Chapter 2 One

Five Years Later

This was the first time in her life that she wished she hadn't lost contact with her secret benefactor who had helped her through college. She needed the solidarity of having a backbone at the moment, the hope that she could, yet again, rise above her circumstances and be who she wanted.

Ruby sighed as she walked to the restaurant that was only a few blocks away. She was meeting her boyfriend tonight, and even though that should cheer her up, the fact that she had just lost her job five hours ago was pressing down on her.

She was just going to have dinner with him and go home. She could have gone home straight, but they had already made plans, and today was his birthday. That brought a half-smile to her face.

Roy was a nice guy, even though she saw a side of him that sometimes made her wonder if being nice was just a cover for who he really was. Or maybe she was the bad person, thinking like that about her boyfriend who had been nothing but supportive of her.

He was a police officer, and he had always supported her dream of going to law school and being a criminal lawyer. That had been her dream forever. It was what her parents wanted her to be, and she loved it as well.

She had just finished college a while back, and thankfully, she had no student loan to repay thanks to the secret benefactor who had sponsored her school fees and everything else, but it didn't make things easy for her.

Like every other college student, Ruby worked her ass off, working nine hours at a job at the coffee shop in the morning before or after a lecture, according to her timetable, at the art gallery where her mother worked in the afternoon, and then at a bar at night, only going home at night.

Yeah, that was a bad idea, considering her history with walking at night, but she had no choice. She was helping her cousin, Olivia, her only family left, also in college like she was, to pay for her rent while saving the little that remained. Olivia was also working at the time, but it was to support the college loan to pay for her school fees and books. They had both agreed, even though it took time to convince her that she wanted to help, that they would support each other whenever they needed help. She was studying to be a nurse, while Ruby was studying to be a lawyer.

She still hadn't gone to law school because, after graduation, they had both worked for a year to pay back Olivia's student loan, living together in a one-room apartment they could afford after sorting out their food and saving.

Now, she had little saved up, but that couldn't take her to law school, so for now, she was going to have to look for a job.

She quickened her pace as she glanced at the wristwatch she had on her left wrist to see that she would be late if she didn't do that now.

Roy had agreed to come to the restaurant after his shift at the station, and that was only five minutes away, so she had to be there and settled before he arrived.

Soon, she got to the restaurant, and someone led her to the reserved table. It was quite an expensive place, but she wanted this year's birthday to be a nice one. They had been dating for three years now, and she had only ever gotten him a gift, something she could tell he hated from the look in his eyes each time but pretended to like it. This year, she had thought of going out of her budget and getting him a present that was worth it. Roy had always talked about how much he loved this restaurant, so she had planned to bring him here. However, doing that now would leave her probably broke for a few weeks if she didn't get a job soon.

She had made the plan before losing her job, so she wasn't going to cancel it now. Besides, it wasn't as if she had planned to be fired today anyway, so there was nothing to do.

As soon as she sat down, she removed her phone from her bag and texted Roy.

Ruby: Hey, Roy. Where are you?

Roy: I'll be there soon. I have something important I need to discuss with you.

Ruby wondered what the important thing was. He had been acting a little weird lately, so it made it difficult to know what he wanted to say. Perhaps, he was going to propose.

As soon as the thought came to her, she widened her eyes. What in the world was she thinking about? She didn't think that was it, but the thought soon made her smile. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to be married to Roy, but the idea sure was nice.

She texted him back.

Ruby: Okay then. I'm waiting right here.

She placed her phone on the table, but the ringing sound jolted her a bit, making her almost jump in her seat. She picked the phone up to see on the screen that it was Olivia who was calling her.

"Hey, girl. Are you okay?" that was the first thing she heard her say when she picked up the call.

Ruby sighed, realizing that Olivia had seen her text at last about getting fired. "No, Livy, I'm not. I just want to crawl into a hole and die," she said.

"Oh, honey. Don't say that. I'm so sorry you had to lose your job. Your boss is such an ass, you know that, so don't blame yourself," she said.

