mistress : jg (ON HOLD)

o n e

ruby
"ruby, are you ready? the driver is here!" i heard my mother yell up the stairs.

i sighed as i looked in the mirror one last time. "i'll be down in a sec." i called, brushing down my maroon-coloured dress.

i quickly pulled on my black heels, grabbed my bag and walked downstairs.

i saw my brother, luke, wearing a dress shirt and pants, standing next to my mother who was wearing a long, emerald green dress.

"that's rather short, isn't it dear?" my mother raised a brow disapprovingly.

i glanced down at my dress and yanked it down slightly. "you said you liked it when i tried it on at the store..." i replied quietly, feeling self-conscious.

she clicked her tongue. "never mind. we don't have time for you to change. we must get going, now."

she rushed out of the door and i sighed.

"ruby?" i glanced at luke, who was smiling. "you look great, sis."

a smile appeared on my lips. "you don't look too bad yourself. wanting to impress isabelle, i guess?" i smirked.

my brother's face flushed slightly pink and i laughed. "come on." he muttered. "let's get going."

i followed him outside to see my mother getting into our car. we quickly rushed after her and got into the car before it sped away.

luke cleared his throat. "who's going to be at this function, mother?"

she pulled out her compact mirror and began checking her pink lipstick. "the usual families. although i think mrs williams mentioned something about someone new joining us."

luke nodded as i gazed out of the window, wondering who this new mystery person could be.

hopefully someone who will make these functions more interesting.

ever since luke and i were able to walk and talk, my mother has been dragging us to these functions filled with dozens of old couples and families.

unfortunately, there was no one even close to my age, except luke. even so, he barely talked to me once we got through the door.

that's why he was mother's favourite. he was social, as well as charming and funny.

i sighed quietly and luke glanced over at me, eyebrows raised. i shot him a small smile, then went back to gazing out of the window.

before long, i felt the car stop and seconds later, my door was opened by our driver.

he offered me a hand to help me out of the car and i smiled at him. "thankyou jayden." i whispered softly.

he smiled back. "of course, miss ruby. and might i say, you look beautiful this evening."

my smile grew as my cheeks heated up slightly. i was about to thank him when luke got out of the car and grabbed my arm.

"come on, we haven't got all day." he stated, mimicking our mother.

i glanced around to see her giving jayden instructions and giggled at luke's impression.

jayden nodded at my mother, then quickly got into the drivers seat and drove away.

"come on, stop gawking. we haven't got all day, you know." she told us firmly, taking my hand.

luke stifled a laugh as i smirked at him.

"that stupid driver made us late." my mother scowled, glancing at her diamond-encrusted watch.

i frowned slightly at the way she was talking about jayden. he was very sweet and had always been there for me, and yet my mother did not like him.

"hurry now." mother snapped, walking up the stairs of the large building in front of us.

i quickly followed her, nervously biting my bottom lip as she glided through the front door, which was held open by a smiling, blonde boy.

"evening ma'am." he nodded at my mother, who barely shot him a second glance. he smiled at my brother, then his eyes landed on me and widened.

i felt my cheeks heat up as i stared at the ground, feeling embarrassed.

"hi, i'm ja-" he was cut off by my mother grabbing my wrist.

"come on, ruby! the three of us need to enter together!" she stated impatiently.

as she was dragging me away, i glanced back and waved at the blonde haired boy. his face lit up and he waved back.

"the dahlia family, ms julie, luke and ruby." the announcer stated as we walked through the doors leading to the ballroom.

everyone turned to look at us and i froze slightly. my mother beamed and waved at several people, whilst luke did the same.

"julie! hello dear!" my mother's friend, betty, rushed forward, dressed in a pale blue gown. "come, there's someone i'd like you to meet."

my mother nodded. she began to walk away as i glanced over at luke, who was already on the other side of the room talking to an elderly couple.

i sighed, knowing i only had one choice. i quickly followed my mother through the tables of people, before stopping in front of one of the main tables.

"julie, this is helen. helen gilinsky." a blonde woman in her mid twenties stood up and shook my mother's hand.

"pleasure." my mother smiled. i noticed her wipe her hand slightly on her dress after pulling away.

"and this is her husband, jack gilinsky." i watched as a dark-haired man stood up and greeted my mother.

he turned to me and froze slightly. i smiled lightly and he quickly shook my hand.

"jack. jack gilinsky." he told me, his hand warm and large compared to my own.

"ruby. ruby dahlia." i replied, not able to pull away from his strong gaze.

his wife cleared her throat and i quickly yanked my hand away.

"come, julie. we have your reserved seats." betty smiled at my mother, who glanced over at me.

i quickly followed them both around to the other side of the large table and took a seat where my place card sat.

i immediately grabbed the menu sitting in front of me, which caused me to earn a small but sharp smack on my hand from my mother.

"ow!" i complained, rather loudly. my mother glared as i looked away.

directly across the table, helen was desperately trying to talk to her husband, whilst he wasn't even looking at her.

our eyes met and he shot me a half-smile. i smiled lightly back, feeling a small tingly feeling begin to grow in my stomach.