Chapter 4 - ***

Ruby stared at the lady seated at the table across from her with pitiful eyes. The lady was crying profusely.

The man she had been talking to seemed to be the cause of the tears, but he didn't seem bothered. He had just left her there crying.

The lady must have felt her gaze cause she looked up and for a moment their eyes locked.

She then gave an angry glare before quickly wiping her eyes. She stood up, picked her bag and glared at her again before rushing towards the exit.

What the hell was that? 

It's not like she was the one who made her cry.

She turned her focus to the magazine on her table as she waited for Barry.

She was so focused that she hadn't noticed someone taking the chair opposite her.

"Hi" the voice called out, startling her.

She looked up and had to blink twice to be sure she wasn't seeing things.

Wasn't this the guy who just made that lady cry.

She thought he had left. What was he doing here?

Due to what she had witnessed earlier and his nonchalant attitude about the whole thing, she couldn't even be bothered trying to pretend to be nice to him.

"How can I help you?" She asked rudely, staring him down.

"Woah!" He moved back slightly with both hands in the air in mock surrender. "I not trying to bite you."

"What do you want?" She asked a bit calmer this time. She wasn't the one he hurt. And besides she didn't know what the issue between them was.

Maybe the lady was in the wrong.

She was just mad that he was so inconsiderate as to leave her there despite her vulnerable state.

"I couldn't help but notice, you've been sitting alone" he commented with a smirk that gave her an Idea on what he was trying to do.

Ruby stared at the man in front of her like he had suddenly grown horns.

Was he seriously trying to flirt with her?

For crying out loud, he was just on a date with another woman whom he left crying. And she fucking witnessed it all. He couldn't be serious.

"Are you seriously trying to flirt with me right now?" She asked incredulously. 

" At least with you, I don't have to spell it out." He said while flashing her a seductive smile.

"Incase you had no clue, I witnessed the exchange between you and your date few minutes ago." She informed him in an attempt to derail any further moves. "And I didn't think it looked pretty."

"That has nothing to do with this here" he said pointing from her to him.

Oh no! He didn't!

Was he that shameless?

She just let him know she had seen what had 

 transpired between him and his date earlier on and he wasn't even bothered. 

"Look Mr whatever" she started to say.

"Zander" he informed her cutting her off. "The name's Zander." Then with the wave of a hand he urged her to continue.

"I don't care what your name is. I'm not interested in whatever it is you have in mind and by the way I'm married." She let him know raising her left hand so he could see the 18 carat gold band with a huge diamond in the center wrapped around her fourth finger.

"Oh!" The shock and disappointment was evidentin his voice but he still had that self absorbed smirk on.

"Yeah" Ruby said with a satisfied smirk of her own.

" Okay then. Too bad I don't do married women and you'll have to miss all this" he gestured to himself, feeling down his body.

Ruby rolled her eyes at him. "I couldn't be bothered with you".

"But you were paying attention to me few minutes ago" he smirked.

He was doing that a lot.

Some stuck up nigga he was.

She wished she could lean over the table and slap that smirk away.

"No I wasn't. "

"Then how did you notice what transpired between me and my date?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"You guys were being too loud and obvious. It was hard not to notice."

" Mhm hmn." He folded his arms and leaned back in his chair before adding. "Or you were just carried away by my looks"

" Look, I don't know what your deal is but I'm here for a date with my husband. And I wouldn't like it if he were to meet you here."

" You've been here for over an hour, sitting alone. Are you sure he's even coming?" 

Ruby looked towards the entrance wondering where Barry was.

He was already very late for their date. He had sent her a message some minutes earlier informing get that he'll be a 'bit' late. But it's been over an hour already. Even tho she was a bit grateful cause she didn't want him to come across this annoying stranger she was trying hard to get rid of.

"Yeah. He's gonna come. He probably just got caught up in traffic."

"Okay then. I'll wait here with you, to keep you company"

" There's no need for that"

" Why?"he asked with a raised brow? " Scared you might find me entertaining?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. Such an egoistical fellow.

" On the contrary I find your company quite boring and troublesome and I actually am scared I might commit a crime before anyone can stop me." She told him plainly, each word laced with disgust.

" How can you be so mean to someone you don't know over an incident you don't even know the cause of?" He asked looking at her like she was the devil. If he was trying to guilt trip her then it was working.

He stood up ready to leave before adding. "It was nice meeting you. Although you need to work on your temper and learn to judge others less." And with that he was gone.

Ruby stared at his receding figure wondering if she might have been a bit too rude.

He'd accused her of judging him based on an incident she didn't know the basis of and he was right.

She knew she had been rude to him because of the interaction she had witnessed between him and his date.

But that wasn't the only reason.

She really didn't want Barry to meet him with her.

She let out a frustrated sigh.

Despite her being mean to him, he had remained calm and nice, and he had even offered to keep her company.

Now that he was gone she returned to her magazine but lost interest after a few minutes.

Where the fuck was Barry? She wondered.

She picked her phone and dialed his number. It rang for a while then she was directed to voicemail.

She waited for an extra thirty minutes before deciding to go home.