Best of Us

Grasping tightly to a bottle of wine, Ruth Weston nervously placed her finger on the doorbell of a home she had only seen in a magazine. Frozen in fear, her thoughts and the ornate doorknocker shouted she did not belong here. But fleeing was no longer an option when the door opened to a finely dressed young woman and a grand foyer behind her.

The polished brunette beamed. “Welcome, you must be Ruth.”

“Yes, Mackenzie?” Wordlessly, her hostess held out her hands for her coat in which Ruth unceremoniously stripped off quickly. Recalling the alcohol in her hand, she shoved it at the brunette after her coat was hung.“Here, Calvin said red wine was your favourite.” She blushed red with embarrassment as the hostess’ pained smile was not lost on Ruth.

The brunette held the bottle as if it were a grenade. “Thank you. Everyone, including Calvin, is in the living room.”Her hostess turned and guided Ruth further into the stately home.

Following the brunette, Ruth’s jaw dropped as they passed humongous hanging artwork which could be originals with fancy names and famous artists. But even though she was flabbergasted by the surroundings, her heart skipped upon spotting Calvin in the living room. Blonde, blue eyes, and a tender smile brought her joy which made up for the khaki-blazer he decided it was best to wear. Her minor knowledge of etiquette informed her that running and jumping on his lap would be deeply frowned upon.

Her excitement and her smile rose as Calvin rose from the sofa and approached her. Except his mouth turned downwards. “Why didn’t you put the wine bottle in a bag? What were you thinking?”

Like a balloon, she deflated. Tears pooled blurring her sight of the room and the strangers contained within. As Ruth scooped herself up off the floor, Calvin wrapped his arm around her shoulders and spoke to his friends. “Ruth, I want to introduce you to the Blue Denim gang.” As a tear slid down her cheek, Calvin pulled her face closer and whispered. “Ruth, pull it together right now.”

Being the child that did not save her parent’s marriage, Ruth knew the drill and pushed the painful feelings down past her toes. Calvin had made the attempt to meet Ruth’s family and friends, and he still loved her for her. The least she could do was make a good impression to Calvin’s good friends. Like the machine she was built to be, Ruth put on a good face and smiled to the two men and two women seated on the couch in front of her.

“The Blue Denim gang, I have heard so much about you from Calvin.”

One man resembled a motorcycle bad boy while the other man resembled Wall Street. It made Ruth wonder how they could be friends except their similar taste in women. Both women blonde, tight dresses and being gorgeous which made Ruth glance down at her little black dress. But she did not hover on the thought too long as making a good first impression mattered to Ruth. She stuck out a hand, and shook hands as Calvin announced their names.

“Here is Vaughn and his girlfriend Jaida.” Accept she did not extend a hand and stared off blankly. Vaughn with his leather jacket rolled his eyes. “Forget it, she’s on Percocet.” And Ruth wondered about the dark blue bruise on her cheek hidden by too much makeup.

“And this is Matthew, and his date Sarah.” The businessman barely looked at her as Sarah wore a wide smile that welcomed Ruth and made her at ease. “Hi Ruth, nice to meet you.” She rose a hand to her mouth to claim some privacy. “Don’t worry. You are not the only one new here.”

Noticing the empty chair beside the sofa, Ruth took the few steps to sit down. She glanced at Calvin for his reaction and received his tender smile indicating approval. Happy to have a companion, Ruth said. “Nice to meet you, Sarah. How did you meet Matthew?”

“It started when I was shutting down my workstation.” Sarah swept her long hair behind her ear. “I work at the Beauty Station at the Smithson Department Store, and Matthew came in asking about cologne, and boom he asked me out for dinner.” Sarah tried to snuggle closer to Matthew, and Ruth wished she did not see him grimace upon the cuddle. Obviously, the young woman did not pick up on the cue. “And we have been inseparable since. It feels as if we are on one long date.” Sarah gently swiped at Ruth’s knee. “How about you? I must say, Calvin has been raving about you before you arrived. I wondered who was this amazing woman? And now you are here.”

Glancing up from her companion, Ruth met her boyfriend’s blue eyes with love. Calvin made her feel so loved. Sure, he could be picky, but that was due to his good standards. He had won over her father. Remembering she was not alone, Ruth redirected her attention back to Sarah. “Funny enough, Calvin and I met at my work as well. He was one of my first clients after I was hired as a bank teller, and due to the nature of his work, Calvin and I saw each other every other day when he completed bank deposits for his job. Calvin began asking me out through my coworkers. ”Ruth pulled up her phone and unlocked it to show Sarah. “My coworkers would take a photo with Calvin and send me a text pressuring me to accept his date.” Leaning towards the blonde young woman, she flipped through photos. “Here is Calvin with my boss.”

