Nate Jacobin was impatient at the steering, the traffic and the careless pedestrians annoyed him. It had been more than a busy day at the office. He had tried to finish all his work on time and make it to his date but that was impossible. Drafting a business proposal for one of the biggest construction company’s required expertise which his workers lacked.
He sighed for the umpteenth time that day as he looked for a place to park his car.
Upset that there was no parking space at the front of the restaurant, he decided to drive all the way to the side.
The rain began to drizzle, Nate sighed. He couldn’t imagine how mad his date was.
He let out a sigh of relief as he finally found a place to park.
He let out a grumble as he watched a frail looking woman stand helplessly, right where he wanted to park his car. He honked angrily but the woman didn’t budge.
“Can my day go any worse?” He grumbled as he stepped out of his car and approached the woman.
“Excuse me ma’am, I want to park right in this spot” he said, barely masking his irritation.
Ruby’s tired eyes shot up to the direction of the voice. She was so wrapped up in her emotions she hadn’t heard him horn.
“Nate?” She asked, confused.
Her heart began to race as she realized who it was. No, he looked very different from the pictures she saw on the dating site.
“Are you Ruby?” He asked
She looked exactly how she was in the pictures he saw but he had to ask for confirmation.
“Ye-yes”she stuttered
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry” he apologized.
His poor date had probably given up on him coming and was about to leave. “I apologize for everything, I was caught up in work and totally forgot to send a text”
“Here you go”he said, offering her a small smile as he placed his jacket over her shoulders.
Ruby nodded as wiped the trickle of rain off her chin. She could have sworn her heart had stopped beating for some seconds.
She had become tongue tied. She stood under a little shade as she watched him park his Ferrari. She blinked her eyes in disbelief, there was no way she was about to go on a date with Nate Jacobin.
The cold air stung her cheeks painfully, making them brick red.
“I apologise, I had a hectic day at work” he said as he walked to her.
Nate sighed again, when it came to women, he was the absolute worst. Somehow, he always managed to annoy the hell out of them.
“Let’s just go in, I’ll order some coffee to get you warm and we can talk” he offered
“Sure” Ruby muttered as her face fell to the ground.
She dragged her feet lazily as she kept reminding herself that going on a date with Nate was a bad idea.
On the dating site, his username was Jacobin which was his surname. Like other people on the site, he only posted pictures of his body and not his face.
Nate stared at her suspiciously, he had expected her to land a slap across his face and call him all sorts of names but she was calm, too calm for him. He wished he could get a reaction out of her or at least know what she was thinking.
“Err-r” he began. “I’m Nate Jacobin and I work at a construction company”
He twisted his finger underneath the table nervously. One thing about Nate Jacobin was that he was never nervous. Unlike other women he went on dates with, they were interested in hearing about all the places he had travelled to but the woman right in front of him didn’t seem pleased.
“Ruby Donovan, I run a cafe with my parents” she replied dryly
There was nothing impressive about her life, she didn’t grow up wealthy and she was content with just that.
Nate nodded as he thought of what to talk about next. He oozed so much charm any day but it didn’t seem to work on Ruby.
“So, what were you looking for on a dating site?”
Ruby asked as she stirred her hot chocolate. She was indeed curious, Nate had access to super hot models.
“My friend just launched the site and he wanted me to help him test it” Nate answered.
Ruby nodded, he was only doing her a favor by taking her on a date. Her shoulders dropped, a part of her hoped he came because he was interested in her.
“So, what were you looking for on the site?”
She sighed as she took a sip of her drink. She didn’t want his pity.
“Nothing really” she mumbled and hoped he wasn’t going to ask anymore questions.
Ruby studied him as he poured wine into his glass. Everything about him exuded class, it had always been that way since she knew him.
“Honestly, I want to apologize again for keeping you waiting,” he said as he raised the glass to his lips.
Ruby nodded, she could picture Esme yelling at her for being such a boring date.
The fact that he didn’t recognize her and he came only because he was doing a friend a favor upset her so much.
Her nails dug into her palm, once again she was a pitiful poor woman.
“Aren’t you one of those rich and selfish billionaires who go about, thinking they can treat people however they please,” she started. “You came here only because you’re doing a friend a favor, do you care how that makes me feel?”
