"Ugh!"
Joseph jumped slightly and so did his royal blue velvety file which he was holding, as he saw black-nailed fingers and an arm wrapped up in red sleeve jutting out from behind the Gothic pillar.
Ruby appeared in front of him, plucking her lips upwards. "Did I scare a six-foot-two inches cavalier who claims to have a heart of steel? I actually can't believe that. My bad, I should've recorded it on my phone."
She pouted at her phone with disappointment-bloated eyes.
Joseph angled his head after scanning the surrounding, giving a tight-lipped smile born out of satire remark, "Heard you made some new friends. But don't forget your goal. Remember, you have to swing the sword once, and with precision."
Pursing her lips, Ruby reached up to him and fixed his collars, knowing that was the only possible way of coming closer to him. She whispered against his lips, "Feeling ruined, disgraced, or maybe covetous. Say it. You don't know how desperate I'm to hear you speak."
Nothing happened.
Ruby landed back on her feet and noticed that he had the sleeves of his crisp white shirt rolled up neatly and his thick nerves accentuated his manliness. He was angry. Or pretending to be.
"For now, I'm feeling squeamish and want you to stand at an arm's distance from me. I've showered nicely and would suggest you go clean your body first. A proper ten minutes shower to be exact with the duration." His husky voice laid more stress on the unnecessary cleanliness quotient that reminded her of the time when he visited her place ─ the reeking neighborhood for the first time and there hung a tale.
She bit her upper lip at the distant memory.
"Now, I hate this neatnik version of yours." She didn't kill her urge to sniff her underarms in front of Joseph who instantly whipped his head in the other direction. Ruby and etiquette could never be best friends; not even friends in the first place, he thought to himself.
"I don't stench with sweat. Stop lying Jose . . . you are being extra cautious. Be a daring man and take me in your embrace."
That being said, Ruby distended her arms and took baby steps, threatening to squeeze him in her lanky, damp arms. Joseph pulled her away at once by gripping her arms. "You are so disobedient at times. Stay away from me, you portable germ!"
"Portable germ. Not bad. So I was just thinking to . . ." Ruby stared at the aquarium for a couple of seconds, nodding furiously. ". . . to make you another portable germ Mr Holden. Decided."
She yanked her body against Joseph's, forcefully latching her one thigh around his torso ─ although she couldn't reach his level, she managed to plant a stronger loop of her arms around his neck.
Silent laughing and giggling filled the corner of the dark hall, where there were no signs of people like─ her depressed brother, Mark; dull and worn-out workers; ghostly servants; billionaire siblings, or her best friend, Tasher.
Ruby clenched his collar tightly. Exceptionally soon she began to feel his muscle ripped through his shirt as he turned her around, interlocking her head between his arm.
"Ow! Joseph! Gotta Lose your grip please!" She tapped his elbow frequently. Whereas, Joseph romped her down, relaxing his arms and releasing her for the old times' sake. "Okay! I'll go and hit the shower."
"Good. Anyways, I've something important to tell you."
***
Mary who was examining every servant's work with razor-like sharp eyes behind her squared spectacles strode through the hallway. As it happened, she glimpsed a wide robust figure of someone chit-chatting with Elizabeth who looked so joyous in that secluded area. She pushed back her glasses and strained her eyes at the couple.
Unfortunately, she couldn't see the man's countenance. She was sure that something was questionable about her relationship with the anonymous person.
Elizabeth asserted in a normal tone, with a wink that heightened Mary's suspicion. "I'll smell like peaches. Let me go and scrub my body . . . you will not be able to resist me." She pointed a finger at the man saying, ". . . ten minutes like you said."
As she ambled in Mary's direction, looking lost. Mary turned around and started rearranging the flowers in the vase situated on the stool, but her hand nearly swiped the vase from its place.
Ruby raced up to her to save the vase from getting shattered into pieces, but Mary grabbed it before.
"Phew! Morning Mary," Elizabeth chimed, straightening her back. Humming a song as she left without sparing a word with Mary.
Mary wished her the same, a forced smile occupied her lips. Her eyes drove in the man's direction and then to Elizabeth's secretly. "I'll have to get his name before I acquaint Katherine with this addled information."
***
A few hours later, Mrs Warner, Joseph, and five to six people clad in formal attire were outside in the passage talking about something important and approached the end of it.
"Mr Mackenzie, we have shown you the blueprints. If you are still not convinced, I can personally take you on a tour of our institution. That way, you could clear your doubts then and there," Mrs Warner suggested as she flew a hand southward, looking impassive.
"I've parallel thoughts, Mrs Warner. Let's not waste our time talking here," the old Conch muttered, clapping his hands in undefined excitement.
"Wait for me!" resounded a shrilled yet confident voice in the emptiness of the space.
Mrs Warner and her gaggle ─ more importantly, Joseph turned around en masse. Joseph's eyes moistened and his brows arched up in anticipation to look up at the girl.
Hold on a second. Joseph took his time ogling at the white lacey strip peeking from under her coat, complementing her fair skin. But that was not okay from his view of decency.
Ruby had amped up the androgynous style the emerald green tuxedo jacket and slim leg satin-trimmed pants paying homage to modern times.
And a hand-strung necklace of Swarovski pearls; the smallest pearls at the clasp in the back and gradually increased in size as they reached around the front. Snake print-heeled shoes completed her look.
An ivory white lingerie top encased her breasts or promised to encase for a matter of fact. Her hair was soaked in the delicious hues of brown sugar downlights, bronze eyes with peach-colored lips.
