It was morning again. Ruby was all-in and sleeping like a cavalier; her lower body wrapped burritolike in the thin blanket whose tassels touched the floor. The muffled ringing sound of the phone that filled the quiet of the room did not affect the two of them.
Emily soared in her bed as the sound began to hit her consciousness after a while. Her hand sifted through clutter lodged on the headrest, and a few of them showered over her head. She grabbed her phone. Why is Madame Tào calling so early? was what she had popularly assumed. "Hello?" she spoke in a groggy voice and stifled a shark-mouthed yawn erupting from her mouth.
"Good morning, am I talking to . . . miss, Ruby?"
Her forehead creased as she heard an impervious, and husky texture of a male voice on the other end. It is not Horan, she thought. "Can I know your name?" Emily asked timidly, raking her fingers through her golden hair as her gaze traveled to Ruby. Who did Ruby contact? A whirl of doubts tumbled around her brain.
"I'm Joseph Holden. I wanted to discuss some business with her. I'm sure she must have told you about our last meeting," he replied sharply.
"Oh, so you're Joseph! Very good morning to you, and so you wanna talk to Ruby. Alright. Give me a sec." She punctuated her statement with a short laugh. His six-letter name worthy of hope and wealth was more than enough to mitigate the heaviness of sleep.
Emily pulled the blanket and pinned the phone to her ear. Ruby stirred before sitting up, taking a minute to understand what was happening around her. "It's Joseph, the handsome guy from the party a few days back. He wants to talk about some work," she mumbled, covering the lower body of the phone.
"What? Who Joseph?" Ruby let out a faint groan before taking the phone from Emily's hand and returning her jiggly.
"The man who couldn't take his eyes off the party three days ago."
"Oh, it's him. Why is he after my life?" She scratched her head and kicked the blanket until it rolled out and melted onto the floor. "Emily, just tell me I'm in the bathroom scrubbing tiles; it would take time. I simply don't know how to talk to him?" Ruby bit her nails and gave Emily's forearm a rough squeeze.
"Hello Joseph, I'm afraid to say but she's not here for the moment."
"Okay, I'll send you a text please acquaint her with the information as soon as possible," Joseph declared quickly.
Emily hung up her phone and paced toward her with a grimaced expression. "How could you give my number to any stranger like that? I was so terrified with the call."
"Hey, take a chill pill. I thought you said he was tall, handsome, and sorta husband material some time ago," Ruby said jokingly, spreading her arms wide and rolling out of her bed. "You should know that I don't have a cell phone, and I would never dare to involve Madame Tào in this."
Her lips stretched in a thin line as she enjoined herself in her happiness.
"Anyways, I gotta go and get ready. You are doing my make-up, you know that" Ruby said and earned a million-dollar smile from the elder.
"But, Ruby remember to use magic words often," she gave an early piece of advice. "He shouldn't oust you for back-answering."
****
Tapping his foot, lowering his head, grumbling to himself, and setting a man-eater gaze at his phone for the umpteenth time. God. One hour and thirteen minutes late. He couldn't find comfort in keeping himself seated in one place. His face turned purple with fury. He lifted and trudged toward the loo only to find her standing outside the ladies. Boom.
"Joseph."
"Ah, you (What happened to your face?)" He shuddered, and quickly changed his expression, not wanting to be judged as sarcastic. But, what the hell had she applied on her face? A mix of white chalk powder or plaster.
"You okay?" She situated closer to him, recalling Emily's words hastily. She had to be good to him.
"Yeah, I'm, I'm fine."
A pause and a long boom blasted on his head when he looked at her caked face again. Joseph closed his eyes and went on to address her calmly, "Y-you took so much time."
She added before he could change his mind, "Oh, yeah, the route was very simple, the bus was also on time, but I preferred walking down the street instead of hopping on a taxi. I enjoyed the beauty of life, there were trees and busy people on the road." Ruby chuckled without regretting the fact that she had kept a working man out of his duty.
Joseph nodded understandably as he allowed her to skip with her lie. Her luminous face looked animated and Joseph got the hunch what took her so long.
