“I’m so sorry.” Ruby pleaded as she walked up to a fuming Jaxon.
“You’re sorry? Is that all you have to say after bailing on all of us?” Jaxon glared at her and Ruby’s eyes widened as she stared at him wide-eyed.
“I didn’t bail on you. I don’t know what happened but the restroom door was locked when I tried to go out.” Ruby explained.
“If you didn’t want to you could have just said so why do you have to make up excuses? This is one of the best hotels in the whole city, Ruby so there is no way the lock is faulty.” Jaxon angrily spat out and Ruby stared at him in disbelief.
“Why would I lie to you? You need to believe me, I was locked in the restroom!” Ruby exclaimed
“If you didn’t want to do it you could have just said so instead of leaving when we needed you.” Jaxon sighed.
Ruby didn’t know how to feel as she stood alone, why was Jaxon not listening to her and blaming her for something she didn’t do?
“Babe you know that I’ll never want to do anything that would make you feel bad, I’m so sorry.” Ruby apologized sincerely.
“It’s fine, thankfully June stepped up while you were gone.” Ruby’s face fell as she heard that.
“Why did she take my place? Why didn’t you do it?” Ruby felt anger and jealousy flowing through her veins.
She hated the fact that out of all the people that were present at the party it was June who made the toast on her behalf.
“It’s not a big deal Ruby, you were not around so someone obviously had to take your place.” Jaxon didn’t see the problem there, even though he didn’t like June he couldn’t deny the fact that she was close to his grandfather and her giving a toast was not a big deal.
“I get it. Let’s just go, I need to apologize to Grandpa.” Ruby said sadly.
Her mind was running wild as she thought about how the door got locked from outside but she knew that she had to make it up to Keith and Jaxon.
They both made their way to the table where Keith was seated along with Nana and June. The chatter died down immediately after Ruby sat down and she felt deeply saddened by the change.
Jaxon, who was seated beside her, gently grabbed her hand when he noticed the crestfallen expression on her face and smiled softly at her.
“I’m so sorry Grandfather.” Keith looked up from his desert and sighed as he looked at her with displeasure and disappointment clear on his face.
Ruby’s heart ached. “I don’t know what happened but I went to the restroom and when I tried to leave the door was locked from the outside. I knocked and screamed several times but no one could hear me due to the loud music. I’m sincerely sorry.” Ruby looked ashamed as she explained all that transpired.
Keith stared at her in disbelief and Ruby felt like she had been punched in the guts.
“I’m so sorry.” Jaxon gently squeezed her palm and started drawing circles on it to soothe her nerves.
He was angry at her but he didn’t like seeing her sad. His heart ached as he watched her smile disappear. He could remember how happy she was before the whole toast ordeal happened.
He didn’t care anymore if she had intentionally disappeared or if an accident really happened and she got trapped. He just wanted to have his happy baby back.
He loved Ruby’s smile and he always felt his heartbeat increase whenever she smiled sweetly at him. He wanted her to always smile, he didn’t want her to lose her smile no matter what, especially not over such a small matter.
“It’s fine Ruby. You should have just told me if you didn’t want to do it, no one would force you to do anything against your will.” Keith said flatly.
“It’s not like that Grandpa, I felt honored when you picked me to share the toast. I don’t know how it happened.” At this point Ruby felt tears of frustration prickling her eyes.
She hated how Keith looked at her. She hated being looked at in disappointment, it was obvious that he didn’t believe her and Ruby felt dejected.
She felt so alone at that moment cause even Jaxon refused to believe her earlier so why would Keith.
“It’s fine Ruby. June took care of it.” Keith said and Ruby finally looked at June.
June was seated right next to Keith and she had a mischievous smile on her face as she stared back at Ruby.
Ruby felt the wheels turning in her head and she finally understood everything.
Who would benefit from her absence apart from June? It all made sense to her now. June was the only person that wanted to take her place and what better way to do it than to prove she was irresponsible and a liar in front of Keith and Nana?
Ruby felt her blood boiling in rage as June Smirked at her and winked in her direction. She clenched her fists in annoyance as she glared at June.
Ruby slowly took a deep breath and decided to settle the issue at hand first before dealing with June.
“I’m sorry it turned out this way. I know you wanted to use the toast as an opportunity to show me off and I got nervous… I promise it won’t happen again.” Keith nodded and continued eating his dessert.
Jaxon sighed as he watched Ruby’s smile falter again.
It was time to leave and Ruby couldn’t be happier. She wanted to go back home, cuddle her pillow, and sleep away her sadness.
“Thank you for having us Grandfather and Happy birthday once more.” Ruby smiled sweetly. Keith nodded at her and her smile dropped.
“Jaxon, make sure you come around the house more often, we both miss you, and bring Ruby along too, okay?” Nana smiled sweetly at the couple and Ruby faked a smile in return.
They exchanged hugs and departed.