Page 42 of Under A Sicilian Sky
Ruby’s phone rang again.
Mitch took a calming breath, answered it and paced the room as he spoke. ‘Hi Valerie. Yes, she’s okay now. Right… ahuh… I see, yeah. Look, I have contacts I could give you that may be able to speed up the process… Okay, well just let me know. I’ll get her to call you when she’s feeling up to it. Bye.’ He placed the phone on the coffee table and sat again. ‘Your agent’s worried sick about you.’
Ruby smiled even though guilt niggled at her. ‘Poor Val. I do nothing but cause trouble for her.’
‘Nah, it sounds like she thinks of you like a daughter. She was so angry about Clark, or should I sayHamilton. She’s got people looking into him. I expected her to give me a riot for letting you go out, but she must be saving that for another time. Lucky me, eh?’
Ruby shook her head. ‘Nope. This one’s all on me. I can’t have anyone else taking responsibility for my actions.’ Her stomach clenched when she thought of the stress and inconvenience she had caused everyone. She scoffed. ‘It’s me all over.Little Miss Independent. Little Miss Sort it Out Herself…More likeLittle Miss Stupid Arse.’
The phone rang again and Mitch sighed as he picked it up. ‘Hi Veronica. Yeah, she’s doing okay. Shocked and upset but she’s a strong lassie.’ There was a pause where Veronica must have been speaking. ‘Aye, well, he deserves everything he gets if you ask me. The sad little man. And I hope the police catch up with him.’ Another long pause. ‘Some line about owning a record shop. Aye, I know. Bloody idiot.’ Ruby flinched, hoping it wasn’t she to whom he was referring so harshly. ‘Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m sure she’ll call you once she’s feeling better. Thanks for your concern. And hey… say hi to Gen for me, eh?’
Ruby was surprised to hear him behaving so cordially towards the woman who was now with his wife.
When he hung up the call, he told Ruby, ‘Veronica has been doing some digging and it turns out ourjournalistfriend Hamilton is more of a wannabe. He writes a blog about the stars but seems to mainly focus on you. I think we can safely say he’s obsessed with you. But as far as being a professional journalist, that’s a load of bull. He’s applied for positions at Veronica’s paper several times in the past, but his writing was nowhere near good enough. His blog doesn’t get much traffic either by the sound of things. I guess he’s no more than an obsessed fan who saw an opportunity to meet his idol and took it to the extreme. But we need to know how he found out where you are when no one else has.’
Ruby sighed. ‘I was so foolish.’
‘No, you can’t blame yourself here. He sought you out. This is all on him.’
Eventually, when it seemed the calls had stopped, Ruby told Mitch, ‘I’m so grateful to you for turning up when you did. I honestly didn’t know what he was going to do. He was quite forceful once he realised I’d found out he’d been lying. He kept insisting that we could be together regardless of the lies and that really scared me. He was so delusional. He even bought me a ring.’ She shook her head in disbelief.
Mitch crouched before her and eyed her with pity. ‘As soon as I saw the front page of the paper and read the article, my suspicions were confirmed. He made the mistake of using his real name when the journalist spoke to him. I mean, that’s pretty daft when you think about it.’ He reached out and squeezed her hand, keeping his gaze fixed on her. ‘But you will be okay, you know. You will get through this. All of it,’ he whispered.
She felt the urge to hug him. His arms around her had felt so soothing earlier. But instead, she kept her eyes on his. Something crackled in the air between them for a moment.
His lips parted and he briefly glanced down at hers before shaking his head. He cringed and stood, stepping away. ‘Oh… erm… and I checked out the property. I’m afraid itisused as an Airbnb; has been for years. I don’t understand how he thought you wouldn’t find out. He must be extremely arrogant or incredibly stupid.’
Ruby huffed. ‘I certainly wouldn’t say he’s stupid. Cruel and unpleasant, definitely arrogant, but in no way dumb.’ She shrugged defeatedly. ‘He played me. I know I was crazy to trust him so willingly but… I just wanted someone to be on my side, you know? I wanted someone to like me again. It feels that this past month or so has been filled with so much animosity, and I hate that. And I know I don’t deserve it, which makes the whole thing worse.’ Her lip trembled. ‘I’m not a weak person. Not under normal circumstances. I mean, I left my home to become an actor in a strange country where I knewno one. I made it workon my own. But on this occasion, I was a complete and utter fool. Just like I was with Tyler.’ She shook her head as tears spilled from her eyes once again, and Nero lifted up his chin to nuzzle her face.
Mitch sat on the opposite chair and leaned forward. ‘Hey, stop beating yoursel’ up.’ His voice was soft and filled with concern. ‘There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be liked. And there’s nothing wrong with trusting people. The right people won’t let you down.’
She raised her chin and scoffed at his comment. ‘You’re saying that to the girl with the worst track record at choosing who to trust.’
He smiled kindly. ‘Aye, well, not all men can be as super-duper as me.’
She couldn’t help laughing. He certainly seemed to be someone she could rely on. Admittedly, on the most part to piss her off, but after today’s shenanigans she was willing to give him a pass.
‘Nor as modest,’ she said with a smile.
He grinned. ‘You’re going to be okay, you know,’ he said once again.
She thought back over the events of the last few hours and wondered how he could possibly know that. ‘I’d like to believe you. But you’re completely different to me. You seem to have your life sorted out. Your businesses are successful. You own multiple homes. People respect you.’ She shrugged. ‘Can’t say the same for me at the moment. I can’t even go home, everyone hates me, and my career is potentially ruined. And in trying to rectify it all, I’ve simply made it worse.’
‘Hey, I don’t hate you,’ Mitch insisted with a scowl.
She tilted her head and fixed her gaze on him. ‘You don’t particularly like me either. And you’ve been stuck with me under duress.’
‘I don’t dislike you at all, Ruby.’ There was something indiscernible in his expression and he cleared his throat. ‘I mean, I don’t know you well enough. Not really. But you’re not entirely to blame there. I have a tendency to keep people at a distance. I even did that with my wife. Looking back, I think that’s why we survived for so long though. Especially knowing what I do now.’ He went quiet for a few moments. He rolled his eyes dramatically and stood. ‘God, I’m at it again. Pouring my heart out on you. I think I’d better go and do something useful before I cry too.’ He laughed, but Ruby could see a hint of pain in his eyes. ‘You go get some rest. I’ll come and get you if anyone calls with urgent news.’
* * *
Later, once ensconced in her room with her canine companion, and after returning all the missed calls, and explaining herself over and over, telling everyone she was fine, Ruby felt drained and exhausted.
Her last two calls were to her parents – she kept the call short as hearing how worried they were, almost broke her – and to Kitty.
‘Bloody Norah! What an utter psychotic arsehole! My god, you must have been terrified.’
Ruby sighed, tired of repeating the story but knowing she had to. ‘I was. But it’s over now. I just want to forget all about it. I want to erase the past couple of months, to be honest. I seem to be a shithead magnet, Kitty. What the hell is wrong with me?’
