Goodbye Ruby Tuesday (27 page)

‘I do,’ Evie said, and kissed him, a weird mixture of gratitude and desire bubbling within her as she placed her hand on his chest, twisting to get closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her on top of him, and she moaned a little against his lips, stretching out so that every part of her was touching him.

Killian pulled back briefly, ‘You know this isn’t why I brought you here? As in, you don’t have to do this just because you’re grateful, or because I gave you a gift. I was just excited to show you it.’

‘Ooh, dirty!’ Evie grinned, kissing him again.

‘No, I meant–’

‘Killian, I know what you meant. I don’t thank people for gifts with my mouth.’ She held his face with both hands so he looked at her, their noses almost touching, ‘Now
please
, can you go back to being that mean bad boy just long enough to do terribly naughty things to me?’

‘What kind of things?’ he asked, his hand creeping lower down her back, tracing circles over her skin until she shivered.

‘I’ll leave that up to you,’ she breathed, heart pounding, legs tingling, ‘I’m old-fashioned like that.’

Chapter Thirteen

When Evie awoke the next morning, she was alone in her cat bed. She kept her eyes closed and counted to three, then poked her head out. Killian was wearing his jeans, sitting on one of the stools that faced the frosted glass blocks that let the light in. The muscles in his back were pronounced, and Evie flushed as she noticed scratch marks on his skin that may have been her doing. He turned and saw her, his face lighting up with a slow smile.

‘Well, good morning.’

‘Yes, it is,’ she grinned back at him, stretching her arms and arching her back.

Evie pulled on her underwear and her t-shirt from the night before, stumbling out of the cat bed into the light of the room.

‘So…’ she started, fidgeting, looking for her jeans, ‘I guess I should go get the gallery all set up. Today’s the day.’

‘It’s set up, Evie,’ he said softly, smiling at her, but something was off. His smile didn’t reach his eyes, like he was nervous. Oh god, she’d fallen for it, hadn’t she? She was just like every other one of his bimbos. She’d thought it was something and it wasn’t…

‘So, I went to get the newspaper for you,’ he said awkwardly, ‘I thought you wouldn’t want to wait.’

Evie took a deep breath, snorting at her own insecurity. ‘Thank you. Is it terrible?’

‘It’s… it’s not great.’

She wriggled into her jeans and padded over, preparing herself for the worst. Killian kissed her cheek and squeezed her hand.

‘Well, this is the weirdest morning-after I’ve ever had. Let’s have sex and then wake up and see how my father has tried to destroy my business!’ The joke was weak, but Killian smiled and shook his head.

Ruby in the Rough?

Ruby Tuesday’s delinquent childhood friends from the estate are setting up an ‘alternative arts centre’ in her memory. The burlesque star and singer was known for her risqué lyrics, tumultuous love life and chaotic mental health, along with continuous drug use and stints in rehab. Do Camden parents really want that lifestyle being shared, especially when this ‘arts centre’ is targeting itself at children?

‘It’s no surprise that these girls want to do this, they wanted to live the way Ruby did – the drugs, the money,’ a family friend told us. ‘They idolised her, and this is the way to be more like her.’

The team setting up the Ruby Rooms in Camden, which has its exhibition opening tonight, has hardly come from the purest of sources. The three girls running it grew up with Ruby on the estate and have taken on a lot of her worst traits. One is a single mother, living off benefits since she got pregnant at seventeen, the other an estate thug who cried wolf at a sexual assault case, and the activities director – Evelyn Rodriguez
–
has been in therapy for her outbreaks of rage and aggression for years. How can these people be allowed to have a licence? How can they be allowed near children, to make Ruby Tuesday into a saintly character when she was such a bad role model?

‘It’s really pathetic what people will do just to get a whiff of fame,’ the family friend, who wanted to remain unnamed, told us. ‘Each of these young women is mentally unstable, and have a history of assaults, drug offensives and aggressive behaviour.’

Who do they really think is going to arrive at these Ruby Rooms? Kids and local people? Or is it more likely to be a collection of strippers, drug addicts, pimps and street thugs, the people that Ruby and these lost young women have grown up with?

The Ruby Rooms opens tonight, and we’re awaiting the destruction and chaos that comes with it….

