Chapter 4 : Sink Deep into the Heart 2 ​

“I’m just here helping my mother.” she said, half-sarcastic, half-hurt. “If you’re done, Chris, may I mop the floor for about ten minutes? You can go outside if you want,” she continued, seeing him standing with his arms crossed, watching her instead of leaving the room.

“Why should I go out? This is my room. If you want to mop the floor, go ahead. I can stay anywhere in the room.” Chris shrugged and jumped onto the bed, undoing the bedsheet that Ruby had neatly folded earlier, leaving it messy again.

Ruby frowned slightly as she looked at him. In the past, she would have jumped onto the bed and playfully wrestled with him. But now, everything was different. Chris seemed more mature and composed around her. He kept more distance between them, and she had toned down her daring behavior.

While the temporary housemaid cleaned the room, Chris lounged on the bed, phone in hand. He wondered when Ruby would finally reveal her true self. Once, she wore a playful smile and rarely took chores seriously—in fact, she had hardly touched a broom, let alone mopped the floor with such focus.

“Uh… I’m done,” the sweaty girl said, her gaze fixed on the wrinkled sheets on the bed.

“Not done yet. Here’s next.” Chris got up from the bed and walked out of the room, and Ruby watched him leave with a hint of anger.

‘Chris is definitely teasing me.’

She walked forward with a sulky face, shook out the blanket, and folded it neatly again. She straightened the bedsheet, fluffed the pillows, and put them back in place. That incident had made her hesitant to get close to him again, but meeting him today felt like her feelings were sinking back to where they had been before. She wanted to put her arm around him, claiming a sense of ownership. She wanted to be spoiled, asking him to buy her things. She liked it when he wore that world-weary expression. Yes, she liked it, but he didn’t. She was mature enough now not to act embarrassingly like that again.

Ruby rolled her eyes as she descended the stairs. This house was so big—where should she start? She chose to vacuum first. Dragging the vacuum, she moved through the living room, then came to a stop in the dining room. There, he sat, sipping his coffee.

“Am I bothering you?” she asked, surprised to see him still at home in casual clothes.

“No. Just keep working. I have a headache, so I stayed home.”

“Are you alright?” Ruby couldn’t help but ask.

“Just focus on your work. You don’t need to worry about me.”

Ruby realized she was showing concern for the wrong person and began to sense his displeasure. Chris lifted his coffee cup and took a drink, not looking at her again. Ruby looked down at the vacuum in her hands and couldn’t help but laugh. Everything had changed. She couldn’t continue showing concern for him as she had before. Respecting his boundaries was the right thing to do. Thinking this, she let out a deep sigh, pressed the power button on the vacuum, and bent down to continue her work until it was finished.

By the time she finished everything, it was almost half past ten. Ruby sat on the front stairs, wiping sweat and catching her breath. She dragged all the equipment back to its proper place, her hair messy and untidy. Looking around for the homeowner, she saw him sitting on a wooden chair in the lawn beside the house. She could leave, but that would seem too rude.

“Chris, I’ve finished the work.”

“Waiting for the pay? You’ll have to wait for your mother to come back. I don’t know how much Amber usually gets.” He glanced at the girl, whose face was weary and body covered in sweat. Could Ruby really work this hard? It surprised him quite a bit.

“No, not the pay. My mom will get it from Paula. Just letting you know I’ve finished and I’m heading home.”

“Then I’ll give you twenty dollars to buy some snacks.” He actually handed her a twenty-dollar bill. Ruby looked at him as if he were a stranger. Chris used to do this all the time, using money to lure her into buying snacks, and then he would disappear, not letting her get close. It was quite an effective way to keep her at a distance. Thinking about it, she couldn’t help but smirk at herself.

“Why, is it too little?” Chris was about to pull a fifty-dollar bill out of his leather wallet.

“No need, Chris. I’m not a child anymore. You can’t use money to lure me away like before. If I can come on my own, I can leave on my own. No need to chase me.” She smiled at him, then turned and walked away. Deep down, she wanted to sit and talk with him, to share as much as she missed him, but she reminded herself that he didn’t love her. In fact, he even hated her. She mustn’t act like she did in the past again.

Chris had to put the money back into his pocket, feeling slightly annoyed, as if something wasn’t as he had expected. Where had that talkative girl gone, the one he had scolded countless times, yet she never seemed to learn a lesson? Why did he feel so distant, as if he had never really known this Ruby at all?

Ruby walked back to her own house, feeling how far it seemed. She used to slip through the fence easily, but now she had to walk around in front of Chris’s house to get home. It wasn’t just time that had kept them apart; the status of the two households was different. When she entered the kitchen, she saw her mother putting coconut pudding into a box.

“Mom, let me help.”

“Already done, Ruby? That was fast.”

“All done. Come on, let me help. Just put the coconut puddings into the box, right? I can do it.” Ruby eagerly went to help her mother.

“Put it in like this, Ruby. I’ll call the customers so they can come pick up the desserts.” Amber guided her daughter on how to arrange the desserts in the box, then dialed the customers’ numbers.

This morning, the mother and daughter had worked together, cooperating side by side. By the afternoon, they each went to their bedrooms to rest. Ruby couldn’t sleep, as his face kept appearing in her mind, bringing back memories of the past. Today, Chris looked so dignified and mature that she didn’t dare play around with him anymore. She could only watch from afar, with no hope of getting close again.

‘Only Chris. I don’t want anyone else.’

The little girl was spoiled and self-willed. Even when she was unwell, she would call only for her neighbor brother to give her medicine. At that time, her mother actually had to go fetch Chris from his house to give her medicine.

‘Don’t do this, Ruby. You have to listen to Amber, not just cry out for me every time.’

‘But I want you to give me the medicine! Why not? Can’t you do this little thing for me? You said when I grew up I could be your bride. You lied!’

‘Ruby, Chris was just joking,’ her mother quickly explained, fearing that Ruby would take it to heart as she grew up. Mom had done the right thing by trying to warn her back then, but it hadn’t really worked.

‘I don’t care. If Chris says it, he has to do it.’

‘Chris, don’t take Ruby’s words to heart. Children are like this; when she grows up, she’ll understand.’

‘Yes, Amber. I’ll head home then.’

‘All right, go ahead.’

At that time, she would roll on the floor, crying for Chris, but her mother was firm and wouldn’t give in. She would eventually fall asleep. Often, Ruby would overhear the two adults discussing matters about her and Chris, especially when she started studying in middle school.

‘Amber, I think Ruby has been sticking to Chris way too much. At her age, she should be out with close friends. And here she is, spending her days off just with my son. She’s missing out on socializing with her friends.’

‘I also want my daughter to have close friends to hang out with, Paula. But Ruby doesn’t want anyone else; she only wants to play with Chris.’

Many events that followed kept both mothers constantly worried and stressed every single day.

Today, Ruby smiled at her shameful past. Would she have to live with these feelings for much longer? It took several recollections of the past before she could finally close her eyes.

‘Sleep and pretend you’ve forgotten, Ruby.’