Slumber (5 page)

“It's delicious! Seriously, it's
so
good.”

He lit up like she'd made his day.

He went over to the leather sofa in front of the fireplace and invited her to have a seat. Gingerly she sat on the edge of the cushion, taking sips from her cappuccino while he leaned back into the upholstery, remote in hand. With a touch of the button, the gas fireplace roared to life.

“So tell me what a nice girl like you is doing working in a place like this,” he said.

“Your pickup lines need work.”

“I don't get a lot of practice.”

“Liar.” She smiled at him over the rim of her cup.

He grinned back, boyish. Charming.
Careful, Ruby
. “But seriously. You're not planning on wasting your life cleaning houses?”

Ruby shrugged. “Are you planning on just being a trust-fund baby, partying your life away?”

“Is that what you think I do all day?”

“Don't you?”

“Mmm.” A shadow clouded his eyes, and the corners of his mouth tightened before he looked away. For a brief moment Ruby thought he'd dropped the mask to reveal—loneliness? But that wasn't possible. Cottingley was full of people like Tam—rich, beautiful, carefree. What did Tam have to be sad about?

“How about we make a deal?” Ruby said. “I don't bug you about your situation, and you don't bug me about mine?”

The shadow lifted, and Tam's expression cleared. “Deal.”

He turned the conversation to school and Ruby found herself telling Tam about the drama classes she'd taken, and the time she'd won the lead in the school's production of
Our Town
even though she was only a sophomore. She'd been bitten by the acting bug ever since.

He listened to her attentively, almost raptly, and laughed when she told him the story of Shelley sneaking into her makeup bag and using all of Ruby's CoverGirl supplies on her dolls.

“I was so mad at her at the time because I'd spent all my babysitting money on that makeup, but she was so proud of herself. I mean, every single doll had lip-gloss and eye shadow smeared all over its face. It was such a mess.”

“She sounds cute,” Tam said, chuckling.

“She is cute,” Ruby said. “She's amazing.”

“A friend of mine is opening an art gallery in Manhattan this weekend. Would you…” He hesitated. “Would you go with me?”

“An art gallery?”

“You look surprised.”

“It's just that…”
I'd imagined you spending all your time on a jet-ski somewhere, flexing.
“I didn't take you for a guy who'd be into art, that's all.”

He smiled sheepishly. “Well, actually, I can't make heads or tails of it, but my friend Kentaro is opening a new gallery and I said I'd go.”

“Wait a minute. Kentaro?
The
Kentaro?”

“You've heard of him?”

“Yeah, I have. In my art class at school, we spent a month studying contemporary Japanese art. Kentaro's work took up a full week. He's super-famous for fusing pop culture with traditional Japanese drawing techniques, like
ukiyo-e
and
rinpa
. I even wrote a paper on him—he's a genius!”

“Uhh, if you say so.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “For someone who could buy half the paintings in the Met, you're kind of a caveman, Tam.”

“I'm just a dude, Ruby.”

Yeah, right.
“But you're friends with Kentaro. Wow. That actually blows me away.”

“Sooo, does that mean you'd like to meet him?”

“Well…” She hesitated. Tam was a smooth operator, and he was wiggling right past her defenses. But meeting a famous artist like Kentaro was an opportunity of a lifetime.

“Think about it,” he said as she considered. “No pressure. Can I get you another?” He pointed to her empty cup.

Ruby nodded. She'd be buzzing on caffeine for the rest of her shift, but she really wanted more of Tam's killer coffee. “Could you add a little more of that syrup, too?”

“Sure. That's my secret ingredient.” He winked. Ruby laughed, feeling lighthearted all of a sudden as Tam headed over to the chrome coffeemaker and began making her drink. She was having a good time, and it had been a long while since she'd had one of those.

As Tam returned with a fresh cup, she saw that something had changed. After all the laughing and joking, there was a look on his face she'd not seen before. A sad look. He passed her the cup and sat, not meeting her eyes.

