One Wild Night

Lucy gave him a nod, "Go on, say what you have to say."

Tom took in a deep breath in an attempt to steady himself and calm his nerves, but it didn't seem to be working, "I..." Tom started but paused to clear his throat when his voice came out cracked.

"Before I say anything, I would first like you to try to keep an open mind, and also understand that whatever I did wasn't because I wanted to make a fool of you, or because I wanted to have fun at your expense," Tom explained, since he knew that once he started telling her the truth she might not be willing to hear all of his explanations or excuses as the case may be later.

Conflicting emotions churned inside of her, and from the way her heart was beating, and her stomach was churning due to the nagging anxiety she was feeling, something told her deep down that she was not going to like what she was about to hear. She swallowed hard as she gave him another nod prompting him to go on.

"Also, I can't exactly say that I'm sorry I did what I did. It was something I needed to do as if I didn't do it, I'm not sure I would have made such progress with you in such a short period. And I probably won't be telling you the truth right now if you didn't open up to me about your past," Tom added.

"You're scaring me, Tom. Please just go on with whatever it is you have to say," Lucy pleaded with a frown as she took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes before replacing them.

"First of all, my name is not Tom Handy... I mean, it's Tom, but Handy isn't my last name," Tom confessed, and Lucy blinked at him in surprise.

What? Even his name was a lie? Oh, my God! What have I gotten myself into? Lucy thought in alarm.

Seeing the surprise and alarm on her face, Tom paused, "And I'm not a handyman either," he added.

Oh, great! His job was fake too. Then was he even her driver? Who was this man that she didn't know anything about? How had the company given a man with an unverified identity a job? "But you fixed my broken tap?" Lucy said, pointing to her bathroom when she remembered that he had fixed it when it broke.

Tom shook his head with an apologetic look on his face, "I brought someone over to fix it," he said apologetically, and Lucy shook her head in disbelief as she looked away from him, trying to gather her thoughts.

"Hold on a minute, I need to get something straight. Did you come up with this new identity because of me or it's...."

Tom shook his head, "No. It was not because of you. At the club where we met, I'm known as Tom Handy, a handyman. Anita knows me as Tom Handy too, and if you remember clearly even the waitress at the bar I took you to the last time also knows me by that name. It's just a sort of pseudo-identity for me," Tom rushed to explain, and Lucy gave him a nod as she let herself partially relax.

Okay. At least she wasn't the only one who had been fooled. But why? "Are you an undercover agent? Or you're a criminal hiding from the law?" Lucy asked as those were the only reasonable excuses she could understand that must have led him to come up with a false identity.

Tom looked at her with an unreadable expression in his eyes. He had actually expected her to first ask him what his real name and occupation was, as that would answer all her questions, rather than trying to understand why he was using a false identity.

"Neither. I came up with that identity some years ago when I realized that people are more honest and real with me when they believe that I'm a nobody. It's easier to know how people perceive me, and I also get to live more freely this way," Tom said, making Lucy raise a brow.

"You think Tom Handy is a nobody?" Lucy asked, looking directly into his eyes. She had felt offended when the CEO implied it earlier, and hearing it from Tom himself she felt kind of disappointed.

"Trust me, Lu, it's not about what I think. From my experience with people over time I've come to understand that if you are not wealthy, and you don't have a white-collar job, most people tend to see you as a nobody. And people usually don't take you seriously when you're a nobody," Tom explained and watched as Lucy tried to process all that he was saying.

"Hold on. That means if you had to come up with such an identity, then you're not exactly a nobody, are you?" She asked, wondering who he truly was. She knew she could easily ask him, but she was trying to process everything he was saying slowly.

Tom gave her a nod, and when he opened his mouth to say something else she raised a hand to stop him as the dots in her head started to connect.

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise when something clicked in her head, "You moved in here because of me, didn't you?" She asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

Tom held her gaze for a moment before slowly giving her a nod. The blood drained from her face and a chill ran down her spine as she quickly put some distance between them and stood up.

Oh, my God! Oh, my God! It's happening again, it's all happening again, Lucy thought in her head, as she hugged herself in a protective gesture, while he just stared at her without saying a word or making any effort to stop her.

What was he expected to say? It's not what you think? I mean no harm? I'm not a stalker like that crazy psycho? What exactly was he supposed to say? He just wanted to believe that whatever friendship they had between them was strong enough for her to understand that he meant no harm.

Lucy looked away from him as she tried to think past the fear she was feeling. Even though she was feeling scared to her bones, the smart part of her brain reminded her that, he had told her he was scared, confused, and worried after hearing her story, and that he had decided to move away from her and had put the house up for sale after hearing her story.

She was also reminded that he had told her before now that he wasn't being honest with her, so maybe it wasn't exactly the same situation. The other part of her brain, however, couldn't get past the fear.

"I could leave if you want me to," Tom suggested when she said nothing after a while, thinking that maybe this was too much information already, considering her health and mental wellbeing.

Lucy turned to look at him, and even though he was not exactly who or what she thought he was, he was still Tom to her. Although his name wasn't the same, and his occupation wasn't the same, he looked just the same.

He was opening up to her by himself and that was supposed to count for something, Lucy thought, and then paused when something else hit her again.

"Wait, the driving job at the company, you got that too because of me? I'm the lady you were talking about, am I not?" She asked, recalling that she had asked him that question some time ago and he had denied it, saying she wasn't his type. Why did he lie about that?

Tom gave her a nod, and before he could say anything, something else clicked in her head, "Oh, my God! That house... It wasn't your friend's house. It's yours, isn't it? " She asked looking at him like he was a ghost.

If she hadn't gone to the club on her own that first night, she would have also asked him now if he had come there because of her, "Who are you exactly?" She asked, still not able to make the most important connection.

Just how wealthy was he to get the apartment next to hers under such short notice and get the occupants to move out? How connected was he to have gotten the job of a driver in that company... Oh, no! The resemblance! Lucy thought with wide eyes as she made the final connection, and she shook her head in denial as she met his gaze.

One look at the shock on her face, and he knew that she had finally made the connection, "Yes.. I'm Thomas Hank."