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  LOCKED IN VANITY

  Sravani Saha

  Copyright Infringement

  All rights reserved by Sravani Saha. This book, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced, copied, or used in any manner without the written permission of the author. Brief quotations for reviews, or quotes of it in journals are permitted with clear attributions. Please write to [email protected] for any copyright, trademark, or publicity issues or for other rights.

  ABOUT THE BOOK

  The book Locked in Vanity is a complete work of fiction. The characters are fictional and resemblance to any person living or dead is absolutely coincidental.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Sravani Saha is the author of ‘Yes, the Eggplant is A Chicken,’ and ‘Two Letters of Love-Written with Hope.’ She is also a regular writer on Medium.com.

  Find her on Twitter @sravss

  Find her on Facebook @authorsravanisaha

  Find her on Medium @sravss

  TABLE OF CONTENTS:

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  CHAPTER 1

  Ruby sat at her vanity dresser, running her long fingers through her even longer hair. Her eyes followed the course of her fingers through the mirror and occasionally marvelled at their own deep brown agate depths before they focused on her hair again.

  ‘You are beautiful! Do you know that?’ she asked and smiled at herself.

  ‘Yes, I am beautiful. I will forever remain beautiful,’ she replied through her mirror.

  She lifted a mass of her night-black tresses and brought it closer to her face. The fragrance of her hair permeated her senses and she took a long breath. Deeply intoxicated with the soft velvety feeling, she shut her eyes in soulful gratification as if under the charm of a talisman. She allowed herself to be absorbed in self-appeasement for a few moments and finally rolled down the entire mass of her shiny silken glory. They fell on her back like a cascade of black glorified water, warm, illuminated, and regal.

  ‘Umm…I love you..I love you all my life. What would I not do for you?’ Ruby spoke to her hair.

  She separated another bunch of strands and rubbed it on her left cheek. Then she ran the hair through her parted lips and whispered promises of love to it. She rocked and cradled the bunch and slowly let her silky hair escape her fingers.

  ‘Ida, come up and help me with my hair,’ she called out after she was done singing praises to it. She opened the tiny drawer at the bottom of the dresser. Yes, her gun was untouched. Her fingers tapped on it inadvertently, and she took it out. She smelled it and kept it back into the drawer.

  Ida, her housekeeper, came up running and stood behind her.

  ‘Miss, there is a man wanting to see you at the door. He refuses to go and insists on speaking to you,’ Ida said.

  ‘A man? At such an ungodly hour?’ Ruby looked at her with crinkled eyebrows.

  She peeked from her balcony and saw a man smoking near her home. A silver Prius waited in front of the door.

  She walked down to speak to him. He almost barged in the moment she opened the door. Ida rushed in defense to stop him.

  ‘Who are you?’ Ruby asked. She kept the door only half open while Ida stood her guard.

  ‘I’m Luna’s brother. She is down with an eye infection. She says you adulterated the eye makeup you gave her. That caused the infection. Do you know anything about that Miss…” he fumbled for her name. Ruby noticed the anger in his voice.

  ‘Ruby. I’m Ruby. Yes, I met Luna this afternoon but she is mistaken. I wanted to gift her something. I have nothing to do with her eye problem. But I’m sorry to know she is down with an infection. Will she be alright soon?’ Ruby tried to mask her irritation with a glib tongue.

  ‘It will take her three days to get better, and she will miss her audition tomorrow,’ he said.

  ‘Oh that’s sad. But what do you want from me?’ Ruby asked.

  He stared at her for a few moments that almost calmed him down.

  ‘I’m sorry Miss Ruby. She suspects you. She asked me to handle the matter but you are way too beautiful to sabotage her. You are an angel. I’ll speak to Luna. Thank you for meeting me. Here, here’s my card. Can we have coffee or a drink, or yes, coffee together?’ he thought for a moment and said.

  ‘Yes. Tell Luna I’m sorry she is not keeping fine. Take care of her!’ Ruby took the card.

  She shut the door. On her way up, she ripped the card and tossed it on the steps. When she reached the landing, she stopped to look at Ida.

  ‘Ida, if you ever want to see this man, tell me. I’ll set you up with him,’ she said. ‘Come do my hair please.’

  ‘Yes, Miss, I’ll be there in a moment,’Ida said.

