Chapter 30 - ARTIST
After returning to her room, Ruth changed her dress and wore a simple white dress that she used as a night ware. She searched through her kitchen to find something to eat but unfortunately, she had nothing.
Sighing in defeat and pitying her life she drank two glasses full of water to satisfy her hunger. It didn't work but there was no other way available.
After making sure that everything was done, she rested her exhausted body on the bed and her mind sighed in bliss. Today's day was eventful, to say the least.
First the drama with the landlord then Florence came as a saviour. After that Ruth had to deal with that nosy and arrogant Claire who didn't miss a chance to belittle Ruth. Then her conversation with Thea.
-Do what you like and not what others want you to do.-
Florence's words stuck in Ruth's mind as no one had ever before told her anything like that. It was the first time that someone had considered and cared about her choice or opinion.
As Ruth strained her memory, she couldn't recall a single time when she had done something only because she wanted to do it. It was always others telling her to do or not to do something. First her mother then the whole world.
After thinking for million times she had made her decision to accept Thea's plan. Florence was right, Ruth didn't need to explain herself to the world. She had to do what she wanted and what was necessary for her to live.
With that thought on her mind, she drifted off to sleep.
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The next morning while getting ready for the day, Ruth was happy. She smiled looking at her reflection in the mirror as she observed her appearance. She wanted to look presentable while talking with Mr Cooper about her job.
After locking the door of her room she descended the stairs and reached the second floor. Her feet slowed down as her eyes drifted in the direction of Florence's room.
She remembered that Florence was expecting a guest last night. But when Ruth came after meeting Thea, she found Florence alone in the corridor. Last night Ruth was distracted to notice the disappointed and sad look on Florence's face.
Maybe her guest didn't arrive, Ruth thought as she remembered that there was no one else in Florence's room. That also made her realise that she had not taken the clothe from Florence to make a dress for her. Ruth had told the other woman to make dresses for her in return for the money she had given to pay her landlord.
Ruth thought of collecting the cloth now and also ask her about last night. Maybe that was the reason why Florence asked Ruth to accompany her as she must be feeling lonely then.
As Ruth stopped in front of the third room that belonged to Florence, she noticed a lock on the door. Thinking that she might have gone running some errands, Ruth decided to visit her after coming back from Mr Cooper's shop.
She checked the time to realise she had no more time to waste and had to hurry up. She didn't want to give a bad impression as the tailor shop owner was an ardent believer in punctuality.
She hurriedly picked her pace and marched straight towards the Eastern part of the town. She reached the same road that was made up of stone blocks where Mr Cooper's tailoring shop was located.
She exhaled through her mouth while catching up on her breath. Ruth didn't realise how fast she had walked in the thought of getting late.
After checking her reflection one more time in the glass wall of the shop, she opened the door making the bell above it chime. As she stepped inside the shop she noticed every employee already busy with their work. Thea's eyes sparkled at the sight of her friend as she knew that her friend finally accepted her idea.
Thea came bouncing with joy and exclaimed, "I knew you would agree!"
Ruth smiled at her friend as a thought of how she got lucky to have a friend like Thea, crossed her mind.
"Yes! I had to. Was there another option for me?"
"Nope! And neither does Mr Cooper. He can't find a better artist than you." Thea winked.
Ruth rose her brows. "Artist?"
"Of course! We all are artist because we have to put our imagination into reality to make people happy and impressed. We are no less than a painter or sculptor as we also need same level of skills and hardwork to do our job."
Ruth was not expecting her jolly friend to say something wise like this. But she agreed with it nonetheless.
The conversation between the two ladies was disturbed by an old man as he glared at both of them.
"Thea, where do you think you are?" He asked in a hard voice.
Thea looked startled. "Um.... your tailoring shop."
"And what you are expecting to do here?" He asked the next question.
"work?!"
"And what are you dong right now?"
"Work!"
Mr Cooper narrowed his wrinkled eyes at the young woman who had a proud expression on her face.
"I don't remember me paying you for chatting with your friends in my shop." He crossed his arms as annoyance was written clearly on his face.
Sensing the tension, Ruth decided to clear his misunderstanding.
"Good morning, Mr Cooper!" She greeted politely.
The old man cast a dismissive glare at her and said, "I don't remember giving you any work."
"No, you haven't. I..." Ruth struggled to find her words as she was already intimidated by the old man's rude behaviour.
"Mr Cooper, I .... I mean, we need to talk to you." Thea said.
The man stared at both the women for a moment then turned around to go and take a seat behind his desk.
Both women followed him and stood in front of his desk.
Though the other three women who worked as tailors in the shop pretended to be busy with their task, their ears were perked up to listen to what was going on.
"Hmm, speak," Mr Cooper said.
Thea took the charge of initiating the conversation. "Mr Cooper, as you know that I am going to be married soon, I have thought about my job."
The old man now straightened his back and listened carefully.
"Yes I am aware of that."
Thea nodded her head. "I want to quit my job!"
That made the old man sprang up in the air. "What? How can you tell me this at such a short notice? Thea..."
Thea rolled her eyes at his shocking behaviour. "Will you first listen?!" She said in irritation to which Mr Cooper glared at her.
She soon realised her mistake as the words didn't come in a polite way. Ruth elbowed lightly making Thea correct her mistake. "Please!" She added with a toothy grin.
Mr Cooper made a noise at the back of his throat that Thea took as permission to proceed. " I was going to tell you thi soon but waited as I knew that you will need time to find my replacement. And finding a skilled seamstresser is not an easy task now adays."
Mr Cooper stared at Thea as he couldn't believe that the noisy and bubbly Thea could be this understanding. Well... Thea was not wrong when she said that people underestimate her often because of her jolly nature.
She continued seeing that her employer had not objected yet. "So now I am telling you that I am going to quit mu job because I have saved your time and efforts to find a new replacement."
"You did?" He asked in surprise.
"Yes!" Thea nodded her head with a proud face.
"And guess who is the person that is going to replace me?" Her eyes widened in excitement.
But the old man was confused. His brows rose when Thea pushed Ruth a little forward. "Mr Cooper, here is your new employee!" She exclaimed.
Other women who were half focused on their work and half immersed in listening to the conversation gasped in surprise.. Ruth felt awkward as every pair of the eye in the shop settled on her face.