01
The day Harry Sanchez and I had agreed on to meet my parents, I showed up early and waited for him outside his company.
But when the time came, he came rushing down with another girl in his arms.
"I'm sorry, Ruby Pruitt. The new intern isn't feeling well, I have to get her to the hospital first... we'll go see your mom and dad another day..."
I glanced at the whimpering little thing draped across his chest. "Does she not have a phone, or is her whole family dead? Why does it have to be you?"
Harry's face darkened at once, his tone turning accusatory.
"Ruby, can you not make a scene? She just fainted from low blood sugar. I can't exactly leave her lying there, can I?"
Looking at how utterly blind he was to any boundaries, I suddenly laughed.
Then I swung my hand and slapped him across the face. "Harry, did you forget how you got to be a CEO in the first place?"
1
The words landed like a needle, popping every last bit of moral glow off his face.
His expression snapped, and he lowered his voice to snarl at me. "Ruby, what nonsense are you spouting? Don't stand here shrieking at me like some fishwife! If you've got something to say, say it at home!"
"You're calling me a fishwife?" I let out a cold laugh.
"Harry, I've really been too good to you, haven't I?"
Seeing that I was genuinely angry, he softened a little. "She's just a young girl, she fainted at the office. As her boss, I can't just watch her suffer and do nothing, can I? Once I get her to the hospital, I'll explain everything to your parents myself. Can you please stop this?"
"No." I shook my head, my eyes settling on the arm he had wrapped around Renata Fox.
"She fainted from low blood sugar, so call an ambulance. Are you the only person at this company? Can't a coworker take her? Harry, is this a boss doing his duty, or is this something that's crossed a line?"
"Ruby, when did you get so impossible?" His patience ran out, and his voice went cold again.
"Renata just graduated. Her family's out of town, she doesn't know a soul here, and everyone else is buried in projects. What's the problem with me taking her to the hospital? Do you really have to blow it up into some huge issue?"
When he finished, I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Laughed until the tears nearly came.
How had I never noticed before how good he was at guilt-tripping people.
"Harry, I can't be bothered to argue with you here." I wiped the corner of my eye, brushing away that trace of wetness that shouldn't have been there.
"I'll ask you one thing. Today, are you coming with me to see my parents or not?"
He barely hesitated. "I'll go, but only after I've gotten Renata to the hospital!"
I gave a cold laugh. "Fine! If you want to take her, then take her. But don't come crying about it later!"
With that, I turned around.
I pulled out the keys to the Maybach I'd given him and got into the driver's seat.
Harry's face changed the instant he saw it.
He rushed to the front of the car, frowning. "Ruby! What are you doing? If you drive off with the car, how am I supposed to get Renata to the hospital?"
I glanced at Harry, then at Renata in his arms, and said flatly, "Sorry, Mr. Sanchez. I'm a bit of a clean freak. I can't have filthy things in my car." Then I stepped hard on the gas and drove away from Sanchez Group without a backward glance.
