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 croissants on the table. “You’re the latest topic in the office”
Ruby scrunched her nose at the information, everytime she was the ‘latest topic’ in a gathering, it was always for something bad like them bullying her or laughing at her.
“Nice to meet you both” she replied politely. “I’m Ruby Barlow”
“Of course I know” Cassie smirked, snapping her well manicured fingers.
Ruby could picture her in a scene of gossip girl.
“I heard Mr Jacobin hired you because there’s an unknown connection between you two”
Ruby shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The last thing she needed now was a rumor spreading in the office about her and Nate.
Ethan cleared his throat on sensing Ruby’s discomfort
“I apologize about Cassie, she can be a lot at times”
Ruby smiled at him, something about his ocean blue eyes made her feel warm.
“So, are you and Nate, you know…?” Cassie asked, eyeing Ruby suspiciously
“Of course not!”
Ruby sighed, now she wished she could disappear. She was sure Cassie didn’t miss how fast she answered the question and most of all, how defensive her answer was.
“Anyway, we came to have lunch with you” Ethan said quickly to ease the tension. “We figured you’ll be lonely so we decided to keep you company”
Ruby smiled thankfully at him although she could still feel Cassie’s hawk eyes on her.
“It’s no new news that you won us the contract, good job Ruby”he smiled
She took a liking to him, he was calm and she found his voice soothing.
It felt good that someone commended her.
“So, how did you get the job? I remember I saw you during the interview”
Cassie was now munching on a croissant while interrogating the new employee. She was curious about her especially with the crazy speculations going on about her.
“Of course it’s you, I can’t forget those funny looking glasses”
Ruby scowled, her glasses were just fine to her. Instantly, she could tell she and Cassie weren’t going to get along.
“I got an email from the company and that was it”
“Really? Nate never calls anyone back”
Ethan sighed as he rubbed his forehead, coming with Cassie was a bad idea. He only came with her because she was persistent and she promised not to cause any problems.
“How about we eat and talk about something else” he suggested
“You got the nicest and not to mention, the biggest office. I’ve been here for three years now and I never got the office” Cassie pouted
“True” Ethan nodded, agreeing with her for the first time.
“It almost felt like Nate was saving this office for a special staff, I guess that special staff is you”
Ruby wanted to dismiss the thought of being special to Nate but couldn’t help it. She was quite sure she wasn’t the special staff.
He must have given me the office because he was in a hurry, she thought.
She drew in a sharp breath at a new realization.
What if he had given me the office so I can be close to him and he can torment me for what I did?
She sighed again, why would Nate do that?
The more she thought about it, the more she saw new meanings to it.
“I’m actually flattered” she said finally
She could feel the knots in her belly as she told a lie, she was far from being flattered but rather troubled.
“Oh please” Cassie rolled her eyes. “I’m sure Mr Jacobin only assigned you to the office because he was in a hurry, he would change your office very soon”
Ruby watched Cassie turn green with envy, it was exciting to watch.
Ethan scoffed in response, he had shared an office with Cassie for a year and was no stranger to her questionable behavior.
“Another gossip going round the office is that Mr Jacobin’s girlfriend would be coming very soon” Cassie giggled
“Nate has a girlfriend?” Ruby asked as she swallowed hard on her coffee.
Yet again, she wished she could take back what she had said, she hadn’t meant to say it aloud.
She had watched every gossip blog about him for years but there was no mention of a girlfriend although there were quite a number of flings every now and then but no girlfriend.
“Of course he does but Mr Jacobin is very secretive about those kind of things”
The thought of Nate with another woman upset her even more.
“I can’t imagine how much of an excellent lover he is”Cassie added, gushing dreamily
Ruby stared at the croissants distastefully, she had now lost appetite and couldn’t get the image of Nate with about her woman out of her head. Of course he would be an excellent lover, she let out a low groan.
“You haven’t said much about yourself” Ethan chimed in
“There’s nothing much to tell” her voice came out as a croak.
He took the hint that she wasn’t in the mood to talk.
After thirty more minutes of Ruby listening to Cassie run her mouth on all the latest gossip in the office, lunch break was over.
“Pay no attention to anything Cassie told you, she always has gossip on her lips” Ethan advised before they left.
Ruby heaved a sigh of relief as she could now have her office to herself.