Olivia was the type of person who never hid the way she felt about a person. She had always told her that her boss was an ass, and she had said the same thing about Roy, but that was probably because she didn't like him, for whatever reason.

"Where are you?" Olivia asked, her voice interrupting her thought. "You should come home, and we'll eat ice cream until our faces are stuffed. I'm leaving the hospital soon. I'll just tell

Liam I need to be with you," she said. Liam was her three-month boyfriend who was also a nurse in the same hospital she was working at but in a different department. Olivia worked in the emergency ward while Liam worked in the intensive care unit.

"You don't have to, I'm meeting Roy for dinner. It's his birthday, remember?" Ruby said.

There was a silence at the other end for a couple of moments, and then she said. "Oh please, I don't put that in my head. I'll still talk to Liam, and I'll be at home when you get here."

Ruby smiled. "Thanks, Livy. I don't know what I'll do without you." She was grateful for having such a wonderful cousin as her family.

Olivia was a nice woman who used most of her free time volunteering at an old people's clinic downtown. She was just so wonderful; Ruby couldn't believe her luck to have her. "Right back at you, Ruby. I don't know what I'll do without you either," Olivia said too. Ruby smiled. "Oh, shut it, you old woman. Stop repeating what I said. Be creative for once," she said, teasing her. Olivia laughed, and the sound soothed her a little, making her smile even wider. She soon saw Roy making his way towards her, and she said, "Hey, Roy is here. We'll see each other back at home," and she ended the call.

She quickly stashed her phone back in her bag just as Roy approached her. Before she could stand up, he came to her and kissed her cheek.

"Hey, you," he said, smiling down at her. "Hey, Roy," she greeted back as he sat down opposite her. Before she could say anything else, a waiter approached them.

"Good evening, sir, ma'am. I will be your server for the evening. What would you like to order?" he asked.

Ruby looked at Roy, and he ordered for both of them. Then she ordered a bottle of wine, the cheapest one. She needed it anyway, to wash off the anger her job loss had left in her. After the waiter left, Ruby looked back at Roy with a nervous smile.

With a shrug, she said, "I lost my job today. I was fired." She made it sound as simple as possible so as not to make it a big deal. It was his birthday, and she didn't want anything to disrupt that.

Roy raised his eyebrows in a question. "Oh, really?" he asked. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that," he added, his tone lacking genuine concern.

Ruby swallowed down the lump in her throat at how he had reacted. Well, she didn't know what she expected. He had always acted that way when she told him something bad. There was never a time when he pulled her into a hug and told her everything would be fine. These moments were part of the reason why she thought that his nice facade was just a cover for who he really was.

Sighing, she said, "You said you had something important to discuss with me. Is everything all right?" she asked, trying to steer the conversation away from her job loss.

Nodding, he said, "Well, the thing is, I don't want to beat around the bush," he paused, looking around before locking eyes with her.

Ruby furrowed her brows in a frown, inching forward in her seat, wondering what he wanted to say.

"I think we should stop here," he said simply.

"Okay, what do you mean? Did you change your mind about having dinner here?" she asked, trying to make light of the situation.

He shook his head. "No, Ruby. Look, you're a nice woman, and you're really going to be great for someone else, but I've realized not for me. I think we should stop seeing each other," he said, his tone indifferent.

What the hell was he talking about? Was he drunk?

That wasn't the case, she could tell. She, after all, didn't smell anything on his breath when he kissed her cheek.

"Wait, is this because we've never had sex?" she asked. She had told him from the beginning of their relationship that she was waiting to have sex until she was married, even though the truth was she was waiting for the right person.

Roy shook his head with a grin. "What the hell? Do you think it's because I want to have sex? You don't think I've not been having sex since we started dating, do you?" he asked, smiling.

It was as if Ruby didn't know who he was anymore.

"I just don't want you anymore," he said coldly, leaving Ruby stunned and hurt by his callous words.