In a few weeks, the Kilian, Peter and Steven families would be celebrating their first Christmas together. The men were responsible for getting the tree and the ladies volunteered to do the shopping for gifts and the cooking.
Lucy and Andre were getting along better, Jacob and Henry had merged their businesses and were even more successful.
As Christmas day grew closer, Lucy became more nervous. Henry had said he would wait for six months, that was in three days and it was also their first Christmas with the entire family. Every moment they spent together was filled with hints, innuendos and tons of flirtation. Even on the other hand was calm as ever. He watched Lucy squirm as he kissed her each time, gently pushing her body against his. He always managed to pull back but the next time he touched her, she would know she was his forever.
"Babe, are we still on for dinner tonight?" Henry asked as Lucy sat in her office across the corridor from his.
"Yeah, I just have to head home and get ready." "Great I will pick you up at six thirty." "Okay." Lucy bowed her head and all sort of dirty thoughts flitted through her mind. Gosh she felt like a virgin.
Henry closed the door and almost grabbed himself. He had everything planned and hoped it would go well for Lucy, she had enough issues in the past, but she was proving to be an asset to the business and she was generally a wonderful girl, all he had to do now was to fully gain her trust and ask her to marry him in six months.
Lucy left the office around four pm and headed home, she was almost there when her call rang, and she put it on speaker.
"Lucy here."
"Lucy help me." It was her best friend Alisson, and she was crying. "What's wrong, where are you and what happened?"
"I was raped." She whispered. Lucy quickly pulled her Range Rover Sport over.
"Alisson honey, tell me where you are now."
"I'm at the Helam Hotel, room 1022. Hurry."
"Be there in fifteen." Lucy said completely forgetting her date with Henry. She turned her vehicle around and headed to the hotel. When she got there, she went to the front desk and asked for room 1022. The front desk clerk told her in no uncertain terms that she was not allowed to go unless invited by a guest.
"Miss Anita, I understand your rules but my friend called me and told me she was in the room and she was raped. If I have to call the police and have them let me in, I am willing to do that. If you can call your manager and have someone escort me to the room that is fine but either way, I am going to get my friend."
Anita immediately picked up the phone and called her manager. Within minutes a tall woman with a figure to die for, rushed over to greet Lucy. "Miss, I am Diana, the Manager here, I will take you to your friend and we can go from there."
"Thank you Diana, I don't mean to be any trouble and thank you, I just hope she is okay." Diana and Lucy rushed to the room. Diana used her Master Key to unlock the door and the scene before them was disturbing to say the least. There were several young girls sprawled across the floor, clearly high on something or severely drunk. Diana immediately called the police.
Lucy searched frantically for Alisson and when she found her, her heart broke into pieces. Alisson was in the bathtub almost submerged in water. Her wrist was slit. Lucy screamed and rushed to find something to stop the bleeding.
Henry was in good spirits. He was going on date with a sexy, sweet and sensual woman and nothing could bring him down from his high. He put on a pair of dark grey slacks, a black belt with shoes to match and a navy-blue button-down long sleeve shirt. He grabbed his keys, wallet and headed to his Porche. He got to the restaurant early and he was taken to a private room that Philip had booked for them. Half hour later, Lucy was not there. Henry checked his cell, there were no calls missed or otherwise. He began to worry and decided to call her. Her phone went straight to voicemail. He left a message and decided to order a drink. Another half hour passed and still no word from Henry. Worry began to morph into frustration and slowly progressed to anger.
Henry got up and told the manager he was leaving and would reschedule for another night and would pay the charges for the inconvenience.
"No need sir, Mr. Kilian owns the place and he said to give your whatever you need, when you need it, just call and let me know personally what your plans are, and we will be glad to arrange them for you. Have a good night sir."
Henry left and headed to Lucy's house. He arrived at her house and saw that her vehicle was not there. He called her twice more before he left and headed home.
Henry was tempted to call Andre, but he didn't want to worry her until he knew Lucy had not stood him up. He tried her phone a few more times, leaving message for her to call him and let him know she was okay but… nothing.
Henry drove around Luton town, not noticing all the light displays. He saw families taking photos by the fountains, the swing Bridge and the huge Christmas tree. None of it mattered if he didn't have Lucy to share it with him. He left town and headed in the direction of home and empty house he wanted to fill with little feet. He currently hated it there.
As he was passing by one of the more popular hotels on the South Coast, he saw a woman getting into a car with a man dressed in a suit. No, it couldn't be her. Henry froze at the traffic lights in utter shock. He wanted to get out and confront her but decided if she didn't want to be with him, he would not force her. The lights turned green and he simply drove on and headed home.
The next day, Lucy was exhausted. She had stayed with Alisson all through the night and around 7:30am, the doctor told her to go home and get some rest, Alisson was sleeping and would be happy to see her when she woke.
Lucy dragged herself into her house and then realize she had not heard her cell ring all night. She was so caught up with everything that happened with Alisson and the other girls, she totally forgot about Henry. "Oh no, Henry."
Lucy grabbed her cell from her bag only to realize the battery had died. She got the charger and quickly plugged it in. Wishing for a faster boot up. As soon as it got enough charge, she heard the familiar pings of new messages and missed calls. She plugged in her headset and dialed Henry, prepared to face his temper but it went to voicemail.
Lucy called again and left a message for him to call her back. She took a shower and headed to work, again prepared for his anger but when she got there, he wasn't there. "Good morning Kelly, has Henry been in as yet?" She asked his PA. "Morning Lucy, no, he left on the 8am flight to Colombia for a meeting, he will be gone for two weeks. Didn't your calendar remind you?"
"I had a situation last night, battery died, it probably hasn't updated yet. Mo worries. If you hear him before I do, have him call me please." "No problem."
