Chapter 455 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“And you’re still with the phone?” Celsie asked as an evil idea began to form in her head.

“Yes. Why?” Lucas asked when he heard the excitement in her voice.

“I think I just figured out a way to make Rachel pay for everything,” Celsie said thoughtfully.

“Really? How?” Lucas asked curiously.

“Don’t worry. I will tell you more about it after I’ve given it much thought. Have you made up your mind on what you want to do now?” Celsie asked, changing the subject.

Lucas paused when he remembered Miley asking him that same question. He shook his head. He wasn’t going to think about her.

“I will start by going home to see mom and dad, and once I’ve been able to convince them that I’m fine, I will go on a vacation. I need a change of environment. After I’m well rested, I can decide on what next to do about my career,” Lucas said, thinking about the offer Benne had made him.

“Alright. Do whatever you need to do to make sure you’re fine. I’ve got your back,” Celsie assured him.

“Yeah, I know that. I will do a better job at having your back going forward, I promise.”

“Why don’t you start by telling me about what you discussed with Benne?” Celsie asked hopefully, and Lucas chuckled.

“Nice try. That’s between Benne and me. Sorry, I can’t tell you. I need to go now, Celsie. My regards to Benne. Love you,” Lucas said before hanging up.

Once he hung up, he looked outside the window to see where they were, “Where did I tell you we were going to?” He asked, and the driver smiled at him sheepishly.

“You didn’t say, so I’ve just been driving around,” the driver said, making Lucas look at him incredulously.

“I suppose I’m expected to pay for this directionless ride?” Lucas asked, and he nodded.

“Yes. You got into the car and sat there without saying anything. I couldn’t just stay there waiting for you to tell me where you were going when you were so busy on the phone. Time is money, you know? Every moment lost can not be recovered,” He said, and for some reason, his words evoked a feeling of sadness in Lucas.

Time was money, yet there were people like Miley who had money but didn’t have time. No. He wasn’t supposed to be thinking of her.

Forget about her, Lucas. You’ve got to forget about her.

“Nice one. Let’s go then,” Lucas said as he called out his parents’ address to the driver.

He was confident that once he traveled to somewhere far away, he would forget all about Rachel and Miley. They were both distractions that he needed to get rid of in order to move past this

“Is there any need to take his pair of their matching outfits?” Janet asked her husband as she stared at a pair of matching shoes belonging to both Lucas and Rachel on their shoe rack.

“Yes, let’s take whatever belongs to him. If he feels the need to discard or destroy them, then doing so should give him a level of satisfaction. Let’s not leave anything behind that belongs to him,” Andrew called from the other side of the closet where he was sorting through the clothes.

They both worked in silence for some time as they gathered all that belonged to Lucas into separate boxes, and once they were done with the closet, they looked at each other, and Janet let out a sigh.

“Do you think he’s going to be okay, Drew?” Janet asked, and Andrew gave her a nod.

“Sure, he will. All he needs right now is time. See how well Celsie turned out? Lucas will be fine too,” Andrew assured her, and before she could respond, her phone, which was on the bedstand, rang out.

She reached for it and smiled when she saw that it was a call from Evelyn, “It’s Evelyn,” she told her husband as she received the call.

“Hello, Eve! Good morning,” Janet greeted cheerfully, and Andrew mouthed to her that she should sort through the drawers for all the documents belonging to Lucas while he took the boxes to the car, and she gave him a nod as she moved the padded stool in front of the dressing table to the front of the nightstand.

“I’m sorry we didn’t call to find out if you’ve arrived or settled in well,” Evelyn said apologetically as she poured herself a glass of lemonade while she sat by the poolside, trying to get some alone time for herself.

“Oh, never mind that! I wasn’t in the frame of mind to receive phone calls either, especially when we couldn’t find Lucas upon our arrival…”

“Oh, dear! Have you seen or heard from him now?” Evelyn asked with concern.

“Yes, we have heard from him,” Janet said as she lowered herself on the stool before pulling out the drawers on the nightstand.

“That’s such a relief. How is he doing? I hope he’s not too hard on himself?” Evelyn asked hopefully.

“I honestly can’t answer that, Eve. I’m yet to see him. You know how these kids can be. He claims he is okay, but I’m not sure. I really don’t know how he is feeling or what to do to help,” Janet said with a weary sigh as she looked through the documents and took out whichever one had Lucas’ name on it.

“You can start by not worrying too much about it. You won’t do him or yourself any good if you fall sick because you’re worrying too much. I know how difficult this must be for you as a mother, but just let him be. Try to be cheerful whenever you speak with him. He needs only positive energy right now. You know, when my daughter lost her boyfriend, I was very worried about her too. It was all I could do not to move in with her because I was scared she might attempt to take her life or harm herself. Desmond advised I let her be. And whenever we spoke with her, we never really bugged her by trying to know how she was doing. It wasn’t easy, but Desmond insisted we let her deal with her grief the best way she could. Although it took a lot of time, but she’s fine now. You can also ask him to let you know if there’s anything you can help him do,” Evelyn suggested before taking a sip from her glass of lemonade.

“I’m trying to do that. As a matter of fact, we are at the apartment he shared with that brat. We are helping him move his stuff.”

“That’s fine. That should help keep you distracted for a while. You can also just soak all her fancy clothes in the bathtub and stuff her shoes in the toilet too,” Evelyn suggested, and Janet laughed.

“I think I will take that advice. How are you? I learned you left Serenopolis yesterday. How was your trip? Have you settled in? How is Desmond?” Janet asked, and Evelyn smiled.

“Everything is alright over here. We had to stop by Sogal to handle some family business at Bryan’s end. Although Sonia isn’t feeling very well, so we will be here until the weekend before leaving for Heden. We hope to meet you both when we get there,” Evelyn said, and Janet smiled.

“Sure, you will. What’s wrong with Sonia? I hope it isn’t too serious?” Janet asked with concern as she opened a file to confirm whose it was, and she flung it across the room when she saw it belonged to Rachel.

“She was down with flu, but I think she’s feeling much better today. Desmond and I just want to hang around to make sure she’s okay before leaving,” Evelyn explained, and Janet was glad that both her girls had people like Evelyn and Desmond in their lives.

“That’s so nice of you. Thank you. I will give her a call later. Hopefully, by the time you get back, things will have settled a bit with the kids, and we can all relax without having to worry too much,” Janet said as she watched her husband return to the bedroom to pick up two more boxes.

“Sure. By the way, I was thinking. How about we sign up at the same yoga school? We can be partners and attend the classes together. I’ve been inconsistent with my classes because Desmond is always reluctant to go with me. He claims it’s for women, not men,” Evelyn said, and Janet laughed softly.

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