He was so close she could have reached out and touched him.

“Ruby,” he said at last. “I—it's been a long time since I met a girl like you.”

The air hung heavily between them. Ruby felt her whole body buzzing with adrenaline. She tried to smile and act natural, but her voice came out thick and mumbled.

“There are loads of girls here, Tam. They're all beautiful and—”

His deep black eyes met hers at last, and it made her heart jolt. “No Ruby. Not like you.”

He was even closer, leaning forward. She could smell his skin, a sweet, floral scent. And then she was leaning in too…

The lounge's door banged open. “Not this bitch again,” a girl said.

Violet.

Ruby jerked away, almost spilling her coffee. Violet's black hair had been swept into a chignon, showing off her graceful neck as it rose from the glittering beaded neckline of her scarlet mini-dress. Ruby felt like a sack of potatoes in comparison. The other girl's delicate features knotted in disgust as she took in the two of them sitting together on the sofa.

“Ugh. You could do so much better, Tam.”

Tam didn't miss a beat. “You mean you, I suppose? Been there, done that, didn't find it all that great.”

Violet's mouth fell open like she was getting ready to shriek. Ruby braced herself when Violet's attention instead swung to her. “Go make yourself useful and clean my room,” she snarled.

“That's not in my contract.”

“Then let me remind you who's paying your bill,” Violet hissed. “Get off your ass and get back to work.”

“She's not your personal maid,” Tam protested.

“She's not your personal
plaything
, either. If I want her gone, she's gone.”

The image of her mother's sick face flashed before Ruby's eyes. She could not afford to lose this job.

“You don't get to make those kinds of decisions,” Tam was saying.

Ruby stood. “I'll clean your room, it's not a big deal,” she said.

Tam came around from behind the bar. “You don't have to do that, Ruby. She's just being bitchy because she's jealous.”

“Jealous?” Violet's laugh was ugly. “Of a domestic? Oh,
please
. This one's even uglier than the last. What was her name? Sofia? Sabrina?”

Ruby froze.

Tam was glaring at Violet, his hands clenched into fists.

“Selena,” he said, and his voice was low, like the warning growl of a dog. “And how many times do I have to tell you, Violet? I don't want to discuss what happened. If I were you I'd be grateful for that. You do not want to make me angry.”

Violet sneered, but for once she seemed lost for words. Ruby took her chance to butt in.

“I don't want to cause problems. I'll just—”

“The only problems being caused around here are by Violet.” Tam stepped between them, and his expression lightened in an instant. He gave Ruby a cheeky grin. “You really don't need to listen to her. She's nothing.”

Ooh, harsh.
But Violet deserved it. Ruby smiled at Tam as she handed him her cup. “Thanks for the coffee.” She couldn't help adding, “And the invitation. I'll think about it.”

He smiled, eyes wide. “That's all I ask.”

“Invitation?” Violet asked sharply. She gazed intently at Tam.

“Again, none of your business, Violet.”

“Well, I'm making it my business.”

Ruby slipped out of the room. Behind her, Violet's voice rose to a shriek. “You made her a drink? What the fuck are you
doing
?”

Ruby had to admit Violet had a point. What the fuck
was
Tam doing? Or Ruby, for that matter? Whatever had happened between Tam and this ‘Selena' girl, it didn't sound good.

Except for a note of annoyance in his voice, Ruby couldn't hear Tam's answer. But unless she wanted to run the risk of Violet catching her eavesdropping, and really going ape-shit on her, she needed to get back to work. She grabbed her abandoned vacuum cleaner and work bag lying in the hall and headed upstairs. What happened to her? Who was Selena, anyway? It bothered her. Obviously it bothered Violet too. That girl had serious jealousy issues.

Also pretty serious: the mess in Violet's room. It was like Violet had emptied out her entire extensive wardrobe and scattered the garments all over the place. Underwear spilled out of drawers. Jewelry was dumped on the leopard-print carpet. Shoes
everywhere
.

