by Alison Bond
‘Yes, of course,’ said Octavia, ‘I’m very upset that you haven’t done it already. That’s your responsibility.’
Not really, thought Max, it’s yours. But he simply agreed to take care of it. He had a feeling that he had given Octavia enough shit to deal with for one day.
18
When Kelly left CMG after the reading of the will she was confused. Nobody had speculated on the value of these mysterious jewels, and given Octavia’s outburst it had hardly seemed the right time to ask. But it was obvious that their value was substantial. Why else would Octavia, with her miserly one point seven million, consider them a prize worth having?
And now they were hers.
Ruby had wanted her to have a secure future. What did that mean exactly? If she meant financial security then – boom – perhaps with one sparkling bequest Ruby had guaranteed that. So why didn’t Kelly feel more secure? Was this how people felt when they won the lottery? Buy a big house and a great car, take a holiday and then what?
If only it were that simple. She had a feeling that Octavia wasn’t about to let go of these jewels without a fight. Was she about to get tangled up in a complex legal battle? Although the notion was not without its LA Law appeal, Kelly had been in town just about long enough to realize that the expectation was often nothing like the reality. She probably wouldn’t be turning up to court every day in a Ralph Lauren suit and pleading her case to a wise and humorous judge. It was more likely to be an acrimonious and expensive business. It wouldn’t be a commercial TV hour of gripping legal debate, where by the end everyone had a learnt a little something about themselves, but would more likely be an often dull, drawn-out experience. Was that really how she wanted to spend the next year of her life? Waiting to see if she was rich?
And even if she kept the jewels, then what? Would she sell them off and live on the proceeds, never working again? Wouldn’t that be boring? Would she move to LA and become Sofia’s new party buddy, one of the in-crowd whose family money and stamp of approval meant guaranteed success for the latest nightclub? Somehow she couldn’t picture it.
Kelly had tried to enjoy these last few days but she felt she didn’t belong here. Surely anyone could see that. If she stayed long enough would she get the hang of it?
She missed her father. On impulse she crossed the street into Rexford Drive and headed for the bank of payphones outside the library. She checked her pockets for change, pumped all of it into the slot and dialled home.
‘Hello?’ Her voice cracked. She was so pleased to hear his voice. She should have called him every day.
‘Kelly? What is it? Where are you? What’s wrong?’ He was immediately concerned.
She loved the way he knew her so well that the slightest trace of emotion in her voice alerted him to her mood. She hadn’t needed two parents. She had one amazing parent and he was a gift.
‘Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s good actually.’ She told him what Ruby had left them in her will.
‘I had a feeling she wouldn’t let you down,’ he said. ‘So when are you coming home?’
‘Not for a while. Everything’s different here. I’m somebody. I think I could grow to like being Ruby Valentine’s daughter.’
‘There was a bit about you in the paper here yesterday. The phone’s been ringing so much I took it off the hook last night. And some girl called Chartreuse came round to the house, said she was one of your best friends.’
Chartreuse? ‘Hardly,’ Kelly said.
‘She was most put out when I wouldn’t tell her where you were staying.’
‘Well done.’
‘You have to be careful now,’ he said. ‘Not everyone will be the same. Tell me what else has been going on.’
‘I’ve moved,’ she said. ‘I’m staying with Octavia now. Max set it up.’
‘I told you he’d look after you. How are you managing?’
‘I’m living in a Beverly Hills guesthouse, I’ve got an appointment later in the week to go and look at my jewels, and yesterday I had my first magazine photo shoot. I’d say things are pretty good.’
She was trying to keep it light. She didn’t want him to worry, and if she told him that she was equally paranoid that Octavia hated her, that Sofia was trying to make money out of her and the press were about to portray her as a clueless foreigner, she knew he would fret. It scared her sometimes how much she needed her dad. It was impossible not to think of his mortality occasionally on this trip, surrounded as she was by the ceremony and paperwork of death. She was a grown woman and sooner or later she was going to have to make it on her own. Why not here?
