'RUBY!'
'Whaaa!!' Ruby jumped away from the phone she was holding next to her ear. She had been rudely awakened by the phone bleeping insistently and the impertinent voice on the end of the line.
'Do you even realise what time it is?' Trevor, her project manager practically yelled down the phone at her.
'Oh crap, I'm on my way in now!' She had glanced at the clock and realised it was half eight, which made her half an hour late for work.
'Hahaha, don't worry, Charlie and Harriet have got it covered. Just get yourself here by ten, so you can catch up. Sorry for scaring you!' Trevor hung up the phone, still laughing. She flung herself back on to the bed and grumbled into the pillow. Trevor could be an absolute bell-end at some points but she'd always appreciate him as her boss. He was more like a father figure.
Then pure dread filled her. She'd have to face him. Ruby had been ignoring Andy's texts for the past three days, but she'd have to face the music. Ruby had refrained from reading back over the messages in case she felt the increasing urge to play with herself too strong. But now, she couldn't ignore it any longer. She threw herself out of bed, determined to look gorgeous for the meeting today. Not for him, for the meeting.
...
She splashed water on her face and stared at herself in the mirror, above the sinks at work.
'You are in charge of this, he doesn't control this situation. Just explain that it was a mistake, you'd had a bit to drink and you were just seeing how far he would go. You are not a bad person.' Even then the little demon in her head laughed at her, seizing, gasping laughs that mocked her. She knew deep down to her very core that if he did get even a second leeway, she'd be lost.
'Get it together, get through the day and get home.' She drew herself up, smiled at herself in the mirror and walked purposefully out into the corridor... colliding straight into Andy.
'Jesus, Ruby, are you alright?!' He held her by the shoulders to stop her from tumbling to the ground.
'Yes, thank you, I'm fine, just wasn't looking...' She caught herself as he looked right at her. She wasn't expecting to see pure concern when she looked into his eyes, more lust than anything else, but he was acting as if he genuinely cared for.
'You must be in one hell of a hurry, what are you late for?' He let go of her arms and smiled, almost cautiously at her.
'Yeah, got that meeting with the agents.' She stepped back trying to put as much distance between them.
He took a step closer. 'Are you sure?' He sighed. 'Look, I need to explain about the message the other night...'