Page 68 of Under A Sicilian Sky
‘Hi Kitty. How are you?’ she asked with a sigh.
‘Is this a bad time? Are you okay? Have you already heard?’
‘I’m okay. I just seem to be struggling to change certain people’s opinions of me, but that’s another story. What do you mean, have I heard?’
‘Bloody Tyler the-wazzock-face Harrison has been at it again.’
Ruby kicked off her shoes and settled back against her pillows. ‘You mean his shotgun engagement to Aurora?’
She could almost feel Kitty seething across the airwaves. ‘Oh, andthensome. Allow me to read to you from one of our delightful, trashy national newspapers.’ She cleared her throat. ‘Okay…Award-winning actor Tyler Harrison has this week announced his engagement to stunning Portuguese rising star, Aurora Santos. When asked about the speed of the engagement, he is quoted as saying, “We looked at each other on the day we met and we just knew we were meant to be together. Aurora has helped me to heal my heart after the horrific realisation that I was in a relationship with a narcissistic bigot. I now know what true love is and can see a bright future ahead for both Aurora and me.Excuse my language, Roo, but he is a class A wanker!’
Ruby smiled at Kitty’s reaction. ‘So, he’s still making me out to be the narcissist. No surprise there. And it’s nice to know they were “in love” before he and I had even considered splitting. I think you’re right about the wanker bit. It stings, but I’ll get over it, Kitty. I just hope for Aurora’s sake that someone prettier doesn’t come along.’
‘I have never hated someone before, so I don’t really know what it feels like, but by God this must be close. He’d do anything to boost his ego and his ratings. Anyway, enough about him, how are you doing?’ Kitty asked with a huff.
‘I’m… hmm… If you’d asked me that an hour ago, my reply would’ve been very different, but right now, I’m feeling a bit crappy to be honest.’
‘Why? Who do I need to set the dogs on?’
Ruby giggled. ‘You don’t have dogs, you have children.’
‘Oh yes, and they’re much scarier! Who am I setting them on?’
‘It’s nothing. I’m so oversensitive just now. But… there’s a village hall opening event and they’ve been let down by their local celeb, so I offered to step in and—’
‘You didn’t! Are you mad?’
Ruby rolled her eyes. ‘If you’d let me finish, it’s a moot point anyway. Mitch thought I was offering as some kind of publicity stunt.’
‘Oh. That’s awful. I thought he knew you better than that by now.’
Ruby nodded even though she was alone. ‘Me too. I suppose I was wrong.’
‘You’re not going to do it though, are you?’
Ruby cringed, feeling as if she’d been caught with her hand in the biscuit jar. ‘What do you mean?’
Kitty knew her better than she knew herself sometimes. ‘Ruby Locke, you know exactly what I mean, and judging by the way you’re evading the question, I’ll take the unspoken answer as a yes. You’re crazy, you know that, don’t you?’
‘Maybe?’
‘Mummeeeeeeee! I think I breaked the toilet! There’s water coming out of the seat!’ came a voice in the background at Kitty’s end.
Ruby saw an out. ‘Ooh, sounds like you have an emergency, I’ll let you go! Love you! Bye!’ She hung up before her best friend could respond, but a text came through seconds later.
I know you, Locke! Just be bloody careful, okay?
Ruby giggled as she put her phone down and picked up her book.
26
Ruby sat at the table in Morag’s kitchen drinking tea and glancing around at the homely room.
‘I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing it, Ruby. Mitch had a point. And to be honest, I regretted mentioning it as soon as the words fell from my mouth. I was being pressured by the co-op and that’s something I never usually allow. I’m kicking myself. We can’t take advantage of you like that. It’s just not fair to do so, especially with everything you’re going through.’
Ruby had long since been fed up of hiding out and she hadn’t kept the fact a secret. She resented that she had been forced to do so, especially when the person forcing her had done nothing to help up to now. ‘The thing is Morag; I don’t want to be seen as guilty by locking myself away. I’ve said this from the beginning. I should never have agreed to it in the first place, but my agent made that decision, and I’ve since discovered that she’s maybe not the best person to make such demands.’ Morag’s expression was questioning so she explained. ‘She was supposed to be working to clear my name, when in actual fact all she was doing was waiting for the mess to blow over, instead of tackling the root cause. She’s not tech-savvy though and I think she presumed I was making a bigger deal than necessary until the death threats came in.’ She thought back to the horrible comments on the placards; the people who had turned their backs on her since this whole thing blew up.
Morag shook her head. ‘Oh my, that’s terrible, hen. Quite unprofessional if you ask me.’