Evie tensed, closing the paper and leaning against the table, bracing herself against it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, shaking her head, allowing her dark curls to fall gently, creating a curtain.

‘Evie?’ Killian stood by her, anxious, his hands in his pockets as he swayed side to side.

She gritted her teeth, standing up and looking at him, offering him a small, sad smile. He tilted his head to watch her, reaching out a hand to clasp hers. ‘How bad?’

‘We’re going to lose Chelsea,’ she sighed, ‘and I can’t blame her. That shit about the assault case… that was a low blow and she’s… she was upset at the idea that they’d mention her by name, let alone…’

‘What happened?’ Killian perched on a stool, still holding Evie’s hand as he pulled her closer.

‘I never knew, only Ruby knew. Something happened, something bad. Chelsea changed, almost overnight. Decided she was going to get out and never come back. She was going to pick the biggest dream, one that everyone told her was out of reach, and she was going to prove them wrong,’ Evie let out a tired laugh. ‘That’s Chels, that’s how she functions. I get angry, she gets competitive. I found out later there was some sort of case, something that she could have given evidence in, but didn’t… god, she’s gonna freak out.’

‘Do they mention her by name?’

‘No… but she’s told her clients she’s involved in this, she’s invited investors, she’s put her neck out at her company for us. Hopefully, the fact that she changed her surname will protect her. Because I sure as hell didn’t.’ Evie rubbed her eyes, letting go of Killian’s hand to massage her temples. ‘I dragged her back into this. She wanted to keep her distance, protect her life, and I didn’t let her.’

Killian pulled her closer to him, lifting her chin so that she was faced with those kind blue eyes as he smiled at her. ‘Evie, we’re all responsible for our own choices. Chelsea is not the sort of person who does something she doesn’t want to. Mollie wouldn’t have moved if it wasn’t her dream. Ruby wouldn’t have gone out with a bang if she wasn’t tired of this world, if she didn’t want you to remember her fondly. You are not responsible for everyone else. You can’t be.’

‘I need to protect them.’

Killian let out an exclamation, a huff of air, half-exasperation, half-surprise, ‘You can’t. What are you going to protect them from? Ruby’s memory? London? The big bad newspapers?’

‘From
him
,’ Evie growled, ‘He’s after them because of me.’

‘What’s he punishing you for?’

Evie looked at the soft light entering through the smudged glass, how the workshop was warm with it, the soft sanded surfaces looking full of potential, ready to be finished and made whole, sent off to new homes with people who would adore them, display them proudly.

‘Maybe for being the only woman who’s never fallen for his bullshit. The man couldn’t even tell me a bedtime story without me knowing he was lying,’ Evie snorted. ‘But I don’t think he even has the capacity for that understanding. I’m a mark. Daughter or not, a con’s a con. And Bill doesn’t turn down a chance for a free ride.’

‘Even if it destroys his daughter’s chances?’ Killian frowned, and Evie smiled, shaking her head.

‘God, you have no idea where we’re from, do you?’ She stroked his face, ‘I love that you have the ability to be surprised that a man will put money over his family.’

Killian looked at her with sympathy, his eyes softening as he pulled her into him, his arms encircling her waist, ‘I’m sorry that you’re not surprised at all.’

She closed her eyes, resting her head against his, feeling his warmth against her, surrounding her. She felt the flutter of his eyelashes against her cheek, then his lips on hers, soft and still, pressed against her as she felt her own tears run down her cheeks.

Evie didn’t know how long they stayed like that, holding each other in the quiet of the workshop, the warmth from Killian’s skin seeping through to hers, somehow making her feel like it was okay to fall apart – because for the first time, someone might be there to catch her and hold her tight enough to put her back together.

Her phone rang, a sudden buzzing squawk that made them both jump and move away.

Evie looked at the screen and winced, pulling herself away from Killian and creeping quietly back inside the cat bed, her eyes shielded from the daylight as she stared at the curved hood over her.

‘Chels, I’m… I’m so sorry.’

‘You should be sorry, you lazy cow! It’s the day of the exhibition, and you’re not here! Time is money, Eves,’ Chelsea’s voice boomed energetically, and Evie sank back a little further into the darkness. She didn’t know.