He gestured her toward the passage to get back to their booked table.
"What would you like to have? So, I mean, erm what would you like to have? yeah." Joseph's well-trained tongue never betrayed him until now. Every time he looked at her, he would forcefully drop his gaze to the small pot of daisies that sat on the center of the table, or to the pattering of the footsteps of customers around them.
"Anything you order will be fine for me. I'm starving though, I had half a sandwich from home." Ruby smiled once again. She couldn't stop gushing over the fact that this was going to jettison her small earnings. Meanwhile, his head lowered to read the menu card, she noticed his hair flap falling on his forehead, and the jawline clenching occasionally helped her weave her reveries artlessly.
The speedily attentive waiter came to their table and scribbled something on his notepad while Joseph explained to him the order.
"So umm . . ." Turning his head to face her, he realized she'd been staring at him.
Ruby slipped into a full-on acting mode as she deflated,
"I'm truly sorry for that day, for my misconduct. I should not have disrespected you. And . . . thanks for taking a chance on me─"
"No, it's─o," Joseph was abruptly cut off.
"Please listen. I don't know how should I thank you for appreciating my singing skills and even giving me work. It's very rare to find people like you. My life, in conclusion, has been a heap of problems-- of all sorts, you wouldn't dare to imagine. And yes, I'm ready to work at any hour of the clock, cause any money is welcomed. I'll manage everything out."
"Ruby─"
"Yes, but we have to make sure my boss doesn't get a hint of this. She's an unpleasant woman who would slit my throat if she finds out that I'm working and making money secretly─"
"Ruby listen." Joseph felt grateful for not losing his control as she stopped. He set his elbows on the table. His movements contracted into a narrow frame as guilt made its way through his thick accent. "I should be the one saying you sorry."
"For what?" Smoothing away her frown, she asked. She needed a potent explanation to clear out the confusion that was building. Ruby had taken a risky move just because she was moved by his intrepid quality and outright approach, now this shouldn't be a mistake of hers, she thought.
"I lied to you," he replied in a tough tone. Exhaling, he jumped up and dragged the chair closer to the table.
"Neither am I managing any gig nor am I booking you for the same."
Ruby's smile turned cold. "Hang on. So why am I here and you are buying me food? Are you . . . expecting something from me?" Her hand went up slowly to cover her chest and she bit her lip hard. "Do you often bring girls here?"
Her further speculations on the theme of deception were cut short as the waiter cropped up from behind her back and placed the delectable bowl of creamed spinach and spicy duck with noodles on the top, the steam creating a foggy wall before her vision, enough to let her see danger ensuing. She rolled her eyes after her mind seethed with contemplation.
"Listen, you are just like an unpolished diamond waiting to shine and sparkle. I want you to partake in my plan." With the newfound suave composure that had set him apart from everyone in the restaurant, he proceeded.
"Me? What plan?" Her eyebrows puckered up.
"It's very simple, only if you see it from my standpoint," he spoke with all seriousness he could gather, leaning closer. "You have to be an imposter of Mrs Warner's daughter for some time - earn her confidence and steal her money."
"Somebody's daughter? Steal her money, for some . . . can you please speak it in a more simple language? I-I just don't get you."
His voice was thin with signals that underscore how important and secretive the matter was. "Okay, I've told you about Katherine Warner. She's counted among the city's most respected, richest, and most prominent families. You'll get a golden chance to live in the lap of luxury as you have always desired if you agree to this."
"Desired? Since when did you get to know so much about my desires and wants? We haven't met in the past." Ruby narrowed her eyes, sliding back in her chair.
"Thirty seconds ago, you rolling your eyes at the platter didn't quite corroborate with what you wanted from inside. You are simply killing your inner desire to have it in your mouth and sink in its taste. Prove me wrong." He mirrored her posture.
That was true. Did he excel in reading the eye language? Ruby exhaled.
"Anyway, your doubts are always welcomed." He now held up the fork in his hand and began to swirl the spaghetti.
