"Iselen! Where's Ruby? What's your opinion about her father's new statements?"
"Tell us how you feel about him going to every TV program he was invited to last week. Do you think Ellen DeGeneres will invite him even if she's Ruby's friend?"
"Have you read his exclusive interview with People Magazine?"
I lower my head, dodging paparazzi and journalists yelling around me, while I hold the dry cleaner's bag against my chest and run towards the car where my mate is waiting with the engine turned on ready to escape like I've just robbed a bank instead of picking up her clean suit. The crowd that's chasing me becomes hysterical when they spot Ruby through the windshield, camera clicks are deafening and some people are staring at us in shock from the sidewalk but they don't understand what's happening. I manage to dodge the photographers' arms and close the car door, my mate honks the horn and moves a little, threatening with running over them till they jump back finally and we leave this street. I take a deep breath trying to calm down and feeling Ruby's hand rubbing my thigh gently before sighing annoyed.
"I'm so sorry you have to go through this but it would've been worse if I'd gone to the dry cleaner... Press has gone mad, I don't understand this..."
"They haven't found a more interesting scandal yet and they're focusing on you... Everything will be easier when we arrive to Vancouver probably, they won't harass us so much... I hope." I mumble shoving the bag of her suit to the backseat carefully because I don't want to crush the grocery bags that are piled up on it. "How are you feeling?"
"I have a headache, my wolf is pretty difficult to control... we're all too nervous..." she grumbles while paying attention to the traffic lights.
"Do you want to train in the garden for a few hours today? Maybe your wolf needs a good run..."
"I don't dare to do that because someone could take a picture from a neighbour's backyard and I'd have too many things to explain, not everybody will believe that I'm one of those agility dogs... and there's no room enough inside the house, I can't play in the living room without breaking something... I don't know what to do..."
"I have an idea, can you stop at The Detox Market on the way?" Ruby stares at me for a second but nods and turns to the left on the next street. I'm very proud of my girl, to be honest, because she's managing to control the rage despite her father is giving interviews to radio stations and TV nonstop telling lies, despite we run into Dominic and his minions sometimes when we go shopping and they provoke her nonstop and despite Katia has called to tell us that a couple of journalists besieged her house for two days till they gave up when they understood she wouldn't talk to them.
Anyone would've burst into rage long time ago but, somehow, my mate has managed to keep her poise even when her stress levels are skyrocketing... and nightmares are back. She used to have night terrors when she was a child, also through her teen years because of her depression and now, if anxiety becomes a problem or she has a lot of work and ends up lying in bed exhausted after 12 hours shooting, nightmares come back every night. She warned me that this could happen but it's not the same when you see it instead of hearing about it, waking up all of a sudden because Ruby is tossing and turning, talking in her sleep, crying, bathed in sweat, kicking me while trying to escape from whatever is haunting her inside her mind... And when I manage to wake her up, shaking her hard, she cries hugging me till she falls asleep again. Sometimes she prefers to stay awake watching a movie in the living room, claiming that she has insomnia, but I know it's not true: she's scared of falling asleep and feels guilty because I can't rest properly because of her.
But I don't care, eating or sleeping are secondary as long as my mate is okay, and I'm devoted to take care of her. I've made delicious food for her after doing the grocery shopping online; I helped her pack her stuff to go to Vancouver, adding my bags and some things of the dogs; I've spent hours on the internet searching for alternative organic products shops because paparazzi are always wandering around the famous ones; we went to the beach one day, a discreet one far from downtown Los Angeles, and to some restaurants that celebrities don't know; I baked homemade pizzas and organized a surprise party with her friends so we could say goodbye... and she pretended to be surprised although she knew I was up to something. I've stayed long hours awake too, hugging her and crying together. But it wasn't enough and Ruby's still tensed... I hope my idea will work.
