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 out to break other people’s hearts.
“Guess what?” Carla teased, her eyes dancing with excitement
They all knew she was about to spill hot tea and never heard before gossip.
“Tell me, tell me” Cassie and Stacy cooed as they circled in.
Ruby and Ethan let out a small laugh, their little gang never ceased to amuse her. Cassie was the gang leader while Stacy and Carla were just regular members.
“Taylor Wyatt just posted a ring on her social media, I think she is going to tie the knot with Nate very soon!”
They squeaked and clapped excitedly as they filled their ears with more information.
The mention of Taylor’s name was Ruby’s cue to leave their little gathering but she didn’t want to, she was dying to know what Nate was up to and she wanted every single detail even though she knew she was only going to end up hurt.
“Look at the ring, that’s one big rock!” Stacy commented as Cassie pulled out a picture of the ring and passed it round for them to see.
Ruby took the phone shakily as Carla passed the phone to her.
A beautiful ring sat on Taylor’s well manicured fingernails. It was a ring similar to Nate’s. Was Taylor hinting at her marriage with Nate? She thought.
Ruby also wondered if she was trying to show off her expensive ring.
“Don’t you think if Mr Jacobin was getting married, he would inform us?” Ruby asked
She needed other people’s opinion on the matter and she needed someone to assure her that the whole marriage thing was fake and Taylor was only seeking attention.
“Mr Jacobin is a very private man, I doubt he would tell us about it” Carla spoke
“I agree with you” Cassie nodded
Ruby rolled her eyes, why did she have to love a man who didn’t love her back? Why did he have to keep his employees in the dark too?
“I don’t think the marriage thing is true” Ethan commented, speaking for the first time
“Why do you think so?” Cassie asked as all four pairs of eyes turned to him attentively
“If Taylor was getting married, she would make a big deal about it and she would be trending all over social media” he explained
The girls nodded their head in agreement, Ethan had a valid point. Taylor was a public figure who loved to show every detail of her life on social media so why would she hide her marriage?
Ruby took comfort in what Ethan said and concluded it was a publicity stunt.
“Do you want me to walk you to your office?” Ethan asked when they were done with their food
Ruby smiled as Ethan linked his arm in hers. She saw it as a nice gesture. Ethan was warm and kind; he was the kind of friend that supported her and always called to check up on her.
“I saw how terrified you looked back there when you saw the ring” he observed
“Pfft” she sighed “it was nothing really, I was just shocked”
She hated that she always lied to Ethan but she couldn’t help it, she didn’t know how she was going to explain to him that she had fallen for her boss a long time ago and everyday she saw him at the office, she fell for him harder.
“So, how do you like the others?”
“Well, I feel welcomed here. I used to be a nerd in high school”
“No freaking way” Ethan laughed “I can’t imagine you being called a Nate”
“Well, I was that timid girl and my hair for some sort of reason was always frizzy. To make things worse, I wore bigger glasses than these, so I was definitely a nerd”
She laughed, it was the first time she talked about her high school experience without feeling the urge to cry.
“That’s crazy” Ethan nudged her
She could picture Ethan as one of the popular sweet soccer players.
“One time, my hair got caught up in my glasses, I don’t know how that was even possible. It was so hilarious that I was sent to the nurses office”
Ethan laughed again as he held her office door open for her.
“I used to feel so bad about myself, I always wished I didn’t have such frizzy hair and I’ll stop being a nerd”
“Oh come on” he tucked a stray piece of hair from her face. “Your hair is perfect just the way it is and you’re one of the most beautiful lady I’ve ever come across”
Ruby smiled at him genuinely, he always had a way of making her feel better.
The phone in her office rang, of course it had to be Nate jacobin.
“Come to my office now” he spat
“I’m sorry, I have to go now” she said to Ethan, a sour expression on her face.
She was enjoying their conversation very much but Nate had to ruin it.
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
The girls took shelter in a little coffee shop as the sky snarled with lightning and thunder. The rain showed no signs of stopping soon and it poured heavily. “If we didn’t have to deal with your shopping problem, we won’t be in this mess” Esme frowned, her perfect hair was soaking wet and her dress clung to her body like a second skin. “I’m so sorry”Ruby wasn’t any better than Esme, she had streaks of mascara running down her cheeks. They left the shopping bags in Esme’s car and ran to the nearest shop they could find as they couldn’t drive further in the rain. “After making me go through this much stress, you have to tell me about your boss” Esme teased as she ordered hot chocolate for them “There’s nothing to tell, he’s just my boss, nothing more” Ruby groaned.She felt more color rise to her cheeks at the thought of Nate. “Can you at least tell me his name? I need to know the name of the guy who has my best friend acting like she’s sixteen” “I’ll tell you when I’m re