"In place of somebody else, you mean to say?" she continued. To smother the rush of words that were gathering at her lips, she raised a glass of water and speculatively asked, "Is this for free?"
He nodded off with a blow-away expression.
She rubbed her lips from the back of her hand after taking big gulps from it.
"She had disappeared long ago and there are no signs of her being alive or dead found by the police as yet. I'm sure as fate that the police have closed Elizabeth's case file as well; its significance has tapered off in the last thirteen years."
A loud cry ripped out of her throat, "Oh, oh wait right there. This doesn't seem like a table talk."
"I'll make more sense if you listen carefully."
She paused. "I'm not doing it. It's a fraud," Ruby implied as she suddenly realized what turn the conversation was taking. Placing her hands on the table as she rose to her feet furiously, she mumbled, "This is insane."
Her refusal was a mildly shocking setback. Suddenly, the knot in his throat appeared like a big rock, and he forced himself to get his voice back.
"Fraud?" He chewed his inside cheek, laughing in the other second. "If you are waiting for the Universe to intervene and change your fate, then you will have to be waiting for a very long time."
She adamantly sent him threats through her unconvinced head jerks.
"Okay. The proposition is highly risky but the rewards are high too."
Joseph swept his tongue over his lower lip smoothly, rubbing his stubble in irritation. "We'll sign a proper contract. Like partnership - with a seal, stating the minute details regarding each party's share. The contract will turn null and void if anybody is caught taking a wrongful advantage. Convenient?"
Ruby shook her head hard this time. "No, I don't understand partnership. I came here in the hope of finding a simple job. Just can't believe a mature man like you is making this kind of whooper plan. I mistook you for observant. Seriously, I can't stand this world!" She had her blood boiling to the highest degree. Ruby wouldn't risk her life for anything. Not even for money, for now, she believed in that statement firmly.
"What are you saying? Judging you by your boldness you are─"
"Just by being bold one doesn't become a complete person. A girl who hasn't held a pen, seen the face of books in years, you want her to put her signature on million dollars papers."
Her intellectual discourse left a feeling of awe in his mind. It was nothing short of a miracle for a girl who never laid her foot in the pond of education to garner such farsighted thinking.
"Goodbye, and don't waste the food. If you don't feel like eating, knock on the door of anyone living on Park Street─ scraping enough for three meals is a challenge for many. They will be helped by your kindness." Ruby articulated, hardly sparing a glance at him as she turned her heated heels toward the exit.
Something instinctively flicked and he called the waiter hurriedly. Groggily handing him the higher denomination of cash and not caring to collect the change. The hard-nosed Joseph ran after her, blocking her way. "Ruby! Take your time and please think rationally."
"That should be directed to you," Ruby barked lowly, pushing his chest with both her hands. "Now, leave."
He sought to baste her in guilt inquisitively, "I can tell Emily to catch you smoking in the alley at dark hours. No wonder when she catches you, you would be seen doing drugs. Who knows?"
She released a shivery breath. "You─"
"Listen . . . I'm not the kind of guy who would use these trivial things and your freedom to manipulate you against you. Your life is your life. Whether you smoke, do drugs, or die, it's no business of my mine." He swiveled his head helplessly. At least now he sounded rational after doubling down. "Coming back to the home truth, we have the same goal. And I need you as much you need me."
She couldn't cotton on to his elusive statement.
Joseph rotated his head and saw the brisk traffic of passers-by, some too busy to notice their spate while others consciously moving away from them so as to not run interference. He whipped his head tearing a small part of the advertisement sheet glued on the iron surface of the streetlight. He folded it and began to stick down something with his pen. "This is my address. Feel free to drop by anytime."
He held the note in his hand before plunging it into her hand. Infuriation soaked her body as she clenched her fist, at the same time crushing the note. Ruby walked away, leaving behind a desolated Joseph.
For all he knew, she was going to come. "You will be there, Elizabeth Warner."
Word count - 2480
a/n; What should Ruby say. "Yes" or "No"? It seems like a deadly plan, I tell uh.
ahem ahem... Elizabeth Warner