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
Ruby’s eyes lit up in recognition of the platinum blonde hair. She had seen a woman walk into Nate’s office, she couldn’t see the woman’s face but she was quite sure she was one of the prettiest women alive. She looked like she just walked out of the cover of a vogue magazine, the hair bore a striking resemblance with that of Taylor’s. Taylor had bullied her constantly that Ruby couldn’t forget the distinct color of her hair. She could feel the throbbing of her heart. Could it be that Taylor was still Nate’s girlfriend? She had heard Taylor moved to Beverly Hills and was pursuing a successful career as a model. She felt a sickening taste form at the back of her throat. It had been thirteen years since she was last bullied but the memories were still very fresh. She could remember how violently Taylor always yanked her hair even when she yelped in pain. One particular incident between them had scarred her for life. She couldn’t think of it without almost crying. Taylor was m
It was her first board meeting in attendance with other workers. Seeing Taylor after all these years had disoriented her so much that it felt like she had to withdraw to her shell again. She was well acquainted with some of the workers, most especially Ethan with Cassie by the side running her mouth as usual. The workers were seated in the boardroom as they waited for Nate. Ruby would have rather sat far from Cassie but she needed information on why Taylor was in the office so she took the seat between Ethan and Cassie The steaming mug of coffee in front of her warmed her up, lately, she had been feeling some type of way especially with the whole Taylor thing. “You look so pale”Cassie commented Cassie had now earned the name ‘hawk eye’ because she never failed to miss anything.Ruby ignored her comment as she sipped her coffee, just like Ethan, she had learnt to ignore and accommodate Cassie. “Did you hear about Mr. Jacobin's girlfriend?” Cassie said to Stacy who worked in th
The dinner table looked like it had been carefully put together by an artist. Grilled turkey sat right in the middle of the table. Mrs Wyatt had put together so much effort into the dinner. She ensured the expensive chinaware plates were placed carefully. The room was well decorated with candles lit in strategic corners of the room. A harper played at another corner, releasing soft melodious tunes. Nate overheard one of the servants say Mrs Wyatt flew the harper all the way from Ireland. That was how much extra she was.One Christmas when she was hosting a party, she invited ballerinas to grace the occasion and had real swans in the hall. One of the swans got flustered, causing a tray of food to topple over. Nate resisted the urge to laugh at Mrs Wyatt’s efforts. She was so extra when hosting dinners and made it look like she was hosting a royal event. Ever since he was in high school, it was always the same routine with Mrs Wyatt inviting his family over for fancy dinners. She
Ruby decided to spend her lunch with Ethan and Cassie at the cafeteria. She now enjoyed spending time with her colleagues and getting to know them. Some of them were impressed by how she won the contract and how she got the biggest office. For the first time, she didn’t feel left out or awkward, almost everyone got along with her or at least were formal with her.They were seated at a table at the corner of the cafeteria. They ordered a couple of burgers and soda “I heard Reynolds company and co is going bankrupt” Stacy said, bringing up a topic of discussion She was now used to the gossip girls of the office, she rather found them interesting and listened to them when they talked. “I heard so too” Cassie remarked“I heard Reynolds was jilted and duped by his soon to be wife which led to the bankruptcy”Ruby had heard about it from Esme, it was a sad story. Reynolds' company was doing just fine until the whole thing happened. It saddened her that people were heartless and were ou
After an eventful weekend with Taylor lashing out at him and him ruining dinner, Nate was back to work. He had sent flowers to Mrs Wyatt and Taylor, apologizing for ruining dinner. He was rather offended by their actions but brushed it aside. He didn’t believe in long term commitments or love and wished they could respect that. Taylor’s persistence over the years was the only thing that had kept their so-called relationship going.There was no actual bond between them. He pushed his thoughts of Taylor aside as he reread an email that caught his eye. He had received an invitation from an association of businessmen to attend a conference in Florida. He was asked to bring a plus one, preferably a coworker. He frowned, he couldn’t think of anyone. Taylor wasn’t an option because she was going to stir a lot of drama and he didn’t want unnecessary attention from reporters. As for the workers in his company, the only person he could think of was Ruby. There were other people who h
It was another sunny day at the office with Nate passing orders, Maggie running helter skelter looking disarrayed, the gossip trio laughing at something while Ruby sat at her desk, trying to finish working on a project. Ruby had little or no time to hang out with the girls and Ethan. For some sort of unknown reason, Nate kept loading her with work everytime. At first, she thought it was because he was angry she brought up his marriage with Taylor, then she realized he was just tormenting her even though he was going overboard. She hadn’t seen or heard about Taylor around the office which was a relief for her. The previous week, she had Cassie and Ethan help her clear some of her work but now Cassie was busy and Ethan took a two days leave because his pet was sick. Her stomach growled as she reminded herself she had nothing to eat all day. She had to live off coffee and junk food as she was always tired whenever she got back home from work.Her stomach let out a low grumble ag