Life Lessons

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Ruby Winters was a young woman of around twenty two, not that her parents would remember this fact. She was their youngest child. A mistake. Surplus to the achievement of creating their eldest. It hadn’t taken long for Ruby to stop ‘bothering’ her mother with her drawings as a toddler, knowing the response would always be the same; ‘Lovely’, without so much as a glance. She had taken up the piano, to which her father had told her was a waste of time and energy, after all... they didn’t need two pianists in the family. As she grew older, Ruby tried to ask her father to school her in the family business, to which he had told her it was not her place to know the family business. The business would belong to her elder sister one day, it was a useless endeavour to show Ruby how it worked. Eventually Ruby simply ceased interacting with her parents. She spent her days living in the farthest part of their sprawling mansion from them, not that they noticed. The young woman tried finding a job as anything at all, but as soon as they saw the name ‘Winters’, she was laughed away, most companies telling her to just go ask daddy to make her a pony, or whatever it was little girls wanted these days. Such statements barely made sense, as she had only the faintest understanding of what her family did. She knew they were part of a partnership that owned an extremely popular theme park that only the very wealthy could afford, such was her reason for staying away from it; She wanted nothing at all to do with anything Winters.
While she had grown up wanting for nothing in the material sense, the youngest Winter’s daughter was extremely poor when it came to personal relationships.

Ruby couldn’t sleep now. Her mother had indeed gotten to her, even without the stinging slap to her cheek. She lay there, tracing a finger over her lips as she recalled Milo’s kiss, and she couldn’t help picturing the look on her mother’s face if she knew her youngest child had been to dinner with the true heir of the Kraven fortune. 

“You’re taking this pretty well.” Kraven remarked coolly. “Not going to go get mad at daddy?” He added with a smirk as the Winters estate loomed on the hill above.

Milo was once again working in his office, shut off from the world. He tried hard not to think of Ruby or anything else. He should never have engaged with her. Or anyone else. He had work to do and he needed it to keep himself from going crazy.

"Of course I am." Joe said as Kraven parked his sports car in front of her family's sprawling mansion. "If I can put a stop to this stupid idea of theirs before our mothers pull off a wedding I will." She muttered, not waiting for him to let her out of the car.

“Hello Milo.” A young woman with deep red hair pulled back into a sleek bun entered Milo’s office, a tablet in her hand as she smiled at him. “I have the data you requested for the new narrative. This... this is a lot of new hosts.”

Kraven sighed heavily as Joe left, wondering how things had gotten so messed up for him. Why didn’t Milo have all this misery forced on him?
Just as Joe had returned, her younger sister had gotten the idea to leave the house and return to the park, and was silently creeping down the main staircase at that very moment.

"Joseph is pretty serious about this one." Milo said as he took the tablet from the woman and turned back to his own computer. "This is going to make alot of extra work for the butchers."

The two women slammed into each other and went skidding into the marble hallway in separate directions. Joe's usually well mannered speech had taken a colorful turn.

The woman nodded, leaning against Milo’s desk as she watched him pour over the data. “Won’t he have his hands full... you know, with the wedding?”

Ruby didn’t really say much of nothing as she picked herself up. Unlike her sister, she was used to being knocked down. “How’s your hand?” She asked with a snort as she dusted herself off.

"He won't bother himself with that. He cares very little for his family. He'll show up for the wedding and that's it." Milo said, handing her back the tablet. "If he even bothers. At least he gets out of the park once in a while."

"Oh..." Joe looked down and only then realized her sister knew. "Ruby...I had a reason. You have to understand."

“As did you, today... I noticed.” The young woman replied, her gaze fixated on the tablet Milo had just handed back to her.

“Yeah... Joe always has a reason, right?” Ruby replied thinly, her bruised face looking across at her sister.

"You did?" Milo looked up from his computer, surprised by her words. He was sure no one paid any attention to anything he did.

"Ruby stop." Joe said softly, brushing her hair back from her face with a sigh. "You don't understand. This is dangerous for both of us."

The woman nodded, still taking a great interest in the tablet she was again holding. “With a guest... She was cute. You seeing her again?” She asked, trying to sound rather nonchalant.

“You impersonated me, Joe!” Ruby hissed. “And pissed everyone off while doing it! Ramona came to see me tonight, apparently I’m going to be punished by Joseph for making a fool of the family name!”

Milo laughed. "I doubt it. Besides, there's too much work to be done here." He got up from his desk and patted the woman's shoulder. "See you around Alice." 

"Joseph isn't going to do anything. He's locked in his room with Hazel Sanchez from the maid service." Joe snorted. "Come on. We're going back to the park until I can get this shit sorted out."

“I can help!” Alice insisted cheerfully, seeming rather glad that Milo didn’t seem to have any further interest in the beautiful young woman she knew he had taken to dinner. 

Ruby knew that arguing with Joe was pointless, they were going to the park whether she wanted to or not. “Alright, but... you’re not going to make me change my clothes again, are you? Or at the very least... I don’t want my tits and ass hanging out again, alright?” She added with a smirk, though winced slightly at the pain it caused her bruised face.

"I'm ok." Milo said softly, already shedding his western gear in favor of something more Victorian. He didn't seem to notice that the woman was there or consider that she might be watching him. 

Joe actually smiled back at her sister though her own was a little tired and sad. "We're going into daddy's new narrative. I don't give a shit if it's finished or not."

