Ulysses Paradox (a Will Lenney fanfiction.)

chapter twenty-four

The apartment complex was nice enough, nothing to look twice at. It had none of the charm and beauty that her London flat held. He drove through the gate on the tail of another car and reread her apartment number. 274. There was a little map in the middle of the roundabout and he found her building, F. It was near the back.

He drove past all the cars and looked for the letters plastered on the front of all the buildings. D, E...F.

Just up ahead.

There were several empty places for him to park, and Will drove slowly to try and control his breathing before he pulled into a spot. He kept glancing up at the building in front of him, wondering which window was hers. He pulled the keys out of the ignition and looked up again.

There she was, standing on her balcony at eight in the morning, smoking a cigarette. This felt insurmountable. He was still wearing the clothes he'd left London in, wrinkled and desperate. Will got out of his car, and felt like he might cry.

He kept his eyes on her the entire time, willing her to not disappear again. They made eye contact and he wondered what she thought right now, looking at a man she presumed to be in London, standing in the street at her apartment in California.

"Ruby."

Her hand went to her mouth, and Will couldn't see her face close enough to know if it was from surprise or horror. Ruby, her name was a relief to speak out into the world. They stood, Will staring up at her and Ruby staring down at him. This was the closest he had been to her in so long, and it was still too far.

"How?" Ruby said.

"I didn't know what else to do."

Ruby disappeared back into her apartment and Will stood on the sidewalk, exhausted. If she never came back out he would have to take this answer as her final one. This was the edge of the precipice, the insurmountable moment, they could not turn back now. He heard quick footsteps coming from the concrete hallway, and Ruby stopped at the bottom of the steps to look at him with wild, glassy eyes. She looked hollow and sharp, like sleep evaded her and she'd been smoking too much. Will thought he must look similar.

"You, you're here..." She whispered. "Why?"

"I had to see you again." He said. She didn't say anything back. "You disappeared."

"There was a lot going on."

"Yeah, but you didn't even tell me about it, you just got on a plane and ran away." Will said.

"I didn't know what else to do." She said. "I'm not very good at this."

"Good at what?" Will asked.

"I don't know," she said. "Being around you, telling you things. I kept expecting you to leave."

"I guess this is where I would say that it's fine, and I still love you, and I'd fly across the country because that's how much I don't want to leave."

Will took a step forward and Ruby watched him with tears in her eyes. He pulled her into his arms and felt her let out a choked sob before clutching back at him. The sidewalk was empty and this was a beautiful, painful moment with no answers and no clear way home.

Will followed her up the stairs into her tiny California apartment that was more expensive that her beautiful flat in London. Her body was shaking and when they walked into the main room she disappeared to put on a warmer sweater.

When Ruby came out from the closet sized bedroom, she found Will perched on the yellow couch her parents had given her. The apartment was mostly empty, and most nights she slept there instead of on the full-sized mattress she had on the floor of her bedroom. She kept her shoes on when she walked around and he stood up when he saw her.