Much to the surprise of Lucy, Henry did not contact her for the two weeks he was gone. She knew he was upset but this was very bad. She had been to see Alisson every evening after work and stayed until late, then she headed home to an empty house. The date he said he would make love to her was gone. He broke his promise to her, and she was beginning to think he no longer cared. So, as usual, she picked herself up and the first thing on her agenda was to resign from Dave & Jacob Associates. She told no one she left but Jacob knew and he told Andre, who called her sister.
"I figured he would tell you. Look, I'm better off by myself, if Henry doesn't want me, I'm fine with that, don't worry about me."
On Christmas day, the ladies were preparing the food, it was around 4am and the Kilian Estate kitchen was abuzz with chatter. The men were on the other side putting the finishing touches on the tree and placing the gifts. Henry was sitting by the window, not saying a word, just sipping some hot chocolate.
"Bro, what's the matter?"
"She stood me up for another man and I can't let go but I can't confront her either."
"What? Whatever gave you that idea?"
"I saw her coming from the Helam Hotel with a man, she got into his car and left."
"Uh, Henry, I think you are mistaken and you have wasted two weeks you can never get back. Did you not speak to Lucy all this time?" Said Jacob. "What do you mean? What do you know?" Henry sat up quickly, almost spilling his cup into his lap.
"On the night you saw her, her friend and a few other women were drugged and raped. She was probably on her way to the hospital or police station and that man was probably a detective."
Henry stood up, put the cup on the table and ran towards the main house. He burst into the kitchen and all the ladies screamed in fright.
"HENRY, what the hell man?" Andre yelled.
Henry has his eyes on one person and the look on his face told everyone he would not be leaving until he spoke to Lucy who had a fragile look on her face.
"Lucy, either talk to me in private or talk to me right here, your choice but you will talk to me."
"Hey, you can't talk to her like that" Maddy stood in front of her brother, clearly pissed.
Lucy gently grabbed Maddy's arm.
"It's okay Maddy. Henry, let's go to my room. Be back in half hour girls." Lucy turned and walked away; Henry followed. When Lucy entered the room she was using, Henry slammed the door and grabbed her arms and kissed her hard. Lucy responded and moaned into his mouth. He pulled away and just stared at her.
"Lucy, please forgive me. I have been an idiot and I hope I have not ruined my chances with you."
"What did I do to make you not even want to talk to me?" Henry hung his head.
"Did you go with another woman?"
"NO! I would never! I waited for you all night, I went to your house and on my way home I saw you leaving Helam with a man in a suit and I just assumed…"
"That I stood you up for another man, oh Henry. You were hurting all this time?"
"Yes, I thought you didn't want me, or that I was pushing you for something you didn't want or were not ready for."
Lucy reached up to cup his face and pulled him down for a kiss. Within minutes, Lucy and Henry were naked in each other's arms. Henry was hard as a rock and Lucy's eyes opened wide the moment he dropped his boxers.
"I'll be gentle."
"I don't need gentle; I just need you. Make love to me Henry."
Back In the kitchen the ladies were almost done. They had discussed with Lucy how she felt about Henry and they all decided that men need a swift kick at time and that if it was meant to be, it would work out.
They teased her about everything and she laughed in return. When Henry burst into the room, she knew it would be okay.
The sun was beginning to come up, the aroma of food was drifting throughout the house. Lucy shifted and before she could open her eyes, Henry was all over her, again, for the fifth time. He couldn't get enough of her. She was perfect in his eyes.
"I'm sorry I made a mess of things Lucy; I will do my best not to mess up again."
"I should have found you and tried to talk to you but I didn't want to hear you reject me." Lucy moaned as Henry pounded into her, signaling the conversation was over.
Lucy and Henry took a shower together and she went to his room to bring his bag. He saw the small red velvet box he had been carrying around and decided romance be damned, he would ask her right now.
"Lucy honey."
"Be out in a minute." She replied from the shower. Henry took the chance and dropped his towel and headed to her.
Lucy felt a warm body engulf her from behind and rested against it. "Lucy, will you marry me? I know it's not the most romantic proposal, but I need you as my wife." Henry said as he slipped the ring on her finger and kissed her neck.
Lucy turned in his arms with tears flowing down her face and nodded. Henry quickly lifted her up and plunged into her, sealing the deal.
Half hour later, they got dressed and went downstairs. It smelled heavenly. "Merry Christmas guys, there are ham slices with honey in the toaster oven, Muffins, passion fruit, guava, grapes, lemonade and pineapple drinks are in the chiller and salt bread in the Caddie. We are heading over to exchange and open gifts; the housekeeper will stay and make sure the food doesn't burn." Maddy said excitedly.
Maddy grabbed Lucy's hand and opened her eyes at the engagement ring. "OH Lucy! Congrats, I'm so happy for you." Maddy hugged her and punched Henry in the shoulder.
"Love you too little sister."
"I'm glad she said yes, now you can get back to being a nice guy." Lucy blushed and went to get breakfast for her fiancé.
"See you in a bit, hurry up!" Maddy said as she left.
Over the next few hours, everyone opened gifts, laughed and talked about past Christmases and expressed love, kindness and understanding of everyone present. Philip stood up with a glass of wine in his hand. He looked down at his son and smiled.
"I want everyone here to know that I appreciate each one of you. I am blessed with a wonderful family, and I would not change any of you for all the tea in China."
Everyone laughed and raised their glasses.
Lucy and Henry got married six months later. Maddison and Philip had two more children. Kate and Mike added three more children to their household. Andre and Jacob struggled to have a child and just resigned themselves to being happy with each other, but little did they know, a storm was coming and their lives would be turned upside down.
Next in Kilox Series – Andre – Book II.