Cry For You (Fallen Star #2) (10 page)

"The press love him at the moment. Returned hero, back to conquer the world and all that, but they can turn on him just as easily."

God, it was true. I had no idea what it'd do to him if too much of his past was exposed. He'd managed to hide it all though. I bet there'd been a lot of speculation when he disappeared, lots of probing.

There was something else I wanted to discuss with Hannah before Tex came back. I told her my suspicions about the pizza girl.

"Right. She was so freaken' dodgy. I felt that as soon as I laid eyes on her. What was she doing backstage? Did Tex know her?"

I shook my head. "She said she worked for the venue. But she came here once delivering pizzas and acted totally freaky."

"Do you think she works for the press?"

"I think she's a stalker. If you'd seen the way she looks at Tex, and the evil looks she gave me..."

"We have to get to the bottom of this. Give me all the details you know about her. Which pizza shop, for starters. Actually, pizza sounds good. Maybe we should order some, just for investigative purposes."

I glanced toward the door. "Don't say anything to Tex. He thinks I'm being paranoid."

"Who else could it be though? The chick who was with Devon had a flat battery on her phone. I had to call her a cab home. Ergo, it wasn't her. Everyone else backstage I can vouch for. Hell, I'm sorry. I should've vetted people more thoroughly."

#

It worked. I was the greatest and the photos had been the greatest idea ever. Sure there were a few do-gooders complaining that they should never have been published but no one knew it was me, and it really did cause a sensation. I went on every site and scrolled through the comments, making sure to add my own anonymous ones to keep the discussion going.

While I could see exactly what kind of reaction it caused online, the worst bit was not knowing how it affected that evil bitch. I had to put a stop to my spying because I was sure she would recognise me. I'd thought about various disguises but wasn't sure if that would work. The last time I'd driven out there, they'd put up huge fences around the property. That kinda annoyed me. Stupid fences, keeping me out. Although I could climb them if I really wanted to. It looked like they'd installed some kind of security too, with cameras hidden around the place.

Then it hit me. If they'd gone to that much trouble, she must be really rattled. She was terrified. I wondered if she'd become scared enough to move out. After all, no one would be in the slightest bit interested in her if she wasn't with Tex. She'd just be another nameless nobody.

Then I’d be the one locked inside with Tex and she’d be locked out.

I'd woken up eager to get online to see the latest developments in the drama but the story wasn't even on the front page of any of the celeb gossip sites any more and the comments had dwindled off. Instead, there was some crap about the Kardashians that no one cared about.

I needed more. Like a crack junkie, I'd had my high and it was wearing off. I had to get more. Nothing in my life had given me the pleasure I'd gotten from reading those comments. All the hate heaped on her. Every bit of hate directed at her was like love directed at me. It was a vote for Team Me in the “me vs Ruby” battle for Tex's heart. I’d win though. I’d be standing on that podium holding aloft the Tex love trophy while the crowd cheered for me.

I took a sip of Coke from my sipper cup beside me and broke off another row of chocolate. I had to think this through. I wasn't really like a crack junkie. I had to be more strategic than that. I didn't want Tex to see me in a negative light. Of course, I was doing this to help him. I only had his interests at heart but I could see how my motives could be misinterpreted. Once we were together, he’d see things my way but, until then, I didn’t want to ruin things and I sure didn’t want any interfering busybodies blocking me.

I needed to think of something big. Something that would make her look bad. And that would send Tex running into my arms. It wasn't like you could just google something like that. You had to think it out for yourself. I picked up the sipper cup again but it was empty. Damn it. I went to the fridge to get a refill.

I could bug their studio. That would be a great way to find out what was going on. I had no idea how to get in there to place the bug but I was sure it would be possible. I could put a bug in a pizza box if they hadn’t stopped ordering pizza.

If only there was some way to make her disappear. That'd be the way to do it. She could just vanish and Tex would think she'd left him. He'd be devastated and I could rush in to fill the gap.

It wasn't like I planned to kill her or anything. Just maybe smuggle her aboard a cargo ship so she was discovered when they were way out to sea. I’m sure that’d be not too hard to arrange. She was nothing. A disposable thing. And I would be the one to dispose of her.

I tried to sort out my plans but my thoughts kept going around in circles. I needed more information but I had to get to work. I'd been put on probation at the call centre for my tardiness. I pulled on my clothes and ran to the train station. I could figure something out once I got there.

In my break, I checked the fan forum for gossip. FORSAKEN had been nominated for best artist at the Music Awards. Of course, I didn't expect anything less. I scrolled through the posts. Lots of crap about whether they'd win or not. As if that was even in question. A few people wanting to organise a watching party. The usual stuff.

Then the post that nearly killed me.

"So, do you think Tex will take his new gf to the awards?"