It was even worse than the last time Ruby had been here. She glared suspiciously at the mess. Had Violet done this on purpose to make her life more difficult?

Ruby snapped latex gloves over her hands. She gathered up most of the clothes from the floor, then turned her attention to the wreck of a vanity cluttered with high-end beauty products. The surface was crusty with dripped makeup, dust, and glitter. She spent ten minutes on her hands and knees, scrubbing at a drying patch of moisturizer that had spilled on the floor next to it. Just as she stiffly rose to her feet, the vanity rattled. Another bottle of moisturizer tipped, the cap flew off, and the shiny gel splattered all over floor. In the same exact patch she just cleaned.

Ruby groaned.
It's like this place is out to get me!

Or maybe life is out to get me.

Tears of frustration welled up. She was so, so tired all of a sudden. Ruby picked up a pile of silk scarves tangled with jewelry off the zebra-striped chair and sank down, the silky mess on her lap. Life was so damn unfair! Broke, hungry, dreams slipping away. Life passing her by while she cleaned up the filth left behind by the rich. Forget Tam—his invitation could be a fun distraction, but that's all it was. He was never going to be her Prince Charming. This was real life. Was it gonna be like this forever? Struggling to make ends meet, endless worry about bills, car repairs, putting food on the table?

Loved ones dying. First Dad and now Mom?

She swallowed a sob.

“We could use just a little bit of luck, that's all I ask,” Ruby whispered, feeling a tear slide down her cheek.

She sniffled and wiped away the moisture with the back of her hand. After a long moment, she drew in a shuddery breath. Crying never solved anything.

She clutched at the snarl of scarves and necklaces, and something poked into her palm. She looked down. It was a wine-colored stone the size of a half-dollar coin. A web of filigreed gold surrounded the gemstone—a ruby—with tiny diamonds cunningly placed in the setting like a sprinkling of fairy dust. The pendant was beautiful in an old-world way, with a clasp carved into a tiny hand, the chain itself made from thick gold links heavy with carats. Definitely high-end.

Ruby began untangling the pendant from the knot of scarves. A necklace like this, for example, treated like crap by its owner and carelessly discarded, was probably worth thousands of dollars.

Or
a year's worth of medicine
.

Her heart started kicking against her chest. She freed the necklace and stared into the gemstone's blood-like depths. Was it a sign? This jewel—this ruby, her namesake!—could solve all her problems.

In a daze she slipped the necklace over her head. The pendant nestled against her chest and hung low enough to be concealed by her work shirt. No one would know it was there. She could pawn it and use the money for Mom's medicine and hospital bills, and she'd never ever have to come back to Cottingley…

“Sitting on your ass again?”

Ruby jumped as Violet strode into the room. “I'm not paying you to fart around all day and paw at my stuff with your grubby hands. Get up and finish your work. My room is still a mess.”

Ruby leaped to her feet. “Clean it yourself.”

“What did you say?”

“I said: Clean. It. Your. Self.”

“Why, you little
nobody
. You need to learn your place.”

Before Ruby could react, Violet hauled back and cracked her palm across Ruby's face. “Now get to work.”

Ruby put her hand to her burning cheek in disbelief. What the
hell
?

Despite her searing anger, she said evenly, “I'm not your slave, and you better get out of my way or you're about to be very sorry.” Her hand curled into a fist.

“What about this mess?” Violet said.

“Oh, don't even go there.” Ruby stormed past Violet and out of the room before she really did something she regretted, like give Violet two black eyes and hand her an excuse to call the cops.

On her way to the front door, she grabbed her workbag and vacuum cleaner. It was then she realized that the necklace still hung around her neck.

“Screw it,” she muttered. Keeping the necklace would make up for all the bullshit she'd just gone through.

Tam was nowhere to be seen. A wave of regret washed over her. He'd been kind to her, the only decent person living in a house full of selfish assholes. And he liked her. She was pretty sure of it. But whatever. It would never have worked out between them anyway. Maybe it was better this way.

