Ruby woke by a way too bright ray of sunlight shining on her face. She moaned in the moment she opened her eyes, pulsating, excruciating headaches defined her miserable state. She turned around and closed her eyes again, trying to remember what had happened last night.

Arthur.

Startled, she sat up, her head nearly exploding by the sudden movement, a little scream on her lips. He'd carried her to the bedroom, she'd been naked, she'd stripped in front of him, begging him to take her. Oh, god. She waited until the first waves of shame and regret ebbed away and listened closely. It was silent, not a sound to hear, except the chatting of her neighbors. Ruby noticed that she was clothed, that she wore her nightgown, modestly buttoned up. But underneath she was naked. Slowly, she lay back, trying to remember how the mornings after Tim loved her had felt, but she just couldn't tell anymore. The next thought made her startle once more. Pregnancy.

Ruby moaned and started to cry. Never ever she would have a drink again. Her parents and Tim had been right: Alcohol was an invention of the devil.

She tried to calm herself, as the sobbing made the headaches worse. She needed a glass of water, so she got up and trudged into the kitchen, feeling still dizzy and like shit. On the table she spotted a mug of water, the jar of gherkins she had had in her pantry and a piece of paper. Slowly, she sat down and took the paper.

"Oh. Oh, my god!" She whispered and starred on the pencil drawing before reading the text below.

Ruby

Nothing happened. You felt asleep as soon as I lay you down. Take an ASA, eat some gherkins and drink a lot. I'm coming by at 7. I hope you want to join me for dinner.

Arthur

She swallowed hard, her eyes fixed on the portrait of her, in her own bed, sleeping, her hair messy, but the nightgown modestly buttoned up. She hadn't known that Arthur was a gifted artist, that he was someone who looked so closely on every detail. Every freckle, every beauty patch was there, he'd pictured the quillings on her nightgown just as exactly as the restrained pattern of her pillow.

He'd seen her naked. Every detail of her body. Suddenly she wasn't so sure about her falling asleep, maybe there was another reason for not ... making use of the situation. But would he spend time on drawing her in this intimate way if he wasn't interested in her, if he found her unattractive? Ruby sighed and took an ASA, just like he'd recommended. Sometimes he was not easy to read, but he knew for sure what to do after a night of heavy drinking.

The headaches and the dizziness lasted until 6 and Ruby was happy when she felt finally a bit better. She dressed and thought about what to say. With every hour gone by her embarrassment had grown and she had no idea how to look him in the eyes. She was as nervous as on her first date with Tim, more nervous than on the day she'd known he would ask her to marry him, more nervous than on her wedding day. What she had done the night before was scandalous. Drinking, stripping, begging to be ... bedded.

Only one time she'd stripped in front of a man, in front of Tim, after he came back from the war, suffering from horrible pain caused by the so very slowly healing mustard gas burns. It had been deep in the night and he couldn't sleep, plagued by the gruesome pictures of the dead and wounded. Tim had told her to strip and touched her breasts after she had been naked, his teeth gritted because of the pain. He couldn't move his hands and arms without feeling pain so he'd told her to make him orgasm with her hand. She remembered that he'd fixated her breasts while she touched his penis, she'd seen his tongue licking over his lips. Afterwards he'd cried because he wasn't even able to love her anymore. He'd asked her to touch him never again. This night had been the last time they had something like marital relations.

A knock on the door pulled Ruby out of her memories and she dried the tears she felt on her cheeks before opening the door.

"How are you, Ruby?" Arthur asked and she smiled a little bit, while looking on the floor.

"I'm fine, thank you."

"Did you cry?" He asked and tilted his head to watch her closely.

"I ... I did."

"Take another ASA, darling. The headaches will be better soon."

"I ... I didn't cry because of the headaches, Arthur. I ... nothing. It's alright. Come in, please."

She poured him a cup of tea and cleared his throat.

"I have to apologize for my behaviour. I drank too much and I ... I don't know what to say. I'm so embarrassed," Ruby whispered and sat down on the table.

Her hands searched for hold at the tea cup, and through her eyelashes she watched Arthur taking a seat.

"There's no need to be embarrassed. I've seen a few naked women before. And I've taken care for some drunk too."

"Can we start over and ... forget this night?"

"Sure. Whatever you want, love. Do you want to join me for dinner? There's a table at the Cross Keys Tavern waiting for us. Are you hungry?"

"I am. Thank you."

"Alright then," Arthur answered, emptied the cup of tea and reached out for her. "Let's go."

"The portrait you draw ... I didn't know that you are such a gifted artist, I was ... truly stunned ...," she said and stood up, intertwining her fingers with his. "It's ... so beautiful. Thank you. And thank you for being ... a gentleman last night."

Arthur pulled her closer and hugged her.

Suddenly the world felt like a better place, and she wished he would kiss her. But he didn't. He just stood still and held her close, his breath warm at her scalp.

"You gave me a hard time, Ruby. I wanted to wake you up and fuck you but for once in my life I wanted to do the right thing."

"I can't help but thinking that ... kissing me would be the right thing now." She smiled and hid her face on his chest.

"Aye," he answered and placed a finger under her chin to lift her head.

And then he kissed her. Arthur Shelby kissed her, and it was intense and good and wonderful. The memory of Tim faded and all that counted was now.