RUBY

Chapter Fifty Two: Embracing Her Fully

"Darling, what's more than having me as your anchor here".

ＬＩＳＡ' Ｓ　ＰＯＶ　び央ハ

The past.

How haunting can it be?

When those traumatic recollections are books with chapters, deep and horrifying, which I put on the shelf to collect dust. I can pick them up if I need to learn anything or obtain a viewpoint that will help me write a wonderful story of my own.

I may utilize them to reframe circumstances through their needs and traumas rather than my own.

I want today, tomorrow, and every day after that to be fantastic; I want to decide what to put on those blank pages. And I want her to fully understand that I'm here.

Jennie.

After weeks of that traumatic moment she shared with her dad, she was more distant and empty.

Jennie would go back to her apartment, call me to come over, and hug herself on the couch as I make us something to eat. Being the clumsy human I am, I almost burned the house down trying to make eggs.

She would glance my way and crack a smile but it wouldn't last long as she would break down. I would leave everything in the kitchen and run to embrace her in my arms. She was vulnerable, in a way that made me want to take her somewhere where even the sound of the birds wouldn't echo--somewhere where she would heal and not be hurting. Whispers of reassurance would delicately enter her ears, as I place my arms around her tiny body.

"He never loved me". And then she breaks down.

Seeing her like this made me sigh heavily.

Seeing your loved one hurting surely makes you question fate.

"Jen", I whispered and pulled her to my lap, "Your father didn't know how to love you or express his love for you, and as much as how much painful it is to live with a reality like that, know that you can't change it, but you can do one thing". She looked up at me as I spoke.

I caressed her cheeks and drowned deeper in her eyes, "You can learn what healing and loving are, darling".

Promising words escape my mouth, but she deserved to be happy.

Jennie deserved the world.

I whispered, "With me, baby".

-

I took her to the same Japanese restaurant, that we went to, for the first time together. And something about this place, made me catch feelings for her.

A date, a simple one, even though I'm not sure if it is. Perhaps, I wanted to talk about something, ask her something.

Yet from the start there was a chemistry, a spark, and we talked for hours so easily. It wasn't simply the idea of it being a date—it was the first time for Jennie to meet someone like me, someone who captivated her so completely, of whom she wanted to savor every detail.