Ruby

I looked at the pile of bills in front of me. The bills I had not paid for months. I sighed loudly and plopped down on my bed groaning. I was recently laid off by the job as a waitress in the coffee shop that I used to work at. The coffee shop was a flop for the owner and he had to lay off a few employees inevitably. I had no say in that because I was a part time employee there. I had barely managed to score that job and another during the weekend so that I could support myself.

I am an orphan and stayed at multiple caretaking homes and had eventually grown out of the system without getting adopted. And now I had to fend for myself. With no one as a family member, I have been struggling to make ends meet. Except for my best friend, Mia, whom I had met during high school, I have no one to say as my person.

I heard a knock on the door and felt a sudden nervousness, wondering if the person on the other side of the door was my landlord. Because I was in due to pay the rent. Sighing, I walked to the door and peeped through the hole in the door to check.

Mia, it was. Releasing a relief breath, I unlocked the latch and opened the door.

"Hey, What up?" Mia was a cheerful person and she comes from a pretty decent family. But I am not the one to take advantage of it. I had always wanted to be independent.

"Nothing is up. Everything is down there," I pointed my head towards my study table.

Mia rolled her eyes and went near the table. There were all the unpaid bills of mine. Sighing, Mia turned to me, "You know, you don't have to worry about these. I can help you pay these for some time until you get another job and start the next semester at the college."

I shook my head as a no and Mia took a seat next to me on the bed.

"Come on, Ruby. I am your only friend and family. Who else is going to help you?" Mia asked, concerned. I know that she loves me but I can get on her nerves sometimes for trying to be highly independent and refuse any help from her.

"I will find a way," I said closing my eyes and thinking how on earth would I be able to find a way to solve all of my problems.

"When? How?" I had no answer for Mia's questions, so I simply ignored that and rolled onto my side on the bed.

Mia shook her head and pulled out an ad pamphlet from her bag and placed it in front of me.

"What is this?"

"Get your ass up and read it. Although I don't encourage you to do it, I could not turn a blind eye to this opportunity. It might help you,"

I sat up straight and took the pamphlet from Mia's hand. I rubbed my eyes to get a clear vision and began to read it.

It was an ad about a surrogacy agency. They were looking for a healthy, young woman to become a surrogate mother for the people who cannot have kids biologically.

I looked up at Mia who was busy on her phone, "Is this legit?"

Mia smirked without taking her eyes off of her phone, "Are you considering it?"

I alternated my looks between the pamphlet and Mia's face, "I am not thrilled by this. And nor is this exciting. I am just asking for its legitimacy." I was secretly considering it in my mind but did not dare to voice it just yet. If this was legit and came with good incentives, then why not? This was what I thought.

Mia nodded her head, "I looked them up and they are fully legit and their testimonials are pretty good. Maybe you should try going to their office and see how things work."

My eyes widened at my friend's explanation. It would not hurt to try it once, I thought.

"Alright. I will check with them and see," I agreed and Mia simply nodded her head, "Now, get up, we are going out. I want to have coffee."

I gave her a look to which Mia defended herself, "Definitely not the one where you worked at."

I threw a pillow at Mia and walked to the bathroom to get fresh and dress up. I was done sulking for the day and needed some fresh air.

After 15 minutes, we left the house and headed outside. Since Mia had a car, we arrived at a nearby coffee shop quickly.

While Mia was still parking the vehicle, I led myself towards the coffee shop without waiting for my friend.

I was accidentally bumped into by someone. I was already in a pretty bad mood and this irked me more. I hissed irritatedly, "Can you not see properly and walk?" I rubbed my pant which was wet with coffee now.

"I am sorry. I was on a phone call," I heard a man's voice. I looked up at him, he was tall, pale skinned, had blue eyes, and was extremely handsome, a sight for the eyes. I shook my head, it was not the time to admire his features.

"So what? You should see and walk properly," I almost screamed.

The man looked equally irritated as I was, "Listen, I said I am sorry. I was caught in a phone call. And this place is not even up to my standards. I would not come to places like this."

I just could not believe my ears. This man not only dropped his coffee on me but also is being rude. I was about to open my mouth to give a perfect comeback to him, but suddenly I was grabbed by Mia.

Mia apologized to the man and he left soon and not before he gave me a nasty and disgusting look.

"What is wrong with you? It was his mistake. Why did you apologize to him?" I asked Mia, angrily.

Mia sighed heavily, "Did you not see who that man was?"

"Who is he?"

"He is Luke Sawyer. He is one of the billionaires in our country and he owns the largest oil and refinery company in the world."

I showed no emotion on my face for the information I just received about the rude man from Mia. I still think that it was rude of him to spill coffee on my pant and also behave rudely towards me. Just because he got a lot of money, does not mean that he could degrade common people's lifestyle.