Ruby slept during most of the car ride and woke up feeling chilly. "If you sleep in the afternoon, you'll end up falling asleep during class too" Mr.Hayes sighed.
She rubbed her eyes and looked around groggily, "Are we there yet?"
"In a bit..." He replied.
Ruby stared out of the window and gasped, "Are you seeing this?!"
"Pretty cool, I know" Hayes grinned.
The scenery outside was gorgeous, especially since there were flowery meadows down the hill and the afternoon sun made everything sparkle. In the distance, she saw a huge lake.
"It's called Lake Hayes"
"You're kidding..."
He shook his head with a chuckle.
Ruby took off her seatbelt, "What are you doing? Sit down!" But she was already leaning out the window with her knees on her seat.
She felt the wind on her face, which smelled of fresh rain and daffodils. It messed up her hair but she didn't care. Ruby raised her hands.
In all her eighteen years she had never felt this alive.
Hayes didn't urge her to sit anymore. He smiled to himself thinking she was finally given a moment to be a child in between her rough life.
Ruby sat down as he took a curve and she had a permanent grin on her face even though her hair looked as if she was struck with lightning, he chuckled at this.
"We're here"
He honked at the large vintage gates that blocked their path. An old man came out from one of the booths, "Who is it?" He squinted at the young man, "Try guessing"
"Jem?"
The man blinked a couple of times, "My dear boy is that you?" He suddenly became teary.
"I'm glad you remember me, Mr.Swen"
"We've been waiting so long for you to come back!" He exclaimed and ran over to open the gates.
Mr.Swen hurried back, "My eyes are so weak that I hope this isn't a hallucination"
Hayes laughed at this, "I want you to meet someone," He smoothed out the spiky hair on her head as Mr.Swen took a good look at the girl, "This is Ruby"
She smiled at the old man, "My, she's a darling" Mr.Swen smiled back. "Shall I alert Master Hayes that you've reached?"
"No, it's fine, no one knows that I'll be here today. Let's keep it that way" Hayes told the man.
"I'm guessing Jem is Jeremy for short? Even Jonas called you that" Ruby asked him as they drove down a tiled road. "Yes, you'll be hearing it quite often now... But just refrain from talking about Jonas here, 'kay?" She nodded.
In the distance, she saw a large mansion. It almost looked like a hotel, "How rich are you?"
"Profoundly" He stated and drove into an open field where a few other cars were parked. They saw people staring at them from near the house and Ruby felt a tad bit nervous.
"Time for action," Mr.Hayes told her. They got out of the car together and walked towards the people who were setting up barbecues, all eyes turned to the couple.
"Jem?" A man with silky white hair came over to them, "Wait, you really came?"
"Yeah," He smiled and intertwined his hands with Ruby.
"Who's this?" The old man turned to her.
"Dad this is Ruby, my girlfriend. And Ruby this is my dad"
"Nice to meet you..." His dad shook her hand.
"Let's go inside, Jacob's there with Lisa" They nodded and followed him.
Ruby squeezed his arm, "Quick question, wouldn't it be weird if I call you Mr.Hayes?"
"You can call me Jem" He sighed, "But don't let it stick to you"
"Okay, Jem... God! It's very weird..." She pressed her head against his arm in embarrassment.
"Just relax, Ruby" He smiled and smoothed out her hair one last time.
Ruby's jaw dropped when she entered the house. Gorgeous felt like a small word.
"Uncle Jem!" A young boy and girl ran over to him and he wasted no time in picking them up. "Ah, you're much heavier now" He pretended to pant while spinning them around in his arms.
He soon put them down on seeing an old woman come down the stairs, as soon as she saw him, tears filled her eyes and she hugged him tightly, "Why won't you ever come to see me?"
"Sorry, Mom..." Hayes pulled back with an apologetic smile, "Where's Jacob?"
"He's in the kitchen," She replied and turned to look at the girl next to him, "Is this your girlfriend?"
"Yeah, this is Ruby" He replied.
"It's a lovely house ma'am" Ruby smiled at her.
"Thank you dear"
Hayes led Ruby to the kitchen with the children running ahead of them. "Uncle Jem is back!" The kids announced and Jacob turned around in shock.
"Did Dad pay you to come?" The older brother gasped, earning a smirk from Hayes. "The last time I saw you was during Christmas" Jacob pulled him in a quick hug.
"I know... I've been pretty busy" Hayes smiled.
