Five

Lucas could tell from the way Ann was tensed that she was just as unprepared for this family meeting as he was. Forcing a smile onto his face, he moved to his wife, reaching for her hand and pulling her close. 

“All good things I hope?” He joked, flashing his best smile to Ann's parents.

Mrs. Sinclair's gaze softened. “You have nothing to be worried about, son.”

Ann made an act of clearing her throat.

He tightened his hold on her hand in warning. Now that he was seeing her up close, he could see the resemblance between her and his mystery lady from yesterday night. He couldn't believe he made such a stupid mistake.

“Ann just arrived but the food is set, you just have to say the word,” Mrs. Sinclair announced.

Lucas smiled, she was the easier parent to handle, unlike Mr. Sinclair who was so hard to deal with. “Great, Mrs. Sinclair. I can't wait.”

Lucas quickly reached for his pocket and pulled out the diamond bracelet that was inside. He had picked it up from the hotel room his mystery lady had forgotten it and he recognised it as the same one his wife wore on the day of their wedding and if Lucas' instinct was right, the reaction he should get from Ann should be shock.

“Ann, I got you something to apologize for disappearing on you for so long but I'm here now and set to make the necessary amends.”

Ann's head turned to look at him, an unfazed look on her face. For a brief second, Lucas thought she was breathtakingly beautiful. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Mrs. Sinclair cooing.

He picked the bracelet from beneath his palm and just like he suspected Ann's eyes widened with shock and her gaze met his then narrowed. 

Lucas smirked, “Yes, baby. I got it back for you, I know just how important it is.”

Ann glared at him before snatching it from him, “I thought you lost it forever, thanks, baby.”

Mr Sinclair cleared his throat to get their attention, “I am happy to see you both are getting along but it has come to my notice that Ann is taking up modeling.”

Lucas heard the disappointment in Mr. Sinclair's voice. But his main focus was on his wife, she was modeling. Since when? And why?

“Honey, you said till after dinner,” Mrs. Sinclair scolded. 

“I couldn't wait,” Mr. Sinclair said without remorse, “Ann you better start explaining.”

Ann pulled her hand away from his and took a step away, “It's my dream and_,”

“That dream is unnecessary. What you should be doing is being the wife your husband needs.” Mr. Sinclair said.

“It's not about him, it's about me and what I want,” Ann argued. 

Lucas frowned, “I agree with your father. There's no need to work and modeling isn't_,” 

“Shut the fuck up, this is none of your business Lucas,” Ann yelled angrily. 

“Ann,” Mrs. Sinclair gasped.

“I didn't raise you like this, Ann. You shall not speak like that to your husband,” Mr. Sinclair snapped. 

Ann's eyes narrowed in anger, “Husband this. Husband that. This is my life, no one is going to stop me.”

No one said anything for the longest time until Mrs. Sinclair finally spoke up,

“How about talk about this over_,”

“Not hungry,” Mr. Sinclair snapped and without waiting for anyone's reply, he twirled away and retreated into a room.

Mrs. Sinclair flashed an apologetic smile, “I'm sorry about that. I'll go talk to him.”

Ann huffed as soon as her mother went after her father, bending to pick up her purse. “You can stay and have fun, I'm leaving.”

Lucas sighs in exhaustion. He was sincerely not in the mood to deal with emotional discussion. “Can you drop me off?”

Ann paused her movements and gave him an incredulous look, “What? You are kidding right?”

“I was in a rush to get here so I took a cab. We are going to the same place, aren't we?”

“Just don't say anything,” Ann said sternly and began heading out of the house. Lucas took that as an invitation and immediately went after her. 

…

The car ride was quiet for the first fifteen minutes until Lucas began to get irritated with the silence and decided to say something,

“Can we talk about last night?” Lucas asked but when a reply never came, he continued, “Why didn't you tell me about your decision to model?” 

Ann snorted, “You should keep to your word and keep your mouth shut.”

Lucas huffed, “There are important things we have to discuss about.”

“And you are three weeks too late to pretend to care, Lucas. Do me a favor and stay out.” Ann said in a harsh tone, barely glancing in his direction.

“There is no need for it and why do you need to work anyway? Do you know how that would look to the public? I can take care of you just fine_,” Lucas gasped, swallowing back the rest of the words as Ann slammed on the brakes, he hitched forward and in the process hit his head against the dashboard. “Are you crazy, woman?”

Ann was seething, “You have such nerves trying to dictate my life for me_,”

He was no longer listening to what Ann had to say as his eyes moved past Ann to rest on the brown haired lady that was standing in front of a cafe but that wasn't what called his attention to her, it was the scar on her back. He turned away from Ann and pushed the door open, getting out of the car.

“Where to?” Ann called after him, stepping out of the car.

Lucas crossed the road until he was standing before the lady with the scar. They both stared at each other wordlessly.

Ann materialized beside them with a confused expression, “Lucas, what the hell?”

Lucas beamed happily and grabbed the lady's hand, “I finally found you.”