09

Luke took one last glance at his appearance in the mirror before heading out of his closet. Gabriel had been having a conversation with one of the maids while also waiting for Luke to get ready. The buddies were supposed to attend a party which was being hosted by the Simon’s. The Simon’s were one of the families that belong to the elite families of the country. They were old money and have been continuing to make tons of money for generations. The current owner of the Simon’s corporation,  William Simon and his wife are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary. And Luke and Gabriel were expected to attend the party because for one, they were business partners and two, their parents also happen to be close friends. So, it was kind of inevitable.

“Come on, Gabe, let us go. We are already late,” Luke said while climbing down the stairs. His voice was loud enough to reach Gabriel, who was busy in the kitchen, talking to one of the maids.

“See you again,” Gabriel told the maid while giving her a bright smile. He followed Luke outside the house. The boys were driving themselves since they had plans of meeting their other friends later in the night, after they left the party. Luke and Gabriel were never the kind of people who freely partied around the elders of the family or any of their families’ acquaintances. They had their own gang of friends whose company they enjoyed.

“When is Ruby moving in?” Gabriel asked Luke, while staring outside the window. “Tomorrow is packing because she had to settle her workplaces today and she needs help to pack everything which I assume her friend, Mia is going to help. So, I think she will be at home by tomorrow evening.”

Gabriel nodded his head in understanding, “Those two girls seem very close.” Luke agreed, “Yes, it is easy to sense by seeing how Mia has been sticking with Ruby despite her background and her current situation.”

Gabriel hummed, “Yes. And I am happy that at least she has friend for life. Or else it would have been difficult.” Luke could only agree again. Because he knew how valuable a friendship is. And he was grateful that he had Gabriel and vice versa.

The boys reached the party venue soon and entered the place. It was just like any other rich people’s parties with only a little extravagance. It was like a competition for the rich people to see who hosts the most expensive party.

“Richness is a never ending privilege for the Simon’s,” Gabriel commented while they saw the interior of the party hall. As expected, the party hall was filled with people from elite backgrounds and those people did not miss their chances to show off their own richness by wearing costly clothes and jewelleries and what not.

“Let’s cover the hall from different directions and get out soon,” Luke said and got a nod in return from gabriel. The buddies walked in opposite directions as if they were entering the battlefield. The only weapon in this battlefield is money.

Gabriel walked around a bit and talked to a few people. And he did entertain himself with a few light drinks. And of course, he flirted with a few ladies without considering their ages.

Luke moved around a lot. Since his father was close friends with the Simon’s he was almost treated as family here. He talked to almost everyone present in the party. When he was tired from all the talking, he went to the bar to grab a drink.

“One whiskey on the rocks,” Luke told the bartender and turned around. To his surprise, he found his father Davis Sawyer standing behind him.

Luke raised his brows, in an attempt to ask his father what he wanted. “Order me a drink too,” David said and took a seat. Luke ordered the drink and turned to his father, “I thought you had quit drinking,” Luke said, remembering that one time, when his father’s sugar level had increased because of too much alcohol. And David had almost quit drinking from then on.

David smiled a little and replied, “I need it sometimes. Just one or two pegs.” Luke nodded his head and received the drinks from the bartender and passed it to his father. They sipped their drinks silently.

Suddenly, like an uproar, a woman came towards them. “Honey, here you are. I was looking for you on that side.” Luke did not have to turn his head to recognise the woman. Her annoying voice was enough to guess it was his stepmother, Anna.

“Oh, yeah. I was tired and just wanted a seat,” David said to his wife. Anna was a beautiful woman but she mostly used it to lure people and make them fall in her trap. And she did it with zero guilt.

Anna was reeking of expensive things from top to bottom. She was known to spend her husband David's money like water. She was least concerned about other things.

Anna’s eyes traced Luke’s appearance and then it traveled to David. She noticed the glass in his hand, she gasped dramatically, “Luke, what the hell are you doing? You have let your father have alcohol?” she almost screamed.

Luke was not at all bothered by her overacting nor was David. “He is not going to die from one glass of whiskey,” Luke said casually and ordered another drink for himself.

Anna continued her overacting. She pulled the glass away from David’s hand and said, “Don’t drink anymore. Your health is more important.” David sighed, knowing why his health was important to Anna, “It is fine. One glass of whisky would not kill me.”

He knew that his wife’s concern about his health was for only one reason. The Sawyer Corporation. Anna was concerned about the wealth of David. Luke was already the CEO of the company while her son, Leo Sawyer was just a simple apprentice in the company. She had insisted on placing Leo in a better position. But David had said that he has to learn from the grounds if he wants to learn about the company. Just like Luke. David had made Luke also to work from the grounds.

David wanted to get away from the alcohol talk, so he paid his attention to Luke, “Oh, by the way, I thought you would be bringing Ruby to the party with you”

Luke was surprised that his father was paying attention to his life for the first time. Yesterday, when they had bumped into each other, Luke had introduced Ruby to him. And Luke did not miss the light in his father’s eyes meeting his girlfriend. Luke had brushed off the topic assuming his father’s excitement was only because it was the first time that Luke had openly introduced someone as girlfriend.

Luke finished his drinks and said, “She had something else to do. So, maybe some other time.” David nodded his head in understanding.

Anna could not contain her curiosity, “Who is Ruby?”

David smiled at her and replied, “Ruby is Luke’s girlfriend.” Anna’s eyes went wide and Luke did not miss to see the expression on her face. If anything, it brought him great pleasure to see her plan crumbling down.