Caleb's POV
As I cinched the last cufflink in place, my gaze landed on the the mirror in front of me. For a moment, I paused to look at my own reflection, and the unfamiliar guy that was staring back at me with a ridiculous smile on his face.
Leo was right. I did look whipped, almost love sick. Head over heels for the woman who was 25 minutes of drive away from me right now, hoping that she was feeling same butterflies that were messing around in my stomach at the thought of seeing her again.
But then, who wouldn't look whipped after spending almost 36 hours with the most amazing woman he had ever met?
The woman who thankfully seemed as in love with him as he was with her.
It still surprised me how easily I was able to think that word. And how easy it was for me to accept the fact that I was in love with Ruth. It was, without a doubt, another symptom of The Ruth effect.
The memory of the time I had told this to her came back to me and I watched my grin widen in the mirror. That was an amazing moment. Almost as amazing as the rest of this day.
I felt my heart kick up a notch as I remembered spending all morning christening almost every room and available surface in that suite with Ruth, only pausing to have breakfast and lunch up until it was time for us to leave for our home and get ready for the Christmas party.
I had briefly contemplated skipping the party altogether so I got to spend the Christmas eve alone with Ruth, but almost as soon as the thought had popped into my mind, I dismissed it.
Leo would want me to attend the party, especially since he couldn't. And while I wasn't his standby guy, I felt like this was the least I could do after all that he had done for me in the last few weeks.
Besides, Ruth had been excited about the party ever since she had heard of it and I didn't have the heart to deny her when she clearly wanted to attend it.
I consoled myself with the thought that it didn't matter if we were alone or not. If Ruth was with me, I knew I would enjoy even the deepest pits of burning hell.
But still, the thought of sharing her - us - with the rest of the world had put me slightly on the edge. This would be the first time we would step out of our precious bubble and into the real world since we got together, and the prospect made me restless for some reason.
That was probably why I had voted to stay indoors this morning after we had briefly contemplated going out and stretching our legs a bit.
I had reasoned that with the weather so cold and the suite so well equipped, it made sense fo stay indoors for a little while longer. But the reality was that I simply wanted to hoard her from the rest of the world amd keep her all to myself even though this too had its limitations.
For one, I couldn't act on my impulse of letting the whole world know that a beautiful, almost perfect woman like Ruth belonged to me and the sheer paradox of my brain wasn't lost on me.
Not to mention, my pride wasn't exactly happy when I had to ask Leo if we could spend half the day today in his suite/penthouse until we had to leave to get ready.
Asking favours had never been a strong suit of mine and I had expected Leo to take complete advantage of that knowledge.
But to his credit, he didn't pull out any of his usual jabs this time. Come to think of it, he had sounded too distracted to even put much thought into anything I said. But then that was always the case when he went to visit his mother.
As I straightened my blazer, my thoughts went back to the woman who had been living in my mind rent free for longer than I realised.
I knew many would say this was just the honeymoon phase of our relationship talking, but she really was the most perfect woman I had ever met. She soothed and excited me all at the same time.
There was something so calm and balancing about her that I felt like I was standing on the edge of a precipice but didn't feel any fear of falling off it.
With a last look at myself abd feeling ready, I turned and picked up my phone along with two rectangular, black boxes from the bed that had been waiting for me in the mailbox when I had gotten home two hours ago with red and green Christmas wrapping.
After thinking for another moment, I exhaled called my self-appointed Santa, who picked up on second ring.
"What blew up?"
His words made me snort.
"Considering the time difference between New York and Seattle, your question is about 2 or 3 hours premature, Leo."
"I can't help it. You only call me when something seriously disastrous had happened. Besides, you know that being here puts me on edge. Anyway, if something didn't blow up yet, why are you calling me? Shouldn't you be on your way with your lady love to the party by now? Or wait, you didn't decide to skip it, did you? Caleb—"
"Would you stop talking for one fucking second, Leo? Its like you don't even breathe between your sentences."
When I heard all but a harsh exhale from the other end, I continued, "I didn't call you to take care of some disaster, and I am not skipping the party. I just called to say, thank you."
"What was that?" Leo asked and honestly I couldn't blame him. I had never thanked him for anything ever, and maybe that was why the last part had come out more like a mumble than an actual word.
