She Will Be Loved (Kevin Richardson)

Chapter 1

January, 1997

It was 10 o'clock in the morning when the alarm clock rang. Ruth Velazquez immediately got out of bed. She had been awake for quite some time. She turned off the alarm clock and went into the bathroom. She took a cold shower, as usual. Showering with hot water was more pleasant, but the cold water helped her wake up completely.

When she got out of the shower, she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like a normal nineteen year old girl, pretty, but normal. She was of average height, about 5' 6". Her hair was brown, long and very curly. Her eyes were the lightest brown, almost the color of honey. She had several freckles on her nose.

After spending some time drying her hair (a time-consuming task), she came out of the bathroom and got dressed. Nothing too elaborate either: T-shirt, leggings, jacket and black sneakers.

Half an hour later, she was walking down the street as the winter chill hit her face. Despite living in Los Angeles, which was rather warm weather territory, it was freezing that day. Very, very cold. Finally, around 12 o'clock, he arrived at "Olio", the bar where he worked all day, every day.

"Good morning!" Ruth called out as she walked into the bar. Suddenly, a familiar face peeked from behind the bar, smiling.

Caroline had been Ruth's best friend since their first day of high school. They were about the same height. Carol had dark skin, and black hair, braided in numerous braids. She had dark eyes and one of the widest smiles Ruth had ever seen.

Caroline rushed out to Ruth and the two gave each other a tight hug that lasted several seconds "I have good news. Alf isn't coming today, so we can do whatever we want!"

Ruth smiled. Alf was the owner of the bar, who always kept a close eye on them to make sure they did their job. But if he wasn't there that day, that meant they had a little more freedom. Midday and afternoon at "Olio" was pretty tiresome. The busiest time was in the evening. So they were bored without having much to do. Caroline sat on top of the bar and lit a cigarette.

Ruth laughed "If Alf caught you sitting there, smoking inside his bar, he'd kill you."

Carol smiled "I know. But out of sight, out of mind."

Ruth nodded slowly. She continued cleaning glasses before returning her gaze to her friend "By the way, how was the date with...what was his name?"

"Frank. To be honest, a waste of time. He was cute and all, but he was also very boring."Ruth leaned closer to Carol and whispered "You slept together?"

Carol nodded "Yes. And like I said, a waste of time. I don't think I've ever seen anyone do it so unenthusiastically." Ruth laughed at her friend's comment "And by the way, how is it going with Eddie?"