Bold Ruth Wilson

Chapter 1

Ruth Wilson had always loved urban Chattanooga with its fine establishments and pretty mountain backdrop. It was a place where she felt safe and in this moment, she really needed some safety. In short, she was a bold, stuck-up, sweet tea drinker with chewed cuticles and tiny feet. Her friends saw her as a lovely, funny person. Once, she had even helped build a house for Habitat for Humanity.

That's the sort of woman she was. Complicated in personality, simple and giving in actions. But right now, Ruth felt like a tiny speck of dust, swirling around this café she was sitting in with no direction whatsoever and she was afraid. Ruth walked over to the big window of the café to have a seat on one of the barstools and reflect on her crowded surroundings. The snow flurried down onto the bustling street, as almost everyone in Chattanooga was afraid of even the tiniest bit of snow and she laughed, wondering for a moment how her friends in New York would react to seeing these simple, country people running for dear life at the first sight of a flurry.

She focused on a particular flake of snow that had found its way onto the window. She watched as it stuck to the pane in its perfectly imperfect pattern and then shed a tear. She watched the trail roll down the window and when she looked back up the entire flake was gone. More of these flakes attacked the window and then before she knew it, she was lost, watching these beautiful creations lose their rigidness and develop into water that would soon evaporate and make its returning descent to the sky. Her concentration was broken though, when she saw something in the distance, or rather someone.

It was the figure of Tom Kahn, of course. Tom was a brave painter with dirty hands and red lips. Ruth gulped. She was not prepared for Tom, she didn't think she would ever be prepared for him, but now was better than later. As Ruth stepped outside and Tom came closer, she could see the zealous glint in his eye.

Tom gazed at her with the affection of 3,560 needy children. He said, in a hushed tone, "I love you and I want a resolution to this." Ruth looked back, even more anxious than before, diddling with her fingers and refusing to meet Tom's eyes. "Tom, I admire your eyebrows," she replied. She finally gathered the courage to look at him and as expected, he looked confused, the glint fading.

"You...admire my...eyebrows," he repeated slowly, as if trying to piece some kind of difficult puzzle together. She sighed and nodded. They looked at each other for a moment, Tom with pain and anguish in his eyes and Ruth with pleading. Then it seemed to click for Tom and he shook his head in understanding and sadness. He regarded Ruth for a second, taking in the trickle of blood working its way out of the wound she inflicted upon her cuticles with her teeth and the very put-together outfit she had chosen just for this occasion.

Yes, he definitely understood what Ruth meant by her compliment. It was a stepping stone to 'I love you', but only the second stone to be lain down. She was far from the feeling and so Tom sighed and took her hand. "I admire your eyebrows too," he revealed with a sad smile. Ruth felt lonely, her emotions were bubbling up in her like the Tennessee River after it's rained too hard.

She looked down at her hand in Tom's, before meeting his eyes once more. "Will you let me buy you a cup of coffee?" She asked, gesturing toward the café behind her. "Sure," Tom replied. And so they went inside for their coffee.