Page 24 of No One's Like You
"What's the definition?" Odette asks.
"Poetic composition of fourteen hendecasyllabic verses. Six letters," Adele reads.
Odette thinks for a few seconds.
"Sonnet."
Adele checks and sees that it fits perfectly with the two letters she already has filled in.
"Well, look at that," she says, writing it down.
Chapter 14
Thursday dawns dark, with heavy clouds and the sun showing no signs of appearing anytime soon. Ruby stares at the ceiling, sprawled on her bed while thinking about her miserable existence. At least tonight she managed to sleep more than three hours, which is quite an achievement considering the events that have recently darkened her life. Yesterday she canceled the usual Wednesday girls' night with Ellie, using the basic excuse that her period came with deadly cramps because she didn't feel ready to spend hours with her best friend, who also happens to be the source of her torment, and pretend everything was normal. This doesn't happen often; as far as Ruby can remember, since they set that day to spend time together, they've only canceled on rare occasions. Ellie's honeymoon, Ruby's getaway with Amelia, pneumonia that kept Ellie in the hospital for a week, and a few other setbacks. Otherwise, Wednesdays have always been non-negotiable for both of them. Ruby made a good decision because staying home with a clear head reaffirmed that she can't continue downthe same path; she needs to start seeing Ellie as what she's always been, an unconditional friend who has stood by her side her whole life and not the woman she's been in love with for just as long.
For Ellie, it was bewildering, so much so that she felt completely lost. It was like a power outage that ruins all plans and you can't even watch your favorite movie to entertain yourself. For Ellie, feeling this way isn't a surprise; she recognizes her adoration for Ruby and the attachment they both share, but she has rarely had to experience this feeling of emptiness because her friend never cancels and much less rejects her offer to come to her house to take care of her or at least bring supplies. She went to bed early to stop dwelling on it and woke up with renewed energy, eager to go to Early Bayou and focus her day on finding a solution about the bar's future location. The Fox family's lawyer sent them the selling price by mail, and it's a figure they couldn't reach even if they sold their most precious possessions.
"Are you feeling better?" Ellie rushes over to her best friend, who arrives at the bar an hour later than her with a tired expression.
Ruby twists her lips and shrugs. Although Ellie is asking about her supposed physical discomfort, she's going to answer for what she feels, but in her soul.
"The truth is, not really, but don't worry, it'll pass."
Ruby tries to head toward the coffee maker, but Ellie doesn't let her because in a matter of two seconds, she has her trapped in her arms. Ellie caresses her back, andRuby's mind plays tricks on her, making her believe that her friend's heart is racing. She decides not to try to break the hug because Ellie would find it strange, and she's not up for interrogations.
"I missed you so much," Ellie says when she pulls away and leaves a kiss on her cheek.
Comments like these crush Ruby inside. Before, she loved them, they filled her with hope, but now that she knows everything is a product of her imagination and her desire for Ellie to see her differently, they bother her to the point of making her feel sick.
"Didn't you make other plans?" Ruby asks with her gaze fixed on the stream of coffee flowing from the coffee maker into the bright green mug. Her favorite.
Ellie shakes her head, denying. She doesn't want to be dramatic and tell Ruby that she spent ten minutes staring into space after receiving her message, so she skips that part.
"No, I stayed home. It helped me rest, though it also helped me get a date," she tells her with a mischievous smile and a torso movement that's meant to be a happy dance.
Of course, this hits Ruby like a slap across the face with an open hand. Her friend seems obsessed with finding Marcel a replacement.
"I'm glad," Ruby says in a dry tone, and Ellie doesn't catch it because a couple approaches the counter to place an order.
Ellie stays with them, and Ruby takes her coffee out to the back patio with an immense desire to smash that bright green mug against the wall, the one that became her favorite when she first saw it and of which Ellie ordered two boxes so her best friend would never be without it. She sits at one of the round tables at the back under a large umbrella that, even though there's no sun, protects her from the wind that's starting to pick up and takes a sip of coffee thinking that if she continues down the same path, she'll end up very badly. She also needs to move on, like Ellie has done and like Amelia is doing, so without hesitation, she pulls her phone out of her pocket and decides to create an account on the dating app that almost everyone uses. This is something Ruby has never used; she's always been about direct contact, face-to-face, like when she met Amelia at that festival and got hooked on her smile, or when Esther—a girl she had a fling with for two months—entered the fitting room where Ruby was almost naked by mistake. But for emergency situations, radical decisions.
"Damn, that's fast," she says with wide, bright eyes.
She has swiped through several profiles, and the connection with two girls has been instantaneous. Ruby had to fill out various details, some information about her likes and hobbies, and upload several photos. She chose as her main one a photo where she considers herself attractive. She's wearing a light blue jumpsuit, her hair loose, and a black purse crossed over her chest. She's holding a glass in her hand, barefoot on the sand, with thebeach where a party is being held in the background. In it, she smiles spontaneously at the camera. Ellie took the photo after asking her to dance for her. Damn Ellie.
Her lips stretch genuinely because, although Ruby isn't looking for even casual sex on that app, she can't deny that in the fifteen minutes she's been messing around with it and talking to the two girls, she's been quite entertained.
"May I sit?" The voice startles Ruby, who was responding to a message and didn't notice Ellie's presence.
"Sure," she responds without taking her eyes off her phone screen.
Ellie observes her; she had been doing so for a few minutes from the doorway. She found it strange that Ruby didn't invite her, as always, to have coffee together outside. So after looking for her and finding her in the patio, she stood watching her friend's radiant smile for a while.
"We need to talk about what to do with the bar," says Ellie, who receives barely a nod from Ruby in response. "I've thought of several ideas and want to know what you think."
"I haven't thought of anything yet," says Ruby, who puts down her phone to grab her coffee mug and take a drink.
Ellie sees that smile drawn on her friend's face again, and curiosity kills her.
