Chapter 441: Butterflies

Chapter 441: Butterflies

"Good morning, Jewel," Tom greeted with a twinkle in his eyes as he watched Lucy's eyes slowly flutter open when her bedside alarm bell went off.

Lucy smiled when she opened her eyes and saw Tom's face hovering above hers. He was lying on his right side with his body propped up on his elbow.

Tom kissed her eyes making her laugh as she weakly pushed him away, "Good morning, Ace. How long have you been up? Why didn't you wake me up?" She asked, turning her mouth away from his face so that he won't be disturbed by her morning breath.

Tom smiled when he noticed what she was doing, and turned her face towards him. He wanted them to be completely comfortable with each other in every state they found themselves in.

"I've been awake for some time now. I didn't wake you up because I didn't want to rush my favorite morning ritual," Tom said, and Lucy looked at him with confused eyes.

"What ritual?"

"My favorite way to begin my day is to watch you wake up. It's like watching the rise of the morning sun. It gives me the same kick," Tom said making Lucy's heart flutter, and a blush stained her cheeks.

"I wonder where you get those cheesy lines," Lucy said, and Tom wiggled his brows.

"You won't believe me if I told you," Tom said, his eyes twinkling with both amusement and mischief, and Lucy raised a brow.

"Try me," she challenged, and Tom grinned.

"Your eyes. When I look into those beautiful diamond-like gray eyes of yours, I'm like a lost man. I'm devoid of every rational thought, and the only words that come to me are expressions of your beauty, virtue, and worth. I could say you are my romantic muse," Tom said, and this time Lucy giggled.

"Now you're being too much. Let's go get ready for work," Lucy said as she tried to get off the bed, but Tom held her back.

"What's the rush for? I'm not in a hurry to face reality. The moment we get off this bed and walk out the door we are going to be faced once again with all the unpleasant things we pushed aside yesterday. So let's just give ourselves this few minutes," Tom pleaded as he sat up on the bed and pulled her back to himself.

He was right. Who knew what other problems they would have to face today? These days they barely spent enough time talking about themselves. It was always about other people and how to take care of problems.

"We are going to be late to work," she reminded him lazily in her last attempt to maintain her workaholic reputation.

"No one is going to query you, I assure you," Tom said, and Lucy sighed, not wanting to tell him it was an abuse of power. If everyone stayed in bed that way with their partners no one would show up at work.

"Besides, it won't be the first time you will be late because of me," Tom reminded her, and Lucy smiled as she sat between his legs and let her back relax against his body.

"So what do you want us to do?" Lucy asked, and Tom shrugged.

"Let's talk about us. Pleasant things. Tell me about the fun places you would love to visit, and those things you have always wanted to do but haven't been able to do," Tom said as he nuzzled her neck, making Lucy's eyes feel heavy.

"I can't think when you are doing that," she said, and Tom chuckled as he paused to give her room to think.

Lucy narrowed her eyes as she thought about it, "I would love to visit Paris and Maldives," Lucy said with a soft sigh when Tom kissed the spot behind her ear.

"For someone who didn't want to be in a romantic relationship, what did you plan to do at such romantic getaway spots?" Tom asked in a teasing tone, not wanting to mention that those were his ideal honeymoon destinations.

Lucy grinned, "I'm sure there is not a single law that states that those places are only meant for romantic getaways," Lucy said defensively as she turned to look at him.

"Who knows? Perhaps going there would have been all you needed to change your mind. You would have been swarmed by lovers everywhere you turned, and would have no other choice than to find yourself one," Tom said, and Lucy looked at him for a moment.

"That would have happened only if you were there. I'm sure it was going to be you or no one else," Lucy said, and this time it was Tom's heart that skipped a beat.

"Is it normal for a man to have butterflies in his belly? Cause I can swear I feel so many butterflies fluttering in my belly right now," Tom said as he raised a hand to his abdomen, and Lucy laughed out loud.

"I suppose you're allowed to have butterflies. You are human just like the rest of us after all," Lucy said with a teasing smile.

"Damn, Lu! You made my heart skip a beat," Tom said, still feeling very touched by her declaration.

"You do that to me all the time," Lucy said with a wide smile on her face as she watched the man she had come to absolutely adore.

"So now that I'm in a relationship with a big shot like you, there is no reason why I shouldn't go there. I will flaunt you and throw our love in all their faces," Lucy said with a wide smile, and Tom found himself smiling back.

"Sure. I'd love that very much. Let's do that after everything is over. Let's go on a vacation alone..."