"I said, I called so I can thank you." I answered, making sure this time it was loud and clear.
"Huh. Maybe it is time difference or cold jamming the phone lines, but I swear I thought I heard you say 'thank you'."
Oh, now he was just being a dick.
"Don't make me regret saying it, Leo. I'm just, grateful to you for all that you have done for me in the last few weeks. Months, really. I know if it wasn't for you, I would have sabotaged my own life long before I even found Ruth. And if it wasn't for you, I would have lost what probably was the best thing that has ever happened to me. So, thank you and — are you crying?"
I paused as I heard a faint sniff from the other end.
"No! Of course not. That was just the, uh, water filter. Makes that noise. Weird ones. Ahem... Well, I'm kinda at loss of what to say right now, except that I'm really happy for you, Caleb."
He admitted sounding more like himself now as he continued, "you really have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to love and care for someone as much as you seem to love and care for Ruth. And I'm happy that I got to play some part in that."
"You've been waiting for me to fall in love?" I frowned hearing that. Why had Leo been waiting for me to fall in love?
"Hell yeah. How else would I get the joy of tormenting you when I flirt with her right in front of you? I haven't forgotten middle school, you know. You seem to have a knack for making every girl crush on you that I had a crush on."
And just like that, Leo was back. I rolled my eyes at his obvious attempt to stir the conversation away from mushy topic and played along.
Because frankly, Leo being emotional mother hen had started to creep me out a bit.
"That's because ALL the girls had a crush on me back then, Leo. You were fighting a losing battle."
"Fuck you, asshole."
"My apologies, big boy, but Ruth already called dibs on me for tonight. Thanks for the masks, by the way."
"Don't mention it. It was me who had forgotten to inform you that the party is gonna be masquerade, so it was upto me to provide you with one. Anyway, enjoy yourself tonight and give my love along with the mask to Ruth."
"Will do." I grinned as I disconnected the call, feeling my equilibrium returning. Now that the call was out of the way, I was free to focus all my thoughts back on Ruth again. I felt my stomach clench with excitement.
I glanced at the time as I walked out of the bedroom: 7:45PM. It was slightly later than when I had planned to leave, but I knew Steve will cover up the lost time.
Sending him a quick message to bring the car out front, I slipped the phone back in my pocket. I really ought to give that man a raise.
With a spring in my steps, I shrugged on my coat, collected my wallet, the keys and a small box containing Ruth's Christmas gift.
I had bought it after dropping her at her apartment, piling it on top of the box of mask and opened the front door to step out, but froze dead in my tracks as I saw what - or rather, who - was waiting for me on my doorstep with his hand raised, as if he was just about to knock.
"Hello, Caleb. I wish you a happy Christmas eve. Won't you invite me in?"
His gruff voice was soft, but I felt it jolt me out of my stupor as I looked that man standing in front of me, up and down in shock.
"Dad?"
*
Ruth's POV
"Okay, I'm coming out." I announced and stepped out of my room and into the living room watching Shy's eyes go wide as she looked me up and down.
When she failed to comment for a whole 30 seconds, I raised my brows impatiently at her and prompted, "well? How does it look?"
"Oh, Ruthie," She jumped down from her perch on the kitchen counter where she had been nibbling on some crackers and dusted her hands, before walking up to me.
When she stopped in front of me without reply, I deflated both physically and spiritually.
"I knew this was too bold. It's an office party after all, even if it's being held at a swanky banquet. God, I'm so stupid. Thank God Caleb is running late and isn't here to pick me up yet or else—"
"Or else, he would totally make me feel nauseous by being all over you in front of me, because he just wouldn't be able to keep his hands, eyes or any other part off you." Shy cut my rant off by raising her voice over mine with a wicked grin.
"Shy!" I felt myself blush from the roots of my hair to the tip of my toes, more because of the mental image she had created rather than her blunt remark.
"What? Its true. He seems like the type who doesn't care for social niceties." She shrugged and then continued.
"Besides, nobody will blame him for his lack of control. You look ravishingly hot."
This time I felt myself blush from her genuinely warm complement as she eyed me from head to toe with appreciation.
