The Truth about Ruby Valentine

by Alison Bond

  ‘Hello, gorgeous. It’s Tomas.’

  All thoughts of a quarter-pounder with cheese dissolved. Kelly stepped out of the line and out of the restaurant, as if somehow he might not like her if he knew that she was doing something so unglamorous. She said hello and was surprised when a girlish giggle escaped from her throat. Be cool.

  Since they last saw each other she felt as if she’d had a lifetime of experience. Kelly Coltrane might not be Tomas’s type, but she knew that Kelly Valentine could be.

  ‘How’s it going?’ she asked casually, as if gorgeous men called her all the time.

  ‘I’ve been thinking about you,’ he said. ‘I saw a picture of you and Sofia at LA Standard. You look like you’re having plenty of fun.’

  ‘I am,’ she said. ‘Los Angeles is a fun place.’

  ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘As long as you don’t delve too deep. But then that’s not what this city’s about, is it?’

  ‘Why? What do you find when you delve deep?’

  ‘Zilch,’ he said. ‘That’s the problem. Why do you think it’s the New Age capital of the world? Everybody’s got a gap to fill where substance should be.’

  He had a point. Maybe Kelly could fill her own gaps more easily with a hatha yoga class than with Ruby. Finding out more about her mother was only creating new problems, not fixing anything. Not telling her what she should do with the rest of her life. ‘So I take it you’ll be leaving town soon?’ she said.

  ‘I don’t know. There’s this new girl around that makes the place a whole lot more interesting.’

  He was talking about her, right? She didn’t want to embarrass herself by assuming so. Should she say thank you or would she just look like a fool when he went on to tell her about some woman he had met? She thought it was safest to say nothing.

  ‘I mean you,’ he added, as if sensing her insecurity. ‘So will you let me take you to this jamboree tonight?’

  ‘It’s a tribute,’ she said. ‘I’m going with Sofia.’

  ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘You’ll have a better time with me.’

  It was possible, she supposed, that a night with Tomas would be more fun than another night with Sofia, but she didn’t want to spend the whole evening on tenterhooks wondering if he was flirting or just being polite, if there was a spark between them or only in her mind’s eye.

  ‘Take both of us,’ she suggested impulsively. She didn’t trust herself to be alone with him.

  You think I can handle two women?’

  ‘If anyone can,’ she said, ‘I’ll bet it’s you. I want to try and have a good time. I feel like we owe it to her, to Ruby.’

  ‘I’ll pick you up at seven,’ he said. ‘Both of you.’

  ‘See you then.’

  ‘And Kelly?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Just so you know, I’ll be trying to get you to myself all night.’

  She decided to pass on the cheeseburger.

  Max was waiting for her in the lobby of Western Bank, a grey concrete stack just north of the Santa Monica Freeway. He had the key to the safety deposit box in his hand.

  ‘I don’t have much time,’ he said.

  Kelly thought he was acting shifty. But then again, that could have been her imagination. Real life, she kept reminding herself, is not a movie. Even when you feel like you’ve temporarily switched lives with a star.

  They were led to a private room to inspect the contents of the box, a simple metal container with a counter-weighted lid that flipped open easily. Dark velvet boxes were tucked neatly inside, their muted appearance giving no clue as to the treasures that lay within.

  Kelly, who had never owned a serious piece of jewellery in her life, opened the first box she came to and gulped. A princess-cut ruby on a thin gold band. The sort of ring that a man gave his sweetheart when they were engaged. The next box contained a long strand of black pearls with a unique lustre which even Kelly’s untrained eye could tell meant that they were real.

  She worked her way slowly through the rest of the contents. She tried not to think about the cash value of the items, but concentrated on their delicate construction and the sheer beauty of the stones. She could imagine where Ruby might have worn them and pictured her gliding up a stairway to accept some award, the weight of her ruby choker pressing gently into her shoulders as the stones blazed in the spotlight. She tried to picture some of the admirers who might have given her pieces as gifts, and how it would feel for someone to give you something so precious. There were diamonds too and some delicate gold links. But the prizes in Ruby’s collection were all of the stone for which she was named. They ranged in colour from the palest baby-pink right through to a deep blood-red. Kelly stared into the largest of these fiery jewels and saw a slice of reflection in the glassy surface. For a split second she thought it was her.