That was by BadBrad. The bastard. It was something I'd not even considered. I bet he’d just posted that to rub it in my face.

"If he does, that makes them official! Zoinks!"

My supervisor motioned for me to come into a team meeting. I motioned back saying I was on a call. I wasn't but she wasn't at her desk so she wouldn't know. I couldn't go sit in their boring meeting without getting this resolved.

If he took her... but he wouldn't. He just couldn't.

Of course, I read to the end of the thread without learning anything. As if those losers would know more than me. I logged off and went into the meeting. I had to sit there listening to a whole heap of crap about performance and changes to the company mission statement. Whatever. Did anyone in the world ever care about that stuff? Why didn't they just write a mission statement like "give us your money and piss off"? Because that'd at least be honest.

I had my own mission statement. Tex would not take that witch, Ruby, to the Awards. That was my mission and I'd move hell to make sure I won. The bugging idea – not even going far enough. The meeting droned on. That suck-up, Peter, actually asked questions about the mission statement like a big, fat loser. I brainstormed ideas for my anti-Ruby list.

If they were serious about this meeting, they'd have least supplied some sandwiches or other food. I never quite understood how corporations worked. Take Tony. He only had a little pizza shop but, if he wanted to discuss staff business, he gave us free pizza to eat and sat us down with a full belly. But then again, I wasn't convinced that Tony's pizza place wasn't just a front for the mafia. Maybe laundering money.

Was he actually in the mafia? Because that was an unutilised resource if I ever knew one. The mafia, they'd be mighty handy when it came to making people disappear.

I wrote "mafia" on my bullet-pointed list. I made the bullet point into a star because Tex was a star.

Also, Tony had that creepy storage shed behind the pizza place, near where we parked the cars. It was lucky the health inspectors never went near that shed because he'd be closed down within minutes. It had to be rat infested. He said he kept supplies in there but I bet it was just rat supplies.

I wrote "rats". Also "rat poison".

I tried to think of other ways to get rid of the witch. Maybe I could have her burnt at the stake like the witch she was. That would be entertaining.

I could get more photos and post them online. Photos of her at the studio. That would freak her right out. Maybe photos inside the studio. She'd be so scared, she'd probably barricade herself inside and never come out. I added "creepily invade privacy."

Finally, the meeting was over. I got back to my computer. Nothing interesting about the Awards. I tried to do some more snooping on the witch but nothing ever came up about her. My attempts to find out if she had a prison record had come to nothing.

Except... this time she'd received an overseas call. It from a local number though. They must have roaming turned on. That would cost them a fortune. Did they have no idea what roaming charges were like? Actually, I should call them and let them know. That would be good customer service.

I checked the name. Same surname. That was even more interesting. Family?

I dialled the number and identified myself.

"I noticed you have roaming enabled on your phone and wanted to give you a friendly reminder that the charges on your plan can add up very quickly."

"That's okay." The woman sounded older, maybe her mother. "Our daughter had a distressing situation come up recently and we wanted to make sure we had all channels of communication open. Normally we just chat on Skype but some horrible photos had been posted online and she's such a private person, I knew she'd be upset.”

Wow, she was like the Wikipedia of information Ruby wouldn't people to know.

"Of course. Well, I'm not a mother myself but I know how important that bond is. I just hope you were able to comfort her." I was super impressed at how sincere and caring I sounded. I needed to get this woman to sing like a canary.

"I think so. She had a bit of cry but she got her feelings out. I told her to try reiki. Have you ever tried it? It's amazing."

Shut up about the reiki already and get back to the stuff about her breakdown. This woman sounded like a total hippy, going on and on about alternative therapies. That totally confirmed my “Ruby is a witch” theory.

"Is she okay now?"

"She's getting her confidence back. I just hope she doesn't have another setback. I never thought she'd ever be in a relationship with someone in such a public position. Still, it's good that she's dating."

Yeah, really damn marvellous.

“That must be reassuring,” I put a smile in my voice. You learn that, working in a call centre.

“Yes, I wouldn’t want her to have another breakdown.”

"That would be devastating." Tell me more, please tell me more.

But, before she could spill her guts, she had another call come through.

"I'll let you get back to work but thanks again for calling."

Damn it. Still, another setback... that could be arranged.

While I was at it, I looked up the mother's name online. Holy shit. There were photos all over the place of her frolicking on beaches in a bikini. At her age! She was definitely the witch's mother. She had the same hair. Same ferrety face too. There were links to her business too. She was a life coach. I wondered if I could make another excuse to call her. Maybe I could pretend to need life coaching? If I waited a while, she'd not remember my voice.