  Ruby waited for Ida at her vanity dresser. She rolled a ringlet of hair on her finger and watched it jump with freedom as she let it loose. She rolled it again and sat upright.

  ‘Good job!,’ she muttered. ‘This brand is mine now. Bye Luna,’ she laughed to herself and watched the ringlet go free again. ‘I will be the reigning queen and no one else,’ she said.

  Ida ran up and began to work on Ruby’s tresses.

  ‘Did you get the Moroccan?’ Ruby asked. ‘I thought you remembered.’

  ‘No Miss,’ Ida replied.

  ‘Get it fast, the Moroccan argan oil. I’m not going for Indian coconut today,’ Ruby said.

  Ida ran back to get the bottle of nourishment for her mistress’s locks while Ruby turned to look at how long her hair had grown.

  Ida tied a satin ribbon at the nape of Ruby’s neck. She stretched and gently proceeded to gather the rest of the flowing end together. Once she could get hold of every strand, she made sure there were no naughty flyaways that escaped her gentle grip. She used her fingers to tuck the strays behind her ears that would otherwise disturb the mistress in her beauty sleep. Finally, she lifted the entire mass of hair and made a thick but loose braid from the neck down.

  ‘You know you are the chosen one Ida? You do know that!’ Ruby said, while her gaze was fixed on her own eyes.

  ‘Yes Miss. I know,’ Ida replied gently. Her eyes brushed across the mirror and she noticed her mistress was staring at herself.

  ‘Aren’t you grateful Ida? Say it!’ Ruby said.

  ‘Yes Miss. Thank you for letting me do your hair. I’m honored,’ Ida smiled.

  ‘Good to hear that Ida. Wake me up at seven tomorrow. I have an audition at nine. Draw the curtains now,’ Ruby got up as soon as she felt Ida’s hand finishing up the end of her braid. She wore it loose and turned the braid over her left shoulder. It fell on her like a thick garment and she felt the intertwined locks with her fingers.

  Ruby hugged two satin pillows on her bed and pressed the ‘messages’ button on her bedside phone. She wanted to hear Ray’s voice one more time.

  ‘Hey beautiful, I don’t know how many years you will keep me waiting to see you. You know what I mean. Outside of work. Come with me for a drink and I’ll make it an evening to remember. Don’t be so hard to me!’

  She called him back.

  ‘I got your message. Our evening is yet to come Ray,’ she rolled on the bed.

  ‘You are just tormenting me Ruby,’ Ray replied.

  ‘You are not the only one tormented,’ she said.

  ‘What does that mean?’ he said.

  She remained silent.

  ‘Where are we with the Locks client Ray?’ she changed the course of the chat.

  ‘Not promising much. Luna is a tough contender Ruby. Tomorrow’s the audition right?’
Ray said.

  ‘Why on earth are you my manager? I should be the reigning queen here! Luna will not show up for the audition tomorrow,’ Ruby said.

  ‘What! How do you know that?’ Ray asked.

  ‘I don’t know. Not my business. Locks has to come to us Ray. I should get the client. Call the Locks manager and have me sign the contract at the earliest. Please,’ Ruby said.

  ‘Are you sure Locks is ours? I’ll call them tomorrow evening to confirm we got them,’ Ray said.

  ‘Sometimes I wonder if I should be my own manager,’ Ruby said.

  ‘Not happening. Remember, I made you what you are today,’ Ray said.

  ‘Oh yeah? I got to sleep Ray. Photoshoot tomorrow. Bye!’ she hung up.

  CHAPTER 2

  Running from studio to studio was ruthless for Ruby a few years ago, but with her burgeoning demand as the face for brands, sprinting between studios had become normal for her. She loved the speed of her days, the fattening of her financial assets, and the attention that followed her like a loyal puppy.

  She finished her morning audition with Locks and drove off to the next shoot. On her way, she noticed a billboard with her face. She stepped out of the car and stood on the road staring at the billboard.

  ‘Lovely eyes, brilliant skin, and did you see that hair? Bustling with health and shine,’ she pointed the billboard to Ida who sat next to her in the car.

  ‘I’m everywhere. I’m ruling the industry,’ she muttered to herself as she got into the car for the next studio.

  She entered the studio and found a few of the crew setting up the camera and lights.