She doubted she'd ever see him again. And it didn't feel good.

Outside, the sky rumbled. A few fat raindrops smacked against her skin—the clouds were getting ready to open up again. Ruby hauled her equipment through the spooky garden, out through the gargoyle gate, and down the winding road back into the woods where her minivan had stalled out. She tossed the vacuum and workbag into the back before getting into the driver's seat. She'd give it one last try. If the van still wouldn't start, she'd have to hitchhike home.

Miraculously, there was a grinding noise as the engine turned over.

Yes!
Ruby slammed the van in reverse and maneuvered until the headlights pointed in the opposite direction of Cottingley Heights. Then she floored it. Instead of sputtering and jerking, the minivan responded with a purr and a smooth burst of speed. It was as if the car itself wanted away from this place.

Maybe my luck's finally changing
, she thought, watching Cottingley's driveway disappear in her rearview mirror.
I'm due. My whole family is due.

The pendant swung comfortingly against her chest as she drove out of the woods and onto the two-lane road back to civilization. Even the rain stopped and a little bit of sun peeped through the clouds. A sign, for sure.

In the mobile home, all was quiet. Shelley had a play date over at her BFF Rosario's house, and her mother was curled up on the couch, dozing, expensive prescription meds littering the coffee table. Ruby studied her mother's pale face, still tight with pain even at rest.

“Don't worry, Mom. It's gonna be alright,” Ruby whispered. “I've got it all figured out.”

Her mother stirred, then settled back into a fitful sleep.

Ruby tiptoed into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She half-expected to see the imprint of Violet's hand on her cheek, but there was nothing to mark her skin, not even a faint stain of red. In fact, she seemed paler than ever. “Probably from a lack of natural light,” she muttered, trying to remember the last occasion she had any free time.

She fished the necklace out from under her work shirt. Under the florescent light, the pendant's ruby depths glowed richly, and the diamonds sparkled. She could probably pawn it for several thousand dollars, easy. She picked at the fastening at the back of her neck but the clasp was stuck.

She tried to pull the necklace over her head, but the chain was too short to lift past her chin. That was odd. She'd been able to slip it over her head when she was in Violet's room. It
had
to be long enough. Ruby tugged at it again and again but she only succeeded in making the skin on her neck and around her chin raw. And she still couldn't get it off.

Maybe if she soaped up the clasp, it would unstick…

That didn't work either. Nor did greasing it with petroleum jelly or slicking her face with lotion in a final vain attempt to slide the chain up over her chin.

Panicking, she tiptoed into the kitchen, careful not to wake her mother, and quietly pulled a knife out of the drawer. At this point, she didn't care if she damaged the necklace. She just wanted it off. Maybe if she pried the clasp apart…

“Come on, come ON!” she muttered, jamming the tip of the knife into the clasp and twisting with all her strength. The blade bent uselessly.

“What are you doing?”

Ruby looked over her shoulder. Shelley stood in the doorway, her Disney Princesses backpack on the floor next to her. Ruby had been so absorbed in trying to free herself from the necklace, she didn't hear Rosario's mom Mrs. Garcia dropping her sister off.

“Nothing.” Ruby stuffed the necklace back into her shirt before turning around. She forced a nonchalant expression. “How was school?”

“Good. I'm hungry.”

“I'll make you a snack in a sec. Go put your school stuff away, okay? And try to be quiet. Mom's still asleep.”

Shelley nodded solemnly. Ruby could feel herself flushing guiltily under the weight of her sister's gaze. She made a terrible criminal. As soon as she was able to get the necklace off, she was sending it back to Cottingley. Anonymously, of course.

Lesson learned.

She'd just have to find another way to get the money for Mom.

The necklace hung even more heavily on her neck now, the pendant seeming to pulse against her breastbone. The guilt was freaking her out.

After Shelley wolfed down her snack of peanut butter and crackers, and settled down with their half-awake mother on the couch to watch a kid's show on their tiny television set, Ruby grabbed the keys to the minivan.

