t r o u v a i l l e | ✔️

entry 08

Ruth
13:06
17 december 2016
queens, new york

"Ruth May, guess what?" Lisa sounded a bit giddy through the phone.

"What is it, honey?" I couldn't help but smile. Lisa and I didn't get to talk much. Between my work and steady adjusting to this new life, and her hours at work and community college, our conversations were irregular but well informed.

"Your little Nathanael showed up at the diner today."

The smile was wiped clean off my face. I set the phone on speaker and stopped to bear my weight on the counter. "What was that, Lisa?"

"I said your darlin' came into the diner. Early in the morning like he used to. Said he walked over to your house and everything was off. Went through your orchard and had to prune the trees himself while picking all of the overripe fruit from the branches." She went on and on. "...Let me tell you, it was so cute cause I'd never seen him talk so much." He was back in Glendale. Where had he gone? I hadn't expected him to ever go back. "He actually looked real sad...Ruth?"

"Yeah," I said softly.

"I think he's coming for you," Lisa stated.

I shook my head and clutched the phone tighter in my hand. "Oh, please be serious now, Lisa. What d'you mean?"

"I mean I told him how you were living in Queens and working in that place and playing the piano. Said he knew where that was and next thing I know, he done packed back up and left again."

Nathanael

06:41
17 november 2016
glendale, georgia

"She's gone."

"Well what do you mean she's gone?" Julian scoffed on the other end of the phone.

I stopped packing and huffed impatiently. "I mean she's not here, Julian. I came back because of her and she's not here."

The house was dark when I arrived, and given it was eleven at night, I expected her bayside window light to be shining but it wasn't. I left it alone for the night and waited until morning to cross the street and knock on the door. And when she didn't answer I moved to the windows. It wasn't until I saw the condition of the orchard that I really started to worry.

There was rotting fruit hanging from the wild branches and the smell was horrid. Ruth kept up with her garden if nothing else and the fact that her trees looked as if they hadn't been pruned in weeks had me pacing like a madman.

I drove to the diner where Lisa finally told me that Ruth left. She was gone and in Queens, New York.

"I'm just going to take a wild guess and say that you're about to get on another plane,"

"Yeah." I zipped my last bag and began to turn off the lights to the house.

"Nate," Julian drawled. "Listen kid, I know you were feeling this 'angel' girl, but I don't want you acting on impulse and wearing yourself out,"

I slammed my trunk shut and frowned at his words. "This is coming from the same man who keeps telling me to get in touch with my emotions..."

15:58
17 december 2016
Manhattan, new york

"She doesn't work Saturdays, I'm sorry." My shoulders sagged in disappointment and exhaustion. I wasted no time in getting here, driving two hours to Atlanta and catching the almost three hour flight to JFK International. Arriving was the easy part-finding Ruth however, seemed to be a challenge. 

"Hey man, I hate to be rude, but there's people waiting behind you, so..." The man behind the counter trailed off. 

"Don,"I read off his name tag. "When does she work?"

A perturbed look crossed his face before he grimaced. "That's not really information that people just come in and ask for, man. I don't think it's a good idea for me to tell you that,"

Was this man serious? I wasn't asking for her phone number or living address. "I just want to know when she comes in to work so that I can speak with her-please."

I hadn't even heard the entrance bell ding when his eyes widened on something over my shoulder. 

"Nathanael?"

I quickly spun around and my heart swelled uncontrollably. "Ruth," I breathed. I reached out for her hands to take into my own. I kissed them gingerly as I relished the feeling of being in her presence again. "Ruth, angel, why are you in New York?"

"Well I," She lifted her coat clad shoulders slightly. "I wanted something new to wake up to."

Unknowingly, my eyebrows had furrowed. "You know I went back to Glendale. I went back to see you but you weren't there,"

"You think I was just s'posed to jus' sit around an wait for you, darlin'?" She was frowning now too. "I didn't know not a thing about you, 'cept you was from here. Maybe I jus' wanted to see what you liked so much."

"I didn't want you to wait for me, angel, but," My eyes squeezed shut, attempting to gather my thoughts. She always had some effect on my ability to make sense. Her deep brown eyes seemed to intrude my brain and mix things up when she looked at me.

"Hey, is there a problem?" A man snapped me out of my reverie. He fell short of my height by a good couple of inches and wasn't near as built, but I knew he was the witty and artistic type by the way his green eyes analyzed the sight before him. 

"No," Ruth stepped away from me, leaving my hands mid air and without her warmth.

"Wait, Ru-"

"Can I help you, dude?" The man asked.

"No," I snapped. Who was this man and why wasn't he just minding his business like everyone else? "I could ask the same of you, though."

He shrugged. "Ruth and I were just about to have lunch." He turned to her, a smirk on his face. "This isn't the restroom, sweetheart." My stomach dropped at the endearment.

sweetheart?

A month must be quite a long time to these two. Although the look on Ruth's face suggested that the term was a surprise to us both. My distaste for this man was already established. He was trouble and Ruth knew better than to encourage him in whatever persuit he had. So why did she?

My lips thinned in disappointment before I stepped away. "I'll let you go then. Sorry for the trouble."