To any of your guys who are New Yorkers, sorry if I'm wrong about you guys. I'm just guessing what typical New Yorkers are like for this fanfiction. So spare me the criticism on that, this is a fanficiton after all. Hehe. It's creative but imperfect.
I stepped out of the shower wearing only an oversized shirt and long black pj bottoms. I let my damp hair fall to my shoulders for it to dry naturally. No electric appliances that cannot be replaced with alternatives in my home. Hairdryer falls under the category.
With a towel in hand, I smiled to see Henry curled into a ball on the bed sound asleep. In most nights, Henry sleeps in a separate cot that we keep right next to our little island. He was a boy after all he couldn't share my bed forever. But a night like this is an exception for him to join me in bed. A lot of shit happens here. What happened tonight doesn't compare to the many nights when Henry slept by my side so both of us can comfort one another.
I grabbed the bed sheets and properly tucked Henry in. His body stirred a bit but he did not open his eyes. I grinned widely and kissed the top of his head.
"Sweet dreams, kiddo," I whispered quietly.
I spread the towel on my pillow for my damp hair, and comfortably lied down next to my son. I lifted the covers up to my chest and smoothed the wrinkles of the covers with my hands
The noise of sirens and few shouting of voices filled the room. The city lights are bright as ever that any tourist can easily mistake them as stars. Stray cats lurk about outside near the garbage disposal to catch rodents to eat. I can hear at least a few cats screech loudly. They must be lucky tonight. Rodents aren't so hard to find here.
I let out a breath and closed my heavy eyelids. Silence is something Henry and I are not used to after getting in bed to sleep. It's just unnatural to us during nighttime. Once you're a New Yorker, tolerance to noise is in your blood.
A knock started at my door. My eyes instantly opened. The knock started off as a slow pound but it grew louder and faster. When I got off the bed in a grunt, the knocking joined with a desperate voice.
"Emma, it's me. Open the door. It's scary as shit out here," the voice loudly whispered for both Henry and me to hear.
Ruby.
I tossed my damp hair back and unlocked all four locks and opened the door. Once I opened it, Ruby jumped on me and threw her arms around my neck.
"I could never get used to coming here."
I padded her on the back and shut the door with my foot. "Well, it's been awhile since you stopped by at nighttime. I normally don't mind you stopping by without telling me but at this hour, I do mind. What are you doing here?"
She let me go. The terrified mask that covered her flawless face was instantly replaced with her usual happy one. She held up a large handbag with such glee that terrified me of what exactly she had in that thing.
"The show is tomorrow and I am not letting you go without getting prettied up. I'm giving you a makeover."
"Does it have to be now? Ruby, I need sleep. And it's not like I can sleep with make-up on without fucking it up the next morning."
She smiled widely. Again, terrifying. "I know. I'm not stupid. I just need to sample the right make-up on you today so you can do it yourself. I'll make it simple and tasteful."
I rubbed my tired eyes and took a breath. "Ruby, I promised I would go to your show. But a makeover does not apply to that promise I made."
"Oh come on, Emma. Look, I love you and respect the fact you still look awesome without makeup. But in an event like this, I want you in with no criticism. You gotta look the part for events like this. It's the God truth on that. For what I know, just take my advice and don't pull back on me. This is very important to me."
She's going to use those bambi-eyes on me again.
Ruby's eyes grew softs and gleamed with a light shine. They were round and wide. The way her lower lip was pouted out just screamed bambi.
Big Bad Wolf.
"Makeover doesn't sound so bad," Henry groaned.
Ruby folded her arm with a fist and pumped down her elbow with a soft "yes". I turned around to see my son awake.
My own son betraying me, what has the world become?
"Go back to sleep, kiddo. I am not getting any makeover."
"It'd be nice for you to go to wherever you need to go, mom. I don't mind you leaving the house to spend time for yourself. Just let Aunt Ruby do what she wants to do or else you know she won't leave."
I chuckled and traced my tongue against my front teeth.
The fact my refusal will definitely keep Ruby here longer is true and something to give me second thoughts on. I turned back to Ruby, feeling very annoyed that I'm letting her win again.