‘You haven’t seen…’

‘That piss-poor excuse for an article, that was basically a slanderous, hateful piece of clickbait bullshit?’ Chelsea asked, her voice cutting through Evie’s foggy thoughts, ‘Yep. Seen it.’

‘And… you’re calling to tell me I’ve endangered your life and your relationship and you should have never been in touch with us?’

Chelsea laughed, a hard, rattling that sounded like machine gun bullets. ‘Nope. I called the paper, told them it was filth, but instead of dragging them through the courts, they had a front line ticket to the show at the opening tonight, where the man who stole Ruby Tuesday away from her foster family would be talking to us.’

‘Chels–’

‘We do know it,’ Chelsea said firmly, ‘don’t even try to pretend. But it doesn’t matter. He turns up, makes a fool of himself, and we get the publicity.’

Evie took a deep breath, ‘What about the… the thing in the paper, about the assault case?’

She heard Chelsea make a gruff ‘harrumph’ noise, ‘It’s all bullshit. And bullshit can’t hurt me. I told Kit about the surname thing. He doesn’t know everything, but he has an idea. And luckily, when you’ve created a kick-arse, bad motha persona, no one tries to doubt you. I suggest you try it.’

‘Right,’ Evie sat up, feeling like she was waiting for the punchline, ‘so you’re going to be here tonight?’

‘Babe, I’m here
now
. Kit’s making bacon sandwiches in the kitchen downstairs. I suggest you collect your clothes from wherever that naughty carpenter threw them, and get your cute behind down here. We’ve got a bastard to beat.’

***

Just as Ruby had always known to find her in the art rooms, Evie knew Ruby’s hiding place too. There was a small, dark room, almost a cupboard, out the back of the music department. If they had been able to afford equipment, it might have been a decent recording studio, or practice room. Instead, it held three keyboards, a couple of broken xylophones and some bongos that said ‘Greetings from Turkey!’ on the side. Students were hardly capable of making musical magic happen with that sad offering.

Evie waited outside, and the minute she heard the singing, she knew. Her voice was powerful, from another era, smoky and smooth and just as it got strong, it became vulnerable, lost into sighs. She switched from song to song, settling on a gentle rhythm that she tapped out on the table as she sang, ‘Don’t worry about a thing… every little thing is gonna be all right.’

Evie heard the catch in her voice and didn’t want to open the door any further, didn’t want to see Ruby in pain. She knew the social worker’s visit was coming. She knew Ruby’s foster parents had been less than pleased with her behaviour living with them. They were older, cold, had already dismissed her as just another problem child. Already broken. They were eager for her to leave so their lives could go back to normal, Ruby said, and she couldn’t blame them.

‘Don’t worry… about a thing…’ the voice mumbled away into soft sobs, and Evie was frozen between comforting her friend, and knowing Ruby would be outraged if anyone saw her fall apart. Even her best friends. The singing continued, despite the tears. Evie heard that little voice wavering over and over as she fell into a troubled sleep that night, knowing that she’d made the wrong decision. That she should have stormed into that music room and told Ruby everything was going to be all right, just like the song said. Instead, she’d walked away, with a painful feeling in her stomach. Three days later, Ruby was gone.

Chapter Fourteen

After trying to tidy herself up, realising that there was no way she could sneak back up to the flat without the congregation that had gathered downstairs noticing, Evie decided to just throw on her clothes from last night and strut into the kitchen like nothing was wrong. As she walked through the gallery space, taking in the work they’d done in the last few weeks, Killian took her hand, interlacing their fingers and squeezing briefly.

She quirked her lips at him, following the sounds of the music through to the kitchen, where they each grabbed a bacon sandwich before heading out into the conservatory. Jack was playing the guitar, an old bluesy number that he hummed along with, whilst Petunia stood next to him, tapping her toes beneath her floaty lilac dress. Chelsea and Kit stood together, chatting to Mollie, gesturing at the flowers which were now delicately growing up some of the poles Mollie had placed around the edges, meaning the pink petals caught the light through the glass and shone. Evelyn was sat at one of the little tables, now clean, with a cup of tea while Esme leaned against her, showing her something from a book. Evie felt her lip tremble a little with gratitude for the strange little family that had gathered around them and for some reason refused to leave.