The morning sky was a brilliant blue and it wasn’t as cloudy as the news forecast had suggested. It wasn’t going to rain today and the weather was just perfect for taking a walk. Too bad the last thing on Ruby’s was walking.
She had woken up today with the determination to leave but she still found herself idling about. She needed to knock herself out of it because she couldn’t stay. Not anymore.
The contract between her and Jaxon had ended today and she wanted to make the move out on her own with dignity rather than to allow Jaxon to throw her out.
She hadn’t seen him today and her heart clenched with the thought that he couldn’t even grace her with his presence. Last night, she had dreamt that Jaxon had begged her not to go and she had felt so content.
Only to wake up this morning with her happiness snatched away from her.
She had a few things packed nights ago so she only really needed to grab them and go. She glanced at the room she had grown to love and felt her heart constrict with longing.
She was going to miss this place. She had grown attached to her room, the house, and even the people but all things must come to an end. And the contract just did.
She sighed and then glanced at her room again before she headed downstairs with her bags. She was about to make her way out but then, she felt a presence behind her. She dropped her bags at the door and turned around to find Jaxon standing behind her. A very furious Jaxon.
She watched as his eyes surveyed her and took her in. His eyes then shifted to her feet and settled on her bags. Jaxon stared at them a minute longer then dragged his eyes back to meet hers.
“What exactly are you doing, and where do you think you’re going?” He asked in a voice so calm it scared her. Because she for a fact knew that he wasn’t calm and it was just there before the storm landed. His nostrils flared as he breathed deeply, never once did he take his eyes off hers.
“I asked you a question.” He stated with that razor-sharp voice. Ruby couldn’t seem to let out words as her throat was clamped shut. She hadn’t expected to see Jaxon and she definitely hadn’t expected for him to be angry. Isn’t this what he wanted?
“For God’s sake Ruby, stop looking at me like I’m speaking some unknown language and if you don’t answer I’ll-” She cut him off before he could finish as she suddenly felt angry. What made him think he could talk to her that way?
“Or you’ll what?!”
“Let me remind you that I don’t owe you anything, oh, and since you want to know so bad, I’m leaving.” She told him. His eyes flashed and she caught the hurt in them before he schooled his features. It hurt her to be this way with him but it would hurt her even more if she let him walk over her.
“And who gave you the right to leave? Because I sure as hell didn’t permit you to.” He said to her as his eyes bore into hers. Ruby found it hard to believe this was the person she was feeling sorry for less than a minute ago.
Or maybe she was mistaken and the emotion she had caught wasn’t hurt at all.
“I don’t need anyone’s permission damn it! The contract is over so I can do anything I want without you interfering.” She let out in frustration. Jaxon had always been the type to say, do this, do that, and sometimes it really drove her crazy.
Jaxon just stared at her with what she assumed to be a hurt look.
“I can’t believe you thought of leaving.” He said in a low voice. Right now, he looked so pitiable that anyone who saw him would think that he had lost someone dear to him.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” I asked him. His behavior didn’t match that of the Jaxon she was used to and that confused her.
“What made you think that?” He asked her with a frown.
“Well, you. The things you said and did made me feel that my leaving was what you wanted.” She told him truthfully. At the mention that what made her think that way was him, his eyes widened a fraction and now, his eyebrows were furrowed in question but he didn’t ask any.
“Really?” He whispered and Ruby thought he was talking more to himself than to her. His eyes were cast downwards and he looked to be thinking about something.
“If you’re thinking of what you could have done to make me think that way, well the things are just what I observed that made me feel that way.” She told him. More like she bared her insides to him. She hadn’t planned on talking about all this when she noticed him behind her. But she felt she needed to clear the air before leaving, it would make her feel better.
“Like for instance, you told me to start taking birth control after we were intimate for the first time, and I guess I chucked it up to you not wanting to have children with me because we weren’t in a long-term relationship.” When he had first suggested it, her whole world had crashed. She didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed her quietness but she guessed he had still been euphoric from the sex.
As she spoke, Jaxon hadn’t said a word. He just listened to her and watched her with an attentive gaze.
“I asked you to take those pills because I’m not ready to have children YET. Not because I didn’t want to have children with you Gem.” He explained softly. He walked up to her until he was a foot away then said in a low voice,
“Don’t even think about leaving me again because that’s not happening under my watch. You’re bound to me for life Ruby.” Her heart pounded wildly as she found herself in his arms.
“Jaxon, do you love me?”