  ‘Hi, Ruby?’ Dan came forward.

  ‘Hi. Yes,’ Ruby replied. A man of about 35 and already taken aback by her goddess-like looks stood before her.

  ‘I’m Dan, production manager for Renew. I’ll be overseeing the photoshoot today,’ he said.

  ‘Great. Dan, Dan right?’ Ruby asked.

  ‘You are beautiful! And your hair! Goodness! I’m ..I’m….Now I know why Ray suggested you as the face for Renew Haircare,’ he said.

  Ruby listened to him and a smug smile crossed her face. She loved this attention she got and developed a natural proclivity to hearing words of praise silently.

  ‘I’ve always wanted to work with you. All these months, I’ve seen you only on billboards and I wanted to see you in person. This is great,’ Dan said in one breath.

  ‘It’s really great to meet you,’ he added after a brief pause.

  Ruby knew Dan was already charmed. His eyes already had that ‘I’m-fascinated-beyond-measure’ look that she was well acquainted with. Most men gave her that look.

  She knew Dan was almost scanning her in his mind and she laughed within.

  ‘Err, Did you say something?’ Dan asked.

  ‘No. I didn’t. Did you hear something?’ Ruby asked.

  ‘No. Shall we get started?’ Dan rubbed his hands with a sense of purposeless friendly professionalism.

  ‘Yes, let’s get started. I need time for my hair,’ Ruby replied. Her hands were already unzipping her bag.

  ‘I’ll send the hairstylist right now,’ Dan remarked with an urgency only displayed by a photoshoot production manager. He tucked his thumbs in his pockets while his elbows edged out as he looked around trying to find someone.

  ‘Oh, no no. I don’t let anyone touch my hair. Nobody except Ida has permission to touch my hair,’ Ruby said. Her stern and confident voice almost made Dan feel puny with his lack of knowledge about her.

  ‘Who’s Ida?’ he asked.

  ‘Ida is my help, no actually, she is more than that. She is almost my chaperone. She has seen me grow up. My dad appointed her…’ Ruby stopped mid sentence. She didn’t need to explain anything to a crew member. ‘Just, just don’t worry about my hair,’

  ‘I see,’ Dan remarked.

  ‘Don’t you worry. Ida will help me with my hair,’ Ruby stood up and gently rubbed his right arm. ‘Send your spot boy in for some work though. And two fresh fruit juices. Chilled,’ Ruby mentioned.

  Dan listened to Ruby and watched her unzip her bag and take out the paraphernalia of hair accessories with as much care as needed to put a new mom to shame. He listened to her in a stunned silence and absorbed as much as his mind allowed him at that moment. Her beauty almost stunted the advancement of his thoughts. He stood there watching her nimble fingers in action before she suddenly felt his presence and looked up at him.

  ‘Anything more?’ she asked.

  ‘Erm no no. I should get going,’ Dan replied.

  Ruby entered the dressing room and grabbed a seat. Ida lifted the stream of hair and helped her create a tousled look when someone came and tapped on her shoulders.

  ‘I am the hairdresser on set. Who are you?’ he asked pointing at Ida.

  ‘She is my personal hairdresser. Who sent you here? Didn’t I already make it clear I need no nitwit to touch my hair?’ Ruby screamed at the boy.

  ‘I’m sorry Miss. I was sent to…’ he didn’t wait to complete his sentence and ran away.

  ‘Get out of here. I don’t need you,’ she screamed.

  ‘I love you Ida! Hah,’ Ruby covered her face with her hands. ‘What would I do without you? My hair is my treasure and I cannot allow anyone else to touch my hair. These men…huh! Let’s get back to work. Finish it. Go on,’ she said.

  Ida resumed her work in silence.

  ‘You are the chosen one Ida,’ Ruby said.

  ‘Yes, Miss,’ Ida replied. Her hands moved with a passionate vigor and handled the enormous mass of hair with practiced ease.

  A few hours into the photoshoot and Ruby screamed when she was in the middle of a pose. The crew remained shocked at the unanticipated tantrum.

  ‘I can’t shoot this way. I need a break,’ Ruby said. The photographer was about to click a pose that she broke and what he clicked was a blur of unprecedented hand movements.

  ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ Dan came running to her.

