Fix You

Everything was going better than what she expected, she thought that after the talk with Naima she would have broken down and asked Chris to take her home. To be honest, she was really close to doing so, but when she saw the look on Chris’ face, the light that was brought back into his eyes once he saw Lucy enter the atmosphere again.

Everything changed.

Lucy tried so hard not to look at Tom and Naima as she was sat back down on her seat with the help of Chris. “We’ll leave you to your dinner. Enjoy the rest of your evening.” She heard Tom say and she lightly smiled when she heard that he actually meant it. The small sting that followed in her heart said otherwise, a small part of her wanted him to take her aside so they can get rid of the awkwardness that surrounded them. If Naima was aware of her feelings towards Tom, then she knew that Tom was aware.

Her hazel eyes focused on the empty plate in front of her as she heard her two best friends walking away from the table, sighing deeply, she closed her eyes apologetically before she raised them, “I am so sorry that happened. I had no idea-”

“There is no reason to apologize. I hope you and Naima worked things out.”

Chris knew that Lucy and Naima were super close, closer than she was with Tom and seeing that Naima’s time was consumed by Tom, there was hardly ever any time for the two of them. Which threw her off since whenever she had a conquest, Naima always made time for Lucy even when she was going at it with Noah, he never consumed so much time that Lucy barely saw her best friend. So to having going through withdrawals, she truly missed her friend, no matter how nosey or demanding she was.

“Sort of. It doesn’t matter at the moment, you are what matters.” Intertwining her hand with his, a bold move on her part as Chris’ smile widened at the gesture.

“As long as you are happy, Lu.”

“I’m always happy when I’m with you.”

The dinner went wonderfully after that as she laughed and flirted with Chris throughout the whole evening, not once glancing at the table where Tom and Naima resided in. For once, she was just dealing with the man that was right in front of her, the one that she truly should be focusing on at the moment. Her friendship with Naima and Tom could wait. She needed to focus on her happiness.

~~.~~

“So what happened next?” Cecelia asked as she stared in shock when Lucy was filling her in on the date that she had with Chris. Lucy was going to leave out the whole dilemma that she stumbled into at the restaurant, but having one of her employees that have been working with her since she opened her bakery knew better.

“She asked me if I was happy.” Lucy mumbled sadly.

This was the reason why she didn’t want to recollect her night with anyone, then she would have felt guilty and sad while she missed her best friend. It was weird spilling her date to someone other than Naima, Cecelia was one of those typical women that just went along with whatever she said, not giving her real advice. Naima wasn’t afraid of telling her how she truly felt about certain topics and if Lucy should reconsider fixing a problem another way.

The problem was, Naima and Tom were the problem.

Cecelia scoffed as she crossed her arms across her chest, “She really asked you that? What is she, an idiot? Of course you aren’t happy! You lost your crush to your best friend, you walked in on them basically having sex and now you are trying to move on with someone else. Does that sound healthy to you?”

Lucy sat there in shock as she absorbed everything that Cecelia said, was she doing healthy? The blonde woman sitting across from her rolled her eyes in protest, “No, Lucy. It’s not healthy to move on forcefully. You are making yourself move on when in actuality you need to want to move on. Does your loving boyfriend know that? That you have this serious issue of moving on?”

“But I just got with him…” she feebly answered.

Her gaze met the table, “Besides, I am ready to move on. I don’t want Tom anymore, I really don’t. I want to want Chris.” Cecelia made a disapproving noise as she shook her head.

“Don’t you know that you aren’t supposed to do that? You can’t just force yourself on someone hopefully thinking that you will fall for Chris. Do you have the slightest feelings for him?”

Lucy furrowed her brows, “Of course I do. I can’t believe you are doubting me in this whole process. I am trying so hard to move on and all you have done is criticize everything that I have told you, I’m no expert in this. Tom was the only guy that I have been hung up on, so excuse me for having a difficult time letting go. Chris understands so why can’t you.”

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, frustrated tears pooled around her eyes as she stared out the window. Why did she always have to break down? There was no reason to cry, she should be happy, happy that she finally found someone to move on with, to possibly marrying someday and having kids with.

“Sounds like you are the one that is trying to convince yourself to move on and honey,” Lucy glanced at her blonde employee, “A man can only wait for so long until they give up. No man is willing to stay with someone who obviously is into someone else even if they do fall for you.” Cecelia left her in her thoughts as she stared out the window again, bitter feelings were exposed as she scolded herself.

Why can’t I move on?

Lucy tried to distract herself with more work as she organized the shelves of the baked goods when she heard the bell ringing, “I’ll be right with you.” She hollered over her shoulder before doing the final touches on the shelves.

“These look divine, mind if I have one?”

Lucy closed her eyes for a second to recollect herself as the British voice lingered in her ears, inhaling deeply, she spun around as she forced a smile, “Tom, so nice to see you again.” Tom stood across the counter with his usual casual clothes consisting of black jeans, a white undershirt with a black sweater to go along with it. Whatever he wore, he always made it look good. The casual expression that was placed on Tom was not so appealing.

“Lu, don’t lie. I know that you rather not talk to me at the moment, but,” Tom paused for a second to rethink his words, “I wanted to know personally if you are well.”

“Never better. Now, if you excuse me.” Lucy tried to walk around Tom, but seeing that she was small in stature and Tom’s long limbs caught her easily. His gentle grip made her stop as his voice sounded almost pleading.

“Lu, please. If I hurt you in any way-”

“Just don’t…please, just” Lucy’s lip quivered as she closed her eyes to stop the tears from falling, “I rather not speak to you right now. I am trying so hard to be happy, but you and Nai are screwing it all up for me at the moment, so try to understand that I want to stay away from the both of you until I get things right.”

As painful as it was to say it, it needed to be said. Lucy did need the break no matter how much her heart was telling her not to, Tom and Naima were her life lines, the glue that held her together when she felt like breaking down. As of right now, they were the knives that were twisting on her back, wedging them deeper into her skin. She rather not feel that pain, avoiding it at all cost and she found her remedy.

Chris.

Until she was happy, she wasn’t going to surround herself with drama that was Tom and Naima.

Tom flinched at her cold tone, not once in his friendship with Lucy has he ever heard her speak to him in that way. It cut him deeply that she would think of him as the source of her pain, he didn’t want to cause her any pain, so as the gentleman as he was, he backed off. “My apologies. Whenever you are ready, my door is always open, Lu…I hope you find your happiness with Chris. You truly deserve it.”

“Thank you.” She whispered.

Refusing to turn around, Tom left without another sound except for the door opening and closing behind him. Once he was out of sight, her knees buckled, Lucy cried as she buried her face into one of the counters, finally letting all of her pain wash away with her tears.