Chapter Eleven

Nathan

Waking up next to Ruby was something that made me feel alive, happy, and it felt right. It was a strange feeling, and though I could feel myself try to push it away, it wasn’t going anywhere. The night before had been amazing. Amazing food, amazing sex, and then amazing sleep with her wrapped up in my arms. She was probably one of, if not the, most beautiful women I had ever had in my life. She woke up not long after I did and popped into the bathroom where I was taking a shower. She was already dressed and kissed me on the cheek, letting me know she needed to get home so that she could get changed for work. I was sad that I wouldn’t be able to ride with her into work like I hoped for, but as she flashed that beautiful smile at me, I felt my heart melting.

I listened as the front door shut behind her and dipped my head under the cascading showerhead. I rubbed the water up and down my face, trying to control what I was feeling, but before I could stop it, I was smiling from ear to ear. This was insane, but it was what it was, and I was going to go with it. I climbed out of the shower and dried off, looking at myself in the mirror, I looked happier than I had in a long time. I got ready for work, taking a lingering amount of time to make sure my suit was perfect, the tie matched, and my hair was done just how I liked it. I spritzed on the cologne that Ruby loved so much and headed out of the apartment.

When I made it to the lobby, I stopped at the Avalon Café and grabbed a coffee, saying hi to the barista I was used to seeing, Gabby. George tipped his hat to me, and I waved as I grabbed a newspaper and headed out to the car. I climbed in and set my coffee in the holder, opening the paper and thinking about the day ahead. In the local section, there was a picture of a protest that had occurred the week before. The people on the front were carrying signs protesting outsourcing by American companies. It was strange that I felt more in tune with their beliefs than my own company’s.

When I arrived at the office, I sat down in my chair, tossing my empty cup from the café into the garbage. Chris walked in the door behind me and nodded, handing me a file. He plopped down in the chair in front of me and crossed his legs.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a report of the different areas you will save money with outsourcing,” he said. “I was actually surprised at how many areas that would be affected. Marketing, Training, Advertising, Benefits, and a ton of others. This would make some serious cash and fast.”

I opened the folder and skimmed over the information, knowing that no matter how much I didn’t like the idea, I needed to at least take a look at it. The company was at a standstill growth wise, and I needed to push us into the overseas markets. I still didn’t have the numbers, though, on how our company would be affected by taking part of our revenue and assets and investing that in expansion instead of cutting thousands of jobs and moving them overseas.

“The average IT here makes over twenty dollars an hour,” Chris continued. “The average outsourced employee makes close to two.”

“And you don’t see anything wrong with that?”

“Their political nature of how other countries handle their own people and their wages are not our concern,” he said. “But think of it this way, these people might not have a job otherwise.”

“You think because these people live in a different place they shouldn’t be awarded the same kind of luxuries as us?” I was a bit irritated.

“Look, Nathan, I’m not here for a political debate or a class in morality, that’s your forte,” he said. “You ultimately make the choices that include those things. I am here to tell you what the most lucrative path for the company is.”

“You are here to advise on the best path,” I replied, trying to get him to listen the fuck up. I knew what I was talking about. Period. “The most lucrative is not always the best.”

“You’re right,” he sighed, handing me another file. He needed to hear me out, but for some damn reason, he was having a really hard time with that. “So, I did a breakdown if we took current assets and revenues and planned it out for expansion. It would take three times as long, and that is only if the stockholders agreed to that financial burden.”

“Thanks,” I said breathing deeply and letting the breath out slowly. “I’ll look these over and get back to you.”

“Alright,” he said standing up. “Drinks tonight at that bar in Exposé?”

“Sure,” I replied staring at the outsourcing numbers though I would have rather been just about anywhere else.. “Come grab me at the end of the day.”

I spent the rest of the day in and out of meetings, reviewing different material for the outsourcing options, and sitting at my desk thinking. I did a lot of thinking in that chair over the years, but I had to be honest, it was the first time that thinking was interrupted with the vision of a woman running through my mind. I wanted to call her and ask her to come over that night, but I didn’t want to smother her. I needed to keep at least a bit of business mindedness to myself. It was bad enough that I wasn’t doing my regular evening reviews anymore, I couldn’t spend time at work thinking about Ruby.

The end of the day came rather fast, and when Chris came to my office, I was more than ready to get out of there. I had been trudging through the day, and my mind was prepared to relax and have a drink. There were so many decisions to be made, yet I had no idea how to do it. It was times like those that I wished I had someone to go home and talk to about everything. Someone that wasn’t directly connected to the company. Maybe one day, but for the time being, I went to the bar with Chris and ordered myself a tall glass of whiskey.

Exposé was always relatively busy but for a Tuesday it seemed a little more crowded than anticipated. I assumed that everyone else had a day at the office like I did, and didn’t blame them for showing up at the bar. Chris and I sat there, and while he was scoping out the women, I was staring up at the television that was on mute, thinking about the last time I had sat there. Ruby had been so beautiful when I walked in the doors, and I did not expect in any way for her to be the woman she turned out to be. I took a sip of my whiskey and sighed.

“Hey man,” Chris said nodding his head down the bar. “Look at those two. Come on. Let’s make a move.”

Before I could protest, he was up from his chair and sitting down next to the blonde on the end. I sighed and moved with him, sitting down next to the brunette. Chris immediately started spitting his normal game, and of course, the blonde fell all over herself for him. I was busy staring up at the screen and didn’t even notice the brunette leaned in.

“So, what do you do?” she whispered in a sensual voice. It was a little overkill but most women that were aggressive enough to start the game were the ones that were willing to end it. She was ballsy, but I wasn’t sure I was in the mood. I had a tone of shit on my mind, and she wasn’t my type. Not that I’d fully checked her out.

“Finance,” I said with little interest.

“He’s modest,” Chris laughed. “He owns Pope Financial.”

“Ohh,” she said flirtatiously, reaching her hand over and brushing mine. “Do you like being the big boss?”

“Yeah,” I chuckled pulling my hand back and standing. “If you’ll excuse me.”

I glanced over at Chris who gave me a wild look, not understanding why I just blew this chick off. She was sexy as hell, the typical girl I’d end up on the 3rd floor with, but I had zero interest in her. As soon as her hand touched mine, Ruby flashed through my mind, and instantly I wanted to be with her instead. I took my drink and wandered around the club, trying to wrap my head around what happened. I didn’t know why I would turn down a woman for one that I had spent very little time with, but all I could think about was Ruby with her beautiful eyes and contagious spirit. Regardless of the walls I had built up, how I felt about relationships, and all the things I had told myself through the years, I wanted to see Ruby again, and my brain wasn’t going to let me out of it until I did.

Things were going a way I never thought they would, but for some reason, I didn’t care at all. In reality, I welcomed the change. A woman like Ruby didn’t come around often, and I needed to make sure I didn’t screw this one up.