Ruby Tuesday

Chapter thirteen

THIRTEEN

    It was warm, humid but the sun was hiding behind a torrent of clouds. Crystal, the lovely named Crystal was sat beside me while I lounged on the grass in the back garden, rolling myself a cigarette because the packs were far too expensive here. I’d managed to escape mum and her constant banging on about the wedding for a few minutes although I was pretty sure that I could still hear the echoes of “roses” and “lilies” and “taffeta” and whatever else it was that she liked to harp on about.

    The fur ball made a funny playful sound as it squirmed onto its back expecting its tummy to get rubbed. Unfortunately for it I did not oblige. In the distance, deep inside the house I could hear Charlie strumming a bit wonky on his guitar and mum warbling away. I suppose they were figuring out which song they wanted for their first dance.

    Lighting up the cigarette I fell backwards and took a drag, squinting at the brilliantly lit clouds. There were so many of them piled on top of each other that I couldn’t even try to picture shapes or pictures. Inside the ‘music’ stopped and I started to zone out into a daydream. Well, it was sort of a daydream, more like a deep line of thought which-

    Charlie cleared his throat and I flinched like I’d just received an electric shock. Squinting I heaved myself into a sitting position but it wasn’t Charlie. “Long time no see.” Jack gave me his notorious half smirk that made a lot of girls scream. Silence washed around us before he flopped onto the ground beside me, leaning his shoulder into mine. Man, didn’t he smell good?

    “How d’you get here?”

    “What do you mean?” His face scrunched up, puzzled. “I drove here then your mum let me in. It’s not rocket science Ruby.”

    “You wouldn’t know what rocket science was if it smacked you in the face!” I teased and for revenge he thieved my cigarette off of me, giggling I allowed him to keep it. “You’re right, we haven’t seen each other in a while.”

    “I don’t like that tone,” he gave me a funny look out the corner of his eye. “What you saying Ruby? Have you been thinking? Don’t you want to be with me no more?”

    “Alright, alright,” I held a hand up to holt him there, “enough of the questions. Course I don’t want to break up. But guess what!” I proceeded to tell him all about mum and me heading into London and practically getting mobbed by a load of journalists. “How did they even know I was with you?” That was the main thing I didn’t understand. They’d sought me out but as far as I was aware they had no way of knowing that Jack and I had become something.

    “Probably from at the market.” He shrugged, not really that bothered by the why’s or the what’s of the situation. “Listen, I’ve been thinking Ruby and I only ever come down to Kent once every few weekends to see me parents and I don’t really want to see you as little as that.” He took a quick drag from the cigarette which was getting dangerously decreased in length. “Why don’t you just move to London with me?”

    I sat there wide eyed and stunned as I took in the massiveness of his request. I was speechless, truly speechless. Then, obviously, after the initial shock had been wiped away I was feeling anxious and worried as my mind reeled over every single possibility of what could possibly go wrong. I needed a few days to mull this over, there was no possible way that Jack was staring at me as intently as he was because he was expecting a decision right here and now. “Uh…”

    “Oh.” His face fell drastically, looking hurt and disappointed. It wasn’t an expression that I ever wanted to see him wear. “I see. You don’t want to.”