"Okay. It's pass midnight. I'm giving you one hour. And you're also sleeping over – no way in hell you're stepping out of here at this time."
I looked over my shoulder. "Henry, you have to sleep on the cot tonight. Aunt Ruby needs to stay."
Henry nodded his head.
Ruby grabbed my arms and turned me around in a quick move. She leaned closer to me in a daring way.
"Two hours."
"Hell no. It's sleep time, Ruby."
"An hour and a half?"
I sighed loudly. "Alright, fine. But no more than that."
"Eek! Great."
I was Ruby's doll for the next two hours. To think simple makeup and ONE hairstyle would be a quick and easy step..I was so wrong.
There was no school tomorrow for Henry so he stayed up all night being my unfair critique. I wanted to tackle him every time he agreed with Ruby when she was disappointed on a look she worked on me, instead kissing ass and save me from her.
His allowance is definitely cutting short by a dollar for next week.
I never used makeup as a regular basis. Whenever I see a pile of makeup products and interesting looking tools, I view them as museum exhibits that are not meant to be touched. Sitting before Ruby and having her attend to all the parts of my face and hair..I could say now that I will never look back on this in the future.
I was tired but Ruby was high with adrenaline. Seeing her still burst with this energy I can't fight the temptation to just slap her across the face to wipe that smile off her lips. Thankfully, Henry was near me, reminding me violence is no exception to portray in front of him. He lied down and rested his head on my lap.
Makeup was done. But my hair was taking toooooo long.
Every time I complained and shifted my head to keep her hands off my hair, Ruby held me in place and even slapped me lightly on the arm to stop.
It's not mature for any parent to look upset and angry as I am over something small yet time-consuming. But that is far from my brain, I sat there releasing all my impatience and frustration. If only Henry held up the picture of him when he was three years old and he was upset that I scolded him for making a mess in the kitchen; the resemblance in that moment is uncanny to how I'm portrayed right this moment.
One more tug and pull. The hundredth bobbing pin planted deep in my heavy hair that I could no longer feel on my shoulders. She is finally satisfied.
"Done." Ruby applauded to herself proudly.
All the emotions I was holding inside cut short. I instantly tried to rise to my feet to be away from Ruby but sat right back down after seeing that my son's head was still on my lap.
"Sorry, kiddo. Oh thank God it's over…No more, Ruby. It's done. I gave you an extra thirty minutes. It's done."
She looked at my hair as if it's worthy to be a part of it exhibition with all her other makeup products and tools. "Oh, Em, I did so good. It'll be such a waste to take your hair down. You have to save this exact hair for tomorrow."
I turned around and looked at her with a frown. "Ruby, have you forgotten who I am? I move around. I do this and I do that. It's Saturday for God's sake most of my activities won't be involving with me sitting down in bed and doing my nails. This hair is not going to survive with all the activity I'm gonna do."
"But Em, it's just so good."
"I said no, Ruby."
She still had that stupid grin on her fucking mouth. But now that smile..it's terrifying me. I watched her in horror when she picked up a curling iron and a half-filled bottle of hairspray. She picked them up high enough for me to see. Her nose wrinkled and smiled even wider.
"Then I'm just going to have to change your hair again."
Henry padded my arm. I could hear him choke back a laugh. "…L-Looks like you're stuck, mom. Give in."
"Fuck. Me." I mouthed the words with my eyes closed.
~ I was tired and wanted nothing but to sleep the day away. This day off I could only describe it as something I hate now. But I only have one rule when it comes to day offs, which is something I rarely have twice a week, and that is NEVER postpone fun-day with Henry.
I can't just be a working mom; it doesn't work in the life that I share with my son. I try to be more involved with him to at least remind him that in the end of the day I'm not just a crazy working lady putting money on the table but a friend who he could rely on.
Ruby made me swear not to do anything physical to avoid sweating or else it'll reduce the volumes from the large curls she made on my hair. It's very hard to avoid breaking that to a woman who held me down in place and tortured me with an unnecessary makeover for the whole night. So, Ruby will have to face disappointment when she sees me tonight.
