Ruby stepped from the bathroom, her hair shining and her body smelling of vanilla. She donned her favorite pair of straight-legged jeans, tugged on a cable-knit sweater, and then slipped into a pair of knee-high leather boots. She returned to the bathroom for one last look in the full-length mirror affixed to the back of the door before she grabbed her jacket, but when Ruby opened the door to her apartment, she stopped. Blocking her path was a shiny silver gift bag with white tissue paper erupting from within.

***

Ruby stood in the hallway, experiencing déjà vu. Just like when she’d delivered the junk mail, she was standing outside Bennett Archer’s door, debating whether or not to knock. She finally did, telling herself she’d count to ten and then leave, but when Ruby reached nine, the latch clicked, and Bennett appeared.

“You look better,” Ruby said through a smile.

Bennett took a slow breath as she coolly stared at Ruby. “What do you want?”

“I…uh…I wanted to thank you for the phone and the clothes. How did you ever guess my size?”

“Years of experience. And now that we’ve run out of small talk, goodbye,” Bennett said, preparing to shut the door.

Ruby put her hand on the door. “One more thing. I wanted to give you this back,” she said, handing Bennett the bottle of wine that was in the gift bag. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, but I don’t own a corkscrew.”

“You don’t like wine?”

“No, I do. I just get the stuff that comes in a box. That’s all.”

Bennett gaped at Ruby. “I see,” she said, looking down at the bottle in her hand.

It was a purchase that had taken longer than Bennett cared to admit. The phone and the clothes had been simple, the selection merely to replace what was ruined, but the wine was something else. In the shop, Bennett had told herself it wasn’t an apology. She had nothing to apologize for. Ruby had been the intruder that night, and Bennett had only defended her privacy. It wasn’t a peace offering either. To suggest a truce would mean there was a cause for civility, and there wasn’t. Yes, Ruby was a lesbian, and a single one at that. She had a curvaceous body and a coquettish air about her, except Ruby was also a mortal…albeit an alluring one.