Picking up where we left off last week it is still Sunday January 6th, Laura's birthday. Luke went to pick up some coffee and sweet treats while Laura and the boys waited.
First we begin back in the record shop. Laura is now working and chatting with Jacob. He showed up for work just a few minutes ago and now has Fin sitting on his lap while he draws. "So do you and Luke have plans for your birthday today?..."
"If we do he's kept it a secret from me, but I think we're just
kinda gonna have a family day out.", Laura replies.
"Oh well that will be nice, just you and the boys.", says Jacob as he watches Phineas scribble away.
Laura smiles, "Yeah I think so too. So how about you? Anything exciting happening in your life? How's Colton?" Colton is Jacob's long time boyfriend. He is also a part of the very large Trudeau family and one of Benjamin's younger siblings.
Jacob sighs, "Well...Colton might be leaving to study fashion abroad for several years. Erica pulled some strings and got him an internship and he has asked me if I want to go with him..."
Laura is immediately excited by the new. Going to Europe is something she would love to do eventually. A romantic getaway with Luke would be a dream come true. Her sister got to go on an extended honeymoon with Benjamin they traveled all over.
"Really?! Oh my god that's wonderful! Where?"
Jacob looks over at her, "In France...I haven't told Luke yet. I'm not sure what to do!"
"When is Colton leaving?", Laura asks realizing that would leave Luke without help.
Jacob sighs, "In the spring...So I have to decide quickly."
Jacob continues, "I plan to tell Luke soon I just feel so bad. If I leave, you guys will be swamped, I know Luke needs me and I love working here...but..."
Laura looks up at him from the work she has been doing. She understands following Colton means everything to Jacob they have been very serious for some years now. But having to decide between your dream job and the love of your life is hard.
"Don't worry about us...Luke will bounce back.", Laura assures him. "We will find someone in the meantime. You have to do what is best for you. What will you do while you're living there?"
"That's thing I dunno! I might go stir crazy...That's why I'm having trouble deciding.", Jacob admits.
"Don't worry you'll figure it out. Maybe talking to Luke will help.", Laura suggests. "He is well traveled anyways." she adds knowing Luke has toured to many countries when he was working for Rock Candy.
Jacob agrees and sighs a little, "Yeah I will...speaking of Luke where is he?"
Meanwhile back at the coffee shop...Luke stands and waits while Natalie gets the order ready. It's not too busy here yet so it should not take her long. Luke grabs his phone from his pocket to pass the time.
As he is on his phone scrolling through he cannot help, but feel that feeling that someone is staring dead on at him. Like a tractor beam locked in and pulling his attention in the direction they are sitting.
Luke stops what he is doing and looks up. His suspicions were correct, he finds a very familiar face staring back at him. Large sunglasses frame their face, but there is no doubt in his mind who it is.
Surprise and disbelief flash across his face, then Luke propels himself forward and begins walking towards the familiar face. An angry scowl now
in place his mouth and jaw set into rigid form...
His heavy boots hitting the floor Luke nearly stomps his way over disrupting the quiet ambiance of the coffee shop, making his presence known in the small space. He blurts out a question in an accusatory tone. "Are you fucking stalking me again?!..."
The stalker in question takes a sip from her coffee cup and braces herself for an intense conversation. Luke is immediately on the defense as soon as he saw her sitting there. She knew that would happen. She knows him well, but she is not too sure how well he will take what she is about to ask him. Seeing his face again brings back a whole flood of memories both good and bad, but mostly bad. Heartbreak and misery was how they left things nearly 5 years ago. She has some closure on it now but still the pain of loosing her baby comes back as she looks him straight in the eyes. Rufus struggles to get words to form. So Luke demands a reply again. "Ru? Fucking answer the question!..."
"No! No, I am not fucking stalking you. Get over yourself,
cause I damn sure am...", Rufus snaps back in a heated whisper not wanting to draw too much attention than Luke already has.
"Then what the fuck do you want? And what's with the incognito shit?..."
Luke does not buy into her actually completely and fully being over him. The scar runs too deep for her, he is ingrained in her, and vise vera. The two share a complicated past.
Rufus continues on in a hushed tone, "Because I'd prefer to not be recognized you buffoon! Now sit down!!!"
Luke cannot argue with that, but still why is she here? Luke knows something is up, she's not here to shoot the shit with him. Shaun swore up and down she was doing better. Luke can't help but hear Peter's words now echoing in his thoughts about Rufus screwing shit up again. "Come to pay me royalties?" his tone snarky.
Rufus scoffs, "What?! Fuck you, Cooper. You're lucky I never ratted
you or your degenerate friend to the police..."
"Get to the fucking point or I'm walking...", Luke spits tired of their conversation already.
Rufus again sips her coffee, this place does make a good cup of joe, she can see why Luke likes it here. She sets the cup down on the table and looks up at him. Time to cut to the chase as to why she is here. "I'm here about your father...."
Luke stands there unmoving, no emotion. "The bastard finally kick the bucket?"
"No, he's very much alive and well.", Rufus replies.