  ‘Impressed?’ said Max.

  ‘Overwhelmed.’

  ‘It will be some time before this is all legally yours, but I would be able to recommend some buyers.’

  ‘I’m not selling them, not straight away.’ She thought of her offer to Octavia and the money she owed her dad, the repairs that the house in Wales needed. ‘Maybe one or two pieces.’

  ‘Meanwhile,’ said Max, ‘if you ever wanted to wear something, it’s all insured.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘I thought maybe for tonight? The tribute? I think Ruby would have liked that.’

  Kelly thought she might be too nervous with thousands of dollars hung around her neck. She was about to say no, but the jewels were seductive. As she searched for the perfect necklace to go with her new dress, Max explained how soon she would be able to take full possession of her inheritance.

  ‘Best-case scenario a few weeks, worst-case… longer, maybe a year or more.’

  ‘Why so long?’

  ‘Octavia is not happy. There’s a real chance that she might opt to contest the will. That could hold things up for some time.’

  ‘And I can’t sell a thing until then?’

  ‘No. It’s Octavia’s move. We have to wait.’

  Octavia was waiting for the funds to make her move. Funds that Kelly would not be able to provide until she could sell some jewellery.

  Kelly’s eye fell on a ruby pendant the size of a silver dollar. ‘I like this,’ she said.

  ‘Interesting choice,’ said Max. ‘That was her favourite.’

  She slipped the velvet box into her bag and silently prayed, asking not to get mugged on her way back to Beverly Hills.

  Perhaps if she just spoke to Max he could give her some answers. Maybe he would be able to tell her what really happened, why Ruby killed herself and where all her money had gone. Her instincts told her that Max was hiding something, but perhaps she just hadn’t asked the right questions.

  ‘Everybody I’ve spoken to says you knew my mother best of all,’ she began. ‘Could we talk? There’s so much I still don’t understand.’

  Max guided her out of the room gently with his elbow. Their business here was complete. ‘You want me to tell you about Ruby?’

  ‘It would mean a lot to me.’

  They entered the elevator and Max pressed the button that would take them back to the lobby. ‘She was a complex woman,’ he said.

  At last, here was the man who had been with Ruby every step of the way. The last person to see her before she died. He was smiling down at her and Kelly felt in her gut that he hadn’t done anything wrong. Would anybody with a guilty secret be so willing to share? She was glad. She liked Max, and obviously Ruby had shared a very special relationship with him. She didn’t like to think that either of them could be such a bad judge of character. Octavia’s suspicious mind had got to her. Tomas and his silly conspiracy theories. Sean, who hadn’t seen her for over twenty years. There was nothing sinister here. This was Ruby’s closest friend. Finally she would be able to talk to someone who knew everything. He wouldn’t let her down.

  ‘I have so many questions,’ said Kelly.

 
‘Right. You should call my office,’ said Max. We’ll do lunch sometime.’

  And he kissed her on the cheek and left her there without any answers. He could not have got away any faster.

  24

  Just after seven o’clock Tomas Valentine arrived to escort Sofia and Kelly to the tribute. Sofia wholeheartedly approved of the new arrangement.

  ‘If we turn up without a man,’ she said, ‘they’ll only say we’re dykes. Which turns everyone on for about five minutes but is so not worth it. Besides, Tomas looks great in a tux.’

  Sofia was right. He looked stunning. Kelly could immediately see that they were going to make a sensational picture. Three high-ranking members of the Valentine clan: a platinum blonde, the new-found curvy brunette and a dark man of mystery. She felt a shiver of excitement.

  Was it wrong to be excited about a funeral? No, she corrected herself, not a funeral, a tribute. She decided that it wasn’t wrong at all. In fact, being proud of Ruby’s career was something that she could feel good about and was therefore one of the healthier reactions she’d had in the last week. Bad mother, bad drunk or bad person – there was no denying that Ruby had left a legacy of celluloid that would endure. Kelly had now seen all of her films. Always alone, always in secret, always feeling guilty. Sort of like having a porn habit.