“Oh! That looks a fun time.” Sarah pointed at a photo of Ruth and her friend.

Laughing at the photo as she always did, Ruth pointed to the phone. “That is my best friend, Providence and I on my birthday. I always crack up on that photo. Providence found this crazy hat at the dollar store, and she ended up wearing it the whole night.” She cherished the joyful memories of that night and others before.

But Ruth felt a pang of shame as she had bailed out last minute to attend tonight’s dinner. She had originally planned to spend time with Providence and her other friends at the pub tonight, but Ruth had bailed on her best friend to attend Calvin’s last-minute supper.

“I was supposed to go out with drinks with her tonight, but hopefully after supper Calvin and I can make some time.” Catching a glance at Calvin, Ruth noticed the tension in his face.

“How long have you been friends?” A tall, dark-haired lean man entered the living room.

Glancing at the stranger, Ruth wondered if this was Phillip, the elusive best friend of Calvin. Understanding this brotherly relationship was important to her boyfriend, Ruth rose from her chair to shake hands with him.

“Phillip, I assume? It is a pleasure to meet you. Calvin talks about you as a brother.”

The dark-haired man shook Ruth’s hand. “I could say the same about you. My wife Mackenzie and I have heard constantly about you.” He shook a finger at her which made her feel slightly condescended to. “Calvin had to chase you down to get you to accept his date.” Phillip and Calvin grasped hands and clapped each other on the back before splitting up. “But I interrupted you. Your best friend…. Providence, is it? How long have you known her?”

She watched as MacKenzie, the woman who greeted her, entered the room and sat on the chair arm beside her husband Phillip. Ruth felt slightly awkward talking in front of the entire group.“ Providence and I have been best friends since kindergarten. We have been through it all together from bullying, studying, family fights, you name it. Providence stayed with me when I went through a bad depression in high school, and we still made our friendship a priority in college. We have a trip planned to Ireland next year in Spring, which reminds me, we should be booking the tickets.”

“If you were to ask me,” Phillip said, “That money would be better utilized as a down payment for a house for you and Calvin.” In his seat, he placed a hand on his wife’s leg. “Wouldn’t you agree Calvin?”

The blonde, blue-eyed young man moved closer to Ruth as Phillip’s statement hung in the air. Slightly taken aback, she had not given the future with Calvin any true consideration. Gazing too far in the future with a boyfriend only bought her a year’s bout of depression when the inevitable breakup occurred.

And she spent several nights with Providence dreaming of their trip to Ireland. Ruth, slightly taken aback blurted out. “I never though Calvin and I were looking that far forward.”

Phillip would not release the thought. “But the way my brother discusses you it involves the long-term. House…. marriage…kids…. what do you want Ruth? My brother is ready to give those to you. You just need to ask.”

“Seems a little soon. We just started dating.” Calvin came closer and with a finger moved a strand of hair from her forehead. His sparkling blue eyes met hers, and Ruth felt torn. She loved him. How could she not love him, Calvin made her feel so special. Maybe she could save that money for a down payment on a house. Providence should understand, this was for the future after all.

Movement from the other side of the living room caught her attention. Vaughn, a member of the Blue Denim gang sidestepped furniture and individuals to come to stand beside Calvin. The motorcycle bad boy held up his phone. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry, but is this not a video of your so-called best friend, Providence.”

Gazing upwards, Ruth heard Providence’s voice and background noise of the video that Vaughn played for Calvin. She watched as her blonde boyfriend grimaced in anger before turning back to glare at his brother Phillip. “I can’t believe this bitch. I told you she was trouble.”

The dark-haired man and his immaculate wife stood up to gaze at the small cellular device. Mackenzie laughed. “What a sloppy drunk.” It was Phillip that took the phone from Vaughn’s hand and held it up to Ruth’s face. “Is this your best friend?”

Ruth watched a video of Providence, hair slightly messy, eyes slightly hazed shouting to the person holding the phone. “….And I swear, you mark my words, that man is controlling, he gaslights my best friend. He’s just going to abuse her. Calvin is nothing but a low life, manipulative snake, and I will not allow him to hurt my friend.” Providence paused for a moment as if someone off camera was talking to her. “And yes….she needs to know that Billy still has feelings for her. If you ask me….Ruth is with the wrong man.” And Phillip withdrew the phone from Ruth’s vision.

