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 not been answering my calls?” Taylor demanded as she strutted into his office, a terrified looking Maggie tailing behind.
“I’m sorry sir, I was going to inform you she was here but she beat me to it” Maggie apologized profusely as she bowed her head
Nate nodded and motioned for her to leave.
Taylor’s parents were old friends of his parents. Countless times, Mrs Wyatt, Taylor’s mother had tried to play the role of matchmaker ever since they were in high school. She would ensure they spent the weekend together and during the holidays, she would arrange for a splendid trip to an island for the both of them.
“Answer me!” Taylor yelled furiously. She was clad in a black wrap dress that accentuated her curves, her beautiful platinum hair cascaded down to her waist.
“I’ve been busy with work” Nate answered as he watched Taylor prance around like a hungry cat.
“Oh really? You’ve been too busy for the past two weeks? You ignored me and all the text messages I sent to you” Taylor retorted, her metallic grey eyes staring daggers at him.
“Do not raise your voice, I do not want to attract attention” Nate warned
He avoided drama at all cost especially when it came to his company, he was certain that some of the workers went about spreading false rumors about him but he never confronted them.
“I’ll raise my voice if I want to!” Taylor snapped. “Nate, we are supposed to be engaged for heaven’s sake!”
Nate’s brows wrinkled in worry, both parents had been deceiving her all along. Mrs Jacobin had promised Taylor that she would talk Nate into marrying her even when she knew it was impossible.
“Just to be clear, we are not engaged in any way or form. Our parents just keep pushing the whole marriage idea on us” he reminded her
Well, the marriage thing was forced on only one person because Taylor was all in and ready to be married to Nate.
Taylor scoffed as she whipped her luscious hair out of her face.
“It’s not like we have any option, we have been together since high school, it only makes sense for us to tie the knot”
She was upset Nate was taking his time, she feared he wasn’t going to marry her. Everyone knew Taylor and Nate as the high school sweethearts who won prom king and queen and expected that they were going to get married and have a happy ending.
It was far from a fairytale ending for Taylor, Nate was being extremely difficult and self absorbed in his work. He was always distant but this time, she could tell there was something else to it. It wasn’t just about his company and making money.
“Are you seeing someone?” Taylor asked as she moved towards him
Nate clenched his teeth and tried his best to mask the annoyance he felt. Taylor always had a way of getting into his business and upsetting him.
“Taylor,” he started icily. “I’m not seeing anyone and I’ll appreciate if you stop digging into my business”
The only sounds in the room were that of the air conditioning unit and Taylor’s angry breathing. She could feel the tension in the room and was vexed.
Nate was hers and hers alone. She had so many thoughts of them getting married since she was in high school. Her mother had also promised to invite the best of designers to plan her wedding. Everything was almost in place, all she needed was get her groom to agree to everything.
“My mother requests your presence at our house on Saturday night” Taylor breathed out. She calmed herself down and reminded herself that all she needed to focus on winning his heart and not yelling at him.
“I would be busy” Nate said immediately without giving it a second thought. “I have a dinner with some business associates on Saturday”
Taylor hissed as she watched him click away on his computer.
His eyes were focused intently on whatever he was going on his computer. Taylor could feel anger course through her veins. Nate had changed so much. Back in high school, he tried his best to put up with her, he said yes to her without thinking twice even though it was clear he was only doing it for her sake. Now, he didn’t bother saying yes to her, he always told her off rudely.
“You never make time for me, do you? Can’t you see how selfish you are? You have no time for the people who love you and you always end up hurting them” Taylor spat
Nate ran a hand through his messy hair, he already had a headache from Taylor’s drama.
Angrily, she grabbed her clutch and stormed out of his office with one mission in mind which was to find out who or what was making Nate more distant.
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
Ruby applied another coat of lipgloss, she wished Nate had informed her about the meeting earlier on so she could put on one of her best blouses. She let her hair fall loosely past her shoulders as she assessed herself in the mirror and hoped Anderson didn’t find her glasses funny like other people.Talking to Nate had helped relieve almost all the stress she felt. She had seen a part of him she had never seen, a part that made him so sweet and vulnerable. She couldn’t control the butterflies that danced in her tummy, all her worries about Taylor were gone, at least for a moment. She packed up her things and moved to the limo Anderson sent. The fact that she was going to be the latest gossip in the office excited her a little. She had always worked extra hard and it was finally paying off. Nate paid her a very decent amount of money, with that, she refurbished her house and was able to support her parents' restaurant. Just two months ago, she was worried about how she was going
The crashing of the waves and the sunset was the perfect therapy ruby needed. After working for Nate for the past two months, she had been through a lot of emotions and needed a well deserved break. She sighed, it was only two months but it felt like forever.It wasn’t easy sharing the same space with someone who she had loved for years, the same person who had hurt her a number of times. She smiled as she watched some kids build sand castles and chase the waves. They looked happy and free, something she lacked in her childhood.Unlike other kids, she had to grow up faster than her age. She was taught by her parents that if she wanted to survive, she needed to work twice as hard, study twice as hard and be twice as strong as the other kids. Her father, Ken, had worked at a firm while her mother ran a little restaurant. He was paid a meager salary but the upside about it was that the owner of the firm provides shelter for his workers and that was how she ended up living in the ric