  ‘Good to see you again,’ said Tomas, and kissed her on both cheeks. ‘You look sensational.’

  She caught his lemony scent, just a trace, and a twinkle of suggestion in his eyes when he took in her appearance. The scarlet dress that she couldn’t afford looked striking with her dark hair and blue eyes. Her previously pale skin had succumbed to the Californian sun and taken on a luscious golden hue that made her look a littie less like a tourist. She looked, she thought, as though perhaps she could be the daughter of the world’s most beautiful woman. She held Tomas’s appreciative gaze boldly, longer than she normally would, the way Ruby might.

  Sofia seemed to notice the charged atmosphere and positioned herself between them, linking her arm through theirs. ‘This is gonna be so much fun,’ she said. ‘You know, for a wake.’

  Tomas’s eyes flicked down to Kelly’s necklace. ‘Was that hers?’ he asked.

  ‘Do you recognize it?’

  ‘My father gave it to her just after they were married. It’s magnificent.’

  Yes, and do you notice the way it accents my boobs? She tried not to fancy him. But it was very hard.

  In the car – Sofia in the middle, Kelly half-relieved and half-anguished that she wasn’t squeezed up next to Tomas – they passed several billboards for Next of Kin, the new series Ruby had been working on when she died. It would premiere the following day.

  ‘That show is getting stacks of free publicity out of this,’ Sofia observed innocently.

  ‘Almost as if they planned it,’ said Tomas.

  Kelly looked across Sofia to catch his eye. Was he serious?

  He shrugged. ‘And the tribute tonight? Perfect timing.’

  Sofia was oblivious to the implied accusations, but Kelly knew that Tomas was throwing up some grim possibilities. She was determined to corner Max tonight and accuse him outright. She thought she might be able to learn something from his reaction. In a few days she could be gone. She had nothing to lose.

  Soon they were approaching the venue. Despite Ruby’s well-known affection for the beach, and her near-disdain for the consumer orgy that was Rodeo Drive, the tribute to her was taking place bang in the middle of Golden Triangle.

  ‘Look.’ Tomas pointed up ahead to the back end of a queue of limos and beyond that was a magnificent art deco hotel, with endless white walls and elaborate gold scrolling, growing out of the street. Searchlights sliced through the darkening sky. A gigantic black and white photo of Ruby was projected on to the largest, most visible wall. It was the same shot used on the invitation Kelly held in her hands, no words, just an actress at the peak of her beauty looking as though she hadn’t a care in the world.

  As they drew closer in the dawdling line of cars Kelly could see the crowds that were gathered outside, some with placards and banners proclaiming their love for Ruby. She was dazzled. ‘All the people!’

  Sofia grabbed her hand and they shared a moment of anticipation. Sofia didn’t have to say anything, it was all in her eyes. It was as close as Kelly had ever felt to her. She sensed that Sofia was experiencing an intense moment of pride in her grandmother. Something similar fizzed through Kelly’s stomach, a feeling of enormous respect for the achievements of a single woman. Ruby made mistakes, but she also made history. For one night only Kelly wasn’t going to think of Ruby as the abandoner, but as the legend.

  ‘You look happy,’ said Tomas.

  ‘That’s bad, isn’t it?’

  ‘No, it’s sexy’

  Sofia heard him and felt briefly jealous. She liked Kelly. She didn’t want Tomas to steal her away.

  They deposited the car with the valet and Kelly stepped out into the night feeling like a movie star. The cameras flashed like a fireworks display. Kelly fought her instinct to look at the floor and get away as soon as possible and instead smiled for the cameras in an attempt to make her mother proud. The entire forecourt of the hotel was laid with red carpet and several huge potted palms were lined up like a guard of honour along the main walkway. Sofia dexterously nudged them into line, Tomas in the middle, a girl on either arm, perfect.

