introductions
RUBY
Ruby jolted awake to a sharp, slow beeping. It definitely wasn't her alarm, and it was far away, but it was loud. For a moment, she stayed in bed, hoping it would stop on its own. But the noise was insistent, and after a frustrated groan, she got out of bed. She grabbed her hoodie from off the floor and pulled it over her shirt and shorts, shuffling through her apartment, sounds growing louder as she neared the front door.
Opening it a crack, she peeked into the dim hallway. The culprit was obvious—the smoke alarm near the ceiling blinked angrily as it screamed every few seconds. Her neighbor's door opened, and out stepped the man she often caught glimpses of.
He was barefoot and wearing a dark T-shirt and black sweatpants, his expression one of mild annoyance as he glanced up at the alarm. He didn't seem fazed by her presence, his attention focused on the noise.
Ruby hesitated before stepping into the hallway. "Does this happen often?"
He glanced at her, his eyes sharp but unreadable. "No," he said simply, before looking back up at the alarm. "Must be something wrong with it."
"Do you need to call someone to fix it?" she asked.
"Not at this hour." His tone was matter-of-fact. "You got an umbrella?"
Ruby blinked at the unexpected question. "Uh, yeah, hang on."
She ducked back into her apartment, returning a moment later with a black umbrella. She stepped back into the hallway to give it to him.
He gave a short nod of thanks. Without hesitation, he extended it upward and smacked the tip into the smoke alarm. The device wobbled, emitting one last shrill beep before falling silent.
Ruby's eyebrows raised as a piece of plastic fell to the floor. "Well, that's one way to fix it."
He handed the umbrella back to her. "Thanks for the help."
"Anything to get that noise to stop," she responded.
Before he went inside, he paused and looked back at her. "Pete."
Ruby tilted her head slightly. "Hm?"
"I'm Pete," he clarified, holding out a hand.
She hesitated, then took it. His grip was firm, his hand warm despite the chill in the hallway. "Ruby," she said.
He gave a slight nod, his hand lingering a second longer before he let go. Without another word, he stepped back into his apartment, shutting the door behind him.
Ruby stared at the closed door for a moment, then turned and returned to her own apartment, shutting the door behind her. As she sat the umbrella down in the coat closet, she mulled the interaction over in her head.
He had introduced himself as Pete, when she could've sworn the man in the suit had called him Frank just a few nights ago.
Either way, it was nice to have to have been officially introduced to him. She had lived here for about three weeks now, and aside from the people she had to introduce herself to at work, Pete was the first person she had met since moving to New York. The apartment leasing process was all done completely online, so she never met her landlord. She didn't go anywhere to meet new people. She didn't care to meet new people.
Ruby wasn't looking to make friends, but there was also something reassuring about having a friendly face nearby. Even if he didn't have such a literally friendly face, Pete had been nothing but helpful since their first encounter. It reminded her of the conversation with the old lady in the laundry room, who had warned her that Pete was odd. Ruby had found herself being thankful that she had Pete nearby.
She had had a few interactions with other neighbors, but had yet to be introduced to any of them, besides Pete. Well, Pete and Mrs. Fernandez. But Mrs. Fernandez hadn't asked for Ruby's name, or even given her a chance to speak.
One day Ruby had stepped out of her apartment with a trash bag in hand, and was turned around towards her door, locking it behind her when a bag of trash was thrown at her feet.
She turned around to see an older lady in a leopard print jacket retreating back towards the end of the hall very quickly, and was about to call out when the lady yelled over her shoulder in a very strong Long Island accent.
"I've got an online meeting starting in one minute sweetie, no time to take out the trash-- thanks darling, lovely meeting you, I'm Mrs. Fernandez!"
She almost didn't catch the last few words, as Mrs. Fernandez had said them as she was quickly closing the door on the stunned figure of Ruby, who now had double the trash to take out.