Ruby bit her tongue, she regretted the instant the words left her mouth but the chances of her crossing paths with him again were very low so she didn’t mind.
“Do I look like one of those girls you can play with?”
She had had enough of being trampled upon. Yes, she wasn’t as pretty as the girls that he dated but she wasn’t going to let him disregard her, the same way he did a few years ago.
Nate stared in utter confusion.He felt his body go tense as she rambled on. He understood if she was still upset he kept her waiting but there seemed to be more to it.
He contemplated walking to his car and driving off, leaving her there to continue in her madness but a part of him wanted to know where she was headed.
It would be disastrous for him if a reporter should take a picture of the woman yelling at him. He frowned as he thought of the snide captions the reporter would use.
The only reason he found himself on a dating site was because he had promised Adam, his friend who had just launched the site that he was going to help him test the site.
He had forgotten everything about it until one evening, he got a notification that he had a match. Adam was thrilled and spent hours convincing Nate to go on a date with the strange woman.
“Why the hell did you ask me on a date?”she frowned with hands poised on her hips
She was thankful he didn’t get to see her cry. She was exhausted from wallowing in self pity.
She thought of herself as a ticking bomb, she had succeeded in hiding all that she felt at first but she couldn’t keep it in anymore.
She had to admit within herself that she wasn’t mad at him for keeping her waiting, she was mad because he didn’t recognize her, not that she had expected him to anyway.
“I didn’t come here out of pity for you, I’m only doing a friend a favor”
He was tired of the woman’s nagging, he was upset she has already judged him without getting to know him.
A little part of Ruby had hoped whoever she was going on a date with came because he actually wanted to go on a date with her. She had hoped he found her attractive enough and he wasn’t doing her any favors.
She felt the tears come to her eyes again, she felt stupid for thinking she had a chance with him. She drew in a sharp breath as she tried to calm herself, her sadness was replaced with anger.
The anger she had kept locked in for years came to her wave by wave.
“You’re a self conceited monster!” She spat and dumped her hot chocolate on him.
With that, she spun on her heels, leaving a startled Nate behind.
Ruby straightened her plaid skirt as she accessed herself in the mirror and applied another coat of lipgloss. It had been a week since her horrible date and she was yet to tell Esme or anyone about it. Nate never reached out to her again and in fact deleted his fake profile from the site. She sighed, Nate was the only person she had thought about all week. She stalked his social media, hoping he was going to post something regarding her but he didn’t. Ruby tried her best to keep a smile plastered on her face. Contrary to how happy she looked, she was a nervous wreck on the inside. She sighed as she entered the elevator, she instantly regretted not wearing her simple flats instead of her Christian louboutin pumps. She did breathing exercises to calm herself, reminding herself that if she got the job, she would be able to take care of her family. Had Nate deleted his account because he wanted nothing to do with her? She groaned as she pinched herself. It was always Nate, he s
He groaned as he loosened his tie. The business proposal was due in a few days and he still had nothing. “Sir?” Martha peeked her head through the door. “Come in,”he said drily. It was way past closing time but he still had a lot to do. “I’ve spoken with some of the shareholders at the shopping complex. They agreed to the new business plan with the condition that they regain their shares even after reconstruction” Martha reported Nate nodded, things were going according to plan even though he was yet to get the proposal out of his way. “Notify shop owners, they have a week to evacuate, construction commences the week after” “One more thing sir,” Martha said. “The business proposal is due in….” “Of course I know” Nate frowned as he brushed her off.Martha bowed her head loyally and left his office. He picked up his pen again as he searched for the right words, this was something he had done countless times but now, he had difficulty.He clicked his tongue, racking
Ruby sprawled on the couch in the living room, eyes closed in deep thoughts. She was in so much trouble. Who knew I would eventually run into him again? She thought. She was aware Nate had different business enterprises but no one told her he owned Wesley construction company. She sighed as she turned over. After her emotional outburst at the restaurant, she drowned herself in alcohol, hoping it was going to push the image of Nate looking shocked as she dumped hot chocolate on him. “Ah” she groaned. “How stupid can I be?” A sly smile played in her lips, whoever thought she would have the opportunity to sit with Nate Jacobin? Even though she ruined her chances. Whoever thought she would give Nate such a remarkable memory?She pinched herself as she screamed into a pillow, even when she was in a lot of trouble, she still had the ability to think of silly things.Her dream job was in the hands of a man she had loved and loathed for years.Growing up, she was never bo
