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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2813835" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 120, “Confrontation with Helen”, Monday, March 20th, 1882, 3:45 P.M. Ruby has knocked on the door to George Eastman’s hotel room in Tombstone and is impatiently waiting for an answer. The door to the adjacent Room # 15 opens and then immediately shuts before Ruby can see who is there. Ruby knocks again, "Mr. Eastman please come out and talk to me..." The door opens. Helen Eastman Barker is on the other side of it. Ruby sees that nobody else is in the room at the moment and the adjoining door inside leading to Room # 15 is now open. Helen states, "Why hello Constance Grace, what a pleasant surprise." "Hello Mrs. Barker," she says flatly. Trying to stand up straight she puts her shoulders back, "I'd like to speak to George." "Oh, I'm sure that you do," Helen says, a smirk curling her lips. “So Helen," Ruby starts slowly walking towards her, "I saw Stanley. He knows how to make some really good cookies, don't you agree?” Ruby smirks back and stares hard at her. “I have HIM to thank for telling me where George is." Ruby pauses, eyeing the open door. "So why did you do it? Why would you want to hurt your cousin so badly? I mean, I know when we were children you never liked me, jealous of the attention your cousin gave me and my father's fortune. And after you threatened me not to see him anymore I did what you asked, for George. So why would you now ask him to come here so he could get hurt again? When it was YOU all along telling me not to marry him?" Ruby pushes her way past Helen and looks around the room quickly. Seeing the open door she heads right for it, she is only looking for George Eastman. Helen exclaims "What a bunch of Cow Manure! We were never children together, I'm nearly twice your age! Your perspective is as warped as your memory. When we saw each other in the Lone Star Saloon last January you didn't even remember having ever met me before. It wasn't until after Georgie arrived that you recalled our few previous encounters. Nobody ever threatened you Constance....well, maybe your mother did but nobody from my family. You ran away, plain and simple, and broke his heart." Ruby replies, "Oh well, at the time you certainly acted like a child I suppose that is what I remember. And yes, I didn't recognize you, I tried to forget you and all the mean things you said to me and the threats you gave me. Of course you are going to deny it. But it's YOUR fault that George's heart is broken, why do you think I ran away?" Ruby starts raising her voice, "On top of everything at least I thought it was over but you made it worse by asking him to come back here so you could embarrass and hurt him again! Your own family, how could you do that to him? He's a good man and you are deliberately hurting him!" Ruby pushes her way over to the other doorway, seeing the adjacent room also empty other any other individual. She notices luggage and photography equipment in both room. Helen shuts the door to the hallway and says, "Maybe if you're finished with your little temper tantrum we can sit and talk like civilized people." Ruby purses her lips and holds back the biting remark. "What could you possibly have to say to me, Mrs. Barker? You've already tried to embarrass me, you've put me down and now you're calling me a liar." With that Ruby takes a seat. Helen replies, "I've done nothing of the kind. I've merely pointed out that your memory appears to be rather selective. By your own admission you've tried to forget the past so it shouldn't be surprising that you've managed to blur some of the details. That is understandable, you were very young at the time and were awash with new emotions. Georgie never got over you Constance, he needs some finality in his life. He shouldn't go on chasing after a dream he will never reach, he has too much potential for that. But I am not the one who is causing him harm, you are. You accepted his ring but have been stringing him along now for over a week now, making him think that you are interested in him. I realize what you are doing here and I don't like it." "What am I doing here Mrs. Barker? YOU invited him, not me." Ruby pauses, "This is none of your business but I tried NOT to accept his ring, he made me take it. I told him no very clearly from the beginning. I was and am genuinely concerned about his well being and instead of just saying, 'He's ok Ruby' you caused a scene in MY saloon and now have made some of my employees upset that Stanley will no longer be playing there. You can deceive yourself about what happened between us when we were younger but I didn't