CHAPTER 5

You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest and most beautiful person I have ever known, and even that is an understatement

- F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Ruby sat at a table at the corner booth of her favorite cafe, nursing a black coffee. Normally she had a latte with lots of sugar, but now she needed something strong to wake her, to jolt her senses. It had been over a week since she had revealed to Hunter that Zach was his son. He reacted to the news so fiercely that it still took her by surprise every time she thought about it. She had expected him to run for the hills, instead he had demanded Ruby allow him to take an active role in their son's life. It was all too much to take in. The truth was that she was scared. She was scared of loosing her heart to Hunter, even more so, she was scared Hunter could take Zach away form her.

Ruby glanced at her watch. Gabrielle was late by twenty five minutes, as usual. She had called Gabrielle to meet for coffee at their favorite cafe when she felt herself slowly loosing grasp on her sanity. She needed Gabrielle to bring her down to earth.

It was five minutes later when she felt an excited buzz among the patrons at the cafe. Gabrielle was in the building. Over the last three years, Gabrielle has transformed herself from a struggling model running from casting to casting to an internationally recognized superstar. She was now the face of many high end brands and had walked for many shows. Ruby could attribute a part of her success to Gabrielle's influence and support.

It took Gabrielle an additional twenty minutes to extract herself from the onslaught of adoring fans who were vying for her attention. Ruby watched in amusement as Gabrielle signed yet another autograph before she quickly took a seat opposite Ruby before another person could ask for another autograph.

"You are on fire today." Ruby remarked dryly as Gabrielle took off her sunglasses. Gabrielle winked at her. "Today and every other day" she chirped brightly. "How was Paris?" Ruby asked. "Exceptional as usual. Tom sends his regards." Gabrielle responded. Gabrielle ended up marrying Tom, the man she was dating as at the time Ruby met Hunter in Texas. Ruby never thought Gabrielle would ever settle down with someone as taciturn as Tom, but here they were.

The waiter approached Gabrielle with a dazed smile to take her order. After giving her order of decaf coffee and blueberry muffins and Ruby's order of a refill and chocolate croissants to the starstruck waiter, Gabrielle turned to Ruby and inspected her.

 With her dirty blond hair falling in ringlets unto her bare shoulders, she scrunched up her nose at Ruby.

"Well you look like shit." Gabrielle said dryly.

"Thanks." Ruby said, sarcastically.

"I'm serious. You look like you haven't slept in days, and you sounded like you were about to cry on the phone earlier. What is going on?"

"He's back." Ruby said in a small voice.

Gabrielle furrowed her brows. "Who is back? Your dad?" she asked. Ruby gave her an exasperated look.

"What? I don't know who you're talking about. Who's back?"

"Hunter." Ruby said at the same moment Gabrielle took a sip of her coffee. The effect was immediate. Gabrielle started spat out her coffee and broke into a coughing fit. Ruby tossed her a napkin, grinning. Gabrielle glowered at her.

"You did that on purpose." she said. Ruby shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. Gabrielle leaned forward in her seat and looked at Ruby quizically.

"What do you mean by Hunter is back?" she asked. Ruby spilled everything, right from the moment she locked eyes with Hunter at the fashion show, to the moment he discovered Zach was his. Gabrielle listened with rapt attention and wide eyes. When Ruby was finished, Gabrielle shook her head.

"Girl, I leave you for two weeks and your life becomes a badly scripted soap opera. What the hell?" Gabrielle said. Ruby gave a dry chuckle.

"Tell me about it."

"So what are you going to do?" Gabrielle asked. Ruby paused in the act of pouring sugar into her coffee to look at Gabrielle questionably. Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

"About Hunter." she said.

"I don't know." Ruby responded.

"He's Zach's father. You can't deny him access to his son without appropriate reason."

"I know."

"So what's the problem?"

"I don't know. It's all so sudden. I just don't want Zach to be disappointed. I don't want him to get his hopes up about finally having his father around, only to be let down." A knowing look crossed Gabrielle's face. Ruby did not like it.

"What?"

"Sounds to me like you are the scared one, and you are projecting those fears onto Zach."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Ruby said, lifting her cup to her lips.

"You have feelings for this man, you always have." Gabrielle said. Ruby started to protest, then Gabrielle raised a brow at her. She fell silent.

"And you know that giving him access to his son also means he has access to you and you're scared that you may fall for him and get your heart broken. Correct me if I'm wrong." Gabrielle leaned back with her arms crossed and a smug look on her face. Ruby was silent.

"Why are you so scared?" Gabrielle asked.

"He's a billionaire." Gabrielle frowned at Ruby again.

"So? What's wrong with your baby daddy being a billionaire?"

"I'm not on his level. I'll never be on his level. What could someone like me possibly give him. He'll tire of me soon enough and leave me for some skinny model or something."

"Someone like you? Girl, do you know who the fuck you are? You have built a successful brand from scratch, with no support whatsoever, sponsored yourself through school, raised your son all by yourself. You're a self made woman, a beautiful one at that. Don't even think otherwise. He'll be lucky to have you and don't go shitting on models please."

Ruby laughed and grasped Gabrielle's hand in hers.

"I know you're scared, and its okay. But being scared won't get you anywhere. You have to take that leap, and trust that everything would be okay. And if it doesn't work out, you have Tom and I to protect you always."

Tears welled out in Ruby's eyes. She mouthed a thank you to Gabrielle. She couldn't trust herself to speak. Gabrielle winked at her.

"Is it too early to start drinking?" Gabrielle asked.

"Absolutely not." Ruby smiled at her.