Page 31 of No One's Like You
"Hi." Ellie jumps as if someone had shouted in her ear. Ruby has stood up and she hadn't noticed. "I didn't see you there."
Ruby kisses her cheek, as is customary between them, though this time Ellie doesn't feel the same. She recalls yesterday morning, when she woke up startled with her groin vibrating, and concludes the sensation is almost identical. She mentally curses and clears her throat, attempts a smile that resembles the typical grimace you make when eating raw fish for the first time.
"How are you?" is all Ellie can think to ask, and she feels like the stupidest woman on the planet.
"Tired," Ruby responds and makes a small pout with her lips. "Staying up late is starting to take its toll."
Ellie stands like a potted plant in the middle of the hallway, and Ruby furrows her brow.
"Are you okay?"
"Of course," she answers, perhaps too quickly. "I'm going inside to check the order."
Ellie disappears as quickly as she arrived and retreats to the office to also review some invoices. The day passes slowly because Ellie seems to have lost the ability to act naturally and Ruby is focused on her own things. Andon her phone. She keeps checking her phone, laughing or nodding, making Ellie bite her lips to avoid asking what she really doesn't want to know.
It's not that Ruby has forgotten about the kiss—how could she? It was the culmination of years of unrequited love, but the fact that her best friend kissed her passionately doesn't mean she feels the same way. That's why Ruby sticks to her plan: move on and take that long-awaited trip that will help her stop seeing Ellie the wrong way. Until that moment arrives, she entertains herself with the dating app; she's talked with several women over the days, and it has kept her very entertained. She still maintains that she doesn't want anything with anyone beyond good conversation or an exciting night like the one she believes she'll have tonight.
"Ellie," Ruby calls, blushing from laughing so much. "Please, come see this."
Ellie gets up and approaches the table that's just a few steps from hers and positions herself behind her friend. Her perfume hits her, and now Ellie is truly disoriented. She's spent her entire life sensing that aroma, her friend's skin mixed with a cream she's used since she was a teenager, and she had never been conscious of how much she likes it. Or had she?
Damn, Ruby, you smell so good.
Rub, if you were edible, I'd take a bite; that cream suits you perfectly.
How can this scent be an addiction?
Her own words spoken in the not-too-distant past crowd her mind, reminding her that yes, of course she had noticed that smell.
"Hey, pay attention," Ruby asks, drawing a mocking smile. "Look at this."
Ellie sighs and brings her face closer to the phone screen. She opens her eyes and mouth wide simultaneously. In the image her friend shows her, she can see a large bed, well-made, with white and blue sheets, and on them the largest arsenal of erotic toys Ellie has ever seen. Dildos of all sizes and colors, handcuffs, whips, a harness, and several plugs.
"Is that...?" Ellie points to a small gadget in the corner of the bed.
"Nipple clamps," Ruby confirms, smiling.
Ellie instinctively brings her hands to her breasts; they're very sensitive, and she doubts she'd ever try such torture. But everything she sees on that bed generates tremendous excitement while she realizes she has never used any of those things. Not because she's prudish; she's very active in bed, but the guys she's slept with have been more traditional, too much alpha male who claimed they didn't need help to please her. What idiots.
Ellie reads the message below the photo and blinks hard. The girl invites Ruby to her house that night with an open invitation to use that entire pile of toys on her, without restrictions.
"Are you going?" the question shoots from her mouth, burning her throat.
Ruby shakes her head and locks her phone screen.
"I like those games, but not with a woman I don't know," Ruby says casually while Ellie closes her legs at the comment. "For that, you need trust."
Ellie says nothing; through her mind—sick according to her perception—a series of images pass without restraint. Using those toys with... No, what is she thinking? Ruby is her best friend, damn it.
"But I do have a date this afternoon," Ruby continues and looks at her wristwatch. She stands up. "I'm heading home now; wish me luck."
Luck is what the girl Ruby will be with will have.
"Good luck," says Ellie with a small mouth, feeling between miserable and selfish.
Ruby passes by her side, leaves a kiss on her cheek, and Ellie's arms act like a programmed robot that only activates with Ruby Hebert's proximity. She hugs her, presses against her body, and closes her arms around her best friend. Ellie feels they're having a moment because she senses a slight tremor in Ruby's body. She can't be sure; maybe she's imagining it and it's just her who has gotten hooked on that kiss and the memories that keep coming of all those moments they've shared together.
Chapter 19
