The Truth about Ruby Valentine
Page 38
Ruby smiled eagerly. ‘I really am sorry,’ she said. ‘I could tell you that not a day went by when I didn’t remember you and love you, but I don’t think you’d believe me.’
She’d be right, Kelly didn’t believe her, but at least she was trying. Slowly Ruby was starting to become more substantial, as if layers of gas were floating away from her concealed self. When Kelly looked in her eyes now there was something there, something authentic. She wasn’t the nurturing storybook mother of her dreams, but seriously, what were the chances that those dreams would ever have come true? Some people might dream that their parents are really glamorous movie stars, but all Kelly had ever wanted was somebody who loved her, someone to fill the gaps.
‘I was scared back then,’ said Ruby. ‘My life was so small that I thought I might disappear into nothing.’
‘And now?’
‘And now I have. I’m nothing. I have a fake passport and a couple of Oscars, that’s it. I don’t exist.’
‘Why here?’ said Kelly. ‘Why so close to my dad and me? It’s as if you wanted us to find you.’
‘I bought the land with the house all those years ago. I kept the deeds separate. Maybe I knew that one day I’d need sanctuary again. This is the only place where I’ve ever had time to myself. Maybe it’s the only place where I’ve ever been myself. I was happy here, I think.’
‘Are you happy now?’
Ruby pulled in a seriously deep breath and wailed anew, ‘Νο-οο-οο!’ She shook her head from side to side to make it very clear how she felt about that point. ‘What difference does it make? I can never go back.’
‘But you can,’ said Kelly. ‘Of course you can.’
‘I’m so ashamed. I deceived everyone,’ said Ruby. ‘It’s all over.’
‘It doesn’t have to be.’ Kelly was growing impatient. Ruby’s problems, if you could call them that, were entirely of her own creation.
‘People will think I’m crazy. They’ll laugh at me. And I’ll never work again. I look hideous,’ said Ruby. ‘The press will rip me apart.’
‘Are you kidding? You’re going to be the most famous woman on the planet. It’s a second chance. Take it. Show up on Sunset Boulevard and what are they going to do? Tell you to go back to the grave?’
Ruby saw the light. It could be the ultimate comeback. This didn’t have to be the end.
‘Talk to Max,’ said Kelly. He was paid to advise her. ‘There must be something you can do.’
Max put down the telephone and contemplated the end of his illustrious career. If Ruby was determined to come back from the dead then there was only one way that her fans would ever forgive her. Her credibility depended on coming back against the odds. Somebody would have to take the fall.
Max would cast himself as the villain in this remarkable story – a ratings-hungry Machiavellian wrongdoer. Ruby would be the manipulated heroine – a tragic, broken figure. An angel (he liked that reference). A resurrection. He knew that this could mean the end for him. Actors didn’t want agents who were ruthless schemers, chasing down the dollar no matter what. Or rather, they did, but only when it was on their behalf. What the hell, he couldn’t go on for ever. He would walk away. He’d be able to spend more time at his villa in Boca Raton and chip away at his golf handicap. He had more money than he could ever spend and he might never have made it without her.
Ruby put down the phone and started thinking about the best way to return to the spotlight. Ideally she could wait for the perfect film, walk straight into a leading role in a massive movie and cap off this most sensational of comebacks with another Oscar. She could go on Oprah and tearfully admit to having had a nervous breakdown, play the sympathy card as if it was the last one in her hand, make America fall in love with her all over again.
Kelly saw renewed life dancing in Ruby’s eyes and realized the sad reality of having Ruby Valentine for a mother. Finding her was bittersweet. Kelly would like to get to know her but she could tell that she would never be the most important person in Ruby’s life. There simply wasn’t room in the midst of the total self-obsession for anyone else to stand a chance. And maybe that was just the way it was meant to be. She was glad to have found her, glad to get some answers at last, but it wasn’t up to Ruby to provide her happy ending. Kelly had to write it for herself. Her destiny was entirely in her own hands.
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