forget and you WILL NOT blame this on me." Helen responds, "Well Constance, why is it that you have now come to Tombstone?" Ruby answers, "To attend the show at the theater. Why does that matter to you?" Helen states, "It matters because I do care about my cousin. I saw you get off of that stagecoach with Mr. Cook. For the theater? Well there are no performances taking place in my cousin's room. I'm wise to you Miss. West. You and Mr. Cook are nothing more than a pair of grifters, out to con as much money as you possibly can from my cousin. I will not allow that to happen." Ruby sighs. "You know nothing about me and," she continues sternly with emphasis, "LEAVE JAKE OUT OF THIS. He has nothing to do with this. But again you threaten me. What exactly do you think you will do to me, Mrs. Barker?" Ruby raises her eyebrow. Helen states, "I will show my cousin the type of person you actually are. A person who for her own selfish reasons managed to break up the Whipple's marriage and cheat them out of their Saloon. And you came very close to cheating Georgie out of fifty-thousand of his hard-earned dollars, but your Mr. Cook got greedy and overplayed his hand. Holding out for more money was your big mistake." She walks over to the door and says, "You and Mr. Cook must have realized that by now, which is why you've now chased after him to Tombstone. But you're too late. He's gone on Tucson with the Earps, to photograph their funeral procession. He was planning to return with them tomorrow but you've convinced me to head over to the telegraph office right now and wire him to keep on going and not come back here." She opens the door and says, "You lose this hand Miss West. Now get out of our rooms." Ruby exclaims, "You are a stupid foolish woman, Mrs. Barker. And you know nothing about anything. First of all, Maggie sold us her share of the saloon for her own reasons that YOU cannot even comprehend. Again, that is none of your business although you act like it is. Mr. Cook didn't take the $50,000 because your cousin's offer was completely offensive to me and to himself. You should be ashamed to even be talking of such things and your entire family will be embarrassed to know what the two of you have been up to out here." Ruby continues with a bite in her voice, "You, greedy and selfish as you ever were, cannot understand it has nothing to do with the money. Some people are above such things but I suppose when you come from practical poverty you wouldn't understand that." "I came here for this," she pulls the ring box out of her pocket, "To once again put this extremely expensive ring where it belongs and make sure George is alright. But you have once again ruined your cousin's chance at having any happy encounters." "Go ahead and wire him. You forget that I know where he lives and he will know the truth about you." Ruby stands and full of more fire than before walks past Helen, brushing into her. As she walks past she makes one final comment, "More one thing, I don't lose Mrs. Barker. Oh, how I'm going to LOVE being cousins with you." With a satisfied smirk she walks down the hall. The smile stays on Ruby's face until she returns to her room. Once inside the fire inside her burns down a bit. It felt really good to blow off steam on Mrs. Helen Barker. "Maybe I was a bit irrational earlier," she says out loud to herself, "Irrational about Jake anyway." She pulls the ring out of her pocket and puts it on her finger and admires it. "So beautiful... and so sorry you have to go." Maybe it was the bath a short while earlier....or the warm weather.....or the anger cursing inside her....or perhaps a combination of all of those. But Ruby's hands have swelled slightly in size and she suddenly discovers that the ring is stuck and will not come off. Ruby struggles as best she can to get the ring off her finger but to no avail. She tugs, pulls, curses, spits on it, begs and yanks but it won't come off. Meanwhile, Jake grabs the bottle and two glass from the bar and makes his way leisurely up the stairs. He opens the door to their room and holds out the bottle. "I brought a peace offering. Can we go back to this holiday being about us?" Ruby jumps and with a guilty face she puts her hands behind her back. "Er... sure, yes, that is what I want, it's all about us, me and you, you and me, Ruby and Jake and sex, lots of sex." "Errrr, good. I think." Jake puts the glasses down and opens the bottle to pour, "I arranged for dinner and sent out for some show tickets. They'll send someone up to let us know what time." Jake starts to pour the first glass and stops. "Damn, woman, what is wrong with you?" Ruby keeps her hands behind her back and she smiles lamely at Jake. "Look, I don't want