"Then why do you think I give a fuck about what he does?", say Luke. Rufus knows he wants nothing to do with his father. She can't really blame him. David Cooper is a mess, and Rufus is drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Play with fire and you get burned.
Rufus pauses in thought then speaks again, "Luke please just sit down..."
Luke groans in frustration, "Just fucking spit it out, Ru! I don't have time for your drama."
"Sit the fuck down, Cooper!", Rufus snaps. "This will only take a
moment of your time."
Luke fights back,"You're already wasting my time. My wife and kids are waiting for me."
Rufus pinches the bridge of her nose. Her emotions run high when around Luke. She is frustrated, she knew coming down here wouldn't be easy, but she didn't have any other options. It needed to be done face to face. Luke finally takes a seat and concedes. "Okay fine...I'll give you two minutes. Say what you gotta fucking say."
Rufus sighs, she is nervous to how he will react, "I'll try to make this as brief as possible. While on tour your father managed to find his way back into my life. We started secretly texting each other. I was skeptical at first considering what had happened between us and how I didn't need to fall back into the same patterns again...You see..."
Rufus pauses pushing her sunglasses up onto her nose. She is nervous. Rufus doesn't like showing weakness but she is not doing this for her. Luke lets her continue on...
"It has taken me a long time to get my life back under control. The only thing that has kept me going is Ruby. I was severely devastated after I lost our second child. I'm sure you know if you have listened to any of the new music. I'm on medication now. It helps a lot but it's still a daily struggle..."
Luke sighs with disappointment, "Why the fuck would you let him back in your life, Ru?! "
"Because I thought he had changed...He seemed so genuinely interested in me...And If I can't be with you...", her voice trails off in defeat.
"Oh, come on! That is the lamest shit I have ever heard come out of your mouth!", Luke replies. Rufus knows why she has a weakness when it comes to the Cooper men, they are her kryptonite, but she will never admit that to Luke. Some people just like the adrenaline rush from crazy, dysfunctional relationships. Luke sighs he still doesn't understand why she is here and what she wants. "Can you get to the fucking point. Your time is up."
Rufus leans in, "So you're dad convinced me to go in on somewhat I thought was a legit business deal. He made it seem like a great idea, but that is not the part that deeply worries me. He showed up unexpected about a month ago demanding some more money for the deal. He has never seen Ruby before I had kept her away from him. He immediately got
suspicious Luke and I told him that Ruby was your child not his...It took some convincing but I think he finally believed me."
Luke smacks his hand against his forehead. Rufus is trying to pass off Ruby as his child again! No way! No fucking way is he falling for this ridiculous story. She may look and sound better, but she is still the conniving, manipulative person she has always been to him. "Here we fucking go again! You're in need some real help."
"Luke I'm serious! This is not a game...I think your father owes money to some very bad men. I don't want to get involved anymore I need to protect Ruby!", Rufus says in a panic. "And I need you to consent to agreeing to being her father, please!"
Luke's eyes get wide, first this morning Laura pretty much begs him to have another baby, and now he is sitting here across from Rufus, his mental ex, who is begging him to agree to this crazy scheme she has cooked up. "No! No fucking way am I agreeing to that shit!..."
"She is your sister! She's family..." Luke is a bit shocked she actually admitted to that. She is right though she is family, Luke is just not used to having siblings. Rufus wanted to believe for so long that Ruby was his child, she even went as far as to tell Ruby that Luke was her father.
Luke sighs his more serious now, "Listen, I'm glad you're doing better. I really am, but I can't fucking agree to this. You really think I'm gonna fall for your fucking games again?!...I have my own family to take care of."
"I'm not asking you to leave your wife and kids!", Rufus snaps. "I just want to protect Ruby. This is not about me!", she says in a panic again.
Luke scoffs and laughs not believing a word of it, "It's always about you...fucking narcissist!"
Rufus's mouth drops open in shock, "I am not a narcissist!", she defends. "This is about my daughter..."
Luke shrugs his shoulders, "Then hire more body guards and make sure she is safe."
"I don't want to scare her...She's a very perceptive 8 year old.", Rufus explains. "Please Luke..." she begs again.
Luke shakes his head, "I...No! No!...You're fucking crazy I can't do this! I can't fucking agree to something like this!"
Rufus doubles down one last time, "I need someone I trust. Luke I have no other family to go to you know that!"
Rufus turns and digs into her bag. She pulls out a folder that has some papers inside it. "Please just sign this paperwork. If anything ever happened to me she would be in your care...As her father as next of kin."
Natalie calls over the counter, it took her a tad longer to get the order together but it is now ready. Luke comes here often so a lot of the employees know him. "Mr. Cooper...Your to go order is ready to go!"
Back at the small table Rufus tries hard to convince Luke this is not a game. He continues to refuse to believe her. It seems Rufus will do anything to convince herself that Ruby is Luke's even though DNA has already proven that David is her father. "I know it sounds crazy, but please take the papers and look them over. I'll be in town till the end of the week. Bring your wife we can all talk it over."
Luke laughs, "Fuck no! Laura doesn't need to know my crazy deranged ex is back in town again. You're sick you know that, right?"
