One Wild Night

"I told you already. It is Tom's business not yours. If he wanted you to know about it, I'm sure he would have told you himself," Harry said and she frowned.

"I don't keep stuff about Candace from you," she pointed out.

"That is your choice, esquire. That doesn't mean I have to return the favor. I'm exhausted and want to go home now. So let's talk tomorrow," Harry said as he unlocked his car and Jade stood aside, watching him in annoyance.

Harry leaned over and planted a kiss on her lips which she didn't respond to, before getting into his car, "I will call you when I get home. I love you," Harry called out to her before driving away.

As he drove out, Matt who was coming in flashed his light at him in greeting and Harry flashed back his light as he continued on his way home.

Jade was about going inside when she saw Matt's car coming so she waited for him to park and get out so they could go in together.

"Hey, Jadey!" Matt greeted as he walked up to her and placed his arm around her shoulder.

"Why the forlorn look on your face? Are you missing your boyfriend already?" Matt asked and she scowled.

"This is not a forlorn look. I'm just upset. Let's go in. Did you decide to come over knowing Candace would be here?" She asked as they walked into the house, and Matt pulled on his best surprised look.

"Candace is here? I thought she had moved to Harry's place?" Matt asked, and Jade eyed him suspiciously but said nothing.

"Why are you upset? Did Harry do something to make you angry? That guy annoys me too. He can be so full of himself," Matt said, and Jade slapped his arm.

"Don't talk about my boyfriend that way. I'm the only one permitted to be mad at him. And he is not full of himself," Jade said, and Matt grinned.

"I guess you are not mad enough then. Where is Bryan?" Matt asked, even though Candace was the person he was most curious to see.

"I left him at the Den," Jade said and they both headed to the Den.

When they didn't find him there, but heard the sound of cutlery coming from the dining, they both headed for the dining instead.

"You do realize that your annoyance does not make sense, right?" Sonia was asking Bryan as they joined them.

"Why is everyone annoyed tonight?" Matt asked as he joined them.

"What is annoying you too?" Jade asked as Bryan glanced at them.

"Do you believe that Sonia was aware of what grandpa did but didn't say anything to me about it?" Bryan asked in disbelief.

"Exactly like Harry. You lot are so annoying. How can you keep such important things from people you call your partners when you know it's a family issue?" Jade asked Sonia in annoyance.

"If Tom had told me something upsetting about Lucy and I kept it away from you just because Lucy hasn't told you about it yet, would you be happy with me?" Bryan asked Sonia.

"What is going on?" Matt asked, curious to know what the problem was.

"Tom had a problem which Lucy told me about. Bryan found out about it today and is mad at me for not telling him about it. Does that make any sense? I have a right to keep my best friend's secret whether or not it is about your brother!" Sonia said incredulously.

"Unless the secret was about something harmful, I don't get why this is an issue. Or was there something you could have done about it to help the situation had she told you earlier?" Matt asked Bryan who scowled.

"Why are you taking her side? You are my best friend and should be taking my side seeing how she is defending what she did for her best friend's sake," Bryan said, and Sonia rolled her eyes.

"You both would reconcile soon and then I will be on Sonia's bad book. I would rather be on your bad book than that of your fiancee. Besides, you didn't take my side when I needed you the other night either. You said she was scary, right?" Matt asked with a pleasant smile and Bryan scowled.

"Matt? What are you doing here?" Candace asked in surprise when she returned to see him at the table.

"Bryan invited me to come over and spend the night," Matt lied, shooting Bryan a warning look to not say otherwise.

Bryan smiled, "I didn't. He called and asked if he could spend the night," Bryan said as he set down his cutlery and rose.

"You bastard!" Matt cussed.

"That's what you get for wanting to be on my bad book," Bryan said as he walked away from the dining and Jade eyed Sonia with disapproval as she followed Bryan before turning to Candace who was glaring at Matt.

"Did you also know about the prank?" She asked, wanting to know if it was just her and Bryan who had been left in the dark or if either Lucy or Harry had told Candace about it.

"What prank?" Candace asked in confusion, and Jade nodded with approval, seeing that Candace did not know anything about it.

"Let's go upstairs to my bedroom and I will tell you about it since it's not a secret anymore," Jade suggested.

"I will join you after having a word with Matt," Candace said, and Jade excused them.

"What are you doing here?" Candace asked Matt and he shrugged.

"Visiting."

"Visiting? Because I told you I would be here?" She hissed under her breath.

"What is it with everyone having misunderstanding with their partners under this roof tonight? Perhaps I shouldn't have come..."

"Yes, you shouldn't have come! What we have is supposed to be private but..."I think you should take a look at

"How can it be private when everyone already knows what is going on? And do I need to remind you that you were the one who set the privacy rule yet the same person who exposed what was going on to the others," Matt said and she scowled.

"They wouldn't have found out if you didn't keep wanting to see me every day!" She hissed at him, trying to keep her voice down.

"I never forced you to come. You came each time I requested because you also wanted to see me. And not once did you complain about the frequency of our meetings when we were making love," Matt pointed out.

"And today that I chose not to see you, what did you do? Did you stay put? No! Instead you chose to come over here," Candace countered, and Matt sighed.

"Candace..."

