Chapter Three

As the light slips right through the blinds, Ruby blinks a few times to adjust herself to the place. Feeling a little unfamiliar, she tried to scan the area. Everything looks fancy and expensive. There's nothing in here that she has seen before.

Despite the awareness of everything inside the room, Ruby's head was aching. It was as if something was smashing her skull to bits.

"You're awake."

"W-why are you here...?!"

"Rude of you to ask me why I'm here in my own house." The man standing in front of her said. He wore a poker face and his eyes were dead.

"S-sorry... uhm... where am I?"

"That's something I cannot answer. However, I do have a proposal for you."

"Y-you're gonna propose to me...?!"

"No... are you trying to be funny or are you just stupid?"

"T-that's mean..." Ruby says as she tries to get up. Her head is still spinning and she knows exactly why. The image of her spending all of her money flashed back inside her head. She wanted to get drunk really badly and then die in the middle of nowhere.

But everything didn't go as planned since she's still alive and she's looking at a man inside a fancy-looking room.

"Here, drink this. It'll help your hangover." He said while sliding a glass of water towards her. She glares at the glass, giving the man a signal that she didn't trust it.

"It's not poisoned. I wouldn't poison someone I spent 25,000yuk on. If I intended to kill you, I wouldn't have grabbed you by the collar when you tried to crawl towards traffic."

"You paid for my rent?"

"Yes. You talked about it when you were drunk and I figured that woman would not leave you alone unless you give her what she wants." He says as he crosses his legs in front of him. Ruby stared at the glass of water in front of her.

She didn't want to trust it but at the same time, her throat screamed for it. She lets out a sigh before finally grabbing the glass.

"You finally drank it."

"I-i couldn't hold back."

"I knew you couldn't. Hangovers aren't something that would disappear just by blowing your nose."

"Last night was my first time drinking..."

"I can tell. You didn't even ask for a glass. You drank it straight from the bottle." He said as he stood up. He then opens the closet and reveals fresh clothes.

"You bought this?" Ruby asks as she picks up the blouse.

"No, I had them with me ever since I was a little boy."

"Really? Never saw you as the type." Ruby said in amazement and the man pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That was sarcasm."

"O-oh..."

"It doesn't matter, go take a shower then come down for breakfast." He says before proceeding downstairs. Ruby was left inside to stare at the clothes given to her. These items are beautiful. Are these what fancy women wear?

Ruby gasps as the thought of being a princess crossed her mind. Is she going to be marrying him? Is he a prince? Is he asking for her hand?

"What if he's going to bind me into a contract... a forced marriage... where I fall for him halfway through the contract and we finally sleep beside each other one night and fall in love-"

"Your imaginations are too wild. Just take a shower and come down for breakfast..." A faint voice whispered by the door. Ruby bites her lips as she feels the embarrassment run through her whole body.

Finally entering the shower, she notices that her old apartment couldn't even compare to such a thing. There's a bathtub, a big space for showering, a sink beside the shower, a toilet, and a rack filled with beauty products.

She isn't sure if these are for her use though, so she didn't touch them.

Proceeding towards the shower, she takes off her clothes and lets the water run down her body. Now that she's standing still, she noticed that the clothes she wore weren't hers. Widening her eyes, she hugs her body as her cheeks turn bright red. Her ears were hot and she felt embarrassed.

The thought of him seeing her body was clouded with other thoughts. Did he find her attractive? Does she look like a woman to him? There are a lot of questions popping inside her head. She finally reaches for the bar of soap and rinses herself afterwards.

Finally finished, Ruby turns off the shower and reaches for the towel. Wrapping her body with it, she dries herself and wears the clothes given to her.

"Did no one judge him when he bought underwear? Ah- how did he even know my size...? The bra fits as well... Ah...! I need to get down..." She continues mumbling.

***

"You sure took your time."

"I- uhm... I admired your bathroom..." Ruby honestly said. The man in front of her sighs before standing up. He then slides a plate of breakfast towards her.

"So, I'll start explaining myself and my intentions. To start it, my name is Ivan Moores. I am a person with a dangerous career, to be specific I am a private investigator." Ivan explains as he sighs. Ruby silently ate her food as she listened to him talk.

"My work is none of your business but I'll explain to you where you get involved. I ask you to be my maid." He spells out and Ruby chokes on her food.

"Y-you're what...?"

"My maid. To be exact, I'm going to need someone who's going to clean the house, cook, and just keep the place well maintained. I trust that you can do that."

"Hold on, are you expecting this from me because I'm a woman?" Ruby asks, knitting her eyebrows.

"No, not at all. I trust you to do this because I am aware that you don't have a job." Ivan states, almost rubbing on Ruby's face, that she couldn't get a job. Groaning a little bit, Ruby backed down. She knew he was right.

"Okay so, your job is just cleaning everything. If you're done eating, we can go and have a tour inside the house."

"How about outside?" Ruby asks as a joke but Ivan steps closer. He bends down and looks at her in the eyes.

"I'm not letting you outside."