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 always tried to impress him although he was rather amused than impressed.
“Oh welcome darling” Mrs Wyatt said in a singsong voice as she placed a peck on both sides of Nate’s cheek. He reminded himself to wear a smile and be polite and not comment on how funny he thought everything was.
Mrs Wyatt greeted Mrs Jacobin in the same manner as she ushered them into the hall. Mrs Jacobin acted surprised as if it wasn’t the same pattern every time Mrs Wyatt invited them over.
Grace Jacobin had spent the previous day begging her son to come for the dinner, she knew her son was strong headed but she was persistent. They came to an agreement that if he went for the dinner, she would lay off him.
“Taylor would be down in another minute” Mrs Wyatt announced.
Nate and Grace took their seats while Mrs Wyatt lashed out orders to the servants. To Nate’s happiness, Mr Wyatt wasn’t going to have dinner with them as he was out of the country. Mr Wyatt was a thorn in his flesh, he had always tried to force Nate to go on a business trip with him.
A couple of minutes later, Taylor was walking down the stairs in a red flowing gown with a deep plunging neckline. Her hair and makeup were carefully done.
“You’ll make such a beautiful bride” Grace gushed
Nate wrinkled his nose mockingly. Taylor was going to make a perfect actress. She sashayed gracefully to the dinner table where she joined them, taking her seat beside Nate.
They hadn’t spoken to each other after their dispute in his office. Taylor was surprised but glad he honored her mother’s invitation. She was yet to figure out what was behind his new behavior but made a mental note to do so before the week ran out.
The servants began dishing out a healthy amount of food unto their plates.
Nate had mentally prepared himself for what was coming up. He aware that Mrs Wyatt was going to try to bring up discussions about marriage.
He had known Taylor since he was five but he never took what was going on between them serious.
He believed in having flings every now and then with no emotional strings attached but Taylor believed in the exact opposite.
“So, how is the company doing? I saw on the news that you were awarded a contract worth millions of dollars” Mrs Wyatt started as she lifted her wineglass to her lips.
Nate sighed mentally, he wished she could cut the chase and go straight to the reason she invited him and his mother.
“Everything is going smoothly” was his curt reply
Things at the company were infact very great although very tedious too. Ever since Ruby won the company the contract, they had become extra busy as more and more business deals kept coming in. He thought of the brunette and her annoying aura. She was also buried in work and he had no time to upset her. He was a little concerned that she was breaking down.
During their last meeting, he had noticed she kept zoning out. On top of that, she looked troubled.
To make up for the coffee he threw away, he wanted to take to the finest coffee shop in Oregon and treat her nicely. A little shiver ran through him as he was freaked out by his own thoughts, why was he thinking of the annoying brunette this much?
“Nate, Nate….”
The death stare on Taylor’s face told him he was in for a lot of drama and shouting. He was lost in his own world and wasn’t listening to anything being said at the table.
“I’m sorry, what were you saying?” He asked
He realized he had barely touched his food or wine.
“Do you want to tell us what is going on?” Taylor demanded. “This is your best wine and you haven’t had a sip of it”
His eyes fell to his feet, the dinner was a totally bad idea. He could feel the eyes of the three women bore holes into his skin. Work, that was his usual lie.
“I’ve been busy at work, I’ve had to double my efforts” he said quietly.
He was sure they were going to buy his lie.
“You should have said so,” Mrs Wyatt said pitifully. “I think you deserve a break from everything”
Grace remained quiet as she returned to her meal. She knew her son better, he wasn’t interested in Taylor but Mrs Wyatt and her daughter kept pushing the idea ever since they were kids.
“So, let’s talk about your marriage” Mrs Wyatt smiled, her eyes twinkling.
Nate had had enough of her and her sickening dinner. He needed an excuse to get away from everything. He took a slice of potato and choked on it purposely, making the women panic as servants rushed to their side. Nate smiled to himself, dinner was finally over.
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
Ruby stared at the salad without appetite. Everyone seemed to be chatting happily about her meeting with Anderson. Ethan was now back to work which gave her some kind of comfort. “Come on, stop holding back the details” Cassie cajoled her into talking about what had happened. “He’s so dreamy isn’t it? I bet he asked for your number, didn’t he?” Stacy commented and the girls giggled happily “I’d rather not talk about how everything went down, at least not yet” Ruby said quietly It occurred to her that one of the people seated at the cafeteria had given Anderson the information. She was only friends with a few people at the office and formal with the others so she couldn’t vouch for them. “You know we won’t stop bugging you until you tell us what happened” Carla chimed in eagerly Ruby breathed out as she poked her salad. One thing with the girls was that they never took a hint, they couldn’t tell when someone didn’t want to talk and be left alone. “Mr Anderson is just
Ethan’s advice had set so many more questions in Ruby’s mind. She knew in order to succeed, she needed to have emotional intelligence and choose what was best for her but it was more difficult because she didn’t know what to choose.She loved Nate so much she didn’t want to hurt him, it also seemed wrong that she had just one meeting with Mr Anderson and that was all it took to win her over. It also didn’t seem right that someone in the office was a spy, she knew if she left, Nate’s business would come crashing. She popped an aspirin pill and gulped some water. This was what she wanted for the longest time, to be with the man she had loved but it was clear he didn’t want to be with her and she was certain he didn’t like her one bit, the only thing she was certain of was the fact that she annoyed him to bits.Taylor was another person to think about, she was back in Nate’s life as his supposed woman. The last thing she wanted was to bring up old high school drama into her life
Ruby rolled her eyes as she tried on the fifth bathing suit. It was either she didn’t like it or she felt it was too revealing, it was one issue or the other. She stepped out in a blue bikini. “Honey, this is just perfect” Esme said tiredly Ruby had convinced her to join her in shopping for her trip to Florida. The girls spent the last hour visiting almost every clothing shop in Oregon as Ruby was indecisive on what to pick. “I don’t like the color, it doesn’t compliment my skin” she frownedRuby couldn’t help the fact that she wanted to impress Nate on their trip. She hated herself for it, for trying so hard to get his attention but she couldn’t help it. “But it’s a trip with your boss for heaven’s sake, you’re going to a conference, not a vacation or dinner!”Ruby rolled her eyes, she didn’t care what Esme had to say, it was her first business trip and also her first trip with Nate so she wanted to make the best out of it.She had to admit that she was going overboard wi