~RUBY The silence in the room was loaded. The air became tense and strained. Or maybe it was just me. I had no idea why I was reacting to Ash this way. It was probably because he was a jerk to me. Ethan said nothing, he just corked his head to the side as he watched his brother. "I uhm," Ash cleared his throat. "I think I might have done something bad last night," he said. The way he glanced at me and then at Ethan made me immediately suspicious. What have you done, you agent of devil? Okay, probably not devil. More like agent of confusion. "Just get on with it, Ash. Suspense is bad for the health. Keeping newlyweds in suspense is bad etiquette," Ethan said and I smiled. His sense of humour was top notch. My sweet, funny husband. "I think I might have booked a hotel reservation for your honeymoon," he said sheepishly. I snorted. I did not believe his act for a second. He was a pretending jerk. His eyes glinted with amusement when he caught me glaring at
~RUBY "Ruby? You okay?" Ella's voice floated to me from my phone speaker but I was too distracted to give her a response. I hung up and placed my phone in my pocket. Ethan hadn't noticed me yet, he was shaking the water out of his hair. "Damn, man. You look really delicious. I want to sink my teeth into you," I crooned as I looked him over and he yelped, stepping backwards. "Ruby! What are you doing here?" His voice was hoarse and his cheeks turned beet red as I continued to ogle at his perfect, delicious, definitely eatable body "Darling husband. What do you mean what am I doing here? This is our bedroom of course," I teased as I took a step towards him. He immediately took a step backwards and I chuckled. "Come on. Don't be shy. We are married, after all," I said as I continued to tease him by walking closer. "Don't come closer." "Make me," I purred and his whole face went kaboom, redder than a tomato. "Stop. Just stop. I'm embarrassed. I forgot to take
~ETHAN "Ethan. How do I look?" She asked. And I turned away from the wristwatch only to come face to face with her. Her. Mine. Her. A screeching sound immediately began to disturb my sense of hearing, and sight, and common sense. No. No. No. Who is she? Her...dead. Alive? Standing right before me. Bleeding on her car seat. My bedroom. An hospital room. Tears. Laughter My heart began to pound as I tried to concentrate on the lady standing before me. She looked worried, her eyebrows pinched my concentration as she tried to talk to me. But I could not concentrate because she split into two, her doppelganger dressed in a short, pleated skirt and a cashmere cardigan, a bow on her lush, black hair. Black hair. Red hair. Same face. Same body structure. Black hair, red hair. "Ethan? Ethan. Oh my goodness. My God. You're scaring me. What's going on?" She asked, panic creeping into her voice as I stared at her, my eyes twitching. Two univers
~RUBY My heart was pounding wildly in my chest. I somehow felt that what happened with Ethan was my fault. All I wanted was a compliment. I didn't expect him to lose it when he saw me. So yeah, the guilt was eating me real bad. I made sure he knew none of this though, as I continued to pat him on the back. His shoulders heaved softly and I knew he was crying. God. I can't even imagine how hard things must be for him. My poor boy. I started to hum a sound I don't remember recall listening to, but it stuck by me all the same. His breathing seemed to become easier as I hummed and I held him close, trying to convey that I'd always hold him whenever he was down. After a while, Ethan sniffed and pulled away from my embrace. "Hey. You okay?" I asked softly but he looked away, his cheeks becoming slightly red. He didn't look at me. I moved closer to him, not minding my dress and his nakedness. "Ethan? Talk to me. Are you okay?" I asked again and Ethan jerked his he
~ETHAN Ruby was silent for the rest of our drive to the airport. I have no idea how to deal with what her friend just said but it was obviously not a good thing, as it made my baby sad. I didn't say anything though. I just placed my hand on her knee to remind her of my presence. We got to the airport and packed, and I alighted to get our luggages. We were halfway through the reception when someone screamed Ruby's name. "Ruby," the shrill voice cut through the crowd and Ruby whirled around, immediately spotting her friend. They rushed to hug each other, tears pooling in Ruby's eyes. "Oh my god. You're leaving. You're really leaving," she sobbed on her friend's shoulder. Ella was no better as tears dropped down her face too. "I'm sorry. You know how sudden these things are." "Jesus. Ella. The last time you were gone, I didn't see you for six months. Who knows how long you're staying away for now?" "I don't know too, okay? But from the looks of it, I'll be gone
~RUBY Ethan didn't come back inside. My stomach started to knot into tiny, little worry clots as I waited. And waited. And waited. My swimsuit stuck to my body like plaster and my body was aching painfully. Where the hell was this man? I was about to throw caution to the wind and go downstairs to see whoever he was talking to that kept him waiting when the door opened and the lights went out immediately. He strode into the room, still in his pair of shorts. "Ethan?" I called out. He said nothing as he walked up to me and grabbed my waist, pulling me against his body. "What took you so long? Who was at the door?" I asked as he began to trail kisses on my neck. I chuckled as I angled my head to give him further access. "You made me wait. I was this close to losing it and storming downstairs to drag you away from whoever it was," I whispered as his hands found my nipples. He tugged on them, and the suddenness of the gesture made me gasp. His hands were rough as
~RUBY I yawned as I sat up, my phone blowing off. As I picked it up and saw the caller's ID, I hit the red button and placed my phone on airplane mode. I was in no mood to deal with Ella this morning. Besides, I bet she could smell me from over there and would never ever let me rest until she twisted last night out of me. Speaking of last night...I turned around and noted that Ethan was not inside with me. I sighed dejectedly. “I should have known that he would run off again,” I muttered in a down tone. I wished he would stay and wake up with me in the morning. Then I suddenly shook the moodiness away. He probably went downstairs to attend to something. I hummed as I stood up and immediately stopped, my thighs throbbing from been taken apart mercilessly last night. My entire body was aching badly, and it took me a while before I could walk into the bathroom. As I soaked into the water Ethan had drawn for me, I sighed with relief. At least I wouldn't ache as much no
~RUBY I was shaking profusely. My hands, my legs, my whole body was shaking uncontrollably as I watched Ethan dive into the water to save his brother. I was in a daze. Everything seemed blurry to me and the world slowed down. I watched with unseeing eyes as Ethan carried his brother out of the water, the same thought ringing in my head. I almost killed someone. I almost caused the death of Ethan's brother. My in law. A perfectly healthy person. Was I so far gone in my head, my unreasonable anger, that I was stupid enough to do something as dangerous as that? He could have drowned. He could have swallowed the water and died. And it would have been my fault, I would have been arrested and be prepared to be sent to jail, if Ethan had not been around. I was a fool. Ethan was pumping his brother's chest, trying to get him to spit out the pool water he had swallowed. Ash was breathing only narrowly, and he was unconscious. His skin had become red, as rashes app