It’s amazing,’ she said resolutely.
‘Don’t get carried away,’ said Sean. ‘Remember, it isn’t for ever.’
She felt the warm California sun on her bare shoulders. ‘Maybe it could be,’ she said. ‘I could stay.’
‘But Kelly, what about your job, what about Jez, what about…?’ The last was left painfully unspoken: what about me?
‘You’ll survive,’ she said. She knew he would, but could she?
She told him about Octavia’s outburst over the contents of the will. He listened quietly as Kelly made it into a funny story.
‘Don’t you think she has a point?’
‘Dad, Ruby left a lot of money. Octavia’s just greedy.’
‘That’s nowhere the amount that she was worth. Trust me.’
‘That was a long time ago, maybe she spent it.’
‘Maybe she did,’ he conceded. ‘But Ruby was always very careful with money. Almost cheap. You don’t think she bought any of those jewels herself, do you? They were gifts, all of them. She lived in a relatively humble house, she wasn’t one for the regular party circuit.’
‘She could have changed. People do.’
‘You think?’
From the way he said it Kelly could tell that he didn’t agree. But if people didn’t change, did that mean that Kelly was destined to remain the same way for ever? Would she never get the chance to be more like Sofia? Not caring what anyone thought, just getting out there and surfing the waves. Would she never be the kind of girl that a man like Tomas would be attracted to, but always end up with someone safe like Jez?
‘People change,’ said Kelly firmly. ‘You said yourself you didn’t think Ruby was the kind to kill herself.’
‘I still don’t,’ said Sean.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I can’t stop thinking about it,’ said Sean. ‘She just wouldn’t have done it, not the woman I knew.’
‘Somebody else said that too. Tomas.’
‘Tomas Valentine? Ella’s kid?’
‘That’s him.’
‘You met him?’
Yeah, we… we went out.’
‘On a date?’
‘Not really.’
‘Isn’t he a little bit old for you?’
‘Da-ad!’
‘Okay, I’m sorry, what does Tomas think?’
‘Oh, I don’t know, I think he was basically just trying to annoy Octavia. He said that’s there some conspiracy and that things are never what they seem.’ She didn’t really like to talk about it. The thought that there might be secrets and lies around her made her uncomfortable. What was supposed to be a simple and private pilgrimage to her mother’s home town had already become far more complicated than she’d expected. She had been naive to think it would be otherwise. She didn’t expect to meet people like Max and Sofia, whom she liked, people like Tomas whom she could get a crush on. She didn’t know if she wanted to delve any deeper than she already had. She was afraid of what she might find out. She was starting to like Ruby too much. Already it would be hard to let go.
‘Tomas could be right.’
‘Ruby didn’t have enemies, she didn’t have friends either, but everyone seemed to love her. Why would anyone want to harm her?’
‘For money?’ said Sean.
‘She didn’t have any money.’
‘But I just told you: she did.�
�
An automated voice interrupted them to tell Kelly she was running out of time. She didn’t have any more coins. ‘I love you,’ she said.
‘I love you too, sweetheart. Pay no attention to me, I’m rambling’
She tried not to think about what he’d said. She tried to convince herself that he must be wrong. The coroner’s report had agreed suicide; there wasn’t even going to be an inquest. If anything looked suspicious Max Parker would surely have made sure it was investigated. Except for Sean and Tomas, two men who hadn’t seen her in decades, everyone concurred that Ruby was unhappy, lonely and suicidal. Nobody was shocked. Not even Max.
Did she trust Max Parker? Ruby had, implicitly. But Ruby was dead.
19. Ruby Valentine 1975
Ruby was in heaven. Love ran through her every vein and was the lifeblood of her existence. She had Dante all to herself at last and it was everything that she had hoped it would be.
