Just Me, Him, and Ten Others - (Ruth Harris Series)

Chapter 24

Four days passed.

Hunter and I went for walks, although they were cut much shorter than they used to be with the wheelchair tagging along. I gained three pounds from all the Italian dishes I cooked and hours we spent on the sofa watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off, snuggled up together under a blanket. I kept suggesting Dirty Dancing, but Hunter would not watch it 'even if it was the last film on the planet'. He did, however, sit through Dead Poet's Society and Stand By Me which was a good enough compromise.
               Hunter kept me all to himself for those four days. It was beautiful. After spending nearly half our relationship apart we were desperate to hide away together for the week and simply let our love bloom. By the next Monday I felt as if I knew Hunter inside out, and was sure he knew me just as well. We reminisced on our childhood, and when we got to my rougher years Hunter was as insightful and loving as always.
               Then he told me all about his life in the years we spent apart: he had moved to Leeds at 18 years old to work as an artist's apprentice, but when the employer revealed his short fuse and refused to pay Hunter, he ended up having to take a job at a restaurant instead. He was too ashamed to return to Southampton empty-handed. Anyway, that's how he came to wait on a group of salesmen who liked his manner so much that the boss gave him his card! Now he's a salesman too. He has a desk, friends, and gets rewarded for his hard work. He wears a suit and tie and speaks to people from all over the world. He's made a life for himself; that was confirmed by the amount of visitors Hunter received in that week alone, all wishing him well in his recovery. Every time I heard his buzzer sound I feared Mike had returned, but it was always either Andy or another of Hunter's many friends just checking in. Hunter never let them stay long: as he told me, 'this is our time, and no one else is invited'.
               'So now you know exactly how I got my job all those years ago. It's nothing exciting, but it makes ends meet.'
'Hunter, why did you give up your art?' I asked him curiously. He sighed.
'I, I was no good.'
'How can you say that? I've seen your drawings! They're even better than good - they're amazing. You have a gift -'
'I don't. What I do is not art. I gave up trying to make money out of it years ago.' Hunter said dejectedly. I replied,
'Look, Hunter, I'm proud of you for getting a reliable job and making something of yourself. Really, it's something that I've never been able to do. But don't forget that you can draw so well. Please don't give that up. You don't have to do it professionally if you don't want to, but you could. You're that good.'
               Hunter paused for a while, then smiled at me.
'Maybe I'll keep doing it then, as a hobby. I like my job as it is - especially after the Christmas bonus they gave me.'
'Yeah, that'll help towards a new car.' I teased. Hunter feigned hurt feelings, and suddenly an idea popped into my head. Well, Emilia was the real mastermind behind it.
               'Hey, amore mio?'
'Yeah?'
'Draw me.' I said.
'Huh?'
'Draw me!'
'No, no, I can't, Ruth. I'm rubbish -'
'You are a brilliant artist Hunter Brookes and I want you to draw me.' I demanded, standing up from the sofa and putting my hands on my hips. Hunter laughed but still refused. 'Oh, come on!' I pouted. 'I've seen you draw people on the train, and at the park and restaurants, but you've never drawn me before.'
'Not exactly true.'
'What?' I asked. Hunter hung his head, embarrassed, and said,
'I've drawn you a bunch of times.'
'What!? Really? ...Well, show me then you big oaf!' I gasped excitedly. 'Where are they?'
               Hunter rubbed the back of his neck.
'Ruth, I don't want to show you. It's embarrassing - they're just little sketches. A-And I don't want you to hate them.'
'Hunter.' I said, gently now, kneeling down on the sofa facing him. 'I could never hate something you did. I just want to see what they look like. Please.'
               Hunter studied my face a little longer, then sighed.
'Second drawer in my desk.' he said resignedly. I jumped up and ran into his bedroom, giggling with elation.
'If you've made me really fat, or put big warts on my nose or something I'll -'
