12

  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 the accounting department.

Cassie and Stacy were the perfect pair as both couldn’t resist gossip.

Ruby sat upright as she listened attentively, her coffee in one hand.

  “Oh my God!” Stacy squealed in her thick Latin accent. “She is a goddess, she’s drop dead gorgeous!”

  “Did you see the Valentino heels she wore to the office? They aren’t even out yet!” Carla chipped in as she pulled her chair closer to the pair.

Ruby looked at her disapprovingly, she always wore very bright red lipstick which smeared badly and stained her teeth.

  “Mr Jacobin has such good taste” she heard one of them say

  “Of course he does, a handsome man like him belongs to a very pretty lady”

Ruby let out a low grumble, she reluctantly agreed with them. Someone like Nate was a perfect match for Taylor, they were the picture perfect couple; the kind who were paid to model. Nate didn’t belong to her with her funny looking glasses and out of season clothes. She had come to this conclusion a long time ago but still needed answers from him, she needed to know why he never took notice of her, why he allowed Taylor bully her helplessly, why he couldn’t defend her, not even once, why he never said a word to her or invited her to his house like he did with other kids.

 “There’s a rumor going round” Stacy lowered her voice into a whisper as the three of them brought their heads closer to each other. “ I heard Mr Jacobin would be marrying her soon”

Ruby felt the hot coffee sting the back of her throat as she choked on it. The giggling and squeaking of the girls drowned her coughing fit. Ethan was kind enough to offer her water.

  “I feel like you should visit the doctor,” he suggested, raising his voice over the girl's chatter.

Ruby nodded in agreement. She knew she was just fine and only disturbed by what she had just heard.

One time in high school, she had imagined Nate would fall in love with her and they would have a beautiful garden wedding with Esme as her bridesmaid but all those were teenage fantasies, fantasies that remained with her even when she knew it was impossible.

Not that she never dated other guys, she did but none of them had the kind of effect Nate had on her. She could feel herself turn into a pool of jelly with just a stare from him, he was the only one capable of making her lose her cool easily, most of all, she had never felt the affection she felt for him towards any other man.

Thirteen whole years and her feelings for him still hadn’t changed.

  The room went quiet as Nate walked in. He looked breathtaking in a well tailored three piece suit with his hair slick back. Ruby sighed, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. A couple of times, he had almost caught her staring. With their office being opposite, it gave her the opportunity to feed her eyes on him whenever he wanted to even though most of the time, his head remained buried in work.

 She reminded herself to close her mouth and take her eyes off him.

  “I apologize for coming late and without further ado, we shall carry on with the meeting”

The meeting went on with Nate and his employees talking and sharing business ideas. 

Ruby was having a tough time focusing, she was occupied by the dating and marriage rumor. What if it was true? She thought. 

She grabbed a bottle of water and gulped it thirstily. Everyone else was contributing and airing their thoughts on different ways to move the company while she stared into empty space.

  If they were going to get married, why did Taylor look so angry when she left his office? Or was it a lovers quarrel. She fought so hard to focus on the meeting but she kept zoning out. If they were dating, he wouldn’t have gone on that date with her even though he was only doing a friend a favor, right?

 “Miss Barlow”

The sound of her name from Nate’s mouth set her straight.

“You seem to be in a world of your own. Aren’t you interested in what we have to say here?”

She could tell he was irritated, when it came to business, Nate was active and took it as no joke.

 “I have a slight headache” she lied. “My apologies sir”

Nate went on with the meeting, this time she was forty percent focused. She watched him gesture with his hands. Her eyes caught a shiny piece of jewelry, it was a ring!

  She remembered Nate never wore a ring. One time when they won a debate championship, their coach had made them matching rings with their initials inscribed on it. When everyone wore their own, Nate kept his in his pocket. She remembered him saying clearly that he never wore rings.

But that was years ago right? 

What if he was into rings now or maybe it was the wedding ring.

Ruby placed a hand on her forehead. Things were so complicated that she needed another getaway.