Ruby Rooms

Over the next fortnight, Adrienne lost count of the number of hours that she spent with the Reverend. But she was pleasantly surprised by this turn of events, considering that she found him mind numbingly unbearable when she first met him. The Reverend was a constant fixture in her home (as she had now come to call her tiny apartment); offering sound pieces of advice about different bands that he thought that Adrienne should go and see. And it was thanks to his guidance that she received compliment after compliment from her boss back in Minnesota.

"You amaze me, do you know that?" she whispered to him one night, her fingers drawing patterns on his stomach in the dark.

It had become custom for him to stay with her; and the more he stayed over, the deeper their connection became. At times, Adrienne found herself yearning for the sun to set behind the horizon so they could entwine themselves beneath the sheets.

"Why?" he whispered back.

A month ago, Adrienne would have expected some sort of grandiose reply to her statement. But now she had broken through his pretentious-albeit somewhat charming at times-exterior; she saw a side to him that actually cared about what she had to say.

"Well a month ago, I wanted to rip you a new asshole because you annoyed me that much!"

He laughed softly into her hair. "Sorry about that."

"And now---" she moved her head from his chest and propped herself up on one elbow. "Now I can't believe how close we are---even if you do wear those goddamn sun shades all the time! I feel like I've known you all my life---"

She felt him tense and she swallowed nervously, thinking that she had said too much. Her heart raced when he gently sat up and made to climb out of bed.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to come on so strongly---"she gushed, sitting up and catching his elbow. "Please don't be freaked out!"

When he turned to face her, she saw he was smiling which made her sigh heavily in confusion. He laughed at her expression and took her chin in his hand, tenderly.

"Let's take a walk---"

"What? Now? But it's the middle of the night!"

"We won't be going far, just onto the beach."

"But---why?!"

He turned his back on her again and she saw his shoulders lift as he took a deep breath. "I want to show you the man behind the glasses."

---

The slight sea breeze made Adrienne shiver. The Reverend caught her goosebumps and so wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his chest. They were sitting close to the shore line, staring out into the onyx night with only the stars to help them differentiate which blackness was sea, and which was sky.

"Tell me more about how you feel." He pressed kisses into the top of her head.

"But I thought you were going to talk to me?"

"We'll get to that shortly. But for now, I want to listen to your voice."

He pulled her closer into his chest as assurance that he was ready to listen to whatever she had to say.

"I don't know what it is about you," she began quietly. "When we first met, you used to get me so white hot mad! You were so arrogant!"

They both giggled quietly. "Again, I'm sorry about that."

She lifted her head and pressed light kisses into his cheek and jaw line. "But there was just something about you that kept me coming back for more---"

"Go on," he gently urged when he saw her head dip with embarrassment.

"And in my inability to refuse you came the feeling that I'd known you all my life. Does that make me insane? "

"No."

She hadn't expected him to answer so definitively. The confidence in his tone made her lift her head so she could examine the expression on his face. It was serious.

"No. You're not insane. Not at all."

"Well I feel pretty insane right now! I mean, here I am with a serious case of verbal diarrhoea and for all I know, could be making the biggest fool of myself while you're sat there not saying anything when this conversation was your idea!"

Hearing how frantic she had become, he unwrapped his arm from her shoulders and encased her face gently in between his palms.

"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down babydoll---you're not making a fool of yourself---" He kissed her softly. "I feel the same way---really I do. But please, please don't hate me for what I am about to do."

"Hate you? How could I---"

Her question was cut short as she saw him reach into the back pocket of his pants and pull out a folded piece of paper. But as he handed her the item, she saw that it wasn't paper at all, rather a photograph. Utterly confused, she opened up the photo---

Her breath hitched in her chest when she realised she was looking at herself. The photo was easily fifteen years old. She was sat atop a dumpster, her dreadlocks pinned to the top of her head and she grinned fondly as she saw she was wearing her favourite pair of blue dungarees. However, as quickly as the nostalgia had set in, it was soon blasted away at the sight of who else was in the shot with her.

Her hands began to tremble as she cast her eyes over the skinny male youth who was sat next to her. His grin was mischievous as the photo had been taken at the exact point that he had casually draped an arm around her shoulders.

"Wh--where did you get this?" Her voice cracked.

The Reverend was sat with his head in his hands. All the hard work that he had put into hiding his true identity was slowly unravelling before him. But he wasn't sorry. He knew it was the right thing to do. It tortured him day and night that he was hiding such a secret from her. She didn't deserve the treachery.

"Answer me," she continued, her voice firmer. "Where did you get this photo from?"

His heart hammered in his chest as he slowly slid his favourite white frames off his face. He turned to face her, and in the light of the moon, her eyes widened as if she had seen a ghost.

"No---" The night air muted her shock.

"Hey Adie---it's me."