"Damn, girl. I didn't even know you owned something like this. What other secrets have you managed to keep from me in that closet of yours, hm?"
"Only the ones you absolutely don't wanna know." My reply matched her playful tone and we both laughed.
God, she was really good for my self-esteem. As was Caleb. It had only been a day or two, but already he had managed to lure me out of my deceptively conservative shell.
It was just that the way he looked made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. That was probably why I had dared to dig this dress up from the very back of my closet that was right next to where my black lingerie was previously tucked away.
Any other time, I would have considered the deep red satin too provocative to be worn at a work event and would have instead stuck to some safe colours like beige and browns.
But as I walked back into my room and looked at myself in the floor length mirror now, I felt confident. Confident that I can pull a dress like this off, confident that I was beautiful.
"Whatever it is that you're thinking, I say you're absolutely correct to think that."
Shy spoke as she followed me in and flopped down on the bed with a proud smile.
"You don't even know what I am thinking."
"I don't need to. That smile on your face is a clue enough for me. You should wear that long black coat you have over this. It'll make many jaws drop when you step out of it wearing that."
"I'm not interested in making many jaws drop. I just wanna—"
"— make one specific jaw drop." She cut me off with a teasing lilt and I felt myself blush the same shade of red as my dress.
"Speaking of, when's the jaw due to pick you up?"
We both glanced at the clock together and noted that it was past 8:15PM now and there was still no sign of Caleb.
"He was supposed to be here by 8PM. Probably got stuck in traffic? It's Christmas eve after all."
I reasoned, more to myself than Shy. As much as I had come to know Caleb, he was rarely - if ever tardy. And now that I was ready and had nothing else to do but wait, the delay in his arrival was making my stomach knot up.
Unaware of the sudden nerves that had sprouted up in the pits of my stomach, Shy nodded and got up.
"You're probably right. Your office is running a bit behind with this party, isn't it? Work place Christmas parties are rarely scheduled on Christmas eve."
"That's right," I walked out of the room behind her and sat down on the couch next to my clutch and phone.
"Usually it is kept a day or two before, so that employees can visit home or celebrate with their family and friends. But with the takeover and stuff just a few weeks ago, the new management decided on the 24th."
I explained, while eying the phone, debating whether or not I should call Caleb and find out just where he was. There wasn't anything wrong with that of course, but it just felt weird to call him, maybe because I had never called him before.
"They didn't want to skip it altogether and have their new employees believe that the management of CrossRoads software was a bunch of penny pinching dicks."
Shy laughed at that, but I barely managed a smile in return. I didn't want to feel paranoid, but as the minute hand on the clock slowly inched closer to 8:30PM, my heart couldn't help but thud uncomfortably against my ribs.
Where was Caleb? Why wasn't he here yet? All evening, I had rushed through my makeup and dress-up, not wanting to make Caleb wait for me. And now he was the one making me wait.
"Here, have some of your birthday cake," Shy sat down next to me and placed the plate containing a huge slice of red velvet cake on it. She handed me a fork and dug into the slice with hers.
"Mm, delicious. I've never had a cake that was so delicious that it wasn't chocolate. Full marks for this choice to your Torpedo."
She winked, and I tried to smile back at her but it felt flat even to me. My stomach was in knots now as I eyed my phone every few seconds to see if I had the notification light blinking.
"You're overthinking."
Shy sighed in defeat and placed the dish back on the table along with both of our forks when she caught me glancing at the phone.
"Whatever are you talking about?"
"Ruthie, I can practically hear the thoughts racing in your brain right now. It's Christmas eve, for heaven's sake. The streets are probably jam packed with traffic. Of course, he is late."
"But he is never late."
"Never? Isn't that how he collided with you that first time you two met? If memory serves right, he was not just late, but had also forgotten something."
"That was once."
"And this time, today, could be once more."
I opened my mouth to let Shy know exactly what I thought about her clement attitude, but at that moment the doorbell rang.
I jumped, first from the nerves and then up and off the couch before Sairey could move, and made my way to the door with Shy's amused, "don't trip on your own heels," following behind me.
I exhaled and felt a smile start instinctively on my lips as I pulled the door open. But it froze on a grimace when I saw who was standing on the other side of the door.
"You?"