"What about the family vacation your mom talked about? We can't go separately for ours and then go for that too..."

"Sure, we can," Tom countered.

"Mr. CEO, we can't take leave from work twice in a year," Lucy reminded him, and Tom groaned.

"C'mon, Jewel. Please don't ruin this moment with your workaholic tendencies," Tom pleaded.

"I'm just trying to be realistic..."

Tom sighed, "As the CEO I could suspend you indefinitely for a month if you commit the perfect offense, what do you think?" Tom asked, and Lucy giggled.

"I've worked too long and hard to get here, I won't taint my reputation for a vacation. It might interest you to know that I have received offers from other rival fashion firms trying to poach me," Lucy said, and Tom raised a brow.

"Are we bragging now?" He asked, and Lucy wiggled her brows at him making him chuckle.

He knew how much she loved her job and how much pride she had in her work, so there was little or nothing he could do right now. He had promised to support her in pursuing her career and he had to do his best.

"So do you plan to give up our personal vacation for the family vacation?" Tom asked, and Lucy shook her head.

"No. We are only postponing it. For this year we have to go on a vacation with the family as planned. If Paris or Maldives were places we could go on a weekend getaway we could have done that. So since we may not be able to travel that far out now, we can go for private weekend getaways to nearby locations when we can. And leave the other places for some other time," Lucy suggested, and Tom gave her a nod.

"Okay, that works," Tom said as he reached out to play with her hair.

"I wish today was Sunday," Tom said, and Lucy raised a brow.

"Why Sunday and not Saturday?"

"Because you'd be busy on Saturday, but on Sunday you have nothing doing so we can just stay in bed all morning like..." The rest of his words trailed off when someone knocked on the door.

"Lucy?" Jamal called, making Tom groan.

"That goes our moment of sweetness," Tom said, and Lucy giggled as she got out of bed to go see Jamal.

"Good morning, Jamy Jam," Lucy greeted when she opened the door and saw the bright-eyed kid.

"Good morning, Lucy. Are you not going to the office today?" He asked when he noticed that she was not dressed for work yet.

"What do you want from my girlfriend?" Tom asked as he joined Lucy by the door.

"Good morning to you too," Jamal greeted with a pleasant smile, and Tom narrowed his eyes at him wondering what he was up to.

"We are going to work soon. Are you okay? Did you sleep well?" Lucy asked, and Jamal gave her a nod.

"Can I come to work with you? Please?" Jamal asked, looking at them both with puppy eyes.

"Jam, the office is no place for a child, and..."

"I will be lonely. Samantha and the others are going grocery shopping today. I don't want to go with them it's boring," Jamal explained, and unable to say no to him when he was looking at her that way, Lucy turned to Tom.

"There is no place for him to stay at the company," Tom said when he noticed the way Lucy was blinking at him now with puppy eyes of her own.

"I heard Adolf saying you have a room in your office. I could stay in there quietly. Please. I want to see what your office looks like," Jamal pleaded still looking at him with puppy eyes as he tugged on Tom's pyjamas and Tom sighed.

"Yes, he does. You can take him in through the private elevator. No one is going to see him," Lucy said, and Jamal bobbed his head.

"I promise not to cause any troubles. Cross my heart," Jamal said as he placed both hands front of his chest.

How was he supposed to say no to them both when they were both staring at him that way? It wasn't his fault that he was a sucker for the woman, and had a soft spot for the kid who was fast growing on him, Tom mused, "If you are not ready by the time we come downstairs, I won't wait for you," Tom said, and immediately Jamal embraced Lucy and ran off to fetch Samantha.

"I should go get his mom's DNA sample now," Lucy said when she remembered that she was yet to do that.

Tom gave her a nod, "I will give them a call to prepare them to receive it," Tom said, and just as Lucy headed for Jamal's room, she hesitated and looked back at Tom when she remembered something.

"Jade is working on something related to Sara. I don't know what it is. Did you tell her anything? Or do you think Harry did?" Lucy asked, and Tom's brows pulled together as he shook his head.

"I didn't say anything to her, and I'm not sure Harry did. What did she say about Sara?" Tom asked curiously.

"I will find out the details from Sonia later. I need to hurry so we can get ready for work," Lucy said before walking away, and Tom sighed as he returned inside.

They were back to reality where they had enemies to put down, and friends to raise.

He was glad that he had been able to spend those few minutes laughing and making future plans with Lucy. That precious moment was what he was going to hold on to, to see him through the craziness of the day ahead.