Once upon a time is the one place Henry and I spend most of our free time together. Reading all those mountains of books just explains how he became such a genius. Sadly, my refusal to read relevant novels about life failed to make me one. But today is all about keeping Henry entertained AND disappointing Ruby. No books today. Making a few throws and walking in the Central Park meets both sides perfectly.
The sky was gray and the air smelled of fog. Henry and I separated to a far off distance on the grass to make a few good throws. I secured my beanie properly. It's definitely my morning to smile of how fucked up my hair is gonna look after I take this off.
With my baseball glove on, I made one clean throw to Henry who stood about a quarter of a mile away. He pounded his baseball glove with his fist and had his eyes on the ball. The ball came closer and closer to where he stood. He lifted his arm and caught it into the palm of his glove.
"Alright, let's see if I could do better than that!" I shouted.
"Doubt you can, mom!" He shouted back at me, doing a few practices with his throws.
I grinned widely. "I'm a pro at this, kiddo."
I didn't shout this time but he somehow heard me. He was smiling too and shaking his head to what I said. I was more determined to prove him wrong when he prepared to make the throw.
I watched him go for the throw and when he finally did, the ball went farther from where I stood. My smile was gone and ran backwards with my eyes on the ball. The best throw he ever made.
"Come on, mom! Get it!" Henry cheered.
I was practically out of breath and forgot to smile when the ball came closer to me. I opened my baseball glove to catch it. As if my life depended on it, I trapped the ball into my glove. But I wasn't smiling when I felt someone behind me.
"Oh shit!" A man grunted.
I quickly turned around to make my apology. "I'm so sorry."
The man was holding a coffee he had for to-go. Almost half of it was spilled to his dress shirt. There was no steam rising from the cup that gave me the assurance that at least the coffee wasn't hot.
"I'm so sorry. I was running backwards to catch the ball and I didn't see you."
He brushed the stain on his shirt with his hands and flicked the dripping coffee off to the ground. Surprisingly he didn't look angry; he had a small smile creeping in on his lips with his eyes low. I just waited quietly for him to respond.
"It's alright. I never really liked this shirt anyway."
He raised his head to look at the troublemaker that I am. I bit my lower lip but from the sound of how calm he was over the whole accident, the guilt is already leaving me.
"You know what, I'll pay for the laundry. This was all my fault."
I slowly reached for my wallet in the back pocket of my jeans.
"No," he said quickly.
I felt relief building in my chest. In true honesty, I only have enough money to buy hot dogs for Henry and me. It's opportunities like this I offer impossible charities when I'm fully aware my offer will never be accepted.
I tried not to smile to play cool at this moment.
He tended to the stains with his handkerchief,
"..is this real?" he whispered so softly but I heard those words.
"E-Excuse me?"
He approached me with small steps. He wasn't smiling anymore. His eyes were piercing and remained unblinking. For some reason, he looked surprised to look at someone like me, as if I wasn't human.
The man stared down at me for a long while. He was an inch taller than me and dressed in a fashion I wasn't very use to – purple and black checker pants with a velvet wool coat; a wide knitted scarf around his neck weighed heavily to his chest that almost hid the existence of his shirt.
If Ruby were here, I'm pretty sure she is able to name all the brands of the clothes this man is wearing. But since she's not here, I'm just going to label them simply as expensive.
"Hey," I said, "..um…Are you okay?"
That same small smile returned to his mouth. I was quick to see his hand be apart from his side for a second before returning to its original place, clenching into a fist. I gulped and took a quick look behind me to see if Henry was coming this way to save me from this uncomfortable situation.
Henry was still on the same spot, waiting for me.
"Forgive me. You just..remind me of someone I knew a long time ago."
"O-Oh. I see. Well, that's a first for me."
He raked his brown hair back. Briefly the mess he made with his fingers left that side slightly frizzed, but when he gave a good nod of his head the hair went back to its original state.
"Let's just forgive and forget this happened."
I forced a smile. "Deal."
The man extended his hand out. I bit my lower lip hard and did not do the same.
"My hands are a bit sweaty for handshakes. I've been playing ball with my boy back there."
He put his hand away.
"I'll watch myself next time. Take care."
I turned back in relief and ran back to Henry.
