His Nineteenth Secretary [✔]

Forty-four

I retreated to a corner where I wouldn't be noticed while the others were fully engaged in talking, dancing, and drinking.

"Ruby," A voice called, bringing me out of my thoughts. I raised my head to see Juliana making her way over to where I was. None of them had talked to me for a while now, and so it was a surprise to see her coming over to where I was right now.

"Hi." I said awkwardly.

"I was..." She was saying when she happened to be called and dragged away by a lady in a very short black dress, a friend of hers from another department.

"I'll be right back." She said to me. Thirty minutes passed, but she didn't return back. Thirsty, I picked up my glass of wine to drink from it.

I was deep in thought again, but all of a sudden, I started feeling groggy. Finding it hard to keep my eyes open, and knowing I hadn't touched any alcoholic drink since I got there, I could tell my drink had been spiked. This must be what her hand brushing past my glass of wine was about.

Knowing very well that Juliana, who I was sure was behind it or that the person who sent her must have a bad motive for spiking my drink, I tried to keep my eyes open while I frantically searched my bag for my phone but my bag on the other hand wouldn't stop slipping from my hands as my vision was also beginning to get blurry. After some time, which felt like eternity, after my clumsy search, I was able to get ahold of my phone. Just as I dialled Brian's number, my phone slipped from my hand, and darkness took me over.

*

I was lying face up in a strange bed and in a room I had never been before when I woke up. Only then did the memory of what happened before I blacked out came back to me.

I quickly rose from my sleeping position to check where I was. The place looked more like a hotel room. This brought a thousand questions running in my head about the person who must have brought me into the hotel room and what the person did to me. At that, I checked under the covers I was covered in. My clothes were still on me, which kind of brought a great relief to me.

Again, in my head, there was the question of who brought me into the room. I looked around to see a male jacket draped onto the arm of the leather chair that was a little distance away from the bed. That very moment, the door was pushed open from the outside.

Petrified and dreading who it was, Brian stepped into the room. I heaved again, a sigh of relief at that. He must have gotten my call, but it wasn't long to notice his cold demeanor.

He entered the room and ignored me completely as if I wasn't there. Then, he had walked over to the chair on which the jacket was draped. I would say his action came to me as a surprise. He proceeded to pick up my bag and then the leather jacket before walking out of the room.

Eager to know the cause of his coldness towards me, I got out of the bed and slipped my feet into my heels to go after him. He was resting his back on the wall close to the door when I stepped out of the room. He didn't say anything to me still. After locking the door, he started off again. I followed behind him, all the while thinking of the reason for his ofd behavior.

At the receptionist's desk, he dropped the room card and then made the way out of the hotel to where his car was parked.

Since it was still dawn, it was still a little bit dark outside. During the whole drive, even though I kept casting curious glances at him, he kept on looking straight ahead, ignoring my presence.

It was the same thing when we got home, and I could feel my patience running out.

"Why are you not saying anything to me?" I asked him as we entered the house. He acted instead like he didn't hear me. Knowing I had been patient enough, I grabbed his hand to stop him, just for him to give me a deadly glare, the kind I hadn't gotten from him in months. I didn't have to be told to withdraw my hand before I did, and then, he continued the walk to our room.

I was beyond shocked.

He was seated on the edge of the bed when I entered the room, with my bag beside him and the divorce papers I got from my lawyer in his hand.

That explained why he was cold towards me.

"Divorce papers, uh?" He asked.

I sighed. That's right. I had them in my bag all along.

"What is this about?"

I didn't say anything.

"Can you explain the reason why you have these?"

I closed my eyes for a second to think of what to say, but I couldn't think of anything.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" He asked.

That was when I made up my mind to do it even though all I wanted to be able to do that moment was to tear the divorce papers into shreds, which, however, I couldn't do.

I mustered up courage.

"Rub..."

"I got tired of you." I said.

He seemed taken aback by my words.

"I want a divorce because I got tired of you." I would love to avoid eye contact with him, but that wasn't a good idea. If I did that, he might suspect I was being forced to do it, so I maintained eye contact with him.

He got to his feet and walked over to where I was.

"You getting withdrawn from me? Was this what it was all about?" He questioned.

"Yes." I held back a tear.

"Ruby," His face was set in a frown, but his tone was pleading. "Are you not happy being with me? Do you think I am cheating on you, if you think I am, I..."

"No." I shook my head.

"It is no use talking to you right now. You don't seem to be in your right mind."

"I am. I am in my right mind, and if you want me to be happy... you will sign that."

"That is what you want?"

"Yes." I made sure to look determined though right now, I was dying inside.

Without saying anything further, he walked over to the side table and grabbed the pen that was lying on it. I watched helplessly as he signed the papers, willing everything within me not to break down right there before him.

Done with that, he grabbed his jacket, his car key, and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Unable to hold it in any longer, I slumped to the ground, and I couldn't stop the tears from streaming out anymore. My heart was aching so badly. I was sobbing loudly now. I was the one who had filed the divorce paper, but I felt like it was the other way round. I had never felt this kind of sadness and sorrow since the death of Mike.