               My breath hitched when I saw the wad - because a wad it was. There had to be at least thirty A5 sketches in that drawer, all in a perfectly stacked, dog-eared pile. I let out an astonished gasp when I picked them up and rifled through. Every picture was lifelike, perfectly shaded in black and white, some capturing my resting face, some capturing a tearful, depressed woman with harsher pencil lines who looked just like me. However most told the story of an easygoing, strong woman with long dark curls, deep eyes and a charming smile.
               Slowly, with a fast pulse, I turned another page to find a disrobed Ruth.
'Blimey O'Riley!'
'He drew her like one of his French girls! Quick, cover Emilia's eyes!'
'And mine, damn!'
               It startled me too at first, even made me snort, but then I saw the art in it. Hunter was not one to do something in bad taste, so this drawing thankfully made me look classy over whorish. With my hair loosely tied back, my right temple was resting on a chest which could only have been Hunter's. The pencil lines traced down the side of my waist, panning out into smudges of grey around the leg which I had conveniently cast over Hunter's groin. My arm on the same side was thrown over his torso, as if I was a sloth and he was my branch. Everything that needed to be was covered and decent, but there was still an atmosphere of eroticism about it. This drawing was a statement. Hunter was saying that he treasures being close to me. He was showing that he loves my scars (which were visible on my thigh and left arm in the sketch), my sexuality, and my true, natural self.
               'Oh, that one's er, yeah. Sorry. I forgot it was in there. Sorry.' Hunter blushed in the doorway. I looked over my shoulder at him. He was panting with the effort of hopping from the living room to this side of the flat.
'Hunter, these are...these are, just, wow! I'm speechless! You really drew all these?'
'Yep.'
'When?'
'Whenever I had the chance: normally when I was alone here and you were in Southampton or the hospital. That one you're holding, I did that last week - on our first night back together.'
               I looked at the startling sketch again and smiled. Then I moved it to see the final page, which was even more alarming once I knew what I was looking at.
'Who's this?'
'Oh.' Hunter looked down ashamedly. 'That's, um, that's what I imagine Blaze to look like.'
               My eyes snapped back to it. I inhaled sharply and scrutinized the detail.
'You're not far off.' I said. Hunter apologised. 'No, no, don't be sorry. I'm glad you're curious. Really, Hunter, I am. I'm glad you don't pretend that my alters don't exist. It's just, Blaze's eyes are narrower than this. And his hair's shorter. You got the rest of it surprisingly accurate though! How did you know he had an oval face like this? And bushy eyebrows? And thin lips?' I turned back to Hunter, who was grinning again.
'It was just a guess. I've only met him once or twice but from his mannerisms, that's what I imagined.'
'Hunter, you're a genius.' I smiled. 'Blaze is in my head and I still can't put him down on paper like you did. Thank you.'
'For what?'
'For taking me seriously.' Hunter relaxed.
'Always.'
                He stretched out his arms so I slid into them. 'What about the other drawings?'
'I love them all.' I showed him one I particularly liked of my side profile as I sat beside him on the beach, wearing a long flowing skirt and my hair in a ponytail. I had my chin tilted up to heaven with my eyes closed as I took in a deep breath of fresh air. 'Is this really how you see me, Hunter?'
'Yes. Why?'
'Because that's not what I thought I look like. I've always thought my nose and cheeks are bigger, and my legs are shorter. Plus, you've made me look all confident and relaxed. Is this really what you see when you look at me?' I looked up into Hunter's shimmering eyes for answers.
'Yes, amore mio. One hundred percent. You're so beautiful! Everything is the perfect size, the perfect shape and in the perfect place, and you always look strong and confident. It's one of the many, many reasons I'm so in love with you.'
'You're a flirt.' I said. Quickly I stood on my toes, grabbed the back of Hunter's head and pressed his smile against mine.
               'Oh, and, Hunter,' I said between kisses, 'you are, tall, and handsome, super strong, and you, have, gorgeous, eyes.' I gently pushed his chin back a little to finish speaking: 'I love that you always look neat and smell delicious and you're a brave, funny, clever, kind-hearted gentleman. I love you so, so much.'
'Well, who's the flirt now? Kiss me, amore mio.'