I just had to find out what she meant by a breakdown. Did she mean an entitled rich girl breakdown where she got all emo for a few weeks or a full-on institutionalised breakdown? Because that would make a huge difference to my plans. The fabric of Ruby's mind had started to unravel though and all I had to do was provide the additional friction needed to push her over the edge. That was definitely not outside the bounds of the possible. I imagined how it'd be when she finally snapped and I'd be there to rescue Tex from her crazy. He'd be so grateful with me. I'd be the one to go to the Awards show with him.

I spent the rest of the shift working on the most important part of my plan – shopping for a dress to wear on that night. I would not be leaving that to chance.

I didn't know what to do when I received the email. A bunch of photos had been attached. There were photos of me on the house site, some even taken through the windows to the inside of the studio. They were really creepy. Someone had been watching us and taking those photos. I didn't want to keep looking but I couldn't help myself.

The later ones were even worse. I didn't know where that person had gotten them but there were photos from various high school yearbooks and other moments during my childhood. I hadn't even seen some of those photos before.

I wrapped my blanket around me and sat on the bed, shaking.

Tex had gone out to rehearse. That woman was crazy. I couldn't even talk to Tex about her. He thought I was over-reacting. But I knew it was her. She'd been at our place delivering the pizza and she'd been back stage. She had crazy eyes and she didn't want me around but I couldn't prove a thing. I'd tried to talk about it a few times to Tex but he'd been so dismissive of my worries about her, I ended up deciding to keep it to myself.

I wiped my nose on the back of my hand. I would not get upset about this. No matter what, I would not cry. I exhaled, trying to get my thoughts back on track.

Maybe, I could get some proof from the email. I tried to reopen it with my hands shaking. It'd been sent from [email protected] -- a public email service. When I tried to track the IP address, it came up as being sent from a public library. If I got the police involved, maybe they could track down the person who'd booked the computer for that time slot. But she'd probably used a fake name, maybe even a fake ID. And I really didn’t want to involve the police.

A dull ache filled my insides. I didn't know how to fight this. That woman seemed to sense my greatest fears and then worked to make them come true. I thought when we'd gotten the extra security on the property, it might put her off. Maybe she'd just been acting on impulse. But I didn’t think so. That woman had a systematic plan to destroy me.

Hannah had talked about going public with our relationship but that would just expose me to more of these crazies. If those few photos posted on the internet had made people hate me, I couldn't even imagine what it'd be like if Tex and I were publically dating.

I thought of calling Hannah and asking her advice but she wasn't my friend, not really. Sure, she was nice enough to me but ultimately she was the band manager and her interests were in their future not mine. Tex was the one who should've been in this with me but he’d just been a prick about it. He kept telling me that people did these kinds of things but it didn't mean anything.

The best thing for me to do would be to walk away altogether. Leave Tex, leave this life and disappear. But could I do that? I'd promised Tex that I'd be with him. And what would I be without him? That guy had infiltrated my life to the extent that I couldn’t imagine life without him.

There had to be a way for the two of us to be together without having to deal with the weight of other people. The time was fast approaching when we had to talk through what we wanted from our relationship.

The sound of a car in the driveway startled me. My first impulse was to run and check the door was locked. When I looked out the window though, I saw Lizzie walking toward the studio.

"Since the guys are going to be rehearsing all day, I thought we might do something together. Lunch, shopping, that kind of thing."

Normally that girlie stuff freaked me out but, after seeing the photos of me inside the studio, getting out of the place sounded like a good idea. I kept feeling a prickling like someone was watching me.

"Okay, but nowhere too crowded or busy," I said.

"You're strange," Lizzie replied but with a smile. "I know a great place on the way back into town. It's very quiet and cosy. And you really look like you need to talk."

I could imagine I looked like a mess.

"Go have a shower. Actually, first show me this shower van thing that you and Tex were raving about."

I took her out to the shower van. I wondered if that woman had seen me going in and out of the van.

I froze. She had watched me. I’d been doing just regular, everyday stuff and she’d watched me. Even with the fences and the extra security. I’d never be safe again. Anyone could get in, any time.

Lizzie grabbed me.

"Are you okay? Maybe we shouldn't go... you seem to be feverish."

She put her arm around me and led me back inside. I sat down with a tightness in my chest.

"I'll make you a cup of tea," Lizzie said. "You look like you need one."

I nodded. I should tell Lizzie. I should ask her opinion but the words weren't in me. I couldn't say them. I opened my mouth and, before I could say anything, the black lumps of dread filled me up so I had to gulp for breath.

Lizzie put the warm cup into my hands and told me to drink up the tea. It was very sweet but I sipped at it and tried to relax. I didn’t want to look like I was a complete flake. It wasn’t Lizzie’s job to babysit me.

Finally, I asked her to get my laptop from the bedroom. It would be easier to show her than try to tell her.

