One Wild Night

Sonia considered it for a moment and decided there was no harm in going along with Lucy's suggestion.

"Alright. It all started in the car. Bryan was trying to talk to me, but I wasn't really paying attention," Sonia said, and Lucy gave her a thumbs up.

"So why don't we do a little practical? Talk to me while I act distracted," Lucy suggested as she lay on her stomach and picked up her phone.

"By the way, I don't suppose you saw him before leaving, did you?" Sonia inquired as she dressed up, but Lucy's attention was on her phone.

She just noticed that she had an unread message notification from her mom and was checking it out.

"Did you hear me?" Sonia asked when she didn't get a response from Lucy.

She paused what she was doing and turned to look at Lucy, thinking that Lucy was pretending to be distracted.

"Hm? Yeah," Lucy grunted noncommittally as she continued to read the text.

"You can act distracted after answering my question. Did you see him before coming?"Sonia asked impatiently when Lucy still had not answered her question after some seconds.

"You've got to be kidding me," Lucy hissed as she sat up while Sonia watched her, feeling slightly irritated that Lucy was overdoing it.

"Lucy..."

"Sorry to interrupt. Can you believe that Rachel had my mom arrested?" Lucy asked, and immediately Sonia swallowed her annoyance and looked at Lucy in disbelief.

"No, she did not! Is she in need of a whooping?" Sonia asked as she reached for Lucy's phone to see what Lucy had been looking at.

She read the text from Janet asking Lucy to call her immediately she saw the text and telling Lucy that they had missed their flight because Rachel had arrested her, but Evelyn and Tom had stepped in to get her out, and they were at the Hank family house and would leave later in the day.

"That girl must be crazy," Sonia hissed in disapproval.

Lucy shook her head with a thoughtful look in her eyes, "She has to be out of her mind," Lucy muttered before focusing on Sonia again.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you. So what were you saying?" Lucy asked, and Sonia shook her head.

"You should give her a call and find out how they're doing," Sonia suggested.

"I'm sure they are okay. You can hardly be around any Hank and not be okay. I will call them later," Lucy said, and Sonia sighed when she remembered how she had wept like a baby while Evelyn and Desmond did all they could to comfort her.

"So, how did you feel talking to someone that isn't paying attention?" Lucy asked with a broad smile since she had heard everything Sonia had asked her.

"You did that deliberately?" Sonia hissed at her, and Lucy chuckled.

"It's annoying, isn't it? You wouldn't have realized how annoying it was if I didn't really ignore you..."

"I didn't deliberately ignore him. I was..."

"Distracted. So was I too. What difference does it make to the person being ignored?" Lucy asked, and Sonia sighed.

Okay, she got the message. Being distracted while being spoken to wasn't nice at all. Yes, she understood that she had been wrong in that and she had apologized for that in the bathroom. So that wasn't the cause of their problem. It was the cause that she wanted to know.

"I don't think we should go all the way to the beginning of our fight. We can just focus on all the points that Bryan got angry. He first got mad about the message from Derek… or maybe not. On second thoughts I think he didn't really react much to Derek's message until I was too distracted to pay attention to him and then he got mad. To me, his reaction showed that he didn't trust me and I got mad too until we both realized that Jeff had planned it to help me generate conflict…"

"I don't care about your perspective right now. We are focusing on Bryan's perspective, remember? As long as you keep seeing things from your end, you will remain right and you won't see what the problem is. Now before I digress, let me get something straight. Why exactly did you need him to generate conflict?" Lucy asked, realizing that she had failed to ask that question the previous day because Sonia had been too upset.

"I told you I'm writing about us. Romance stories thrive on conflict…"

"Romance stories, Sony. Not real-life relationships. Every normal person wants a peaceful and drama-free relationship. Only toxic relationships thrive on conflict. You didn't have to cause unnecessary drama in your relationship just to write a story and entertain people that don't really care about you," Lucy interjected.

Sonia sighed, "I can't defend myself right now and say I didn't ask him to do it. I made him feel like he needed to do something, so I'm responsible for all of this too, I know. However, his reaction made me realize that he doesn't trust me…"

"There you go again. I said focus on Bryan, not you," Lucy said, and Sonia sighed.

"Alright. Maybe you should do the talking," Sonia suggested.

"Okay. What did Bryan's reaction tell you about him apart from the fact that you believe he doesn't trust you?" Lucy asked, and Sonia's brows pulled together as she thought about it.

"If Bryan wasn't your boyfriend. Let's assume Tom acted the way Bryan did. How would you interpret his behavior?"

"I would say he was insecure?" Sonia said, and Lucy raised a brow.

"So pardon me for being amazed that somehow you figured that the best way to build trust was to change all the plans you both made together in the heat of that moment. Have you thought about how you changed your plans in the middle of an unresolved misunderstanding? One minute you were fighting about Derek, and just before you could completely resolve that, you shoved your new decision down his throat, and while he was still fuming from that and got into a fight with Derek, he asked you not to get involved and you did. It all seems like Sonia does what Sonia wants, doesn't it?" Lucy asked, and Sonia frowned as she replayed all her conversations with Bryan in her head.

