Page 23 of His Jewel

“Oh, fine, fine.”

“Yes, all good here, darling,” said her mom.

“So, the reason I’m calling you is that I have found something out, and that’s nothing. Because there’s nothing to find. His business practices check out. And I’m doing nothing with that document you fabricated. I’m sorry, but I’m not. It’s wrong.”

Silence.

Silence was never a good sign.

Some faint voices could be heard. She frowned like that would sharpen them.

“...it’s fine, I’m muted.” Her dad. “I don’t care—she’s doing it! We’re not going to stand a chance in New York if he’s there—we need to clear him out. We had to steal that client from him ... do you really think we’d be where we are now without him? That client brought us two million alone last year. I don’t care how, but she’s doing this, even if we have to write the article and slap her name on it.”

“Come on now, Jim, that’s not fair. I can’t let you do that.”

“We’re past that now. She’ll thank us for it one day when she sees her inheritance. It will all be worth it.”

She let the words slice through her, into her soul, her heart, that was racing, breaking at 10:00 AM on a park bench. Why do words have the power to crumble your whole world?

She wet her lips and swallowed, trying to get rid of the dryness in her throat. The backs of her eyes stung. She sniffed.

“You’re not muted. And I don’t ever want to talk to you again. Either of you.”

Voices began to talk quickly, loudly, as she pulled the phone away from her ear, but she didn’t care. She could throw the phone in the water fountain for all she cared. The sensible part of her brain won out, and she quickly blocked her parents from everything. They were smart people, with a lot of resources, they could find a way to reach her if they wanted, but she wasn’t going to make it easy for them.

She was done being their pawn in their game of chess. This was her life. She sniffed again, running the back of her hand across her face, before pulling out her notebook. She would burn it. Start anew.

She had all the best intentions, but when she made to move, her limbs became dead weights, and they couldn’t support her. As people trickled past, and the sun began to set in the sky, she realized she’d been outside for hours upon hours.

Get a grip, Ruby.

She headed back to the office, not even bothering to turn her phone on. People would be asking where she was. Josh would be worried.

She came back to an empty office. Josh’s office light was on. That could wait. She needed to get her things first. She just needed that notebook to not exist anymore. She rifled around, placing it and various papers on her desk.

“Ruby? Where have you been?”

She swiped her windswept hair from her face. “Sorry, I had a bit of an emergency.” She held up her hand. “Don’t ... don’t ask me about it, please.”

The worry lining his features made her heart pinch. He cleared the space between them, bringing her into his arms.

“I’ll agree, but only because you asked me to.”

“Thank you,” she said into his chest. “Besides, I don’t want this to spoil our anniversary.”

The idea of celebrating the number of months they’d been together seemed juvenile at first. But when she sat down and thought about it, it was important. Important to celebrate all of the time they had together.

“That I can agree with,” he said. Then all the breath was knocked out of her as she landed on her desk, her legs open for him. He stood between them, bending his neck to claim her mouth. It was a position they had been in before, and one she loved. She loved being together after dark, when the office was deserted. It felt dangerous and exciting. It made her heart race.Hemade her heart race.

He broke the kiss, staring deep into her eyes.

“Now it’s your turn not to talk, just listen. I love you, Ruby. I’m in love with you and I’m sorry if it’s too soon for me to say, but I’m also not. Because I don’t think I can waste another second not letting you know how I feel.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but he cut off her air with another kiss.

“Tell me when you’re ready, not because you feel like you should say it back.”

She was ready to scream it from the rooftop, but a thought rang in her head like a bell, louder and louder.You don’t deserve him, you’ve betrayed him, over and over. She needed to drown out the din.

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