She took a look at the photos and then put her arms around me. I hated being hugged but I felt secure with her there and could no longer hold back my tears.

"Don't worry, Ruby," she said. "I'll stay here with you until Tex gets back. Or we can go out. Whatever you prefer."

"I don't know how she took the photos. The property is all fenced and we have the back to base security. Surely they'd have seen her. Actually, how did you..."

"Brownie has a gate key."

Of course. Tex had given both Devon and Brownie keys to the big gate at the end of the driveway so they could get in for rehearsal. Just in case they needed to rehearse here. Like an emergency rehearsal meeting. That meant the only other key was Devon's but he wouldn't be careless with it, surely.

Lizzie was looking at the photos on the laptop again then turned to the window as though checking something.

"You've had that blackout curtain up since the incident?" she asked.

I nodded. How had that woman taken photos inside the studio?

"She took these before. Even before the back stage ones. If you look carefully at the ones taken from outside, well, don't look, I'm going to delete them from your computer but I'll make a copy first. Anyway, if you look at the trees in the photos, they are all bare but they have been in bud for the past few weeks. Also the ones showing the house, they are definitely at least a month old. It's still creepy but she's not been on the property recently."

That made me feel a little better. She'd still been creeping around though.

When I finished my cup of tea, I made myself take a shower. I didn’t want to be a drama queen but I asked Lizzie to keep a watch out while I was in there. I felt safer with Lizzie around but I couldn't have people with me all the time. Not with Tex rehearsing somewhere else. Still, when I was in the shower, I was at my most vulnerable.

By the time I'd showered and dressed, I felt a little better.

"What would you do if you were me?" I asked Lizzie. "Hannah thinks Tex and I should announce our relationship. He wants me to go with him to Award night and that'll make it all official. But I'm not a red carpet kind of girl, you know. I'd just hate having people looking at me, discussing me. That is so not my kind of thing."

Lizzie shrugged. "I can't really say. You have to work it out for yourself. But I'll be there and you know I'll support you. I really want to encourage you to do it because I'm pretty nervous myself and I'd love company but that's for my own selfish reasons."

She grinned and it made me feel a little better. I couldn’t believe she was nervous about it. Lizzie always seemed so confident.

“That’s the one thing that would help, having you there. And Tex, of course. But he’d be off performing on the night so I’d need some support.”

“And it’s a good excuse to dress up.” Lizzie grinned. She really did seem like the type who would love that. I’d not even know where to start. “I got something this week. It’s not long now.”

She showed me some photos she had on her phone of the dress she’d bought. It was gorgeous.

We chatted for a while but I didn't want Lizzie to feel obliged to sit around all day looking after me. I had to toughen up about this some time and deal with things on my own. It wasn’t really Lizzie’s problem.

Just having her chat to me with her practical common sense had taken the edge off the dread I’d felt.

"I'll be fine, really. I'll lock the door and settle myself in to do some work. Once I get caught up in programming, the outside world goes away. Anyway, Tex won't be that late getting back. Hopefully."

Eventually I convinced her I'd be fine. I settled down to work. I hadn't done a lot of programming recently because I'd been caught up in Tex's world but Mum had given me an idea. She wanted an app that would connect them with other nomads. I didn't think it'd work because you'd need to have a critical mass of people using it for it to have any benefit but I told her I'd create it for her. It wouldn't be that much work for me, and it'd keep her happy.

I'd figured out the basic framework for it and needed to flesh it out. I'd probably get it done this week and then I could get Mum to beta test it. Maybe it'd work for her and a few of her friends but I didn't see any advantage over just using a regular chat program.

A while later, I decided to stop for a snack break. I made a sandwich but the bread was a bit stale and it wasn’t appetising. Still, there wasn’t much other choice.

I'd been so involved in my work that I'd forgotten all about the creepy stalker girl. The world had faded away for a while. I stupidly checked my phone without thinking.

There was a message from Tex. He wanted me to meet him after rehearsal for dinner.

I wanted to text him back saying that we didn’t need to go out. I was more than happy to cook something for him. We could have a romantic dinner at home. But then I’d been trying to be more outgoing for him and outgoing meant going out.

It was just a restaurant. It was just dinner. That wouldn’t be so bad, surely. It’s not like I’d have to socialise with a heap of people or anything. Just Tex and I, eating food, the same as we did at home.

And, to be honest, without work to distract my attention, I really didn’t want to be sitting around the studio on my own. It took all my restraint not to go to the window to check if anyone was out there. I’d used up all my focus for the day and now the nerves were creeping back in.

I chucked the stale sandwich in the bin.

I put on my cute dress and did my hair. I even put on some makeup. Tex and I had never been out for dinner, just the two of us, before. I hoped it wasn’t anywhere too fancy.