Chapter 88: Chapter 88
TOBY.
"And you think that's enough, well then watch me show the world you're a liar and a cheat."
Her statement made me nervous and my brain froze up, I couldn't come up with a comeback quick enough as she stared me down. I quickly jumped back into action as she turned to leave.
"What do you want?" I pulled her back and further into the room. My eyes swept the room to confirm we were alone.
"I want what I've always wanted, divorce Ruby and marry me."
"You know I can't, the elections," I said. She raised a hand, silencing me before I could make any further arguments.
"The elections are just around the corner, you can discreetly prepare the papers now and have her sign them immediately after the results are out." I swallowed nervously at her words.
"What if it leaks, how would that look huh? We just celebrated our anniversary," I said.
"Stop making excuses, It won't be leaking. Lawyers are discreet because they have to be, their whole jobs are built around discretion. If you don't want to divorce her anymore then just tell me but also prepare to have our son's paternity leak, and don't even think for a moment that you can deny it because I have our chats and pictures as receipts. So what is it going to be, Toby."
"I'll get the papers prepared."
"I want to see you in my apartment before the end of the week," she said before strutting out. What the hell was I going to do? The first thing to do right now was to rejoin the party then I would think of all the other details later.
So that's what I did, I snuck into the hall and took my place beside Ruby at our love table but I couldn't quite get my mind to settle. When I got back everyone else was on their last course of dinner and my cold plate of food was in front of me. I had them take it away but not replace it because my mind was far from the thought of eating. I scouted the hall with my eyes for any sign of Yasmin but she was nowhere in sight. If she was here she must have left. I drank glass after glass of wine to get myself back in the party mood.
"Hey, don't you have anything stronger," I said to the waiter. He shook his head in answer.
"Slow down, people are watching us," Ruby whispered. She leaned into me while she was speaking, making her sweet floral scent fill my nostrils.
"You smell nice," I said, sniffing at her neck.
"Stop," she giggled but I continued.
"Drink up," she commanded after she had managed to disentangle herself from me. She was referring to the glass of water that the waiter she had managed to signal over had replaced with my glass of wine. I sipped on water and managed to sober up before it was time to stand up and cut the cake. If I had kept up the drinking then I would have staggered to cut the cake, I could just imagine the headlines.
I stood up first then gave Ruby a hand like a proper gentleman and we strolled over to the four-tier cake. It was decorated in a blue and white marble effect with pictures of Ruby and I plastered around it. We had our pictures at the bottom tier. The next tier had our first kiss at our wedding pictured alongside several other wedding pictures framed in silver pearls. After that came pictures of our honeymoon in Hawaii and the tier at the very top was a collage of both of us with Jeremy from the hospital present. Going around the entire circular tier seamless, one picture fading into another. Nostalgia flowed through me making my throat clog up.
"Are those tears in your eyes?" Ruby asked.
"No," I said, bringing my fingers up to my eyes to feel the moisture gathering. "Someone might be cutting onions somewhere."
"Really, who would be cutting onions here?" She laughed.
"I don't know. Maybe the caterers." After our little distractions, we finally cut the cake amid wide smiles. A round of group photo sessions came up next but this time it was too late for Jeremy to join us, he was already down for the night. We fed each other rich chocolate, vanilla cake and champagne. After all the guests had their feel of cake and champagne we received more congratulatory messages and gifts. My father publicly presented his gift to us which was the deed to his lake house and a weekend getaway on the property had been planned.
"You don't have to worry about anything, Jeremy is safe with me and your bags have been packed," my mum answered Ruby's barrage of questions as we were ushered into the car. They waved us off with huge smiles on their faces.
"Tired?" I asked Ruby but she was already asleep. Her head drooped and fell on my shoulder, I pulled her closer to my body and fell asleep as well. The abrupt stop of the car woke us both up. I opened my eyes to see that we had arrived, the House had a cabin feel to it but it was way too big to be called a cabin.
A thick layer of fog covered the night sky hiding the abundance of stars which was a norm for this part of town making it dark outside but the house at the end of the long driveway was all lit up. I nudged Ruby awake but she only snuggled deeper into me. After a few unsuccessful attempts at trying to wake her, I decided to just carry her. I placed her purse in her lap and pulled her into mine. I inched toward the open door and carried her into the house bridal style. The driver followed after us with our bags and a maid opened the door with warm greetings. I carried her to the bedroom without flinching, she must not have been as heavy as I had braced myself for. She was either tired or the alcohol in her system had wiped her out because she didn't even flinch as I placed her on the bed. Her dress looked uncomfortable to sleep in but I decided to shower before dealing with that situation.
When I was finished with my shower I wore my pyjama bottoms and tentatively approached the bed. I moved her to her side and undid her zip. I had stripped her down to her waist, exposing her lacy black bra when her eyes popped open. I pulled my hands and eyes away from her to avoid looking like more of a perv than I already did.