They were married in a simple ceremony at the pink beach house, presided over by a seventy-year-old judge and witnessed by strangers. Ruby’s first wedding to Andrew had been a superficial whim, an undemanding day through which she smiled and looked pretty, a day she would easily forget in time. But this ceremony was different, every word of her vows was branded on to her memory and would stay there for ever because she meant them. He was her heart, her soul. She no longer existed.
On their wedding night Ruby felt as if they had fused together. One spirit united against the world. Dante felt confident he’d made a sound decision. Ruby would be good for his career and she was a knock-out in the sack.
Almost a year later, exactly as Dante had predicted, Disturbance garnered Ruby a host of accolades. On the night of the Academy Awards, she sat in terror at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, flanked by Dante on one side and Max on the other.
During the whole crazy build-up she had said so many times that being nominated was honour enough that she had started to believe her own modesty. But when the moment actually came she wanted the Oscar so badly that it scared her. She wanted them to say her name so that she could publicly thank Dante. The award would belong to both of them. Her face shared the giant screen with the four other nominated actresses, four wonderful actresses, and she wanted them all to walk away empty-handed and broken-hearted. None of them deserved it and momentarily she hated each and every one of them. It was hers, it had to be. In those brief seconds before they announced the winner she spitefully imagined all of those other actresses putting on good-loser faces and having to congratulate her.
Please, please, please.
They said her name.
She turned to Dante to be certain that she hadn’t imagined it. How embarrassing it would be to leap from your chair when only your wish was making it so. But it was real, she had won the Oscar, and Dante was embracing her and Max was standing to applaud her as she took to the stage in a daze and made a speech that helped America to believe in true love again.
Ruby was dry-eyed and dignified as she dedicated the award to her new husband. Her mind felt dislocated and she was able to watch this beautiful actress cloaked in gold Dior accept the highest accolade her profession could bestow. She congratulated her fellow nominees. Was that really her? She’d come so far. She thought of people in her past glued to the television seeing what had become of her. Little Ruby Norton, didn’t she do well? Except it wasn’t Ruby Norton any longer, nor Steele, she was Ruby Valentine now and since the very first moment she laid eyes on Dante that was who she had always wanted to be. The self-satisfaction was intoxicating.
Afterwards, almost sick on adrenalin and champagne, Dante presented her with a splendiferous Mogok ruby, the size of a silver dollar, which had once belonged to his mother. And for the very first time he told her that he loved her.
What took you so long?’ Ruby asked.
‘I had to be sure.’
She had her award clamped firmly in her hand. She was the belle of the Governor’s Ball and everybody wanted to spend a couple of magical moments with Ruby and her Oscar. Even on this night of nights Dante could still make her feel insecure.
‘I love you too,’ she said. ‘I always have.’
‘I know’
They set up home out at the beach house and as 1970 drew to a close children followed swiftly, twins. A girl, Octavia and Vincent, a boy. A perfect pair whose little faces unmistakably shared their father’s dark good looks. It seemed right to bring children into the world together as a natural extension of their love. The sex was so good that it had to serve a higher purpose.
Ruby wasn’t sure if she would ever fully understand Dante. He was a complex man but that was part of his allure. She didn’t mind that he sometimes sank into black moods for a day or two, she didn’t care when he pointed out flaws in her character. He was always right so she had no cause to be hurt. She endeavoured to change. She loved him and all she wanted was for him to be happy too. Not only did Ruby finally understand the lyrics of the romantic songs on the radio, more often than not she sang along.
He told her that he had never felt so much for anyone, he told her that she was his angel, and she took that to mean he felt exactly the same as she did. That nothing terrified him more in the dead of night than lying awake thinking of what life would be like if they had never met.
It was an exciting time, a run of golden years. Ruby made four more films, was nominated for one performance and acclaimed for all of them. Dante helped her to pick every role and his input was invaluable. She was one of the most successful and recognizable women in Hollywood and the fact that she chose to hide out in the sticks with her weird European love match, entertaining their arty friends, was a source of constant frustration to the press. They painted her as a hedonistic recluse, an image which reinforced her glamorous appeal. Everybody in town secretly longed to be invited to one of the parties at the beach house.