As if someone sucked all the oxygen from the room, Ruth was left gasping for breath. She valued Providence’s opinion above everyone else, and to hear her say such awful things about her boyfriend left her feeling isolated in a room full of people.

“Why would she say that?” Ruth struggled with her composure.

Besides her on the couch, Sarah said. “Oh Ruth, I am so sorry. I can’t believe it.”

Staring ahead, Ruth watched as Phillip’s wife stood up and smirked at him before saying. “Supper is ready.” And she still sat in the chair as other individuals left the living room to enter the dining room adjacent to them. Wanting to make a good impression to her boyfriend’s friends were now shattered by her best friend’s betrayal. The only individual who stayed alongside Ruth was Calvin as he approached her holding out his hand. Even though she felt dazed, she could not miss his anger as she placed her hand in his.

“I can’t believe that skeezy witch of woman could say such horrible things about me.” Calvin spit in fury as he helped her up from her seat and guided her towards the dining room table. “Ruth, I hope you are not listening to that venomous woman. I have been nothing but good to you. I would give you the world if you would let me. ”Guided towards the dining room, Ruth allowed herself to be shuffled to an empty seat and plunked herself down.

Close to the end of the table, Calvin sat beside her with Phillip at the head of the table. Across from her sat Sarah and her date Matthew, and the other glazed out female in the room Jaiden sat beside her. Being so close to Jaiden, Ruth had another good look at the bruise peeking out from loads of makeup. Part of her became irate that a big deal was being made out of Providence’s comments, but no comments were made about the bluish-purple mark on Vaughn’s date.

Courage mixed with anger prodded Ruth to comment on it before Phillip caught her attention. “Ruth, your friend is just jealous of the love you and Calvin share. It’s nothing more than an angry, bitter woman jealous of her friend for snagging a good man.”

Not buying his argument, Ruth shook her head. “No. Providence is not like that.”

“Oh please. I have seen it a million times before.” Mackenzie announced from her end of the table. “A young woman, so full of promise, snags the most available bachelor, and all her female friends jump on the bandwagon to smash the relationship down. You do know it’s because she could never find herself a quality man such as Calvin.”

“No, Providence is not like that.” Ruth countered.

“Yes, some women hate seeing their friends happy.” Sarah, the young blonde offered.

No, not her new friend as well. Ruth began to feel outnumbered.

“Look at her, without you by her side, she just spends her Friday night at the bar getting drunk. Ruth, you don’t want to spend the rest of your life attached to her, do you? ”Funny enough, it was one of the quiet men Matthew who spoke.

Calvin laughed to his brother Phillip. “And look how drunk she is and it is only seven at night.”

One thought burned in Ruth’s mind. Providence had relayed her opinion of Calvin before tonight’s video. Whatever she said on camera was not news to her. Providence had sat Ruth down and pointed out manipulation to her. A couple weekends prior, Calvin, Ruth and Providence hung out at Providence’s place and Calvin reacted to something stupid she had said and left in a huff leaving Ruth feeling stranded. Ruth sat in the dark for the rest of the night hoping he would return to tell her what she did wrong. Providence was by her side that evening holding Ruth as she cried.

Together, they had been best friends since elementary playing tag on the playground. Sleepovers at each other’s houses, studying for exams, broken hearts over unresolved crushes, and graduation parties where they held each other up. “No.” Ruth said. She got up unceremoniously from the kitchen table, and began winding her way back to the front door.

“Calvin, where is she going?”

“Ruth, we’re not done supper yet.”

“How rude.”

“Go running back to your drunk friend, you deserve each other.”

She had almost made it to the front door when Calvin grabbed her tightly by the arm and swung her around. Fury in his blue eyes with a scowl on his face. “Where do you think you are going? To her, you are going to go back to her?”

“Providence is a good person; she wouldn’t say those things if they weren’t true.”

Grabbing her roughly by the shoulders, he held tightly onto her as her fear level creeped upwards. “Do you really think you can leave me? You are such a disgusting piece of garbage. I was doing a favour by going out with you, but now I see that you are weak .Go ahead and go.” He abruptly released her.

Slightly terrified by his reaction, Ruth reached for the door handle until he clasped her from behind and whimpered. “Please don’t leave me Ruth. I need you. Please don’t go.” Calvin dropped to his knees now holding onto her legs. Shocked by his adverse reactions, Ruth held onto the door handle unsure of her next actions. She loved him with all her heart, but his behaviour, his actions…...were a red flag. A red flag, a red flag her and Providence learned about together in a “Healthy Relationships” class. Love should not hurt, put you down, or try to separate you from your friends and family. Ruth opened the door and fled into the night.