to fight anymore, I really don't want to fight. Can I get that promise now that we won't fight anymore?" Jake eyes her suspiciously. "I did not come back up here to fight with you Ruby West," he says slowly and clearly while he pretends to focus on pouring two equal glasses of bourbon. "It sure sounds to me you are not done testing my patience." With two fingers, he idly rotates his glass on the end table in short and quick increments. The room is silent as he does this repeatedly until, "No." He looks up at her. "That's a fool's promise." He releases the glass and in a flash has drawn his Colt. With his arm extended the pistol spins in his hand and then he flips it over once so he is holding it by the barrel, with the grip towards Ruby. "Why don't you just shoot me now and get it over with." Ruby reaches out with her right hand, keeping the left behind her back, and takes Jake's gun. She keeps her eyes on him and slowly walks backwards, leaving it on the dresser. "Well, that's a little better I suppose." Then she walks back to the table and picks up her drink, shooting it all back and extending it for a refill. "How about we stay in tonight? We could have so much fun..." She jiggles her glass back and forth waiting for the refill she knows she is going to need. With raised eyebrows he refills her glass. "All I have heard for days and days is how badly you needed to get away, to have fun, to see this show. I have dinner planned, show tickets on the way and then we were off to the saloon for poker. If I am recalling properly you have been itching for a poker game as well." Jake rests the bottle back on the table next to his untasted bourbon glass. "We've come all the way to Tombstone to lock ourselves in this room?" "Things change?" she mutters sheepishly, looking at her still bare feet. Knowing there is no way Jake is going to take this any way but bad she shoots the next drink down, leaving the glass on the table. She starts biting her lip as she speaks, "You see, I went to find George, so this could be over with..." She sees Jake's facial expression and starts pulling on her hair with her right hand. Changing thoughts she continues, "I, uh, was going to..." she pauses trying to find the right words, "You said...uh, it's like this...uh..." The words won't come so Ruby slowly pulls her left hand from behind her back. She puts a huge smile on her face, "Wanna get married?" and she waits for the explosion. He replies, "If I did it looks like I would have to get in line." Calmly he refills her glass and picks up his own. Raising it up he asks, "Are congratulations in order?" She answers, "Only if you're going to marry me." He says, "Let's drink to unexpected surprises instead. May they be more pleasant in the future." He reaches out and touches his glass to hers and has a taste followed by a quiet, "Ah." He grabs the wooden high back chair and flips it around to sit in it backwards. He lays his arms across the top and rests his chin on his arms. "Caleb White said to me... You remember me telling you about Caleb White before?" Ruby nods hesitantly. "Caleb said, Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who would want to live in an institution?" Jake's eyes look up at Ruby's face. "Admit it, you can't hide it from me anymore, Hermes sent you to torture me." "So I take it that's a no?" Ruby says with a look of disappointment on her face. Jake raises his head and takes another sip of the bourbon. "I think that I am missing a puzzle piece here. Follow along if you can. We rush off to Tombstone to have a fun and intimate time together, and you can do some unspecified business with the man who gave you that ring and his cousin. We are having an intimate time together so you can tell me how nice, rich and wonderful George is but you love me anyway. While I take a breather from that to get my head straight I arrange all the entertainment for which you have been begging me. I come back up stairs to make peace so we can enjoy the two days we both desperately need, time where we can spend on just us, getting to know each other even more. And you tell me it just about you and me, but now you don't want to go out, you are wearing his engagement ring and want to know if I want to get married." Jake drains the rest of the bourbon in his glass. "Girl, have pity on this poor boy. I don't think I could be any more confused. Is there a chance that any of this makes sense? No, no, it can't. I am expecting too much." He shakes his head and continues in a heart-breaking tone. "Is there some remote possibility that Ruby and Jake can go back to enjoying themselves, spending time together getting to know each other without the rest of the world barging in? No saving the