Not Another Broken Doll

Chapter 7

Today was the tenth day Ruth was meant to have lunch with Christoff. She found herself looking forward to it as she chose her clothes in the morning. She put on her blue jeans, a dark green jumper and a pair of brown boots. Her style was simple, and she liked it. She remembered wearing designer clothes and how much she despised that now. She felt better that way anyway.

In the last two weeks Ruth had learned about Chris’s sister and how much he seemed to care about her. She had been boarding in Hannover, in a very expensive school. Ruth was impressed to know that she was there on a full scholarship, as she seemed to be quite the brainy one. Now she was in Berlin studying Business. Ruth had been careful not to reveal much about her past, so she talked mainly about her present. Of course, she did say she was from Barcelona and that she missed the sea and the sunshine most, and that she was living with Ingrid and whatnot. She was not ready to tell him anything about her previous life. He didn’t need to know.

That afternoon Chris picked her outside her faculty building. Hannah gave her a little nudge to acknowledge his presence and saw them walk away. Ruth was intrigued. He’d been taking her to different spots of the city every time it was good weather.

“Frau Spain! Picnic day!” Chris said cheerfully showing a bag with packed lunches in it. Ruth didn’t really understand why he never called her by her name. She thought he must have forgotten it and he was to shy to ask again. It was the first sunny day that week and people in Hamburg always make sure they take the time to enjoy those little precious minutes. So far, they had gone to use the tables in the inner gardens that almost every block had. That was something she liked about Hamburg: its people made gardens in every bit of space they could get.

“You must be joking” Ruth said as she realised he was walking her to Planten und Blumen, the botanical garden.

“Why? You said you like the autumn and here’s best for that!” He said as he found a table for them to sit in.

“You remembered” Ruth was impressed, but then a bad old feeling sat in her chest.

“You only said it yesterday, it wasn’t hard” Chris said, noticing a change in her mood.

“I did, you’re right” Ruth tried to relax. Chris’s food hadn’t disappointed yet, so she was looking forward to relaxing for a bit. She watched him unpack the food calmly, talking about an old memory of him in those gardens.

Then she heard it. The click of a camera from behind Chris’s back. She lifted her gaze in the direction of the sound, and waited for the next click. When she heard it, she put her fork down and darted towards the trees. After watching Ruth move towards the trees for an instant, Chris followed dropped everything on the table to run after her. She was fast. She was focused. She was looking for something. When she finally stopped, he saw her grabbing a man by the neck and saying something very fast in Spanish. He stopped a few meters away unsure of what to do. The man answered back in German apologising, saying “he made me find you”.

“Then you can tell him that he can rot in whatever hole he is in. He needs to leave me be, he’s done enough damage already.” Ruth expression was earnest, somebody who was not ready to take any rubbish from anyone. She snatched the camera off the hands of the man and watched it fall to the ground. “Get lost, and make sure I don’t find you again”

The man, happy that Ruth had let him go, ran away hastily, leaving his camera behind. Ruth picked it up and only then she realised Chris was there.

“Are you alright?” he asked. She looked at him and did not respond. He waited for a few seconds whilst she checked the camera. “Ruth. Stop. Ruth” he said as he got within arms-length.

“What did you call me?” she asked surprised and looked straight into his face.

“Ruth. You don’t need to explain if you don’t want to…” Chris said, getting the idea that something bigger than them was going on.

“‘Ruth’ not ‘Frau Spain’? I like it.” Ruth smiled “Sorry I ruined lunch. Can I make it up to you?” She said as she walked closer. “the guy really got you on this one” she said as she showed one of the pictures.

“Hang on. Are these surveillance pictures?” Chris asked in a low voice.

“Right. Of course. Sorry” Ruth said, and she put the camera down “Look, that i***t messed up our lunch and I have to get back to work…” She stopped. She knew she couldn’t finish that sentence without making a promise she couldn’t keep.

“Bullshit” Chris said. “Now, look. Something that you don’t need to explain has happened today and I get it. You don’t need to, but please answer just one question.”

Ruth saw this coming as soon as she heard the first click. She had been a fool to accept this lunch deal to begin with. She should have fought back.

“Are you safe?” Chris put his hands on her arms as he asked the question. For a split second he did not care that she had almost kicked this stranger to the ground only a few moments before. He needed to know. Ruth’s eyes grew darker.

“Is anyone ever really safe?”