8

  Ruby was very much comfortable in her new work space, the office overlooked the busy streets of Oregon, giving her a view of the city life. She had pretty much settled in and hung up some pictures and other decorations.

She groaned as she turned to her side, the only downside to her spacious office was that it was adjacent to Nate’s own so she could see whatever was going on in his office. He had pretty much avoided her for a week straight after their fight.

It was almost as if they were in high school again, back then, she was quite sure he didn’t know she existed but now she was sure he knew she existed and he was just ignoring her.

  “Hey” a voice called, stirring her from her reverie of thoughts 

  “Hi”she smiled back

  “I’m Ethan and this is Cassie”he said, gesturing to the blonde beside him

 Ruby nodded and gave them warming smiles. She had been busy throughout the week and had barely had time to socialize with her coworkers.

  “Oh hi!”Cassie squealed as she placed a tray of croissants on the table. “You’re the latest topic in the office”

 Ruby scrunched her nose at the information, everytime she was the ‘latest topic’ in a gathering, it was always for something bad like them bullying her or laughing at her.

 “Nice to meet you both” she replied politely. “I’m Ruby Barlow”

  “Of course I know” Cassie smirked, snapping her well manicured fingers.

Ruby could picture her in a scene of gossip girl.

  “I heard Mr Jacobin hired you because there’s an unknown connection between you two”

Ruby shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The last thing she needed now was a rumor spreading in the office about her and Nate.

  Ethan cleared his throat on sensing Ruby’s discomfort 

“I apologize about Cassie, she can be a lot at times”

 Ruby smiled at him, something about his ocean blue eyes made her feel warm.

  “So, are you and Nate, you know…?” Cassie asked, eyeing Ruby suspiciously

  “Of course not!”

Ruby sighed, now she wished she could disappear. She was sure Cassie didn’t miss how fast she answered the question and most of all, how defensive her answer was.

  “Anyway, we came to have lunch with you” Ethan said quickly to ease the tension. “We figured you’ll be lonely so we decided to keep you company”

Ruby smiled thankfully at him although she could still feel Cassie’s hawk eyes on her.

 “It’s no new news that you won us the contract, good job Ruby”he smiled

She took a liking to him, he was calm and she found his voice soothing.

It felt good that someone commended her.

  “So, how did you get the job? I remember I saw you during the interview”

Cassie was now munching on a croissant while interrogating the new employee. She was curious about her especially with the crazy speculations going on about her.

“Of course it’s you, I can’t forget those funny looking glasses”

  Ruby scowled, her glasses were just fine to her. Instantly, she could tell she and Cassie weren’t going to get along.

  “I got an email from the company and that was it”

  “Really? Nate never calls anyone back”

Ethan sighed as he rubbed his forehead, coming with Cassie was a bad idea. He only came with her because she was persistent and she promised not to cause any problems.

  “How about we eat and talk about something else” he suggested 

  “You got the nicest and not to mention, the biggest office. I’ve been here for three years now and I never got the office” Cassie pouted

 “True” Ethan nodded, agreeing with her for the first time.

“It almost felt like Nate was saving this office for a special staff, I guess that special staff is you”

   Ruby wanted to dismiss the thought of being special to Nate but couldn’t help it. She was quite sure she wasn’t the special staff.

He must have given me the office because he was in a hurry, she thought. 

She drew in a sharp breath at a new realization.

What if he had given me the office so I can be close to him and he can torment me for what I did?

She sighed again, why would Nate do that? 

The more she thought about it, the more she saw new meanings to it.

 “I’m actually flattered” she said finally 

She could feel the knots in her belly as she told a lie, she was far from being flattered but rather troubled.

  “Oh please” Cassie rolled her eyes. “I’m sure Mr Jacobin only assigned you to the office because he was in a hurry, he would change your office very soon”

 Ruby watched Cassie turn green with envy, it was exciting to watch.

Ethan scoffed in response, he had shared an office with Cassie for a year and was no stranger to her questionable behavior.

   “Another gossip going round the office is that Mr Jacobin’s girlfriend would be coming very soon” Cassie giggled

   “Nate has a girlfriend?” Ruby asked as she swallowed hard on her coffee. 

Yet again, she wished she could take back what she had said, she hadn’t meant to say it aloud.

She had watched every gossip blog about him for years but there was no mention of a girlfriend although there were quite a number of flings every now and then but no girlfriend.

  “Of course he does but Mr Jacobin is very secretive about those kind of things”

The thought of Nate with another woman upset her even more.

“I can’t imagine how much of an excellent lover he is”Cassie added, gushing dreamily 

 Ruby stared at the croissants distastefully, she had now lost appetite and couldn’t get the image of Nate with about her woman out of her head. Of course he would be an excellent lover, she let out a low groan.

 “You haven’t said much about yourself” Ethan chimed in

  “There’s nothing much to tell” her voice came out as a croak.

He took the hint that she wasn’t in the mood to talk.

   After thirty more minutes of Ruby listening to Cassie run her mouth on all the latest gossip in the office, lunch break was over.

“Pay no attention to anything Cassie told you, she always has gossip on her lips” Ethan advised before they left.

Ruby heaved a sigh of relief as she could now have her office to herself.