world, no complicated plans, no talk of marriage or investments or future plans." He rubs his eyes and then his temples. His elbows on the chair back, he rests his head in his hands and finishes, "I'm not even sure I know who I am anymore." Ruby looks at Jake, the confusion so obvious on his face it actually hurt her. “The ring, it won’t come off,” she blurts out, “I decided to sell it. George isn’t coming back; at least I don’t think so. I put it on because it is a beautiful ring, and I love jewelry, I just put it on for no good reason and now it won’t come off, it’s stuck.” “We did not come here, I did not come here for George. I asked you to take me to the show and I had no idea he would be here. But once I found out I figured it was a good time to finish this business. I know you are worried about it or you wouldn’t have gotten so angry.” Ruby picks up her glass in her hands, the beads of perspiration dripping onto her fingers as she holds it. “I was only kidding about the getting married stuff. I thought you’d be mad I put the ring on and now it won’t come off. If we go out anywhere people will think we are getting married and I figured that would bother you so that is why I said stay in. I already told you I know you don’t ever want to get married to me.” Ruby walks over to Jake, puts her drink down and takes his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. “Baby, I’m so sorry…” her voice trails off and everything else she wants to say is forgotten. “I DO love you, more than anything, and I have given you everything I have to give. I’m sorry if it’s not enough or it confuses you.” She lets her hands drop and walks over to the bed, sitting uncomfortably on the edge. "Why is everything so complicated?" Jake stands up from the chair. "We have enough trouble without inventing it." He draws a really deep breath and pushes it out. "Now I have dinner, a show and poker afterwards planned for tonight. Are you coming with me or do I have to find another date?" Ruby's eyes grow large and she starts biting her lip as Jake speaks these last words. "A-A-Another date, what do you mean?" Her lip start quivering and her eyes start filling with tears, "What do y-y-yoou mean?" He answers, "Hermes! Don't start blabbering. I have a perfectly good evening planned for us, and I'm not going to wasted it. So, will you join me tonight?" "So you are really saying that if I don't say yes that you would find someone else to go with you?" The expression on Ruby's face has gone from upset to practically heartbroken. "Yes that is exactly what I said and no I didn't mean a word of it." In exasperation he adds, "Now that you've called my bluff will you go out with me tonight?" Ruby lets out a huge sigh of relief and visibly relaxes, although still noticeably upset. "Yes, I'll go out with you. But what about this," she says holding up her finger with the big sparkly hard to miss diamond on it. Jake whips out his knife and says with a dark smile, "How bad do you want it off?" Ruby's mouth drops open and she pulls her finger back quickly. She rises off the bed and walks over to the window, grabbing and downing her drink on the way. "I really need to get drunk RIGHT NOW." "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He says putting away the knife and laughing. "Turn it around for now, and we'll go out and shop for some formal gloves that match your outfit. The gloves should hide the ring for dinner and the show pretty easily. May not work for Poker though. Perhaps once you are relaxed the finger will be less swelled. If not, we'll locate some ice." He comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. "We can handle the cards we are dealt. Don't worry." Ruby places her arms over Jake's and tilts her head to the side, resting it on his chest. His embrace always made her feel better. She stayed like that for long moments, letting her problems melt away. Finally she turned back to Jake, putting her arms around his neck. "I HATE gloves. But I'll do it for you if you want me to." She leans in and kisses him. "You scared me, Jake." "We are even then." He says and kisses her hard. "If you don't want gloves then let's try the ice now. I'm sure we can get ice water here, I have bought just about everything else in town from them. No more serious talk for now." He steps away from their embrace and prods her chest with his index finger. "I want YOU to entertain me. We can do the business we have, go shopping or whatever until dinner but while we are doing it I want you to think about keeping me amused. That way you'll be too busy to worry about the rest of the world. It will be there tomorrow waiting for us."</blockquote>

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