  ‘Your photographer is new. He doesn’t know me. I need to know how I look before every photo. I want to see what he clicks,’ Ruby replied.

  ‘Chris is a great photographer . He can show you what he clicked. Hey Chris, come on up here!’ Dan said.

  ‘Hey!’ Chris came to Dan.

  ‘Let’s see what you got now,’ Dan said.

  ‘Wait,’ Ruby cut him. ‘I’m talking to him. Listen you, here. I need to see how I look before every photo. My hair needs to be refreshed before you click. Show me the photos now. I’m sure the last photo is as blurry as your mind is.’

  ‘Okay. I’d love to show you the photos, but Miss, we don’t want to spend more time primping up before every single click. You are doing a swell job and I’ll tell you when we need to change something. And yes, we could do with a little bit of respect for us here,’ the photographer said.

  ‘You don’t understand who you are speaking to, do you? You don’t tell me what to do. I tell you. My hair is my treasure. I cannot have just anyone take bad photos of my hair,’ she replied.

  Chris looked at Dan with a discombobulated stare of disbelief.

  ‘Miss, I am an acclaimed photographer and I’ve worked with top models in the last ten years. I hear you, and I can show you the photos, but you need to calm down a little,’ Chris said.

  ‘What a waste of time speaking to you. Men like you can dance to my tresses. If I don’t like what you clicked, I’m signing off. Hey Dan, did you keep macadamia nuts at the snack table?’ Ruby asked.

  ‘I’m sorry, no, no nuts. We have some sandwiches and salads. Macadamia nuts?’ Dan looked confused.

  ‘I believe you have not done your homework before working with me. I need macadamias during my shoot. I mentioned it in my contract that you’ve obviously not cared to read. You are just another production manager on the set who managed to amble at a photoshoot that involves me,’ Ruby remarked.

  She left the spot while calling on Ida to help refresh her hair while the two men stood t
here hopelessly trying to make sense of the entire conversation.

  Two more hours of work involved about fifty bouts of hair replenishment and a second round of instructions from Ruby about a future shoot.

  ‘Pack up,’ Dan instructed the crew. ‘You were unbelievable Ruby,’ he said.

  ‘Pack up Ida,’ Ruby said.

  ‘Yes, Miss,’ Ida replied. She got to work on packing up the bags while she watched Dan approach Ruby.

  ‘Ruby, you were fabulous today. Hey, I was thinking maybe we could grab dinner tonight, if you are free,’ Dan said.

  ‘Are you asking me out?’ Ruby replied, while she ran her fingers through her hair.

  ‘Yes, I am. Are you up for it?’ Dan asked.

  ‘You are not good enough for me Dan. What makes you think I’d go out on a date with you. Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror?’ Ruby asked.

  ‘Sorry what?’ Dan said. His eyes creased into a seemingly offended but rightfully hurt mess, and he rubbed his forehead with his fingers.

  ‘Not tonight Dan. Not ever,’ Ruby said. She looked straight into his eyes while she spoke and walked away with a sense of obdurate pride while leaving Dan in a muck of injured esteem.

  ‘Hi Ruby,’ Chris stopped her on the way out.

  She knew what was coming. She could read men, their eyes, the hunger in them, and what they did to satisfy that hunger.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Ruby asked. Chris noticed a tiny smile curve outward on her.

  ‘I’m smitten by you. No hesitation in saying that,’ Chris said.

  ‘Why don’t we do dinner tonight. Call me after six,’ Ruby said.

  ‘How about coffee too? Right now? I’m sure you would like some coffee after such a long day,’ Chris said. ‘ Let’s go someplace. Yes, of course I”ll call you for dinner too.’

  Ruby looked straight at him. Yes, she could make them dance to her tresses.

  CHAPTER 3

  ‘I was brought up by my dad and Ida. My mom passed away when I was six. Ida has been with me since I turned 10. I almost found a mother figure in her. She didn’t talk much when she came to my home too. But she listened. She still doesn’t talk much, but she istens when I speak to her. In my most low teen moments when I needed to shout or show my frustration, Ida was always there for me. Even today, I can trust her for anything that I need to share. She doesn’t give me advice, but she absorbs. She is a sponge that can soak as much as I give her without letting it out. She knows my darkest secrets and,’ Ruby said.