Joseph's jaw was unhinged and he clamped it after realizing he had been standing between two men, one of them tilted his head and whispered in Joseph's ear quite seductively, "Oh, Christ. She looks like an urban goddess ─ straightaway popping out of Maire Claire. I want to take that jacket off and unleash the female underneath."
Joseph's lips parted and he shot up his eyes at him, shaking his head disbelievingly. Giving him a hang Joseph, only waited to hear a solid statement coming from Ruby. Or else his natural acumen would have to come up with something that allowed her to stay, only at the mansion ─ and in her room, especially with that lacey top.
"I find it tiring. At the same time, roaming around in the mansion like a pilgrim has become so boring. If I tag along with you, at least I'll see some more different faces and will recall it as a productive day before I sleep," Ruby asserted foolishly, playing with her hands.
He knew that two days weren't enough for any outsider to explore the entire mansion completely ─ and to announce it boring was a brutish disrespect to the mansion. He looked sideways and caught someone taking pictures of Ruby with illicit intentions.
Joseph frowned hard, seething after watching the man's craft. He walked up to him sneakily and whispered to him poisonously from the side, "Delete those pictures from your phone."
"Gosh, you saw it . . . okay I took it only to show it to my wife. She will be like a role model to─"
"Right now." Joseph pressed, without regard to his gibberish. The bald man jumped up and selected the option of deleting pictures. "And from your recycle bin as well," Joseph reminded mindfully.
A few seconds passed in silence and finally, a sweet verdict was announced by Mrs. Warner, "I can never say no to you, can I? Let's go now." She joined her hand with Ruby's and pulled her along.
Ruby smiled, stealing a glance at Joseph who didn't look at her ever since the decision was taken.
***
The convoy formed up, their car was in the middle pulling up in front of the metallic swing gate. The driver opened the door, and they alighted out of the car.
"I welcome you to my little paradise, El. You will love this place only if you love children," said Mrs Warner as they all marched inside.
Ruby beamed and suddenly asked, "What makes the parents so inhuman that they leave their children in some other person's hand?" Expecting Mrs. Warner to clear her impression on this cruelty, that had been a part of her sufferings.
"When a mother gets a hint that her child is not safe at her home ─ maybe it's because of her abusive husband, lack of shelter, or she couldn't finance his needs. They find it a viable option to leave their baby at the doorstep of this building. And then we endeavor to provide them with a better lifestyle than they would have never gotten otherwise."
Ruby's eyes swam, she rubbed her eyebrow in a way to quickly wipe away the tear that glided down her cheek.
"I guess so." Ruby smiled, breathing out.
There was a spacious playground at the center, allowing children to run, jump, and explore. A swing set, towers, slides, sandpits, and a high-pitched noise erupted from their tiny throats.
A small redhead with two thick braids hopped in Ruby's direction; her crimson-red tunic wallowed in the ground some time ago.
Ruby cowered down and picked her up in her arms. "Gosh, she's so heavy." She gasped as she gazed at Joseph and earned a laugh from Mrs Warner.
"You are so beautiful!" She touched Ruby's lips and curled her little fingers around her pearl necklace.
"No, it's you who is beautiful!" Ruby kissed her cheeks and the girl slipped out of her grip like a shrinking violet.
Joseph finally broke the forty-five minutes supposedly oath of not speaking anything. Forty-five seemed like a number of the day. He spoke, "Mr Mackenzie, we─"
"I'm feeling hungry," Ruby interrupted, she didn't sound as though she meant and felt those words.
Mrs Warner wore a worried expression. "Oh, okay. I'll show you the canteen."
Ruby gesticulated for Mrs Warner to come near her, away from Mr Mackenzie. "No, it's fine. I don't want to meddle in your business. I can take Joseph with me," Ruby stated assuringly.
Joseph's ears perked up, adhering to his self-serious mode, he proclaimed, "Let's eat something first. They make some really good Iced Americano."
Everyone agreed, apart from Ruby who was cussing Joseph under her breath. Why was he distancing himself? She didn't like the idea of taking the trope to the canteen.
They sat around the table, Joseph drew out a chair and as Ruby was about to sit on it, he called out, "Hardin, join me."
He gave his below-average-looking peer something he had denied giving Ruby all day: a warm smile. She shut her eyes and circled the table, ended up seating next to her so-called mother, and across from stern-faced Joseph.
Ruby reclined in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest with her brows cocked up. Why was he ignoring her?
Someone came and set the table with cold beverages and mid-day meals, and before she could notice, Joseph was already enjoying sipping on his Iced Americano while his fingers handling the iPad affairs.
Ruby exhaled and rested her hands on the table. So boring. So to speak, Mr Mackenzie and his team were opening their mouths only to chatter more than to eat. It was loud.
The day drained her energy and she thought of giving in to the exhaustion. She was not dressed in such a way as to receive a compliment from a small girl and a few comments from the perverts back there in the mansion. Rather, she was dressed for Joseph who was currently having a great time, or pretending to have one--- only God knew.
Ruby bit her lips as she placed her ceramic cup below the table and ran her fingers against the top surface, dragging his ice americano near her surreptitiously.
Joseph gaped at her audacity for a minute, eyes dropping to his device once again.
She slurped it in delight or out of frustration, Mrs. Warner stopped the mid-talk and asked her, "Anything you want to count in your favorites?"
"Actually, the Iced Americano tastes wonderful here. I think I should come here daily." Ruby looked cloyingly at her.
Joseph choked.
Word count - 2196
a/n; sorry for the late update. Anyways, what is Josie's problem man?