When she went to pick up the bag, the sides of the white bag strained, and she could tell it was about to rip open. She was surprised it hadn't done so when the lady had thrown it so carelessly at her feet. She thought about the way the bag touched her legs as it had hit the ground. The unspoken expectation and demand of her time. If there was one thing about Ruby, it was that she did react well to demands. She quickly decided that she wasn't fond of Mrs. Fernandez. She also quickly decided that this was not her problem.
Setting her own bag of trash down on her doormat, Ruby cautiously carried Mrs. Fernandez's overfilled bag back to the door she had just disappeared behind. She gently placed it down on the doormat that said "it's always happy hour here," careful not to let it make any sound as she leaned it against the door.
She quietly backed away from the bag, smiling softly at her work. She turned to face the elevator as she passed her apartment and picked up her own trash in one smooth motion.
The smile dropped from her face and she stopped in her tracks when she saw a figure at the end of the hallway, leaning against the wall next to the exit to the stairwell. She could see a smirk pulling at his usual frown.
Her neighbor.
"I never liked her either," he said, pushing off the wall and approaching her, hand outstretched.
She realized he was asking for her to give him her bag of trash.
She held the bag out behind her, out of his reach, face neutral.
He looked at her in disbelief for a moment before chuckling lightly, "you not gonna let me take your trash out for you?"
Ruby shook her head, face shifting to one of resolution as she continued to withhold the bag from him.
"There's a cat out there, I have treats for him," she said, patting her black hoodie pocket.
He slowly nodded his head in growing understanding, then replied, "Ah I see." He dropped his hand.
"I'm on a mission," she continued seriously, walking past him and towards the elevators. "Not a trash run."
Had the elevator door not been so loud when it slid open, Ruby would've been able to hear the amused scoff he made as he watched her step inside, turning to face him with determination on her face.
"A mission, huh?"
She nodded at him as the door slid shut, her face breaking into a small smile right before it closed completely.
FRANK
Frank chuckled at Ruby's comment. A mission.
He had seen Mrs. Fernandez toss her bag of shit at Ruby's feet when he pushed the door to the stairwell open. He had his own plan on how he was going to handle the old lady's dismissive action, and was about to intervene when he saw Ruby set her own trash bag down, and pick up the one that had been tossed at her feet. He couldn't help the smirk that tugged at his lips when she went and put it right back at the lady's door. Served her right.
He watched Ruby until the elevator door obstructed his view. She had a determined set to her shoulders as she held her trash bag with one hand, and tapped the fingers of her other hand rapidly against her thigh.
It was one thing he had noticed about her, that she never seemed to be able to hold still. She was always bouncing her knee or tapping her fingers or fiddling with the drawstrings on her hoodies. It didn't seem to be anxious-- he had seen her anxious, her jaw askew as she bit at the inside of her lip, and she would get this distant stare that seemed to look straight through whatever was in her line of sight. Her fidgeting seemed to be merely to find something to do with her energy-- or maybe to help her think. She seemed to always been thinking hard about something.
The one thing that had stuck out to him was Ruby's smile- the smiles she had given him in their other interactions had been forced, like they had been put on her face as an afterthought, an obligation. This one, while small, had been genuine. It reached her eyes in a way the others hadn't. He blinked. He didn't think he had seen her do that to anyone else yet. Granted, he hadn't seen her around very many times, but when he did, she always looked so serious. She often had her brows set low, not a look of anger, but one of resolution.
He didn't get many smiles from anyone these days. Hell, he couldn't even remember the last time one of the neighbors from his floor had looked at him with anything other than mild horror.
A small smile was a very welcomed change. He decided he liked that about Ruby, she had a soft and warm presence. Frank felt that his quietness was cold and sharp in comparison, and he almost felt out of place when next to her because of it. He felt like his roughness would damage her wholesomeness. And despite the tough act she put on with her dark wardrobe and heavy music, she seemed very delicate to him. So light, and so gentle.
It only made it harder for him to convince himself he didn't need to be hypervigilant about the woman's safety. He felt like he needed to wrap her in goddamn bubble wrap. For now, he supposed being a helpful neighbor would do.