Nate rolled the tip of his ball pen as he frowned, a habit which he had been doing all day. How rude of her! I offered her a job and she was yet to reply, he thought.No one ever kept Nate waiting, once he requested their presence, they showed up without any hesitation. He rubbed his chin, he now had a five days stubble.The business plan was due, he still hadn’t come up with anything, to make matters worse, the one person he had counted on still hadn’t shown up. He could understand what Ruby wanted, weeks ago, she was begging him to offer her a job, but now that he did offer her the job, she didn’t reply to the mail or show up. “That little minx is clearly playing mind games,”he muttered, drumming his fingers on the table. He sighed, his mother was on his neck all week, she had visited once and raged on how she thought he was losing all his business skills. He rolled his eyes as he loosened up his tie, millions of dollars were at stake, he could already imagine some of
A gleam of victory appeared in Ruby’s eyes. She felt nothing short of a heroine, Nate needed her, not only was he going to lose a huge amount of money, his company was going to make it to the bad press. It was every reporter's dream to get dirt on Nate Jacobin.Nate was now having a word with the representative. Ruby took a minute to admire his office. The grey drapes complemented the upholstery which she could tell cost a fortune. His office was immaculate, not a single speck of dust in sight. The ornate figurines looked like they were polished with oil. She drew in a breath as she walked round the office, there were no pictures of his family or even him. “Same old cold hearted Nate”she mumbled to herself as she took her seat “Miss Ruby, are you still down for the job?” Nate asked as he walked in She couldn’t miss the hint of desperation mixed with irritation in his voice. It was the first time she’d seen him under pressure, Nate was always cool and collected. Somethin
Ruby was very much comfortable in her new work space, the office overlooked the busy streets of Oregon, giving her a view of the city life. She had pretty much settled in and hung up some pictures and other decorations.She groaned as she turned to her side, the only downside to her spacious office was that it was adjacent to Nate’s own so she could see whatever was going on in his office. He had pretty much avoided her for a week straight after their fight.It was almost as if they were in high school again, back then, she was quite sure he didn’t know she existed but now she was sure he knew she existed and he was just ignoring her. “Hey” a voice called, stirring her from her reverie of thoughts “Hi”she smiled back “I’m Ethan and this is Cassie”he said, gesturing to the blonde beside him Ruby nodded and gave them warming smiles. She had been busy throughout the week and had barely had time to socialize with her coworkers. “Oh hi!”Cassie squealed as she placed a tray of c
Something about the tweeting of the birds and the rise of the sun above the horizon set Ruby in high spirits. She had spent the weekend tanning on the beach with Esme. During her little getaway, she skillfully avoided all Esme’s questions concerning how her date went and who her new boss was. It felt wrong hiding it from her but she wasn’t ready to tell anyone yet, Nate was a pain in the butt for her; at the same time, she wanted to be around him.Having to see him all week was annoying enough. She smiled as the elevator door opened, she was humming a song about the day going to be a good day. “Why are you late?” A harried looking Maggie asked as she walked into the office.Ruby frowned, work started by nine and she arrived half past eight so technically, she was very much early and had a good thirty minutes to herself. “Nice morning to you too” Ruby replied sardonically “Mr Jacobin has been in a bad mood all morning, he specifically asked that you make him a cup of coffee”
The angry growl of lightning pierced the air, what had promised to be a sunny day had now become a gloomy rainy day. Nate shifted his eyes from his screen to Ruby’s office. Her mass of mousey brown hair was now put in a ponytail as she typed away on her computer.Serves her right, he thought.With her around, he was always edgy. He had expected her to throw a fit and stomp into his office when he asked her to make him coffee or when he handed her the pile of files. She was suspiciously calm, too calm which irritated him. He frowned, he needed his daily dose of coffee but couldn’t get it because Ruby had ruined it for him. “Who the hell added so much sugar and whipped cream to their coffee ?” He asked himself Of course the answer was sitting right there in his company, the annoying brunette whose office was opposite his.He quickly cleared out his table and got rid of the paper he wasn’t using. His table was a mess as he had buried himself in work all week. “Why the hell have you