“Ow, Ruby,” I said, noticeably perturbed.
She nodded covertly to the laundry room to the right of us.
“What on earth . . .” I said.
“Would you just open the goddamn door, Evelyn?”
I turned the handle, and Ruby stepped in and dragged me with her. She shut the door behind us.
“Here,” she said, handing me one of the cocktails in the dark. “I was getting it for Joy, but you have it. It matches your dress, anyway.”
As my eyes adjusted, I took the drink from her. “You’re lucky it matches my dress. You nearly poured half the drink on it.”
With one of her hands now free, Ruby tugged on the pull chain of the light above us. The tiny room lit up and stung my eyes.
“You have absolutely no decorum tonight, Ruby.”
“You think I’m worried about what you think of me, Evelyn Hugo? Now, listen, what’re we going to do?”
“What are we going to do about what?”
“About what? About Celia St. James, that’s what.”
“What about her?”
Ruby hung her head in frustration. “Evelyn, I swear.”
“She gave a great performance. What can we do?” I said.
“This is exactly what I told Harry would happen. And he said it wouldn’t.”
“Well, what do you want me to do about it?”
“You’re losing out, too. Or do you not see that?”
“Of course I see it!” I cared, obviously. But I also knew I could still win Best Actress. Celia and Ruby would be competing for Best Supporting. “I don’t know what to tell you, Ruby. We were all right about Celia. She’s talented and gorgeous and charming, and when you’ve been bested, sometimes it’s good to recognize it and move on.”
Ruby looked at me as if I had slapped her.
I had nothing else to say, and she was blocking my way out of the room. So I put the drink to my mouth and downed it in two gulps.
“This is not the Evelyn I know and respect,” Ruby said.
“Oh, Ruby, put a lid on it.”
She finished her drink. “People have been saying all sorts of things about the two of you, and I didn’t believe it. But now . . . I don’t know.”
“People have been saying all sorts of things like what?”
“You know.”
“I assure you, I haven’t the faintest.”
“Why do you make things so difficult?”
“Ruby, you’ve pulled me into a laundry room against my will, and you’re barking at me about things I can’t control. I’m not the difficult one.”
“She’s a lesbian, Evelyn.”
