Chapter Seventeen

Nathan

The phone on the nightstand vibrated, forcing me to open my eyes and stare out the window into the bright sunlight of the morning. I reached over and grabbed my phone, opening it and staring at a message from Chris reminding me to wake up because we had work to do. I groaned and rolled over, feeling Ruby inch over and put her head on my chest. I sighed, running my hand through her hair, remembering the fantastic night that we had. Even when I was facing something I didn’t want to do, she reminded me of the brighter side of life, it was insane. I stared down at her beautiful face and watched a smile spread across her lips.

“I thought vacation meant sleep,” she whispered.

“I know,” I sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” she said, yawning. “What did Chris want?”

“To remind me we had a work thing to do today,” I groaned.

“Don’t groan,” she said sitting up. “It’s your company, the thing you have obsessed over your whole life. It’s just for a few hours anyway.”

“A few hours away from you,” I sighed.

“So, I’ll come with you,” she said cheerfully. “You can lie and say I’m your secretary or something.”

“Uh, oh,” I laughed. “Banging the secretary. That’s pretty cliché don't you think?”

“I’m not complaining,” she laughed. “Though I haven’t seen my paycheck.”

“I’ve got your paycheck,” I replied rolling over and pinning her to the bed.

She giggled loudly as my hands tickled her sides. I laid my head on her chest and breathed deeply, listening to her heart beat as she rubbed my back softly. I could have stayed there all day, or all year for that matter. Her soft skin under my face felt intoxicating, but she was wiser than I was and pulled herself out from under me, jumping from the bed and laughing. My head fell into the sheets, and I groaned, reaching out for her but hearing her laugh as she dodged my arm.

“Come on,” she said. “I’m hungry, let’s eat breakfast and go do this so we can get back to our vacation.”

“Alright,” I sighed again.

While Ruby was in the shower and getting ready, I dressed and ordered room service. I sat down in the chair in the living room and scanned through my notes from the week before. I wasn’t looking forward to this day at all, but I knew I needed to at least see what was going on. I still didn’t want Ruby to find out about outsourcing and was glad to know the place would be toured during non-operating hours. When Ruby got done the staff rolled the card of food in, and we sat on the patio eating our traditional Indian breakfast. We tried roti, which was like a flatbread of sorts, dosas, lentil based crepes with a honeyberry chutney, and some spiced potatoes. It was delicious, and I practically stuffed myself, eating nervously and waiting for Chris to say it was time to go.

When I received the text from Chris I groaned, and Ruby smiled, walking over and sitting down in my lap. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me sweetly, the smell of her shampoo wafting into my nose. She leaned back and stared me in the eyes, ready to get the day started.

“The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can give you a blowjob,” she said smiling.

“Well, let’s get this show on the road,” I said picking her up in the air and walking toward the door.

Her laughter was contagious, and we both were giggling all the way to the bottom floor of the hotel. We jumped in the car waiting out front and sped off toward the building where Chris already was at, waiting for us to arrive. We pulled out of the upscale area of the city and through a very poor area. People stared as we drove by, standing outside of their one-room shacks or their tents, doing chores, some of the women holding tightly to their naked babies. I could see the sadness in Ruby’s eyes as we passed through, and I reached out and took her hand. She smiled quietly back at me, and I looked forward, seeing the massive building in front of me.

The parking area we stopped in was very well kept, but I could tell it was not the employee parking lot. There was a gate and guard at the front, and the entire property was surrounded by fencing. I got out after Ruby and took her hand, walking across the parking lot toward Chris. We followed him along the building to the door where we would meet the guide. I looked up the side of the building at the large nets hanging down. I had read about those, though I thought they were in Japan. Those were nets that would catch employees when they tried to commit suicide. Immediately I did not like the idea of outsourcing in the least bit, and I thought about the conditions these people must endure to reach that kind of place in their lives. There was no way I was going to let my company take on that kind of moral dilemma, especially since it was halfway around the world and barely in my control. The company in India would handle the workers, and I would never even know who worked there.

We walked in the front door and met the guide who took us on a tour of the facility. It was obvious they tried to clean as much as they could, but I could still see the dark footprints that trekked up and down the floors. The guide showed us all the areas of the IT “factory building” that we would be utilizing if we chose to outsource our work. I kept glancing down at Ruby who looked more and more confused as to why we were there. I knew I would have the discussion with her later, but right then was not the right time. I was pretty sure she sensed that something was weird since she was walking quietly behind me at all times.

When we were done with the tour, I let Chris handle the wrap-up and walked with Ruby back outside. I didn’t even realize there was a strange smell in the building until the fresh air hit my face. What a way to have these people work. I couldn’t even imagine what the factories that were considered the bad ones were like. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, letting the hot sun beat down on my face. I could feel Ruby walk in close to me and put her arms around my waist, squeezing me tightly. I knew she was going to have questions, I was just hoping we could make it away from this place before I started to try to answer them. I opened my eyes and looked down at her smiling as I rubbed her back.

“Nathan,” she said pulling away. “Why are we here? He was talking about people working here, the capacity for computers, and a bunch of things I didn’t understand.”

“Can you trust me on this and I’ll explain everything when we get out of here?”

“Yeah,” she said suspiciously. “I can do that.”

Chris walked around the corner and sighed shaking his head. I gave him a death glare, but he seemed to not be phased by it. I looked over at Ruby and back at Chris, waiting for someone to say something.

“What are you guys up to the rest of the day?”

“I’m not sure,” I said, glad that he changed the subject. “Maybe some sightseeing, or some food.”

“I’m going to head back to New York,” he said. “I’ll send the jet back when I get there.”

“Sounds good,” I said shaking his head.

“Hey,” Ruby called, still standing by the building and looking up. “What are those huge nets for?”

“This work can be tedious,” Chris responded. “It’s for the employee’s safety.”

“What kind of factory is this?”

“An IT outsourcing building,” Chris said without much thought.

“Wait, what?”

“Ruby, let’s just get going, and I’ll explain.”

“No,” she said, instantly angry. “I thought you cared about the morality of your company, Nathan! How could you even look at something like this? And you brought me here? Are you kidding me? I can’t believe you would do this.”

“Ruby, please,” I said chasing after her.

“Ride with Chris,” she barked turning around and stopping me in my tracks. “I’m going home. Don’t follow me.”

With those words, she jogged to one of the two cars parked in the parking lot and got inside. The driver looked confused and got into the driver’s seat, hesitating for a moment and then pulling off. I stood there in complete shock, unsure of what to do from there.

“Dude,” Chris said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said. “I should have never lied in the first place.”