Chapter Thirty-Seven
The Le Pavillon hotel was located just outside the French Quarter. The convention itself was at the Marriott on Canal Street, but the guests of the convention were put in a separate hotel to minimize fan pandemonium. Though, I was pretty sure Ruby was pro-pandemonium.
Our car dropped us off under the carport, which looked more like a coliseum entrance than a hotel. The ground of the driveway was marble along with the hulking statues and stretching pillars.
Eli and I hovered behind Ruby like two children waiting for their mother to pay as she checked in.
“Miss Stein,” the front desk clerk with a German accent said, “we have you for two nights in two king rooms.”
“That’s correct,” Ruby said as she fanned herself with the small rechargeable fan I’d bought her online.
“And how many keys will you need?”
“Just one for mine, and then two for theirs.”
“Um, excuse me,” I said. “We will need two keys for her room and he will need just one for his.”
Eli laughed quietly.
“Is this funny to you?” I shot at him over my shoulder.
He arched a brow, irises sparkling with mirth. “I find many things about this current situation humorous.”
The clerk looked to Ruby, who rolled her eyes and then nodded her approval.
I took my key from the clerk and immediately headed for the elevators. Ruby followed me, and Eli took up the rear with both his and Ruby’s bags.
One silent ride on an archaic elevator later, we stepped out onto the eighth floor. Eli’s room was three doors beyond ours, so he helped Ruby with her bags first.
After he put Ruby’s suitcase on the luggage stand, he walked out into the hallway and I let the door shut behind both of us.
His mouth gave a satisfied twitch.
“Okay, now that you’re not double fisting mimosas, do you mind explaining what you’re doing here?” I asked.
“The categorical truth? Ruby invited me. I have an ungodly amount of vacation time stored up and I like this city. The actual truth? I want to be everywhere you are and I’m not apologizing for that.”
My mouth opened and closed and my arms flapped helplessly.
“Do you want me to leave?” he asked.
“Would you even if I wanted you to?”
“The only way to find out is to ask.” This was nothing short of verbal chess. Something Brody and I never did, and I hated how thrilling I found it to be.
“I’ll see you at six,” I said, as though it were a threat.
The vein running along the side of his neck pulsed as he briefly smiled before letting himself into his room.
* * *
The Global Horror Con Awards banquet was a much bigger ordeal than I anticipated.
Truthfully, I thought a convention for and planned by horror fans would have mom’s-basement energy.
But when we arrived, we were greeted by Alton, a young kid who introduced himself as the co-chair of the awards committee.
He wore a tux with tails and a top hat. On his jacket was an Edgar Allan Poe lapel pin alongside a button that read Jennifer’s Body Is a Masterpiece.
“Well, isn’t this a dashing look,” Ruby told him.
Poor Alton nearly fainted as he fanned himself. “I’m not worthy!”
“She doesn’t say anything she doesn’t mean,” I said.
“And this must be your granddaughter!” Alton said, and then pointed at Eli. “And this husband-shaped person must be a grandson-in-law.”
Eli grinned but said nothing and as I started to object, Alton led us toward a back hallway for employees only and turned the conversation to business.
“Okay, we’ve got a little step and repeat for you to do as you walk in.
You’ll find your table right up at the front, but I’ll escort you there, of course. ”
We followed him onto a freight elevator, and I couldn’t help but enjoy how much Ruby was eating up this kind of VIP treatment.
“The speech you sent over is on the teleprompter,” he continued, “but feel free to go off script. Anything you say will be iconic. Tomorrow we have you scheduled for a panel in the afternoon and then a charity dinner in your honor tomorrow night. More casual than this. Sort of a mingling situation. And that’s really it.
The fans are ecstatic to even be in your presence.
You’re truly a living legend, Ruby.” He let out a giddy shriek.
“I can’t believe you’re here. Would it be weird to ask you to kiss a napkin for me so I can get a tattoo of your lip print? ”
Eli and I looked at each other with wide eyes, but Ruby was undisturbed. “Just as long as you let me apply a fresh coat, honey.”
Alton sighed. “My boyfriend is going to be so jealous.”
We stepped off the elevator and immediately into a bustling hallway just outside of the banquet hall.
“Maybe I should quit my job and sell off Ruby’s belongings online,” I whispered.
Eli snickered, and then I remembered I was irritated with him.
As we walked toward the step and repeat, Ruby stood a little straighter and fluffed up her hair before turning to me. Only because I knew her so well did I recognize the slight panic gathering in her worry lines.
“You look amazing,” I assured her.
She wore a deep green gown that hugged her curves in a way that would’ve made me question gravity and the laws of time if it weren’t for the thirty minutes I had spent helping her maneuver into her undergarments.
Shiny sequins shimmered from head to toe and the V-cut bodice was topped off by long, billowing chiffon sleeves that joined in a cape at the back with a train.
It was completely emblematic of the swamp creature movies that made Ruby a staple of the genre.
“But do I look sexy?” Her smile sparkled, and it was the same flirty grin I’d seen in photos of her since she was a little girl.
There was something comforting about carrying the same smile all your life despite the weight of time.
Sometimes I looked at Ruby and had difficulty remembering the buxom scream queen she once was, but she was there.
She’d never gone away. She was always there.
“I don’t really think of my own grandmother as sexy, but if I did, you would be the epitome.”
“You look stunning,” Eli added.
Ruby blushed slightly. “Thank you, Dr. Buckley.”
I nodded to him, a silent thank-you for his encouragement.
