Page 37 of No One's Like You
Ellie furrows her brows almost to the point of joining them. She stares at the dark stain while Jerome tries to dry it with a cloth. The salon door opens and the man stands up. Ellie hears words in the background, but she can't really hear anything. Jerome kisses her on the cheek and squeezes her shoulder; that's when Ellie wakes up. The new client has arrived and her friend has returned to work. Ellie gets up after leaving the cup on the table and waves goodbye as she leaves the premises.
Ellie Trahan, who thought she had complete control over her feelings, suddenly feels a kind of jolt in her brain. As if memories were small puzzle pieces, everything starts to come together all at once. How she hated Theresa Reis when she touched Ruby or took her to the bathroom in secret. The letters Ellie almost tore up when they were fourteen and Bianca Trivoli, an Italian exchange student, wrote Ruby the sappiest declaration she had ever read. That afternoon when she told her best friend she had lost her virginity to the jerk Jared Steven and Ruby's eyes filled with tears. Like a fool, she thought it was from emotion and not pain. When she announced her wedding to Marcel and Ruby disappeared for several days claiming a bad flu, and when she reappeared, she had lost several pounds and her face was just dark circles and exhaustion.
"Shit," Ellie slams her hand on the steering wheel and immediately lets out a howl of pain as she shakes it rapidly.
All those memories crowd her mind, one after another, without giving her a break. Of course Marcel was right when he said Ruby was everything to her. Yes, she's not justher best friend; Ruby is the only person she has truly loved. The one she's been in real love with for years.
Not like you.
The phrase hits her in the face. How many times has Ellie said it to Ruby? Countless were the nights when Ellie recited the flaws of her partners and always ended with the same phrase.
Not like you.
And it's true, none has been like Ruby. None has resembled Ruby because her Ruby is the only one she could really see. She swerves, making a reckless turn that could easily cost her a hefty fine. She's glad no car crossed at that moment and accelerates to reach her destination as soon as possible. Twenty-one minutes later, Ellie trembles like a leaf in front of Ruby Hebert's house. Hours have passed while her mind recalled all those moments, and now that it's six in the evening, she's standing there because waiting until eight at the bar for their Girls' Wednesday could kill her with anxiety.
"Ellie," Ruby opens the door and her look of confusion is noticeable. "I thought..."
Ellie turns into a hurricane when she takes several hurried steps and crashes into her friend's body. She uses both hands to place them on her neck and pull her close. Their lips meet and how perfect they are together. They're made from a special mold created by destiny and they fit because the two of them are unique together. Ellie runs her tongue over the lips of a very disconcerted Ruby who, although the moment has destabilized her, her body hasreacted to the one who, since she was nine years old, should have been her girl.
Chapter 23
Ellie thinks she's going to faint. Fireworks explode everywhere, inside and out. Ruby's taste is sweeter than she remembered, and her lips softer and warmer. Ruby notices Ellie's urgency, the trembling in her lips and also in the hands that her friend has on her neck while she feels a shock run through her from head to toe.
This is everything she's always wanted, Ellie against her mouth, hearing her sighs and feeling the need that invades her and pushes her against her. But Ruby doesn't want it like this, without more, without knowing why it's happening now. Ellie moves her hands, takes them from her neck and slides them down her arms until they land on her waist, where she intends to continue exploring.
"Wait, Ellie," Ruby says softly, stepping back a couple of steps while trying to center herself.
"What's wrong?" asks Ellie, who doesn't understand anything.
She stares at Ruby, with parted lips and her heart in her throat while cursing herself for being so abrupt.
"I think we should talk about this," Ruby responds.
Ellie's head burns and she finds it a little difficult to process her words.
"Yes, of course, you're right," she says, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"Should we sit?" asks Ruby, pointing to the couch.
Ellie nods with relief, because her legs are starting to shake. Ruby sits beside her, turned toward her waiting for her to speak, but Ellie is so shocked by what just happened and by what the kiss made her feel, that she's speechless.
"What was that kiss about?" Ruby finally asks.
Her partner seems to come out of her trance and looks at her intently.
"Is it true that you're in love with me?" Ellie fires point-blank.
Ruby stares at her, mouth agape, her mind working at full speed, trying to guess where Ellie got that conclusion, but she tells herself that's not the most important thing, in fact, it has no relevance at all. She looks at her and concludes she has nothing left to lose.
"Yes, it is."
"Oh my God, Ruby," says Ellie, running a hand through her hair. "Why have you never told me? Everything could have been so different."
"Because I didn't want to lose your friendship and because I didn't think it would change anything if I did. With you everything has always been confusing. Every time I think there might be a chance, a crack to slip through, you start dating men again."
"I don't—" Ellie stops when Ruby raises her hand.
"We don't need to go far back in time for you to see I'm right. You got divorced from Marcel and, as soon as you got over the rough patch a bit, you downloaded that app and started dating men again. If you look back, it's always the same, Ellie. You get tired of comparing them all to me, finding flaws in them that apparently I don't have, telling me that none of them are like me, but you keep sleeping with them. Do you know how much it hurts to hear you say that? That none of them are like me, and to come to the conclusion that you simply don't consider me because I'm a woman."
