Ruby
10.15 PM RED – Good day?
10.15 PM SNOW – No.
10.15 PM RED – What happened? Did that bastard hurt you? Snow?
10.20 PM SNOW – No. It’s just not a good day.
10.21 PM RED - Oh, a blue day then?
10.21 PM SNOW – Yeah.
10.22 PM RED – I get it; we don’t have to talk much if you don’t feel like it. I just wanted to tell you that it was a good day at work and the bruises from last time have almost vanished. Even he’s in a good mood as his boss has given him some more hours. He’s said that if there’s enough at the end of the month we’ll go out and visit my gran. How lovely will that be? He’s so good to me, a little gift like that, don’t you think?
10.25 PM SNOW – It would be lovely to be able to see your grandmother again so soon, I’m sure she’s missed you terribly.
10.25 PM SNOW – I have to go, my step mother has arrived home and wants to have a chat with me about my behaviour.
10.25 PM RED – What?
10.25 PM SNOW – Last week I didn’t go out when it was all arranged and she’s embarrassed on his behalf as he would never tell me so.
Snow has signed off.
Ruby stood up from her desk, relishing the ability to stand upright in one swift move without any lingering pain. She and Peter had come out of their rough patch even closer. She caught a glance of her boyfriend’s headlights pulling into the drive and a little stab of panic rushed through her before she remembered that all the cleaning had been done and she’d managed to cook his favourite dinner without having to go shopping. He never liked it when she had to go shopping more than once in a week.
She heard the front door open and his customary routine of hanging up his bag and coat, shuffling his boots off at the same time. Ruby smiled, he always did like his routines. She trod lightly down the stairs and peered at him over the bannister on the half landing. He was relaxed and there were no tight lines on his face. She met him at the bottom of the stairs where he plucked her up as if she weighed nothing at all.
“My love, how’d you get so beautiful?” he whispered to her.
She smiled at the rare compliment. He guarded his reserve fiercely, not wanting her to get immune to them.
“I guess it’s because I love you that’s why.” She whispered in reply, smiling even wider when he smiled too. She’d spoken correctly.
“What’s for dinner my love?” He said as he let her slowly touch the ground again.
“Shepherd’s pie. Family recipe.” She replied, moving past him to get the food plated up.
“My favourite. Thank you.”
He rattled around in the cutlery drawer as she dished up the portions, mindlessly adding double to his plate. They ate in companionable silence, both enjoying the good food. Even though he’d had a larger portion he finished before she did and pushed his plate away, rising to go to the lounge without a word.
She hummed tunelessly as she gathered the plates and pans for washing up. It had been a success, no cross words over dinner. She ran the hot tap and as the water began the long process of heating; their old boiler gurgling into life, she scraped almost all her portion from her plate into the food waste bin. It had been a wasteful error on her part to put so much on her plate, she knew that she didn’t eat that much. Hadn’t eaten that much in a long while as she needed to keep her figure. Peter loved her figure. She’d have to be careful that he hadn’t noticed how much she’d wasted as he would have to remind her of the money she’d scraped into the bin.
The phone chirping interrupted her humming and she reflexively reached for the handset in the kitchen before she remembered herself. Peter would answer it in the lounge, he’d call her if it was meant for her. She heard his voice through the doorway, at first pleasant and calm. It took a quick turn into tense and clipped. Her body jumped into high alert, even though it wasn’t aimed at her. She laughed to herself at how silly she was being; Peter was having a good day. He’d even allowed her to contact Belle and arrange a shift for tomorrow.
He came through to the kitchen with a face like thunder. She swallowed hard, he must have noticed the food. That must have been why, the phone call had slipped from her mind.
“It’s your grandmother. She wants you.” His tone carried more than he was saying.
She took the phone and he spun on his heel, as soon as he’d left the room seemed to lighten. The tinny voice from the speaker reminded her of her call.
“Granny?”
“Oh my darling girl! I’ve not heard your voice in too long! How are you sweetheart? Are you happy?” Her grandmother’s voice raced through the questions as though she only had minutes to speak.
“Hey Granny, I’m fine. Never better. What has you calling so late? You know Peter doesn’t like it when you call so late.”
“Stuff Peter if I want to talk to my only granddaughter I damn well will. Why don’t you ever pick up the phone dear-heart?” Her grandmother queried. Ruby had missed her directness.
Her grandmother loved her fiercely; the same couldn’t be said of Peter. Ruby never understood why her only family and the love of her life couldn’t get along. She knew that Peter was particular but it was part of the reason they were so good together. He kept her on the straight and narrow, she huffed out a breath when she thought of who she used to be before she met Peter.
She caught a glimpse of herself in the washed saucepan on the drainer. Her normally pale face was perhaps a touch too pale, she reasoned that it was late autumn and there wasn’t much sun. No one wanted to go out and about when it was wet or snowing and Peter didn’t like it when she went out on her own. Her eyes, a dull hazel, were ringed with deep purple. She traced a finger round the almost bruise coloured skin watching the path of her reflected hand. She could see the movement of both tendon and bone.
“Ruby, honey? You still there?” Her grandmother spoke uncharacteristically softly.
Ruby looked away from the reflection and tucked a few stray strands behind her ear.
“Yeah, I’m still here. Granny, why are you calling? I’m fine, so is Peter.”
As if he had been waiting for his cue, Peter appeared in the kitchen doorway. She dared a look at him and could see the growing impatience clouding his features.
“I wanted to tell you that I have some holiday coming up and wondered if you wanted to see me? We could go out and about for a couple of days, see some sights? You know that I don’t really care for tourist traps but it would be fun to do them with you. What do you think?” She finished brightly.
Ruby bit her lip, it sounded wonderful. Getting back into the world and seeing her grandmother at the same time. Peter shifted in the doorway and cleared his throat.
“I’m really sorry Granny I’m, I’m swamped with shifts at the moment and I can’t give up the money. You know how it is?” She desperately hoped that the other woman would let her have her story and not probe it further. A few heart pounding moments passed and her grandmother spoke.
“Okay sweetheart if you’re sure? I just thought it would be lovely. Next time yeah?” She asked.
“Yeah, next time.”
They said their goodbyes and with a final click the connection vanished. Peter growled low in his throat and Ruby closed her eyes. She wasn’t going to be able to turn up for her shift tomorrow.