Page 35 of Just Like in the Movies

But Ruby believed it. She wasn’t faking her optimism or her wanderlust to manipulate him, the way he suspected his mom had for years. And there was something endearing in that, however crazy.

‘Did you ever want to direct movies? Or be in them?’ he asked, because he was curious. Pretty much every movie fan he’d ever met – and with his face he’d met a lot of them – had a secret ambition to be either the next Tarantino or Bigelow or the next J-Law or RDJ. If you bought into the hype, why not go for the gold star while you were at it?

‘I certainly never wanted to act,’ she said.

‘But you did want to direct?’ he prompted.

‘For a while,’ she said. ‘Matty encouraged me to do some classes in film production at the local adult education institute after I left school. I think he was worried I might be hiding my light under a bushel.’ She pushed her bangs out of her eyes and he could see the sadness at the mention of his uncle’s name. ‘But I was rubbish, every idea I came up with was derivative.’

‘But that’s how the industry works – especially in Hollywood. Every movie is made on the back of another one,’ he said.

‘Perhaps, but the truth was, I also discovered I wasn’t really interested in making my own movies. I was happy just to run this place with Matty. Maybe it lacks ambition but this has been my ideal job since I was twelve and I make no apologies for that.’

An ideal job he was going to do nothing to save. He stifled the pang of guilt.

So so not good.

‘Ruby, can we start letting people in now, we’ve only got twenty minutes before the screening starts?’

He turned to see Ruby’s assistant manager Jacie standing by the door.

‘Yes, thanks, Jacie. Where’s Gerry and the bar staff?’ Ruby asked in a weirdly studied voice, as if she were making a point of asking a question she already knew the answer too.

‘Right here, Ruby.’ Gerry, the bar guy, popped out from behind the assistant manager, then him and his crew filed in and starting prepping behind the bar.

‘That’s my cue to scram,’ Luke said, pulling his ball cap out of his back pocket and slapping it on. He glanced at his watch, they’d been at it for close to two hours. He hadn’t had a chance to look over the lobby yet, but he had more than enough chores to be getting on with. Chores he was actually looking forward to.

He couldn’t save this place for prosperity, but it was a beautiful old building, and maybe if he got back some of its past glory in a couple of months Ruby could get a good price for it. Or better yet, find an angel investor who was as sold on the magic of the movies as she was.

‘You want to translate your notes and email me the list of supplies we talked about?’ he said.

‘Why don’t I do that now?’ she said, clutching the board as if her life depended on it. ‘My office is upstairs in Matty’s flat. I could type it out and maybe we could do some of the ordering online.’ Her gaze flicked backwards and forwards from him to the customers making their way into the auditorium.

‘Just email me the list, I can source the materials and pay for them.’ He had no intention of billing her or the theatre. From the state of the place he suspected the cost of materials would bankrupt them.

‘You’re going to pay for the supplies?’ Ruby said, misting up like she had when he’d revealed he was renting a house nearby. ‘Even though you already paid for all those surveys?’

‘I got the surveys done through a company account. And I can write off the expense against my tax liability when we sell the place,’ he said, hoping to direct her back to the big picture.

The hope in her eyes didn’t even falter.

He figured he’d done his best. Ruby was an optimist, no question about it. All he could do was keep giving it to her straight. If she chose not to believe it, that was her issue.

People were starting to line up at the bar to order drinks. He recognized some of the folks from the last movie night. A lot of the audience were wearing nerdy knitted beanies like the kid on the movie poster in the lobby and the kind of twenty-year-old gear he guessed went with the theme.

He resisted the urge to shudder. People around here must really love dress-up.

‘I’ll see you Monday,’ he said. ‘I’ll start early so I can pack up before the first screening.’

Ruby nodded, enthusiastically. ‘As early as you want to come is good with me.’

‘If you want to get some keys cut, I won’t need to disturb you,’ he said.

They’d already had a discussion about how best to fit the work round the theatre’s schedule. Luckily, The Royale only did matinee screenings twice during the week, so he could work until five on the other days. One thing he did not want to do was impact on their revenue. He also wanted to keep his contact with Ruby to a minimum. She was too cute for her own good. And while cute had never attracted him in the past, those weird jolts and pulses whenever he was around her meant he wasn’t going to push his luck.

‘Will do, although you won’t disturb me at all.’ She beamed those misty green eyes at him again then glanced round at the dimly lit auditorium. ‘I cannot wait to see this place get the love and attention it deserves. At last. And from a Devlin no less.’

Love was way too strong a word, but he let it go. Why piss on her parade when he didn’t have to?

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