“You need anything, Mom? I think I'll run down to the store for some milk.”

And a wire cutter
, she added silently, zipping her hoodie up to her chin to hide the gold chain.

She listened with half an ear to her mother's request for eggs and bread and shook her head at Shelley's plea for candy.

Rush hour choked the freeway, but after crawling bumper-to-bumper for a half hour she finally pulled into the parking lot of the discount megamart. As usual at this time of day, the store was slamming with the after-work crowd—cranky, tired, rude people, blocking the aisle, ramming their carts into hers. The necklace chafed her skin like a hairshirt and set her nerves on edge.

Milk, scratchy store-brand toilet paper, Saltines, bread, several boxes of $1 mac 'n' cheese, wire cutters. Ruby sighed at the contents of her cart. Those wire cutters cost the same as a couple of pounds of hamburger.

She was debating whether or not to add a box of ramen soup to her pathetic collection of groceries when someone brushed by her cart, nudging it a little. She looked up in shock.

“Tam?”

“Ruby?” Tam seemed equally surprised to see her.

They stood blinking at each other. He looked both incredible and incredibly out of place in his hipster clothing and expensive shoes. No, he didn't just look out of place, he looked out of this
world
. His gold hair seemed burnished by the glare of the store's harsh lighting, the same lighting that turned all the other shoppers into pasty zombies. His features were so handsome it almost hurt. Clearly he didn't belong in a store where people needed to buy nutrition-free $1 meals to make ends meet.

Oh God. As good as it was to see him, he was
not
the person she wanted to run into at the moment. What was he even doing here? Did Violet tell him the cleaning lady stole her necklace? Did he track her down? Ruby flushed, glad she'd kept her hoodie zipped all the way up.

Tam's grin, however, was as friendly and open as ever. “What are you doing here?”

“I think the question is, what are
you
doing here?” she returned cautiously.

Tam held up a plastic shopping basket. “Picking up a few things.”

“Really?” Ruby didn't believe him for a second. No way did Tam need to buy groceries like mere mortals. He had staff for that, surely. She looked into the basket. He had a
National Enquirer
magazine, pet shampoo, and a can of tomato soup. As if he'd plucked items off the shelves at random.

“I know what you're thinking,” he said, laughing a little. “But I like to get out. Away from Cottingley. Plus you can get everything here.” He gazed at the display of powdered milk like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

“Yeah. One stop shopping, I guess.” She felt herself coloring again.
Everything from pretzels to tools that'll cut stolen jewelry in half.

“What have you got there?” Tam peered into her cart.

Ruby wheeled it around before he could see. “Oh, just a few things. You know, it's just a quickie shop. Great running into you, Tam. See you…around.”

“Are you ready to check out? So am I. I'll walk you out.”

“Um.”

She couldn't think of anything to say to get rid of him that wouldn't be really rude, so she followed him to the cashier. It took less than a minute to load her items onto the belt, hiding the cutter under the loaf of bread and piling the rest of the groceries around it for extra cover.

The cashier, a woman with badly over-processed red hair, hit the total button on the register. “$47, hon.”

Ruby gulped. $47? How much were those cutters again? Slowly she counted out the bills in her wallet. After she paid for this, she'd have about a dollar left to her name until she managed to find more work.

Tam gave the cashier a charming smile. “I don't think that's right. Could you check the total again?”

The woman blinked stupidly at him. Then she said, “Oh, my mistake. That'll be $27.”

Ruby glanced at the LCD screen on the checkout counter. $47. She frowned at Tam, who met her gaze with an amused lift of his brow.

“I think you were right the first time.” Ruby handed the woman the total amount but not without a pang of regret. They could have really used the extra $20.

“Oh. Oh, I guess I was.” The cashier counted out Ruby's meager change with a vacant-looking smile.

Tam paid for his three random items with a swipe of a black plastic card, and they walked toward the exit.

“You know, you can't charm people into giving you what you want all the time,” Ruby said once they were out of earshot of the cashier.