In an effort to preserve her looks Ruby had initially refused Dante’s offers of recreational drugs until he pointed out her hypocrisy. He cited the blue and yellow pills she popped with increasing regularity.
‘These are pharmaceutical’, she said. ‘I get them from a doctor?
‘All my stuff starts life at the doctor’s surgery,’ he said. ‘Except the grass, and you don’t object to the grass. Take this, baby, and shut up.’
So she did and it was fabulous. She abstained when she was very pregnant but otherwise much of her time was spent in a blissful half-state where nature and friendship made rivers of well-being which burst their banks inside her and she’d never felt so free. When she vocalized thoughts like this friends laughed and said she was the only millionaire hippy they knew.
Max wasn’t overly concerned. It was the times. The Sixties were behind them all now but some people refused to let the good times go. Ruby’s haven on the beach was the last vestige of an easier age. As long as she kept showing up for work and performing at the peak of her considerable powers, he wasn’t about to change a single thing. He also thought that a life left-of-centre suited Ruby’s image. It suited her much more than marriage to the establishment. Look at Andrew Steele now, grasping for decent parts the way a dog begs for the crumbs below the table. Meanwhile, Ruby’s star had never been brighter.
Despite her devotion to her husband, even Ruby sometimes required space and solitude. She liked to take a morning walk on the beach when she needed to escape the gentle mayhem back at the house. It was almost breakfast-time but a supper party had been underway for the last three days and showed no sign of coming to an end. Dante was enamoured of a new director that Max had uncovered and half a dozen other people were joining in the mutual ego-stroking. Ruby had enjoyed herself. Life was good. The sea breeze sharpened her senses. She was secretly glad that nobody else had joined her when she’d announced her intention to walk along the surf.
Some of her best friends were back at the house, as well as the man she loved, but even though her capacity for approval was vast, there was a point where praise inevitably star
ted to sound insincere, and that was always the perfect time to leave a party. Otherwise paranoia would kick in.
Even though she’d won awards and got her man, she was inclined towards self-doubt and so was always half-waiting for the world to cotton on to her deception. She was just a girl from the valleys and she’d fooled them all. What a performer. The greatest actress of them all. She could see the funny side.
She felt light enough to fly and oddly detached from herself, the remnants of some serious drugs rattling around in her consciousness. She took off her shoes and sank her feet into the damp sand, watching it squeeze up through her toes, enjoying the tickling sensation.
She didn’t have long before the twins would be awake. Vincent was never too much trouble but Octavia was a daddy’s girl and often wouldn’t behave until he had spent some time with her. She knew that Octavia only acted this way because her father’s love was so sporadic. He was incapable of anything more. Did that mean Octavia would grow up always craving male attention, just like her mother? Ruby hoped that today Dante would spare more than a minute for his daughter. Vincent would play quietly until called for dinner and then for bed. He was placid, almost detached. She worried that the balance between the twins was uneven. Octavia loudly requested affection and so received it, often at her brother’s expense. Just because Vincent wasn’t so demanding he might still need the same amount of cuddles and Ruby only had one set of arms. She had suggested getting some live-in help with the children but Dante had objected. ‘The house is too small,’ he’d said. ‘She’d cramp our style.’
‘I worry about the children,’ she’d said.
‘Why?’ he’d asked, and whirled Octavia up in his arms to her enormous delight. Vincent was standing nearby and Ruby tried to see if he was jealous but his tight little face gave nothing away. ‘They’re perfect.’
Ruby had acquiesced, as she often did, and the idea of live-in help was forgotten. Dante had proved time and time again that he knew best. Their life was testament to his good decisions. She had everything she wanted. A flourishing career and the man she was meant to be with. She was slated to make another film within weeks, a street thriller with a denouement as dark as the midnight sky. Dante said she would win the Oscar again with it if she didn’t mess up.
