Ruby was still crying on my shoulder when her phone suddenly started to ring.
Who is it? I reached into her bag and pulled it out. "It’s Landon," I announced.
"Huh," she looked up.
"Do you want to take the call?"
"Yes, give it to ." She took her phone and swiped the icon. "Hello?"
"Hello, what the fuck happened to you? Your pictures are all over the net," Landon said. Because of our close proximity, I could hear him clearly.
"What?" Ruby gasped, sitting upright.
"I’ll send you a link; go to this article." The call ended, and Ruby’s phone vibrated. She followed the link Landon sent and landed on a popular blog.
The blog had posted about Simon’s cheating incident and hadn’t bothered to blur Ruby’s face. The article had only been up for ten minutes, but there were already hundreds of comnts and shares.
"Moon goddess! She did it! She wasn’t joking," Ruby exclaid.
"Hold on." I took the phone from her, but as I tried to read the article, another call ca in—not from Landon, but from one of her other contacts.
"Hello?" Ruby dried her tears as she answered.
"There’s an article I just read. Are you the one written about in it?" A male voice asked.
"What article?"
"About Simon’s infidelity. Are you Simon’s side chick? So comnts say you’re his baby mama. Is it true?"
"No! Of course not. I don’t know who the man is; I’ve never t him before," Ruby imdiately denied.
"Oh great, I have to go now; talk to you later." The call ended. Another call ca in almost imdiately, this ti from a woman.
"Hello, Ruby, I live in the sa apartnt as you. I saw a weird article, and your picture was used..."
"It’s not ! You’ve got it wrong," Ruby said and ended the call.
Another call ca in from a different person; Ruby rejected that one.
A new call ca in, this ti from an unknown number.
"Who is this?" Ruby muttered to herself as she answered.
"Oh goodness," a female voice said. "I thought you weren’t going to answer. I’m glad you did."
"What is it? Who are you?" Ruby asked.
"I’m Sarah Williams, and I work with the crisis managent team at Mr. Simon’s company."
"What do you want?" Ruby frowned.
"First of all, I’d like to apologize for the disturbance. I’m sure you’ve been getting a lot of calls lately. I’m sorry about that," she said.
"Did Mr. Simon ask you to do this?"
"Uh, yes! He did."
"Is he there with you?"
"No, he isn’t. Do you have a ssage for him? I can pass it along."
"Never mind, why did you call? You must have a reason."
"I’d like you to deny the dating rumors. Deny everything—don’t grant interviews or speak to reporters."
"And why is that?"
"The infidelity issue could beco a bigger problem. It’ll damage Mr. Simon’s reputation and affect managent, so we’d appreciate it if you would—"
Ruby scoffed, not letting her finish.
"Tell Simon that I said, fuck him!"
"What?"
"Fuck you, and fuck Simon too! Do not ever call my number again!" Ruby groaned and imdiately disconnected the call.
"What nonsense?" She grumbled, setting the phone aside. The phone began to ring again, but she ignored it. When it rang constantly, I picked it up to check the caller.
"Landon is calling," I said.
"Oh," she said, taking the phone and answering.
"Have you read the article? Is that you?" He asked.
"Yes."
"I rember you said you were going to go on a date with Simon. Did you verify that he was single before going out with him?"
"No... I didn’t."
He sighed. "Okay. Where are you?"
"At the karaoke bar close to the house."
"Go ho."
"I’m here with Ara; you don’t have to worry about ."
"Just go ho."
"Okay, I will," she murmured and disconnected the call.
She looked at . "What should I do? Everyone who knows will see those pictures and call all sorts of nas. This will ruin my reputation and future chances. What if I don’t ever get a job because of this?"
"Don’t overthink it; I’m sure it won’t happen. Why wouldn’t you get a job?"
"All the neighbors will hear the news by the weekend. Everyone at school will call nas. Our childhood friends will point fingers at . I will never get married; I’ll remain single forever."
"Stop saying such things; I’m sure Simon’s team will take down the article."
"Will they?"
"It seems like they’re working on it; they will..."
The ringing sound of her phone distracted us. "It’s an unknown number," she murmured. "I’ll just switch it off." She turned off the phone.
"Let’s do as your brother suggested; let’s go ho. Everything will be back to normal by tomorrow."
"Are you sure?"
"I’m sure. Let’s go ho." I stood up and helped her to her feet.
"My beer." She grabbed her beer and her bag, and we went to her apartnt.
While unlocking her door, a woman and her children who lived next door ca out.
"Oh my gosh, it’s really her; she’s wearing the sa clothes," the woman’s child said.
"It’s not what you think," I said, correcting him.
"Sorry about that. How are you doing?" The woman smiled at Ruby.
"She’s doing okay; you don’t have to worry about her," I responded. "Let’s go in, Ruby." I guided Ruby into her apartnt.
Two minutes after we went in, we heard the woman next door speaking to a male neighbor.
"She’s the one in the article, but she denied it when I called her earlier. She was wearing the sa outfit in the picture," the woman said.
"Does this an she’s a slut? I never thought she was, since she attends a prestigious school. Now I think I know who sponsors her lifestyle," the male voice replied.
"Exactly. She must be dating wealthy married n."
Another voice joined in.
"Is she really the one? Wow, I can’t believe it. She never speaks or responds to our greetings, and she’s rude. I’ll hide my husband and children from her. She is definitely a ho breaker," the new voice added.
Those fools, what do they know? I thought, getting annoyed by their gossip.
"Why are you listening to them?" Ruby ca up behind . "Let’s just finish the beer and watch TV. I’ll go crazy if I keep thinking about it," she said.
"But—"
"No buts." She walked to the TV and sat down.
I went over to her. "You’re right, the situation is escalating; we need to do sothing before it gets worse. I don’t want people talking about my best friend like that," I said, clearly pissed.
"There’s nothing we can do," she murmured.
"We can stop the rumors from spreading."
"How?"
"How? By... By... I don’t know; there has to be a way."
Ruby sipped her beer. "The brothers might be able to stop the news from spreading, and I could have gone to them for help, but..."
"But what?"
"It’s you. You’re not on speaking terms with them, so I doubt they’ll help ."
"They will. They’re not that childish. Maybe... Cooper might help. Or Gavin," I suggested.
"You’re right, but without you I can’t..."
"I’ll go with you. I’ll talk to Gavin and explain the situation. I’ll ask him for help."
"Really?" Her eyes widened. "You’ll speak to him?"
"Of course. My best friend is involved. I’ll plead with him," I said, but Ruby looked unsure.
"Why are you hesitating? Co on, let’s go to him before it’s too late," I urged.
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