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THE BAADER-MEINHOF PHENOMENON ──────
RUBY IS GREETED BY MARCIA AS SOON AS SHE STEPS OUT OF THE ELEVATOR. With barely any time to plaster a pleasing smile on her face, she falters briefly before handing her coat off to the butler and unbuttoning her teal, plaid blazer.
"Ruby, it's so wonderful to see you!"
Ruby hugged the woman briefly, smiling as she pulled back. "Yes, yes, it's lovely to see you, too. I'm sorry I'm late, I had a conference call run late,"
Marcia waved her off, all elegance and smiles as more people milled around them. "It's alright, I'm used to work delays. Comment as-tu été?"
"J'ai été bon, occupé, tu sais. Est-ce que Kendall est encore là?"
Marcia shakes her head, quickly slipping back into English. "He called and said his deal might go through lunch,"
Ruby bit back a sigh, just nodding understandingly as Marcia beckoned her into the rest of the house.
"Go mingle," She flutters her fingers, already turning back to the elevator. "The kids are in the sitting room."
"Ruby Carrington!"
She barely steps foot into the other room before a voice calls out her name, and she looks around the room before finding the source– Shiv's overly-familiar boyfriend.
"Ah," She walks towards the man, and Shiv, bringing the woman into a hug. "Hey, Shiv,"
"Hey Ruby," Shiv pats her back, smiling genuinely at the sight of her friend. "I didn't know you were coming today, we could've come together and dipped early."
Ruby huffed a laugh, shrugging her off. "I worked through my lunch, I was late anyway. Though, you know, I can use work as an excuse to leave early. I don't think you can do the same."
Shiv laughed at the slight dig, the familiar banter coming easily to the two girls that had grown up together. "Do you want a drink? I think there's champagne floating around here somewhere,"
"Later," She waves off the notion, eyes drifting to the boyfriend still standing there with an odd smile on his face. "You– it's Tim, right?"
"Tom. Tom Wambsgans."
Ruby nods, reaching for Shiv's arm to tug her towards her. "Right, then, Tom– do you mind if I steal Shiv from you for a little bit? We haven't had the chance to catch up lately."
Neither woman waits to hear his stuttered answer as Ruby pulls them in the other direction, and Shiv chuckles at Ruby's actions, giving her a barely-scolding nudge in the side. "We saw each other last week. We had lunch, Ruby."