“You know what the great thing is about a lifetime achievement award? You’ve got nothing left to prove. You already did the damn thing.” I gave her hand a squeeze.
“I wish Hollis were here,” she said softly. “And my Annie.”
My heart collapsed a bit. Hearing her mention Mom was such a welcome reminder that I wasn’t alone in my grief, but it stung all the same. “I wish Mom could be here too. And Hollis.”
“Miss Stein, we’re ready for you,” called a woman from just off the carpet, which was black with red blood spatters. These people knew how to lean into a theme.
I watched as Ruby stepped out onto the carpet, and while it was nothing like the chaos of an actual Hollywood premiere, her eyes lit up the moment the first photographer called her name.
She fell into poses, saucy grins, and haughty pouts like she hadn’t been warming the bench for the last few decades.
In fact, I was so enamored by her that I hardly registered when the woman directing carpet traffic shuffled Eli and me in front of the cameras.
“No, no,” I said, “we’re here to supp—”
“Vera Stein, Ruby’s granddaughter, and her husband—” She motioned to Eli for him to fill in his name.
“Eli Buckley,” he supplied.
“Not my husband,” I called helplessly.
“Her ex-husband,” Eli corrected, despite not a single person registering what either of us had said. “We should smile.”
“But how will people know that you’re accompanying me against my will?”
“I offered to go home. All you had to do was ask.”
A camera flashed, and Eli’s arm wrapped smoothly around my waist, pulling me to his side.
“You look delicious,” he whispered.
And I smiled, because I couldn’t physically stop myself.
Not to mention that I’d actually put in a great deal of effort tonight.
I’d worn a strapless bra for the first time in at least ten years.
My gown was a deep magenta silk with a sweetheart bodice that crossed in the front.
The cap sleeves draped off my shoulders and the floor-length skirt split up the front to my midthigh.
It was the flashiest thing I’d ever worn and something I only had the courage to buy because I’d reasoned that no one I knew would actually see me.
Stepping out in the hallway to meet Eli earlier tonight, I was riddled with nerves. He’d looked me up and down, with an appreciative hum, and swiped his thumb along his lower lip in a way that made my knees tremble.
We posed for two more photos before meeting Ruby on the other side of the carpet.
Inside the room, we were seated at the front like Alton had said. Most of the awards committee sat at our table and they were all enamored by Ruby, who was on the receiving end of constant compliments and questions.
Eli and I sat there, doing our best to read lips from across the table to follow the conversation, but eventually I gave in and turned to my ex-husband. “So you just had a tuxedo lying around, waiting for a tux-appropriate invitation?”
“My mother always said that every gentleman needs one good tux at the ready.”
I nodded. “For formal emergencies.”
“Precisely.”
“That sounds like rich-kid propaganda.”
He grinned and took a sip of his wine. “Oh, most definitely. This dress is unfairly distracting, by the way. Hazardous, honestly.” His voice was soft and full of awe.
A warm confidence settled across my shoulders, and I found myself sitting up taller, my neck straight and proud. It was a fleeting moment, but one where I didn’t feel self-conscious or unsure about the bright color of my dress or how much skin I was revealing.
Eli peered over my shoulder. “And it appears I’m not the only person noticing you tonight.”
I chanced a peek and quickly glanced back to see a man with dark brown cropped hair, a tailored suit, and thick-rimmed black glasses.
He was definitely a film nerd hipster, the kind of guy I would probably drool over until he proved himself to be insufferable.
But when he saw me turn to him, he didn’t look away.
The corner of his mouth lifted, sending a thrill down my spine.
I smiled back before saying to Eli, “Are you gonna be my wingman tonight?”
His face became serious and he looked to the man behind me, a challenge in his narrowed gaze. “No, Vera. I don’t think I have the stomach for that.”
I waited for him to make some other quip or give a hint that this was just banter, but he only took a sip of the whiskey he’d ordered from the bar and then swirled what was left in his glass for a long, silent moment.
We sat through dinner, popping in and out of conversations on either side of us and sometimes joining in on each other’s chatter. When the time came for the awards, there was lots of polite laughter, measured clapping, and highly specific jokes that played well with this crowd.
Ruby’s award was the second to last to be presented and when her name was called, Eli stood up and walked her to the stage.
My chest ached as he guided her through the tables and up the steps.
I’d spent so much of my life taking care of Mom and Ruby, and it had never occurred to me what a lonely job that had been.
Eli sat back down beside me as the applause drowned out.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He nodded with his eyes on the stage.
Ruby’s speech was exactly right. Not too long and full of clever innuendo. The single moment she stumbled was when she nearly mentioned Hollis, and I only noticed because I’d proofread the speech for her early on. But she cleared her throat and quickly recovered.
As her speech came to a close, she looked away from the teleprompter and focused directly on the audience. Standing up there, she reminded me so much of Leonard, and I wondered if she’d had the same thought too. Like this was the beginning of her farewell tour.
“If I can leave you with one final piece of advice from someone who’s nearly outstayed her welcome on this earth.
” She did the public speaking thing where you make meaningful but brief eye contact across your audience, but then her gaze homed in on me and stayed there as she said, “I would tell you that as a woman in the film industry, I quickly learned that no one will take you seriously until you take yourself seriously. Why be a dreamer when you can be a doer?” She dipped her head in thanks, and the audience enveloped her in applause.
It was smart and inspirational. It was a call to action. It was the kind of thing self-identified girl bosses would put on their vision boards. And it was pointed right at me.