there was no other way he’d remember her. Anna was his current girlfriend, after all.
Jim’s eyes widened and he smiled broadly. A smile that made Lucy’s heart skip a beat and she smiled back.
It had been a while she was within range of his emerald eyes. She considered herself lucky, in some way.
“I remember you, little Lucy. You’re big now.” He chuckled.
Lucy tried hard not to let her smile fall or it’d look weird, but did he just call her ‘little’? Anna was only two years older than her. And Jim was two years older than Anna.
He was only four years older than her and she was little?
“Yeah, it’s me. Are you back from camp? Or did you come for a little holiday?” she tried to continue the conversation.
Jim swayed his head a bit. “Hmm, hmm. I came for something important but it’s not a holiday. I’d be moving towards my base soon, permanently so… I came to prepare.”
Lucy stared at him speechless for a while. How could it have come to this? She looked down. “That’s beautiful. I’m wishing you luck.” She looked up again with a fake smile.
Jim cocked his head, a bit surprised. “Huh? What’s beautiful? Wishing me luck?” he smiled. “Smart girl, well, keep that our secret, right?”
Lucy placed her hands on her lips. “Our secret, sure. Have a nice day then.” She chuckled.
Jim waved to her, heading to a desk. “Sure, you too.”
When he was out of sight, Lucy felt a tear dropped from her eyes. A man she had loved for years, he was finally getting married to Anna. That must be what he was preparing for.
He must have come back from base to propose to Anna then move back permanently with her. She always had a way of reading his indirect talk and he knew it.
“Anna finally won, huh?” Lucy sniffed. “Well, it’s not like I didn’t give up at some point.”
Anna had a more stable life than she did despite all the things that happened in her life. It must have been her charisma that Jim fell in love with.
Lucy wiped her tears. “And Jim might have never seen me as a girl he could love. There’s nothing I can do about that.”