Five

Ruby had her head resting in Olivia’s lap as she cried, while Olivia had her right hand in her hair, massaging her scalp and hoping that would get her to stop crying. She was still burning with fury but she tried to not show it for her dear cousin’s sake.

It wasn't easy to go through what Ruby had just in one day, so she would try to stop her from crying. Beside, crying was good, it meant that she wouldn't keep it in and later hurt herself from the compressed emotions she felt.

"Do you think that I don't dress well?” Ruby asked Olivia suddenly, turning her body so that she was now facing her.

Olivia's hand stopped massaging her scalp and she stared down at her. She sighed, wondering how best she would answer her. She shook her head slowly and said. "No, Ruby. I would say that you can do better if you want, but if you want to go with this, nothing is wrong with it. You're a beautiful woman, and no matter what you wear, including a sack of rice, you'll look good.”

Ruby smiled, and then she sat up. "I don't just want to look good though, I want to look great. I know I've always worn clothes like this, but what if I decide to change my clothes, will you think I'm pathetic, that it's because of my boss and Roy?" she asked.

Olivia shook her head again turning to face her on the couch. "No, honey. You know that won't be true. I can never think of you as pathetic, no matter what you do, because you're not. You can do what you want, for yourself and I won't judge you for it. You decided to dress the way and I never did, so why would I start now?” she asked her with her brows raised. "As long as your decision is something you want, then I’ll always support you, no matter what. Even if you decide to do that because of what you've heard those two idiots say, you're still not pathetic, you hear me?”

Ruby thought about what Olivia said for a moment, and then she nodded her head. "Okay. Thank you, Livy. I don't really know what I would have done without you.”

Olivia smiled and then she rolled her eyes. "We both know it's the other way around. Now, we're going to go shopping the first time we've got for new clothes, and then we'll see how great you look in whatever we choose.” She said.

Nodding Ruby said. "Yes, thank you. But first, I have to start job hunting tomorrow. We still need to pay for things, don't we?” she asked and Olivia grinned, nodding.

“Oh, yeah, that reminds me. I brought back some food from the restaurant. The bastard didn’t wait around for the food.” Ruby said.

Grinning, Olivia looked around the living room. "Oh yeah? Where is it then?” she asked. "I have never been to that restaurant before. I can't wait to taste their food.”

Pointing back towards the hall, she said. "I must have left it at the door. That was the last place I saw it.” She began to stand up to go get it, but Olivia placed her hand on her thigh to stop her.

“Don’t worry, I'll go get it, and I'll set the table so that we can have dinner and then ice cream for dessert.” She said.

Ruby squeezed her forehead in a frown. "Ice cream?” she asked as Olivia stood up to go.

She nodded. "Yes. Remember the one I said we can devour while badmouthing your boss for firing you?” she asked and when Ruby nodded, she continued. "Well, that's the one. It's going to come in handy for this. We can still badmouth him if you want, and then we can add the second idiot to the mix.” She said, winking at her before walking to the hall.

Ruby smiled, and she shook her head. She really couldn't do anything without her. She was her cousin, but their relationship and bond extended beyond family. She was her best friend as well, the one who got her the most in the world, who got her back since her parents died in that car accident five years ago.

They had lived together almost immediately after, right after her parents house was foreclosed. Ruby had moved in with Olivia who had lost her only parent, her mother; her father’s sister, when she was fifteen.

It hadn't been easy for them both, but they had both struggled to stay alive. People did felt for her after everything happened, but Olivia had understood her the most, because she had lost a parent of her own when she was just a young girl. Her father was never in the picture anyway, so it was just the two of them against the world.

Things had been so hard on them that they had both almost given up on college, but then, the secret benefactor had came into the picture, easing things up for her, or maybe she should say for them, because that was how she could focus on working and paying for Olivia’s rent while she paid her school fees herself. Even then, it was hard, but they had brought each other here, right where they were.

Whoever the secret benefactor was, she was grateful. She had tried over and over to find out who it was, but her university had not once told her anything, no matter how hard she tried.

Well, they must have wanted to stay anonymous so badly that they covered their tracks even well.

“Hey, come on, Ruby. Come eat and forget about tonight.” Olivia’s loud voice interrupted her thought.

With a nod and a smile, she stood up and walked to the small kitchen that was attached to the living room.

As they sat down, a thought occurred to Ruby, and she asked. "Wait, Livy. Why did you suddenly want me to call you by your middle name instead of the name everyone called you up until five years ago?”

One day, just after her parents’ death, Olivia had told her to never call her Savannah again, that she preferred Olivia. She had never gotten why she wanted her name changed, but she had never asked.

Olivia smiled with a shake of her head. "You clueless brat. I thought you would know.” She said. "I just wanted to be your home, I wanted you to see me and not feel like you're alone. Your mother and I shared the same name, only Olivia was her first name and my second. It didn’t matter to me that I would be changing my name, as long as it helped you.” She said.

Ruby stared long at her cousin, and then a tear fell down her face. God, this woman was so great. She wondered what she had done in her previous life to deserve her being her cousin.

She stood up and walked to her, and then she hugged her from behind, bending her body to wrap her hands around her shoulders. "Thank you, Olivia. Thank you so much.”