Goodbye Ruby Tuesday by A. L. Michael Page B

probably just work out because I’m pretty, and things work out for pretty people.’ Ruby laughed, ‘You should have seen her face. It was like I’d told her I shagged her husband! And then I said if all else failed I’d just become a groupie for the Chilis and travel around in their tour bus giving blow jobs all day.’
    ‘You said that?!’ Mollie squawked, choking on her sandwich. Evie pounded her on the back until she stopped coughing, and drank half a bottle of water.
    Tears were leaking from Ruby’s eyes as she clutched her stomach and nodded, ‘Yep! I said that! Come on, they need something to laugh about in the staff room.’
    ‘But what did she say?’
    Ruby sat up straight and looked rather proud of herself, ‘She said I was a very silly girl with messed up priorities, and if I didn’t work on taking myself more seriously, I was never going to amount to anything.’
    ‘Is she allowed to say that?’ Mollie gasped.
    ‘Nope,’ Chelsea shrugged, her tone already bored, ‘but it just proves the point, doesn’t it? If she was even a tiny bit good at her job, she would have asked Ruby why she had such low self-esteem and didn’t think she deserved anything better than sucking a rock star’s cock for the rest of her life. Instead, she punished you for thinking that way.’
    ‘I do deserve lots more than that,’ Ruby shrugged, ‘I just don’t necessarily want to tell some woman – who couldn’t achieve more than talking to a bunch of bored sixteen-year-olds every day as a career – about my dreams.’
    ‘So go on then Rubes, what are you going to do with this one magical life you’ve been given?’ Evie asked, pretending her water bottle was a microphone and tilting it towards Ruby.
    ‘Well, Evie, it’s very simple really,’ Ruby went into interview mode, pushing back her hair and clasping the ‘microphone’ seriously, ‘I’m going to run away to London and become a performer. I’m going to sing and dance and entertain people. And then when I get tired of that I’m going to teach little girls who no one takes seriously that they can do whatever the fuck they like.’
    She dropped the mic, holding her hands out as she bowed, and the girls clapped dramatically.
    ‘If anyone could do it, it would definitely be you,’ Chelsea laughed, rolling over on the grass to look at her friend.
    ‘Well when you get out of brainiac academy you can come and be my dance instructor. If you’re not too posh for all that by then.’ Ruby grinned.
    ‘In what fucking world will I ever manage to be posh?’ Chelsea laughed, ‘I’m going to go to Oxford and show them what a chav really is.’
    ‘And they’ll be quaking in their elbow patches,’ Ruby laughed.

Chapter Five
    ‘Good morning, I’m calling from Red Ruby Representation,’ Evie trilled on the phone the next morning, going onto tiptoes to stretch out her calves. Mollie wandered in, head tilted as she mouthed ‘who’s that?’ but Evie just winked and waved it away.
    ‘And how can we help you this morning?’ the bored receptionist asked.
    ‘Well, one of our clients is a little…
disappointed
by the work you guys have been doing. I was hoping I could talk to our connection, Chelsea Donolly, if she’s available.’
    The receptionist paused, ‘We don’t have a Chelsea Donolly here. Do you mean Chelsea Donovan?’
    ‘That’s the one!’ Evie replied seamlessly, hoping she’d got the name of the company right.
    ‘I’ll patch you through.’
    The phone buzzed briefly, and Evie paced back and forth as she watched Mollie prepare Esme’s breakfast, make coffee, and stretch, her massive blonde curls scrunched up around her face. Esme trundled in, the same huge hair and sleepy-eyed scowl. Watching them together, being so similar, was eerie.
    ‘Good morning, this is Chelsea Donovan,’ Chelsea’s voice rang through, clear and self-assured, and Evie didn’t pull any punches.
    ‘You
changed your name?
I get you don’t want any connection