The Man on the Motorcycle

Rough Day

The following few days had kept the both of them very busy with Ruby preparing for her upcoming exhibition, and the heat of summertime had Jeffrey fighting a lot of fires. It had been just over three days since their date and Ruby was dying to see him again. They had been texting whenever they could but they were both anxious to see each other again.

Ruby was at the gallery with Robert when she got a text from Jeff. 'Lunch? Xx' it said. Her face lit up with excitement.

"Ooohh the mystery man again" Robert teased.

"Shut up" Ruby joked.

'Please :)' she replied to his message.

A few moments later the gallery door opened and in walked Jeffrey holding a brown paper bag. He already knew after texting her last night that she was going to be at the gallery all day so he made a plan to surprise her. He stood there smiling at her look of shock and joy. "Surprise" he said in his beautiful deep tone as she wandered over to him. "I brought you sushi" he said as he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

"You're awesome" she grinned. "There's a little park just down the road, want to eat there?" she asked.

"Sounds great" he said as he held out his hand, which she grasped without hesitation as she waved a quick goodbye to her agent before heading out the door.

The sat together at one of the picnic tables and enjoyed their lunch. Ruby couldn't help but notice that he kept staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. You're just beautiful, and I missed you" he smiled.

This amazing man had her weak at the knees and she couldn't find the words she wanted to say so instead she kissed him. Deeply and passionately. "Feel better?" she asked with a cheeky smile.

"Much better" he grinned.

They finished up their lunch and headed back towards the gallery, walking slowly enjoying their time together as much as they could before they were interrupted by Jeffrey's pager.

"Damn, I gotta go" he said regretfully.

"Thanks for lunch. Be safe" Ruby told him.

"Always" he assured her, giving her one last kiss before he ran towards his bike and high tailed it for the station.

It was close to 10pm when Ruby's phone began to ring. She had not long crawled into bed but was struggling to fall asleep. She was relieved to see Jeffrey's name appear on her screen, but thought it was a little strange that he was calling instead of just texting her.

"Hey you" she answered happily.

"Hey yourself" he replied in his usual deep tone, but there was something else in his voice, something she hadn't heard before.

"Everything ok? You sound a little... different" she said, not quite able to put her finger on the change in his voice.

"Yeah... yeah I'm ok, just had a rough afternoon is all" he sighed, and the sound almost broke her heart.

"Anything I can do?"

"I dunno, I just... I just needed to hear your voice" he confessed.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked.

"I lost someone today" he told her, sounding rather defeated. "I carried this man down four flights of stairs, he was in a bad way. I thought he was gonna make it, but I heard he died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital" he continued.

"Oh Jeff, I'm so sorry. I'm here for you, whatever you need ok"

"Thanks beautiful. When I heard the news all I wanted was to talk to you. It's the one thing that makes me forget about anything else going on in the world".

"I'd talk to you all night long if it makes you feel better" she said.

They talked on the phone for over an hour before they decided that some sleep might be a good idea. By the end of the call Jeffrey seemed a little more himself and Ruby was glad that she was able to do that for him.

"So I'll talk to you tomorrow then?" he asked.

"I look forward to it. Night Jeff, sweet dreams"

"You too, beautiful. Good night" he replied before ending the call and taking a much needed shower before heading to bed.

The following morning Ruby was working on a painting when she received a message from Jeffrey.

'Morning. Got any plans today?' he asked.

'Morning you. How are you today? I'm just finishing up a last minute addition to the exhibition' she replied.

'I'm doing ok. That must be coming up soon huh?'

'Tonight... and I'm pretty nervous'

'Don't be, you'll kill it. Guess that means I can't take you out again tonight then :( .' he sent.

'Well actually... It would be nice to have a date for tonight :) Do you own a suit?'

'Sure do :) Shall I pick you up?' he asked.

'My agent has arranged a car to pick me up at 6.30pm. Meet at mine a little before?'

'Perfect. I'll let you get back to your work. See you tonight'

'See you then' she replied.

It was a little after 6pm and Ruby was nervous as hell. Robert had dropped a bomb shell on her that morning, saying he wanted her to give a small introductory speech at the exhibition. She was awful at public speaking. She'd spent most of the afternoon trying to write something down but it wasn't coming out right, so she had given up and focused instead on her outfit for the night.

She had settled on a beautiful yet simple black evening dress that sat just above her knee. The collar dipped a little low, showing just the right amount of cleavage without being too over the top. She checked herself in the mirror one last time, satisfied with her minimal amount of make-up and her choice of black heels. She fluffed up her short cropped pixie hair style once more as she heard a knock at the door.

As she swung the door open the sight before her had her heart thumping rapidly in her chest. There was Jeffrey dressed in black pants a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top button open, topped off with a stylish black waistcoat, he was the definition of sexy.

"Wow" she whispered somewhat breathlessly.

"Do I scrub up ok?" he asked.

"More than ok... wow" she said unable to find any words that would adequately describe just how handsome he looked.

"That good huh?" he asked with a smile.

"Better" she grinned as she reached up placing a sweet kiss on his cheek.

"Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any more beautiful you pull out this sexy number" he said as he admired the way her dress clung to her petite body in all the right places.

"Sshhh, you'll make me start blushing again" she giggled.

"But it's my favourite thing to do" he chuckled.

Just then the car pulled up in her driveway. "Ready to go?" Jeffrey asked as he offered her his arm.

"Ready as I'll ever be" she told him as she grabbed her clutch and linked her arm with his as they headed to the car.