Rufus is frustrated and snaps back,"Luke I know you don't trust me, but I'm telling you the fucking truth! The papers will make sense if you just have a look..."
Luke stands up, he has let this conversation go on long enough, now she is trying to show him papers. He doesn't know what to think anymore, but he knows for sure he needs to get back to his waiting family. "Don't fucking bother...I'm not falling for this shit. You and my shitty father both think you can manipulate me. I'm done playing those games. Now I gotta go."
Rufus gets upset she is not getting through to him! She has tried to keep her cool. They would always butt heads, never could the two of them agree on any one thing. Talking it out was never their strength in their former relationship. "And you're still an asshole just like your father!"
Luke shrugs, "Fucking fine by me!..."
"Luke, don't make me take further action!...", Rufus threatens.
Luke does not fall for it, "So you think threatening me is gonna get your way? Fuck off! I'm done here!"
Rufus grits her teeth in annoyance, "Ugh! you are making this worse by being a belligerent asshole! Just take the papers, Luke!"
"No!...hasn't that registered in your fucking brain after all these years?! We are done! We have been for nearly 10 years now! Get a fucking life!..." Then Luke turns and heads back to the order counter to get his food. By now he is so angry he is shaking. Natalie smiles, but it looks a bit worried.
Natalie smiles, but it looks a bit worried. "Is everything okay?..."
"Oh...um..yeah...Just an old friend...", Luke explains.
Natalie tries to act relieved, "Oh! okay...have a nice day then." Luke thanks her then heads out the door with the coffees and sweets. He is surprised Laura hasn't called wondering what is taking so long.
A few moments later Rufus gets up and heads out the door, this time she is the one stomping angry mad. Luke refused to listen, she was hoping he would be more receptive considering the fact he is now a father. She was hoping he would understand, but if you know Rufus then you know there is always more to the story, and Luke is not buying it.
"Bye, ma'am have a nice day!..." Natalie waves. Rufus does not respond back or turnaround to acknowledge the barista she heads out the door and into a waiting car.
Luke walks the few blocks over back to his record shop. All the while making sure Rufus did not follow him. He figures she will pop up again. He is gonna have to find some way to tell Laura. Just not today not on her birthday.
"Hey...handsome...We were just talking about you." Luke sets the food down on the counter. He mumbles something about being back finally and then goes to opening the bag. Phoenix immediately jumps up. He wants a treat.
"Yeah...we're just talking about you. Was it busy?", Laura asks him.
Luke still a little spaced out did not hear her, "Huh?", he replies.
"The coffee shop, was it busy?", Laura asks again.
"Oh! yeah, yeah it was, and they only had one girl working the counter."
Luke tries to mentally shake off his unexpected run in with Rufus. He looks down at Phoenix who is trying to climb the counter. The child Laura was pregnant with when Rufus first came to town to stir trouble. Luke knows he has to tell her he can't keep this a secret this time. "Phoenix you need to get down before you fall..."
"Can I have cookie?...", Phoenix asks him.
Luke looks down at him, "We better ask the boss first..." then looks over at Laura who is hard at work organizing. Laura loves to organize she's good and fast at it. "Babe? You care if the boys have a cookie?"
"No it's fine. Better now than later." Luke hands out one cookie each to the boys then instructs them to go sit on the floor and eat them so they can leave in a few minutes. Luke is ready to get out of the area as far away from you know who!
"No, Fin dat my toy....", Phoenix says to his little brother.
Phineas does not care he wants to see it, "I pay?!..."
Phoenix gets a little upset, "No, Fin...No play...Daddy said eat your cookie..."
Luke grabs a coffee for Laura and walks over to her. She will want to organize the whole shop if he doesn't stop her. "Here babe, you've done enough. Jacob can finish the rest."
Laura stops and takes the coffee, "I'm just trying to help..."
Luke smiles, "I know. Where do you want to go? We should head out before the noon lunch traffic hits."
Laura shrugs, "I dunno somewhere outdoors maybe, where the boys can run around and play. It's turning out to be a beautiful day."
Luke is anxious about being out in public. Rufus has totally ruined his day, but he is trying to hold it together. Laura and the kids matter first. "Uh...yeah...okay...sure."
Laura looks up at him, "What's wrong?...You have something else in mind?"
"Um...no, no whatever you want, babe." Luke replies.
Laura can tell his thoughts are on something else. Something changed between here and the coffee shop. Her woman's intuition is telling her that much. "Luke?...What's wrong?"
Luke plasters on a smile and tries to push the
"Nothing, babe...I'm fine just thinking about where we should go."flustered feelings towards the back of his mind. Laura is
worried he is still upset about this morning's conversation...She pressured him hard about another baby. 
Luke almost forgetting all about this morning after his run in with Rufus, "What?! No!...I'm not mad just a lot on my mind. Let's get the boys and go."
"Okay..." Laura accepts that response and leaves it at that.
Will Luke tell Laura that Rufus showed up on him in the coffee shop? Is Rufus telling him the truth or is she just playing another game to torment him?
To Be Continued!
Thanks so much for tuning in and as always taking the time to comment and let me know how much you enjoy the blog!
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