"If the situation was reversed I'm sure you would want him to listen to you, but you haven't really done much listening on your end, have you?" Lucy asked, and Sonia pursed her lips.

"And if I remember correctly you said you insulted him…"

"He was being annoying by bringing up unnecessary issues from the past," Sonia said weakly.

"Have you related those issues to what he said to see how true they are and if you need to make some changes?" Lucy asked calmly as she watched Sonia who was still processing everything.

"He says you are more important to me than him, and he can't get over the fact that I left him to come to you despite the fact that he knows why I did that," Sonia said, expecting Lucy to take her side on this.

"I don't think Bryan is upset simply because you left him to come to me. I think he is upset because of the way you went about it. If I remember correctly you suddenly broke up with him in the middle of your shoot and left, right? Do you think he would have been upset if you explained the situation to him and told him you needed to be with me, and asked for his opinion concerning breaking up to save his reputation? Imagine him doing that to you regardless of his reasons. Anyone would be upset about that. I would be too if Tom did something like that to me, and I know for a fact that you would be too. He said he wants a break and you feel like crap, right? That's probably how he felt when you did that too," Lucy said, and Sonia frowned.

"We both know I'm new at all of this myself, Sony, and I'm probably the last person to be giving you relationship advice given that you relate better with people than I do. But let's not forget that there are relationship experts out there that are divorced," Lucy said with a grin to make Sonia smile.

"I know you are used to controlling the guys you date and having the upper hand in your past relationships, but Bryan is not one of those guys and if you value what you both share, you would learn to make some changes. Believe me, there is no harm in learning how to be the kind of person your loved one wants you to be for them. You have no idea the kind of stuff I read on the internet every day because of Tom. I even watched videos on how to give a handjob and blowjob," Lucy said, moving her hand in an upward, twist, and downward motion like she was holding a cock and sucking, and Sonia burst into a peal of laughter.

"What has happened to Lucinda?" Sonia asked in amusement.

Lucy shrugged, "I love Tom. I'm learning different ways to show him that. But that's not the point here. Listen, I know you love Bryan, and he loves you too. And just so you know, I'm not saying you were wrong to suggest putting a hold on moving in together. I'm just saying the timing was wrong. You could have brought that up at a later time and as a suggestion so you both would discuss it the same way you discussed moving in together in the first place. And also maybe when Bryan asked you not to do anything at the station you should have trusted him and listened to him. You hurt his ego more than you realized. You really need to think about everything that happened between you two and try to hear exactly what Bryan is saying to you, alright?" Lucy said, and Sonia sighed.

"Yeah. I think I need to do that. I feel much better now. Thanks for helping me put things into perspective," Sonia said with a smile of gratitude and Lucy got off the bed and curtsied.

"Thanks for coming to my Ted talk," Lucy said, and Sonia giggled.

"Tom is good for you, Lu," Sonia said, observing Lucy who seemed too cheerful and confident.

"Duh! I'm good for him too," Lucy said with a flick of her hair.

"Now that you are smiling, can I talk about Tom without sounding like I'm showing off?" Lucy asked, and Sonia laughed.

"Only if you're going to tell me if you put the videos into practice," Sonia said. Imitating Lucy's handjob gesture, and Lucy giggled.

"Sure, I did put it into practice. But I don't think I'm there yet. I read somewhere that practice makes perfect, so I'll just keep doing it until I get it right," Lucy said with a wink and Sonia chortled.

"See? I told you by the time we are done you'd be laughing. Now all that's left is getting you to twerk. Do you need music?" Lucy asked, and Sonia giggled.

"You've become so silly, Lu," Sonia observed.

"I can be just about anything to make you laugh, Sony. Going forward, if you must cry, never cry alone. Alright? Do so in front of me and I will do all I can to make you laugh as you've done for me all these years," Lucy said as she got off the bed to embrace Sonia when she teared up.

"I love you, Sony. And I want you to be happy," Lucy said as she patted her back.

"I love you too. And I'm sorry for everything I said when you walked in. I didn't mean any of it," Sonia said, and Lucy smiled.

"I forgive you. Now hurry up. There is no reason to keep the man waiting only to fire him," Lucy said, and Sonia grinned as she pulled away to pick up her sandals.

"You are going back to Ludus with me tomorrow, right?" Lucy asked as she watched Sonia put the finishing touch on her face.

"Yes. But I have to visit my mom's gravesite," Sonia reminded her.

"We can get some flowers and go together after your meeting. I should say hello to her," Lucy said, and they looked at each other for a split second before breaking into laughter.

"Yeah! Let's do that. No one would know even if she turns in her grave," Sonia said with a grin as she picked up her handbag.

"I'm ready," she told Lucy and Lucy put on her shoes and went to the living room to pick up her handbag.

"Why don't you tell me about Harry and Candace," Sonia suggested as they walked out of the apartment.

"Oh, no hurry. There is so much I have to tell you, and the best part is we have all day," Lucy assured her as they linked their arms and walked down the road to find a taxi.