"I guess it's a good thing that I'm returning to Sogal by weekend. I intend to see how you can make such impulsive moves when you have your job to attend to," Candace said irritably.

"You are returning by weekend?" Matt asked with a frown.

"Yes! For christ's sake, I told you I would see you tomorrow. Why didn't you just wait? Why did you come here?"

"I just wanted to see you, alright? What's so wrong with a man wanting to seize every opportunity he has to see the woman he loves?" Matt asked and she glared at him.

"Don't you dare talk to me about love! We agreed that this was a purely sexual relationship..."

"I'm sorry if hearing that I love you makes you feel so uncomfortable, but that doesn't change how I feel about you. You can use me for sex all you want, but what I feel is entirely up to me," Matt said and Candace glared at him in annoyance before walking away without another word.

Matt sighed as he sat down. The woman was a lot of work. After now he would just give her some space and let her come to him on her own when she was ready.

Upstairs, in Bryan's bedroom, Sonia got on the bed and rolled over to lie on Bryan who had turned his back to her.

"Leave me alone," he said grudgingly.

"But Ryso wants to stay close to you," Sonia said, and Bryan scowled as he sat up.

"Don't lie against the baby," he said, and Sonia sighed.

"I honestly don't think we should be fighting over this. What your grandfather did was wrong. And I'm disappointed in Kimberly for using her daughter for such a thing. I'm going to unfollow her," Sonia said, stylishly changing the subject.

"Kimberly? You know the lady in question?" Bryan asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Yeah. Shouldn't you know her since she seems to be close to your grandfather?" Sonia asked as she picked up her phone to open Kimberly's page so he would see the lady in question.

"Kimberly Moore. My grandfather used to talk about a certain Kim a lot. The little girl does look like Tom in a way. Hold on. Why would Tom believe the kid is his if he hasn't been with her?" Bryan asked when it suddenly struck him.

"He was with her a long time ago. It was a one night stand and he didn't know she was connected to your grandfather," Sonia explained.

"Are you sure the result came back negative?" Bryan asked doubtfully as he eyed the picture.

"Even if it didn't, it has been confirmed that it was a prank. Why is your mother mad at Lucy?" Sonia asked now that she sensed that they had gotten past Bryan's annoyance.

"Lucy asked my grandfather to report himself to my parents and the rest of the family. I don't see why that should make her mad though," Bryan said and Sonia nodded.

"If anyone is supposed to be mad, it is Tom and Lucy. I remember how mad I was by that stupid prank Jeff and you pulled, talk more about a prank involving a child. It is very annoying and your mother should be apologizing not provoking them further," Sonia said and Bryan raised a brow.

"Are you saying that because Lucy is your best friend?" He asked and she smirked.

"No, I'm saying that because it is the truth, and if you think otherwise then I'm going to have a problem with you. Don't even think about supporting your mom or grandfather," Sonia warned sternly as she got off the bed and Bryan frowned.

"What! Now you are mad at me for simply asking a question?" Bryan asked incredulously.

"I'm not mad yet. But I will be if you don't act right. Give your mother a call and find out what the problem is," Sonia urged him as she pointed at his phone.

"Why?"

"Before this escalates further, you should step in. You were so mad that I kept it a secret from you but now that you know about it you don't even want to do anything to help the situation? What difference does your knowledge of the situation make then?" Sonia asked, and Bryan sighed as he did as she requested.

"Bryan, I was just about to give you a call. I was speaking with Tom and he hung up and now I can't reach him again...."

"Speaker," Sonia said, and Bryan placed the call on speaker so she could listen in on the conversation.

"What did you say to him?" Bryan cut in.

"I only scolded him letting Lucy handle a situation he could have handled himself. Your grandfather played an expensive prank on Tom and in as much as I'm not in support of it, letting Lucy step in that way was wrong. Your father is mad at me and I overheard him yelling at your grandfather over the phone and asking him to stay away from his family. You know how things are between them. Lucy just made it worse," Evelyn said, and Sonia shook her head in disapproval as she tried to keep herself from saying anything.

"What exactly happened?" Bryan asked calmly, wanting to understand things from his mother's end as well.

Evelyn tried to calm herself as she explained everything to Bryan and by the time she was done Bryan shook his head, "I can't take your side on this one, mom. Both dad and Tom are right to be mad at you. I would be too if I were in their shoes. Instead of trying to blame Lucy for something you and grandfather caused, you should accept that you were wrong and ask for forgiveness and stop telling Tom how you think he should have handled the mess you created."

"I never said I was right neither did I say I was not sorry. I wouldn't have gone to your grandfather had I realized what the issue with Tom was earlier. That's why I'm saying Lucy had no right doing what she did especially since she is partially responsible for this. If she was not so set on not getting married to Tom, your grandfather wouldn't have had to do what he did in the first place! We did what we did because we were looking out for Tom!"

"Lucy doesn't want to get married to Tom?" Bryan asked in confusion as he glanced at Sonia who looked very pissed now.

Because she was feeling very tempted to snatch the phone from Bryan and yell at Evelyn for making this about Lucy when it was actually all her fault, Sonia walked out of the bedroom angrily leaving Bryan to finish his conversation with Evelyn alone.