“Is it my fault people respond to persuasion?”

“I think they're responding to the fact you look like a Hollister model.” She bit her lip, embarrassed that she'd basically called him smoking hot to his face.

But apparently he was used to it, grinning unrepentantly. “Whatever works.”

To her dismay, he followed her out through the parking lot to her minivan. He took the two plastic bags of groceries from her and loaded them into the back end.

“You don't have to do this,” she said.

“Do what?”

“This.” She thumbed at her groceries. “Be nice to me. We're not at Cottingley anymore. You don't have to play Prince Charming to my Cinderella.”

“So cynical. Maybe I want to be nice to you.”

“Yeah, well, I don't need your charity.” She went around to the driver's side and climbed in. “Or your pity.”

She slammed the car door between them.

“Is that what you think this is about?” His words were muffled through the rolled-up window. “Do I look like the kind of guy who gets off on charity cases?”

He looked hurt. She rolled the window down. “I have no idea what kind of guy you are, Tam. I only know that you and I are worlds apart.” She jammed the keys into the ignition, turned it over, and…the engine did nothing. Not even a tiny sputter.

So much for a dramatic exit.

“Need a ride?” Tam said.

She wanted to scream. Why did shit like this keep happening to her?

“Look, confession time,” he said, dipping his head so his dark eyes looked straight through the slot of open window. “I've been thinking about you all day. Even since we first met. You ran out of Cottingley so fast I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to you, and, well—” He shuffled his feet in embarrassment. It was ridiculously adorable. “And ask for your number.”

“You want my number?”

“When I saw you in the store, I took it as sort of a sign,” he said quickly. “Plus I need to apologize for Violet. She's jealous, and she can't help being a bitch when she's threatened. It's in her DNA.”

“Why should Violet be jealous of me? She's rich and beautiful. I'm broke and ordinary.”

“You're beautiful, Ruby. Can't you see that?”

She felt her face heat at Tam's serious expression.

“Besides, Violet and me…let's just say it's complicated.”

“Complicated? Is that the new ‘we're still dating?'”

He gave a harsh laugh. “No way. But she is kind of an ex.”

“What about Selena?” blurted Ruby before she could help herself.

Tam's smile froze, and she regretted it instantly. But a moment later, he had recovered himself.

“I guess…It was a long time ago, but let's just say Selena wasn't from Cottingley. Like you. Violet didn't want me to date her. In fact, Violet wanted to date me herself. She was kind of…horrible to Selena.” He grinned. “But hey, you know all about that, right? And I need to make it up to you. So how about I give you a ride home?”

“No. I'll be okay.”

“Come on, Ruby. Throw me a bone.”

She bit her lip. What else could she do? She didn't have the money to call a cab, and she couldn't hitchhike across the freeway without extreme risk to her life. But it galled her that she was yet again put in the position of owing Tam.

Plus he would see where she lived. The embarrassing, hunk-of-junk trailer they called home.

He took her hesitation as a yes and opened the minivan's door for her.

Ruby followed him to a gleaming black two-seat Mercedes roadster convertible that looked totally out of place parked next to practical family sedans and economy cars. While he loaded her groceries in the tiny trunk, two girls walked past them, nudging each other and giving Tam's taut figure admiring glances while glaring enviously at Ruby. She couldn't help feeling a spark of pride. So what if it couldn't last? She could still bask in his reflected hotness for a little while.

The warm glow carried her through the exhilarating ride to her mobile home park, the convertible purring sleekly while the leather upholstery and new-car smell enveloped her. It wasn't until Tam swung the convertible into the Sea Oats Estate's crater-filled lane that discomfort began eating her up. She did
not
want Tam to feel sorry for her because she lived in a dump.

Tam's face gave nothing away when he pulled up in front of the shabby mobile home.

“Okay, well, thanks for the ride!” Ruby said with false cheer as he put the Mercedes in park. “You don't have to get out, just pop the trunk and I'll grab my stuff.”

He got out.