Page 79 of The House Guest

‘Yeah, he said. To be honest, I find it quite embarrassing.’ When he had been talking to her, looking into her eyes, it had all felt real. Important. But now ... ‘I just want to get out of here. I really want to talk to Mona. You’ve all been very kind, but it’s time to move on.’

Did she imagine it, or was that a flicker of annoyance on Eden’s face? But it vanished as soon as it had appeared.

‘Gabriel doesn’t want you to go. Not yet.’

‘I know. He wants me to hang around, talk to him some more. But honestly, Eden, I’m tired of talking. I’m going stir-crazy. I need to get out of here. I have to get on with my life. Also, I really need my phone back.’

‘I told you, it broke when you fell.’

‘Yes, but surely the SIM didn’t break? Give me that and I can put it in a new phone.’

Eden didn’t respond to that. Instead, she sat on the bed. ‘Ruth, I’m going to be blunt with you. If you walk out of here now, you might go on to be successful. You’ve got talent, looks. You’re a good actress. But you also have a black mark against your name. You’re the woman who walked out of her first big Broadway role before it had even begun.’

‘I didn’t walk out!’

‘Doesn’t matter. That’s what the world thinks. You also told me that your agent isn’t very good. Maybe none of that matters. Maybe Hollywood won’t care, and in a couple of years’ time I’ll be watching you collect your first Oscar. But the road ahead is going to be hard. How many actresses go to Hollywood with an indie hit behind them thinking they’re going to make it? I lived there, Ruth. I saw it. The streets are littered with broken dreams. Only the toughest, the best, the ones with the most self-belief and the most luck break through.’

‘I know that.’

‘Do you? Do you really? You’re talented. You’ve got charisma. And maybe you have the self-belief, though you hide it well. But luck – that’s something you can’t control. And that’s where we come in.’

‘But what does that mean? What exactly do you do?’

Eden got up from the bed. ‘It’s simple. We’re a network. We have money. Vast amounts of money. We have connections. We have power. We can make things happen for you. And we can teach you as well. Teach you to be stronger. Teach you to believe in yourself.’

‘I do ...’

‘Really? I’m talking absolute confidence. We can turn you into a person who glides through life. Who gets everything she ever wanted. We can make you happy. And you’ll belong. You’ll have friends better than any family.’

It sounded so good. Eden was telling Ruth everything she had ever longed to hear, offering all the things she’d been looking for throughout her life. But surely it was too good. Too easy. Ruth had fought for everything she had gained in her life so far. Fought to survive the care system she’d grown up in. Refused to believe all the people who told her acting was too hard, that she would never make it. Nothing had ever been handed to her on a plate – yet here was someone offering to do just that.

Her instincts told her to mistrust. That nothing in her life could ever be this easy.

But what if this was the fork in the road? The moment where her life could go one way or the other? Success or failure. Ambitions fulfilled or crushed.

Eden was offering her what sounded like a magic pill. Would it be insane to turn it down? To try it at least?

She didn’t know what to do.

‘I was a wreck when I met Gabriel,’ Eden continued. ‘A shaking, weak, self-loathing creature. A drug addict.’

‘You never told me that.’

‘I know. Because that’s the old me. The me I try to forget. And unlike you, I did have a family, but wished I didn’t. My dad ... My dad is an asshole. One of the worst human beings to ever walk this planet. I had been taught that I deserved nothing but misery and poverty and abuse.’ Her eyes filled with tears. ‘And then I met Gabriel and he showed me the way things should be.Couldbe. He taught me to be strong, to believe in myself. He gave me protection against both the wolves and the sheep. He saved me, Ruth. And he can save you too.’

Eden took hold of Ruth’s wrists, holding on tight. Her eyes shone not just with tears but with a religious fervour. An ecstasy.

‘Join us,’ Eden said. ‘And hewillgive you the world.’

The temptation was almost unbearable; it was like she was being torn in two. Once again, she felt the way she had when Gabriel had been talking to her, caressing her ego, soothing her fears away. She was thrown into an imagined future, one in which she was adored and respected; a world of luxury and security. She pictured herself cradled and loved.

‘Do it,’ Eden said, ‘and he’ll give you everything. All of himself.’

The way Eden said it, with a hint of lasciviousness, made Ruth snap out of the dreamy state she had been falling into. ‘What does that mean?’

Eden didn’t respond straight away.

Ruth pressed. ‘What do you mean,all of himself?’

---