  Kelly’s head was spinning and she felt drunk. Her vision swam as she saw herself reflected in a dozen lenses and countless eyes. The noise of the crowd sounded as if it was coming from far away. For one dizzying moment she thought she might faint but she concentrated on the slight pressure of Tomas’s hand on the small of her back and the patch of warm skin underneath it.

  The security was massive. Guards stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the wrought-iron gates and were scattered in clusters all the way to the doors. Personal bodyguards shadowed individual guests so that the red carpet was dotted with a large number of antisocial tough guys. Progress was slow along the clogged artery of the hotel forecourt. Towards the main doors a pen of reporters jostled for space and for quotes and coverage. Kelly’s ticket was checked not once or twice but five times. Tomas held out his hand for her to take as they waited. Just hers, not Sofia’s. His strong hand cradled her small one and she thought how good it felt to have someone as self-assured as Tomas on her side.

  The crowd erupted into cheers and Kelly turned to see a genuine superstar get out of a car behind her and wave his hand to acknowledge the response. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she wondered how she would ever keep her composure tonight amid all the big names and the megawatt smiles. I have a right to be here, I’m family. She tried not to stare like a great big fan as the superstar walked across to please the crowd, shaking their hands and posing for pictures and talking into their mobile phones. Kelly dragged her eyes away. He was shorter than he looked on screen.

  A few yards away she saw that Sofia was in her element, enjoying some verbal sparring with the press. She glittered under their slavish attention, she giggled and posed, and Kelly knew that even if she stayed in Los Angeles for the rest of her life she would still never have the easy relationship with the camera that came so artlessly to Sofia.

  A second wave of cheers rose from the crowd as the vertically challenged superstar bestowed kisses on some lucky fans. The atmosphere was one of riotous celebration and each successive guest looked surprised and then relieved when they emerged from their limousines to be greeted with such enthusiasm. Who wouldn’t rather go to a party than a funeral? Kelly touched the pendant around her neck and thought about her pedigree. An explosion of flashes went off close to her face. She tried to imagine what it would have been like to do this alone, without the support of her new friends. She would have rushed inside, gutlessly failing to speak to anybody or smile, and would have missed the chance to savour this once-in-a-lifetime moment.

  She looked around her, taking in the crowds and
the famous faces, the searchlights carving into the sky like a beacon. A beacon which summoned the great and the good to gather at this place tonight. What if she had never got on the plane? She would never have known what it was like to be on this side of the fence. Intimidating, a little bit scary, but exhilarating in the very best sense of the word. She felt as if she was glowing from within. A thought struck her: tonight she might have the same radiance as the stars, the sheen of other-worldliness that sets them apart. Maybe fame was best described simply as plenty of attention and a red carpet beneath your feet.

  ‘Kelly!’ Somebody thrust a microphone in her face. ‘Quite a night.’

  Was that a question?

  ‘It’s completely overwhelming.’

  Bad answer.

  ‘And what would Ruby think?’ The microphone was so close it was tickling her nose; she could almost taste the breath of those who had gone before her.

  ‘She’d think it was the best night of her life,’ said Kelly, thinking that was a suitably whimsical reply.

  ‘Kelly Valentine, thank you very much, have a great evening.’ The reporter thrust the microphone towards the next person in line. Kelly didn’t bother to correct her name, just as she hadn’t bothered to explain that as she’d never actually known Ruby it was difficult to theorize about what she would have thought of her own tribute. She was learning fast that the press didn’t essentially care what Kelly thought; all they wanted was a neat quote.

  Well done,’ said Tomas.

  ‘I’m getting better at it,’ she replied.

  Sofia found her way back to Kelly’s side. ‘You do know,’ she said, ‘that there’ll be a bunch of photographs arriving on press desks tomorrow of Tomas holding your hand?’

  ‘So what?’

  ‘The newspapers will get ahead of themselves, pronounce you guys in love, and then deliver a ruling. I’m just saying, be ready.’ She shrugged and her attention wandered. ‘Ooh, look, is that Paris?’ Sofia darted back down the line, her focus lost.