Where do we begin?
It was a warm spring night and a six-foot three Soman named Roman, was in his house with two of his best friends. Seth and Dean. Those three have been the best of friends since the day that Roman moved there a few years ago. Roman had long black hair and a tattoo showing his Soman pride, that covered his entire right arm and the right side of his chest. He had just finished having a party earlier in the night and the house had just been finished getting cleaned up when they heard thunder, followed by lightning.
When Roman looked out the window and saw the rain starting to pour down quickly after a few more rumbles of thunder. When he looked towards the front of the house, he saw a woman walk by with nothing but a small black bag and the clothes on her back. She had nothing to shield her from the rain and wind of the storm tonight it seemed. The woman had on a white shirt, beige cargo pants, and what looked like black boots.
"Why is she out there in this storm?" Asked Roman.
Seth and Dean looked out the window and saw who he was talking about as the guard that was in front of the house, stopped her. Roman put on a coat with a hat and quickly went outside to see if everything was okay.
"What's going on here?" He asked. When he looked up at the woman, he was mesmerised by her light grey eyes that were soft, yet hard and strong like steel with what looked like jet black hair.
"I'm sorry for the commotion, Sir." Said the woman standing in front of him. "I was just passing by. Sorry to bother you."
As she backed up to walk away, he called out for her. "Do you have anywhere to go tonight?"
She walked back up to him and stared a t him before responding. "Why?"
He thought carefully before responding. "I have a spare room that you could stay in tonight, if you need to. You don't have to be out in this storm."
Her eyes softened, yet she hesitated. "My name is Ruth, by the way."
Roman stepped back and nodded at the guard to open the gate. She hesitantly followed Roman up the stairs and into the brick home that he lived in. When she walked in, Ruth saw a chandelier in the middle, lighting up the place. A large staircase that lead you to the second floor and the crackle of a fire coming from what seemed to be the living room.
"This is Seth and Dean." Said Roman when the two guys walked towards them. "These two are like my brothers."
Ruth gave them a small smile and looked around, trying to avoid them seeing her starting to shiver from the cold that was now starting to creep unto her skin and body. Ruth's eyes stopped when she saw a lady standing by the kitchen, staring at her as if she'd seen a ghost. The woman had blonde hair and blue eyes and was a bit shorter than Ruth. Her blonde hair was tucked underneath her white bonnet, that matched her black apron and white dress.
Roman gently touched Ruth's arm and bought her attention back to what was going on. "I'll take you to the room you'll be in."
She followed him upstairs and continued to look around, curiously, as she saw four bedrooms with two of them having their own bathroom.
"My room is down the hall, if you need anything from me." He said as they walked up to the room that she would be in. The floors were wood and creaked in certain spots. The room was warmly lit up with a fireplace, and candles. The only windows there were the ones that were on the doors that led to the balcony. The balcony doors were lines with white drapes that were thick enough to not have anyone see from the outside in unless the lighting was right. The bed was large and with a canopy that had light, airy drapes tied to the posts that matched the gold color of the sheets and pillows that were neatly placed. The dresser was plain, but the material from which it was made of, wasn't. Ruth didn't know what the material was, but she knew it was more than what she was ever able to afford. A mirror that had delicate, yet beautiful designs on the outline of the mirror, made it look beautiful.
The bathroom was on the left side of the room and though it was small, it seemed huge to Ruth, who's childhood bedroom was the about the same size. It had a bathtub in the middle of the bathroom with a sink on the right side of the bathroom, next to the toilet. There was a fancy mirror that hung over the sink and a place for soap.
"If you need anything, just let me know." Said Roman.
Before Ruth could say anything, he walked out and closed the door behind him to give her some privacy. She looked around, feeling small and out of place. As if she didn't fit in here. She never did with people like Roman or his friends.
After taking a long, hot bath, Ruth dressed in a plain shirt and pants. She left her hair out to dry on its own and hung up her wet clothes. She opened the door and quietly walked around, trying to miss the spots on the floor that creaked, to avoid making any noises. When she heard noises coming from the kitchen downstairs, she made her way down and quietly made her way until she saw four people in the kitchen, cleaning up. Two men and two woman, one of whom was the woman who Ruth caught staring at her, earlier when she was with Roman.
"Is there anything left that I would be able to eat?" She asked.
Seeing how weak Ruth looked, they all tried to find something that she would be able to put into her stomach, to hold her for the night. Ruth was left with the same woman from before. But when she realized who this woman was, her face and her eyes softened.
"Ms. Anna...do you remember me?"
A smile and a feeling of relief washed over the woman as she took Ruth in for a long hug. "My precious, little Ruth. My how you've grown."
"I'm twenty-five now, Ms. Anna." Replied Ruth. "I'm not really a little girl anymore."
Anna smiled. "You certainly aren't. You look just like your mother."
The next day...
It was early the next morning and Ruth was already wide awake. She had gotten dressed with a grey shirt and black cargo pants that held a knife that she perfectly camouflaouged into them and black boots. Her long black hair was slicked back into a neat ponytail, and her clothes from last night that were soaked from the rain, were now dry and neatly folded her into her bag. After tidying up the room, she grabbed her bag and walked out. When she got downstairs, Anna tried to convince her to at least stay for breakfast. And so she did. After breakfast, and good conversation, Ruth picked up again to leave. Just as she was saying her goodbyes to Anna and her three new friends, Roman walked in through the front door.
"Where are you headed off too?" He asked Ruth.
She blinked a few times before responding. "I'm going to leave. But thank you for allowing me to stay last night."
"Maybe I can take you to your next location if it's not to far of a distance." Said Roman.
Ruth clearned her throat. "Thank you for the offer, but the thing is...I don't know where I'm going. I don't even know where I'll be tonight. It's just me, myself and I and it's been like that since I was twelve. I won't ever forget your kindness though."
Ruth walked out the door and closed it behind her. When she walked out through the gate, Roman came after her, wanting to talk to her some more.
"Why won't you let me help?" Asked Roman.
Ruth looked up at him. "Don't take any offense to this, but...do you care about what other people think of you, Roman?"
He looked at her. "What does that have to do with me wanting to help you?"
Ruth sighed. "You seem like a nice guy, Roman. You really do. But how many times have people with as much money as you or even more, have claimed that they would help people like me and every single time that they do, they never live up to their word...to their promise. It's people like them who make people with money look bad. It makes you look like you can't ever keep your word and it's left us not trusting any of you. Then there are those of you who care about what everybody thinks and says of you. If you're one of those people, how do I know that you're not going to kick me out when all of the negativity that you'll get for helping me gets to much for you to handle? How do I know that you'll keep me around because you like the positive attention you'll proabably get for helping someone like me instead of it being because you truly want me around? I'm thankful for the offer, but I want you to be genuine about wanting to help me. Not because of caring about what others think and say."
"I really want to help." Said Roman.
"I've lived this lifestyle for the last thirteen years." Said Ruth. "You're going to have to show me that you genuinly want to. If you do, then you'll find me. If not, then you can forget about me. I'm not going to be made into a fool for anybody."
Ruth took one last look at Roman and then at the house before turning away to leave. She walked away with her head held up high, but for the first time in the last thirteen years, she couldn't resist the temptaion to look back at the strong man that was still watching her leave. Roman wanted to go after her, but he couldn't get his feet to move. The question of if he would ever see Ruth again, with eyes that he knew he wouldn't ever be able to forget, ran through his mind over and over as if it was an episode on repeat in his mind.
