3

   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 seemed to occupy her thoughts more often even after what she did. 

    After all these years, nothing much had changed except that he had become more handsome and successful. Another thing that never changed was the fact that he didn’t recognize. Throughout their stay in high school, he never noticed her.

Her worried looking face was immediately replaced with a cheerful face as the elevator door opened. 

   “Are you here for the interview?”a smug looking lady asked 

   “Martha” Ruby pronounced as she read the lady’s name tag “of course I’m here for the interview”

    “I suggest you go back home and save yourself the stress. The boss has been in a bad mood all morning and he has rejected everyone who had come for the interview”

   Ruby’s shoulders fell, she had been looking forward to the interview for the longest time, it took her two months to successfully apply for the job.

   “Look honey, the boss is quite difficult. No one understands him, I’m only trying to save you from him”

    Ruby sighed as she sank into a nearby chair, dropping her briefcase onto the floor. She knew she wasn’t as qualified as other applicants who also had many work experiences but she was confident that she had a good shot.

  “I’ll rather face rejection than give up”she concluded 

  “Very well then, I’ll let him know you are here” Martha mumbled 

    After two cups of coffee and flipping through several magazines, Ruby was tired of waiting. Her cheeks were hurting from having to wear a fake smile and pretend like everything was okay.

   “He would have you come in now,” Martha announced. Ruby smiled in response, it was her first genuine smile all day.

Everything about the office exuded luxury, from the fancy ornate mirrors to the plush leather seats.

   The boss had his chair turned to her so she could only make out the top of his head.

    “One, two, three…”she counted quietly and took in deep breaths.

“Hello sir” she cleared her throat. She felt intimidated by his presence even though she hadn’t seen him yet.

   “I’m here for the interview”

  All she got was a low groan in response.

 She could feel her palms become sweaty, she had heard a lot of bad about the boss and how domineering he could be.

   The chair turned slowly to her.

     “Nate?”she yelled in surprise 

She blinked her eyes severally to ensure they weren’t playing tricks on her or it wasn’t her imagination. 

     “What the hell are you doing in my company?” He asked through gritted teeth

  He had a rough day at work, interviewing people and not finding them worthy of the job, now he had to deal with the woman who hurled insults at him the previous week and poured hot chocolate on him.

   “I had no idea you worked here and I’m strictly here for the job”

  All the confidence and optimism she had felt earlier vanished in a second. How was she going to explain that she was in her feelings the other night and she wasn’t a crazy woman?

  “Or you’re here to dump another drink on me?” He frowned

  Ruby sighed, this was one of the moments she wished she could vanish into thin air.

   “Mr Jacobin, you have to hear me out. We started on a wrong foot, I believe we can work things out”she pleaded

   “I’m sorry, I can’t help you” he said coldly

After Ruby spilled the hot chocolate on him, he sat, rooted at a spot for three minutes straight. He shivered as he recalled the embarrassment he felt.

  “I owe you and explanation even though I can’t make up for how unreasonable I was”

   The last person she had expected to see was Nate, she knew he so many business enterprises. She wasn’t aware he was the CEO of the construction company.

   “I’m going to ask you to leave my office right now” Nate sternly as he reached for his phone to call security.

   “Mr Nate, I suggest you push aside the bad blood we have. I have so much potential I assure you”  Her voice emerged as a dry croak

    After the night at the restaurant, she was quite sure she wasn’t going to cross paths with him. The only time she got to see him was on TV, he was a busy man.

 Nate remained quiet, he had reached for his phone to call security but he changed his mind. He had received so much more than a drink being dumped on him to being slapped by women but Ruby’s case was different. Something about her was oddly familiar.

  “I’m just going to drop my work here” she sighed and placed a brown envelope on his table. “I hope you go through it and find me qualified for the job”

   With that, she left his office, feeling dejected.