Chapter 17
Ruby walked slowly into her room, she looked like life had been sucked out of her.
She didn’t even know what to think, how to react, or even process what was going on.
Her best friend just called off their friendship, because she found out about the secret she was meant to keep for 100 days. It’s only been a month since she got married to Jaxon as his contracted wife and yet. The secret was out.
She slumped on the couch as she kept on staring at the newspaper. They were there. Jaxon and her and the headlines were written in bold letters.
She picked off her phone and she tried calling Ophelia, but it immediately took her to a voicemail.
“Hi ophy, I’m so sorry about what happened” she began, deciding to drop a voicemail and texts. Maybe that would calm her down.
“Everything happened so fast and I was not in the position to tell you. So please just talk to me, pick up my calls so we can talk. Thank you” Ruby inhaled sharply as she rested on the couch.
Her head was spinning.
A few minutes later, she decided to drop an apology text as well.
‘I’m sorry babe. Please stop this and talk to me! Please’ she texted.
Why was Jaxon not calling her? She had expected to get a call from him, but there was no call, if she was at some expensive restaurant he would have called.
She scoffed standing up from the couch as she still had to get ready for work.
She hoped to get a call from Jaxon, so he could explain what was going on and a reply from Ophelia as well.
…..
Ruby arrived at work late and she didn’t fail to notice the way people kept staring and murmuring at her while she was on the bus.
Ruby who was usually invisible, had suddenly turned into the center of attraction.
She was glad when she got to work at least, she would have her own peace and people won’t get to stare.
“You’re late!” Madan Jane said, giving Ruby a knowing look.
‘That was strange’ Ruby pondered to herself, Jane usually sounded very cold, and always spat venoms at the workers who broke the rules.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t get to the bus on time” Ruby apologized In a low voice.
Madam Jane kept her eyes on her for a long time, before speaking.
“Get to work, we have customers” With that she walked away.
“Just like that??” Ruby gasped amazed, she didn’t scold her or anything.
She quickly ran to change, before Madam Jane would change her mind.
She has terrible mood swings.
“Here’s your cup of coffee miss,” Ruby said politely to the customer as she slowly placed the cup on the table.
“Thank you, Mrs…” the customer drew out curiously.
“It’s Ruby” Ruby corrected, flashing a smile at her.
“Oh, Ruby Vaughn right?” The lady asked as her face lit up.
“I.. I…” Ruby stuttered as she looked around their restaurant which was unusually busy today.
It was filled up with a lot of customers, especially females.
There was no space left again as the whole chairs had already been occupied.
Not only that, there was a little crowd outside.
Ruby found that very uncomfortable, everyone kept looking at her. Even her co-workers. The news had already spread.
“I’m Vanessa Finch, daughter of Mr Rogers Finch” she introduced, extending her hand for a handshake as Ruby looked at her in confusion.
“And??” She drew out as she couldn’t get why Vanessa was introducing herself.
“And??” Vanessa repeated in sarcasm.
“Don’t you get it!!! And I want to be friends of course. I know you’re Mr Vaughn’s wife. So I want to be friends” Vanessa concluded, smiling at Ruby, who just stared at her. She was acting like she had lost her mind.
“Enjoy your coffee, let me know if you need anything” Ruby flashed a smile at her and bowed slightly and she made her way to leave, but she was suddenly held back by Vanessa.
“I’m not done talking!!” Vanessa’s voice suddenly turned cold as she held Ruby tight.
“Talking about what? Please let me go miss” Ruby requested politely, treating her like the customer that she was.
“I see you’re so full of yourself huh?” Vanessa raised a brow at her.
“You’re supposed to be glad that a person like me wants to be friends with a low life like you. It’s so obvious Mr Vaughn picked you from the slums! It’s all over the news that you’ve been working here as a waitress. So don’t try to play smart with me!” Vanessa stated in a cold voice.
“I see you’ve lost your mind!!” Ruby fired at her in anger.
“If you don’t have anything to do here, get out. There are a lot of customers waiting outside. Excuse me!” Ruby said, snapping her hand away from Vanessa’s hold as she walked away angrily.
“M.. adam Ja.. ne..” Ruby stammered as she was quite taken aback to see Madam Jane waiting for her in the kitchen.
“Do you need anything?” She inquired.
“Yes,” Jane replied as she brought out a white envelope.
“Take this” She gave it to Ruby, who slowly collected it from her.
“What’s this?” Ruby asked in total confusion.
“Read it” Jane uttered softly, her voice void of any emotions. Ruby couldn’t even tell if she was angry or sad.
Ruby decided to read the letter.
“What?” She gasped in surprise, it was a resignation letter.
“You’re fired!” Jane announced as the letter fell from Ruby’s hand.
“But why?” Ruby questioned, her eyes wide.
“We can’t keep you here Ruby, your presence here is a distraction for us. The management wants you out. And I’m telling you this with deep regrets”
“But I did nothing wrong,” Ruby said with a shaky voice, as her eyes began to water.
“We both know what’s happening now. I can’t just keep you here” she deadpanned, bringing out another envelope.
“This is your pay for what you’ve worked so far” she informed, placing the envelope in Ruby’s hands.
“I wish you great endeavors in life Ruby..” she wished walking away from Ruby.
A tear dropped from her eye as she couldn’t take it anymore. She was losing everything. Everything was gone in just a day.
Her peace, her friend, and now her job.
She quickly grabbed her purse as she pulled off the waist apron and threw it on the ground.
She began to walk out of the restaurant, not minding the people around her as she just wanted to go home and cry her eyes out
What hurt her the most was that the person who put her in this situation was nowhere to be found, not even his place.