HEAR THE BELL
Cheryl Bell is absolutely furious. She had recently arrived in Paris “on holiday” with her 15-year-old twin daughters, Ruth and May. Just as she was trying to figure out where they’d venture next in Montmartre, the Parisian neighborhood best known for its sex shops and, of course, the famed Moulin Rouge, an older man approached her girls.
Maternal instincts fully engaged, Cheryl hightailed it over to Ruth and May, immediately shielding them with her body. The man insists that he’s from an agency, and he believes Ruth and May “should be models.” With her voice raised, Cheryl proudly tells the creep to fuck off, before hurrying the girls down the stairs of the nearest metro station. Right before he gave up (and unbeknownst to the trio), he slipped a business card into Cheryl’s tote bag, and then went back on his merry way.
One year later, Ruth, while rummaging through her mom’s purse, trying to find something she had misplaced, found that very business card in her hands. Remembering the incident in Paris all too well, she Googled the stranger to see if he was telling the truth. The search results indicated that, in her words, he was a “real legit guy.”
Ruth figured an apology was in order, so she emailed him a note to the tune of, “I’m really sorry about my mum. I didn’t realize you were a legit guy from a legit modeling agency.”
To her surprise, the man responded: “Thank God you emailed me. I’ve been waiting a year for you guys.”
RUTH BELL GREW UP IN A TOWN CALLED DOVER, about
