Chapter 101: Chapter 101

TOBY

Devastation is an understatement for what I felt after losing Ruby. I couldn't even bring myself to go see Jeremy. The last thing I wanted to see was Ruby all happy with Aiden or God knows who so I kept my distance. Guilt was the price I had to pay for this decision but I was a shitty father and I deserved every ounce of guilt that came my way. I couldn't connect with one of my sons and now I had left the one I was close to because I couldn't stand his mother.

I woke up with a banging headache which was becoming the norm for me. The moment I rolled over I came face to face with long hair splayed across the pillows beside me. The first thought that came across my mind excited me. Ruby must be back but on closer inspection, I noticed that the hair colour was different from Ruby's unless she had her hair dyed. I held on to hope that by some miracle she was back the way she left. Moving closer my hope came crashing down, it didn't smell like her and the outline of the body under the sheets didn't match her. Ruby had a fuller body which I had come to enjoy. Now that was unusual. My hangover brain couldn't be trusted but I do remember coming home alone last night.

I yanked the sheets, ready to toss out whoever was underneath it to reveal Yasmin. What the hell? I threw the sheets back on her to cover her almost naked body before tapping her awake.

"Good morning, baby," she cooed, sitting up and causing the sheets to fall. They revealed her perky breast, bouncing at the slightest movement she made. I found myself responding naturally but I turned my eyes away.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to please you," she said, inching closer to me.

"Did anything happen between us?" What a lame question. I was acting like the girl here.

"Why so many questions, you weren't asking so many questions when you were banging me last night." Eyes closed, her words hit me hard. I felt like I had betrayed Ruby. Even though she didn't want anything to do with me anymore, how could I do such a thing on the bed where we had made love and shared so much?

When her hands snaked up my bare chest and she pressed her breast against me, I couldn't take it anymore, "get out," I thundered. I pushed her off me with way too much force and she came tumbling off the bed. Before she was totally on her feet I was already herding her out the door in nothing but her g-string panties that left half her ass cheeks exposed. I grabbed my shirt from flour and threw it at her in the hall where she stood, looking stunned with her arms over her bare chest.

With the door firmly shut behind me, I looked down at my crotch to confirm what I already knew, I had a hard-on. I was angry and ashamed not just of her behaviour but of my reaction. I was so wasted last night, there is no way I could have had sex with her or could I have. I've messed up. Any chances of getting Ruby back were over now.

All the thinking I was doing coupled with the terrible hangover I had only made things so much worse. I trudged over to the little kitchenette in the outer part of the Master suite to make myself a cup of coffee then called the kitchen to send some breakfast up.

Food was the last thing on my mind, I still felt nauseated but it was what I needed to recover from this hangover before afternoon. It looked like I was not going to work yet again. I no longer had any motivation to put in my best at work, even my father's threats had lost their effects on me.

At lunch, I was shocked to see Yasmin, her mother and little Toby seated at the dining table.

"Finally, we've been waiting for you," Yasmin said, rising to her feet.

"Hi," I greeted everyone curtly on my way to my seat.

"You're going to work?" Yasmin asked, she must have guessed from my attire. I was wearing a light blue button-down shirt, a tie in a darker shade of blue over it and black office pants and shoes to tie everything together. I had purposely opted out of wearing a jacket, going for a more casual feel, seeing as half of the day was gone. I planned to have lunch and then head to the office for the first time that week instead of sitting home and having guilt and pain eat me raw. It had been my new routine. Nurture a hangover and wallow in sorrow and guilt all day then resume drinking the moment it wears off.

Her mother glared daggers at the both of us, while she casually made me a plate like it was something she did every day. She didn't like me and I didn't care. Yasmin was the only one bothered about the tense atmosphere, she tried starting up a conversation with neither her mother nor I were ready to take the bait.

I stood off from my place with my plate still half full and she followed me. I walked ahead of her not paying any mind to her rapid footsteps falling behind me. I only stopped when I reached the car I was going out with.

I waited for her to catch up before asking, "what the hell are you up to?"

"Nothing, I'm only taking my rightful place," she replied coyly. Without another word, to her, I stepped into my car and drove off.

The one good thing about her crashing at my house was that it made me go to work more often. I even stopped drinking as much so I would be out of the house in time to avoid her. On days I knew she had parties or events I would come back home early and play with Toby. I quickly found out that she was a negligent mother and that her mother picked up her slack. When my mother noticed I was giving the boy attention her daughter was not around she became my ally. She would inform me when she was not around and we quickly formed a special bond.

I tolerated Yasmin for weeks in my house. I did it mostly because of little Toby and also her mother, we were bonding but when pictures of my divorce papers leaked, I couldn't take it anymore. Those papers were in my office so I knew it had to be her. None of the staff would even dare to break their contract. I confronted her and she admitted to it so I gave her an hour to leave or I'd have security escort her off the property.

"You'll regret this," were her last words to me but at that point, I felt I could damn the consequences. The public was bashing Ruby again and all I could see was red, someone had to pay.