Page 77 of Under A Sicilian Sky
Down in the kitchen, she made herself a cup of tea and a slice of toast and took it through to the conservatory, where she had a view of the pretty garden. As she ate her breakfast, she thought back to the many film sets she had been on with the same kind of nervous tension tugging at her insides. She hadn’t been away from the industry for that long, but it already felt like another lifetime.
Valerie hadn’t been in touch since the conversation they’d had about Tyler’s engagement and Ruby had avoided the national tabloids, so was blissfully unaware of what was being said about her, if anything. She felt a little as if she had been set adrift somehow by the people she had once thought her life centred around. Yet here she was, in a place she had only just come to know, with people who were new to her, and she had felt more acceptance from them in her short stay than she ever had in the years she was involved in the movie business.
Having this time away to reflect upon her career was terrifying, however. Mostly because she hadn’t missed it at all. She hadn’t missed the days standing around on set waiting to be called, or the hours sitting in a chair being made up as people talked over her head. She hadn’t missed the repeated takes of scenes she felt had gone particularly well, only to be told she hadn’t got things quite right. She definitely hadn’t missed the nights she had spent alone in hotel rooms on location, afraid to leave in case she was mobbed by fans. None of it seemed to mean anything now and she wondered how she would ever return to the type of notoriety she had put up with over the past few years of her life.
Wandering around Glentorrin with Chewie had made her crave the simplicity of normality. Of owning a little house with friendly neighbours who she could call on for coffee and a chat. Local shops she could pop into without the fear of being photographed and commented about in the media for her shopping choices, or for doing ‘everyday’ things. Some of the newspaper articles that had been written about her over the years really hadn’t been newsworthy, in her opinion. On the rare occasions she had stepped out on her own, there had been photos of her, for example, eating takeout food accompanied with headlines like:
HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS RUBY LOCKE HITS FAST-FOOD JOINT AFTER WORKOUT.
Why did people need to know such mundane things about her? How was that in the slightest bit interesting? It baffled her. She was just a human being like every other person walking down the same street, eating a BLT, but the factshedid such things was apparently fascinating.
If she was materialistic, the money would have maybe been worth it. But she never had been. Any money she had earned had been donated to charity, given to her parents or invested for her future – she knew that at any moment she could be at the bottom of the pile for castings, so she was sensible enough to prepare for that.
Shelby arrived in the room and tore her from her reverie. ‘Hi, Ruby. Are you excited about the big day?’ she asked as if nothing untoward had happened between them.
‘Hi. I’m nervous, but that’s only natural.’
Shelby cocked her hip again and Ruby rolled her eyes, waiting for the barrage. ‘I still think it’s a bad idea, and it’s not too late to change your mind,’ she said with a smug smile.
Ruby sighed. ‘And if it all goes royally tits up, I’ll be sure to come straight to you so you can be the first to say I told you so. Okay?’
Shelby tilted and shook her head in a decidedly condescending manner. ‘I’m only looking out for you, Ruby. It’s my job.’
Ruby scoffed. ‘Your job? I thought we’d ascertained that you don’t even want your job and were only here for your audition?’
‘Look, I didn’t come here to argue. I came to offer my support. I can deal with the press if you prefer.’
Ruby scowled at her and the phrase ‘trust issues’ sprang to mind. ‘No, thank you. I’m capable of dealing with press. They’ve already been briefed. I expect that when Tuesday’s edition comes out, they will have stuck to their agreement.’
‘Let’s hope they do.’
Ruby’s stomach clenched and churned, and she stood. ‘I’m confident they will. Look, I think you should stop trying to do a job that you clearly don’t want. Just enjoy the last couple of days of being here on Skye and then we can part ways.’
Shelby’s cheek flushed. ‘Last couple of days? What do you mean? Are you sending me back? You’ve told Valerie, haven’t you? I knew you would.’
Ruby sighed. ‘I think it’s best that you should look at returning to the States. And I also think it would be a good idea for you to come clean to Valerie. I get the feeling she will find out soon enough, and it would be better if she heard it from you.’
Shelby pursed her lips and glared at Ruby for a moment before storming out of the room. Ruby was left hoping she had done the right thing; the thing she should have done when she first heard Shelby’s confession.
* * *
Ruby slipped into Caitlin’s beautiful Isle of Skye tartan dress and regarded herself in the full-length mirror. Her make-up was subtle, and the shoes Jules had given her were a perfect match. She had left her hair to hang in its natural curls down her back and had pinned it up with a pretty diamanté comb – supplied by Grace – at one side.
She took a deep breath and told her reflection, ‘You can do this. Just smile and be natural.’
As she made her way down the stairs, she realised that her housemates, with the exception of Shelby, and her parents were waiting for her in the hallway.
‘Well, look at you. You’re a wee smasher,’ Dougie said with a wink.
‘You look beautiful, love. I couldn’t be prouder,’ her dad said with a glint of emotion in his eyes.
Her mum clasped her hands together and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth before saying, ‘Lovely, darling. Just lovely.’ Then she dabbed at her eyes with a hanky.
Mitch stood there, silently, with a small smile on his face that she thought expressed his opinion well enough. ‘Shall we go?’ he asked, gesturing to the door.
She nodded and inhaled a deep shaking breath as they left Glentorrin House.
Dougie walked ahead and Mitch, Ruby and her mum and dad followed. Her mum linked arms with her at one side and her dad on the other. It took a matter of a few minutes to arrive at the new hall. She could see people walking towards the building from all directions and her stomach did a little flip again.