Alice seemed genuinely upset with the brush off she had just received, though she knew Milo wouldn’t even notice. “By the way, congratulations on the family engagement. Your brother is a lucky man to have a woman like Josephine Winters.” She breathed, though was already heading for the door.

Ruby’s grey eyes grew saucer wide when Joe declared their plans. “You know they’re going to blame me if something goes wrong, right?”

"And there it is." Milo said, his long fingers pausing on the buttons of his suit jacket. "Another woman jealous of my beautiful brother. Pretending to be interested in me to get to him."

"How can they do that when they don't know you're there?" Joe asked. "You're going to write a note saying you can't take this family anymore and you ran away. That way whatever happens from here on out will be of no concern to you."

“You may know everything about the hosts, but you are a blind fool when it comes to real people!” Alice snapped. “I know who your mystery date was.” She added bitterly. “I gave you the chance to tell me yourself... but you couldn’t even do that. I saw the facial recognition on the monitor when the two of you left the park permimiter... You’re no better than your brother... fawning over a Winters woman.”

Ruby liked the thought, but shook her head with a bitter snort. “You do realise how often Joseph or Ramona actually notice me, right? But... okay. I’ll leave the note. I’ll come to the park with you, though it still leaves us another problem.” She replied. “Your boyfriend; Even if you intend to hide in the park indefinitely, he’s going to come looking for you. They all will.”

Joesph Winters was everything people said he was and more. He was a monster in every sense of the word. Which meant he knew one when he saw one. His agreeing to allow the youngest son of his old business partner to marry his daughter was an excellent example of this. 
He was allowing the marriage only so that he could destroy the Kraven's from the inside out. He was betting on Josephine. The story of beauty and the beast was sure to hold true.

Joe shook her head. "I'm not hiding from anyone. You are and just for the weekend. Just until I can get you somewhere to be safe." She took her sister's hands, smiling broadly. "We're doing this. You're finally going to be free."

The only flaw in Joseph’s plan was the younger Kraven’s vanity. He knew one smile would get him anything he wanted from most women. His own father knew it too, and it would be all out war once both families realised what the other was up to.

Ruby stared up at her big sister, floored that she was doing this for her. “What about your wedding? Are you really going through with it?” She breathed, worried that if their parents ever figured everything out, Joe would be the one to suffer.

Joe knew that Kraven planned to kill her. It was the reason she was working so hard to make sure her sister got away from the family. She knew there was nothing else she could give Ruby. Her freedom was going to have to be enough. 
Joe nodded at her sister, her smile gone. "I don't have a choice. I must obey father."

“No you don’t!” Ruby insisted. Her first real bond with her sister, and it felt like goodbye. “Don’t talk like that, when we get into the park, we can figure it all out!”

"Aren't you excited about this era?" Joe asked as the two got into the car and drove toward the train. "I've seen all those Sherlock books you keep on squriling away under your bed."

“What?!” Ruby's voice came out as a startled squeak, not thinking anyone would ever find out about her love of those old stories. “Well...uh... don’t you find him interesting?” She asked once she eased up somewhat. “Holmes is so flawed, so misunderstood, but also brilliant. He solves the mysteries that bring closure to other people, but he himself is always left out on the edge of society.”

"I always had a thing for Moriarty." Joe said with a laugh. "He's so evil and calculating. He has everything planned to a science. It's a beautiful thing to see his plan begin to come to fruition. Like opening a Christmas gift you really wanted...the year I gave you the stuffed kitten? Remember?" She added.

“Yeah, when most kids expect a stuffed kitten... they don’t mean a taxidermied one!” Ruby replied with a sudden snort of laughter.

Joe actually blushed. "I tried. I truly thought that's what you wanted." She confessed. "What did you ever do with that monstersity anyway?"

“Emperor Bossy bottom the third sits on my bookshelf. Guards all the most important books.” Ruby replied very mattter of factly as the station came into view. “But boy was that one ugly cat!” She added with another snort of genuine laughter.

"Jack gave him to me when I told him I was looking for something to give you." Joe said as they got onto the train. "I remember the sheepish grin he gave me when he handed the poor thing over. Do you know what your Emperor cost me? My first kiss." The elder Winters was smiling at the memory. "Jack thought he would be the one to lead. You should have seen his face when I grabbed him and taught him everything I'd only read in books." Joe's stormy eyes darkened. "When we were done he swore I would belong to hom and him alone...you know how intense he thinks he is." She laughed and rolled her eyes. "But you know the truth? I think that was one of those show cats his grandmother used to keep in her room. He was only too happy to steal it!"

Ruby didn’t know whether to be awed or horrified that her Christmas gift had cost Joe something so precious. “Joe...” she breathed her sisters name as they took a seat. “I’m sorry you had to do that, with him... for me.” She confessed.

Joe leaned over and kissed her sister's forehead. "It wasn't all that bad." She said softly. "Besides, you were so happy. It was worth it."’

“You never hated him as much as you claimed, did you?” Joe asked softly. “The two of you were always together, you had to feel something for him, right?” She asked, again fidgiting  ervoisly with the sleeve of her jacket.

Joe gave her sister a side look and finally nodded. "I've always loved Jack. And when we were kids i think he felt the same. But then he found girls that he didn't have to work for and suddenly I wasn't worth the effort."