"How busy could an English teacher even be?" Lisa chuckled, meaning it as a harmless joke. But Ruby didn't think that. Neither did Hayes.
"Anyway, who is this pretty young lady?" Jacob smiled.
"This is Ruby"
"Your girlfriend?"
Hayes nodded.
"I've seen you in the papers" She shook his hand with vigor, it was the first time she was meeting a celebrity in person. A celebrity who was actually a good guy.
"Ah, ignore what they say. Just call me Jacob" He smiled and turned to Hayes, "Why don't you help us with the barbecues?"
***
The sun had sunk by now and the barbecues were already grilling. More people arrived at the lakehouse and everyone huddled together around the benches close to the lake. There were even musicians who played heartwarming melodies with their instruments and Ruby spent a long time listening to them.
Hayes had introduced her to nearly everyone, and by now she realized what he had meant.
"My parents invite only our closest relatives for these events, so they all know who I am" He had told her.
But they didn't know the real Hayes, she thought.
They only knew some young and handsome playboy with a failed career. It was very evident from the comments they made, but Hayes would laugh it all off.
Ruby heard terrible things about her as well, but what shocked her was that these people didn't even try to hide the fact that she and Hayes weren't welcome.
He walked over to Ruby with two glasses in his hand, "Here," He gave her the guava juice that Jacob's kids, Shelly and Sheldon were drinking, while he had a glass of golden liquor.
"I can drink, you know" She replied as he sat down.
"I doubt if you'll want to drink this"
It felt like he had challenged her. She snatched his glass and drank it in one gulp, regretting it immediately.
"The heck is that? My throat's burning up!" She coughed.
Hayes chuckled, "I told you, didn't I?"
"When are we leaving?" She asked him, "A couple more hours" He leaned back on the bench and sighed.
"Ah, Ruby, you never told us what you do for a living," One of his uncles asked. He had been oogling at her for a long time while being drunk. This question caught the attention of most people around them, including Hayes's parents.
She glanced at Mr.Hayes, who winked at her with a smile.
"Oh, I go to high school, but I guess I'd like to be an actress when I'm older"
Jacob choked on his liquor on hearing this.
Most people gave Hayes a look of dread but he calmly gazed at Ruby, "You want to be an actress?" He asked leaning closer to her, "Yeah, after that play, it felt cool. You even get good money for it" She returned his smile.
"Ruby, dear, you're surely joking?" His mother turned to her, "Not really... It is my final year" When she said that, his father walked away in rage and his mom hurried behind him to talk.
"There's dessert in the kitchen!" Jacob announced to change the topic, most guests left while the others stayed, glancing and giggling at the young couple.
"Watch carefully," Mr.Hayes whispered to her, "All these people are going to come up with so many interesting stories about us"
"Are you really not bothered?"
"Ruby, it's better to leave some things the way they are. You are not obliged to please anybody in this world. Besides, I'm an English teacher. I love drama" He grinned, "You know what would really get them worked up?" He leaned towards her, eyes sparkling with mischief.
"I need a drink" Ruby, pushed him away but he laughed. She walked towards the table with fancy drinks.
"I couldn't compliment you earlier" Ruby turned around to find Lisa and two other women, who were dressed very fashionably and she knew them as cousins of the daughter-in-law.
"Thank you" Ruby smiled.
"I'm curious though, how did you and Jem meet?" They circled around her like vultures but Ruby had dealt with worse people in her life. She knew how to sit them down.
"Well, he teaches me English, and I guess it just clicked?"
They burst out laughing, "Now I see why he chose the career! He's smart, I won't lie. He can always be close to pretty young women"
"I don't think that's why he chose to be a high school teacher," She leaned back on the table while sipping the drink in her hands.
"Ruby, are you old enough to drink?"
"Yes, I'll be nineteen soon"
"Ah, your parents were late to enroll you, huh?
"You could say that"
"I remember when I joined college, I was just seventeen and it was a very reputed place but I didn't want to leave home at such a young age..."
As the women bragged about their young and brilliant lives, she nearly emptied out three glasses till one of them commented on it, "You really love drinking huh?"
"Only when I have to listen to cheap bullshit" She muttered, earning gasps from the women.
"Excuse me" Ruby walked back towards Mr.Hayes who was busy entertaining his niece and nephew.
Might as well give the audience more to talk about.
Last Edited - 11/06/23