Stacey disovers Ruby was raped
Ruby’s fun night ends in horror as she realises a terrible truth – she was raped by Martin’s mate…
Ruby Allen has only been back in Walford for a couple of weeks, but she’s about to endure the most distressing time of her life. This week, she becomes the victim of rape – although it takes a while for her to realise just what has happened to her.
The grim encounter occurs after Martin pleads with wife Stacey to join him at E20 for his school reunion. While Stacey isn’t keen on going, she eventually agrees – on the condition that her friend Ruby attends too, giving her someone to talk to as Martin reminisces with his old pals.
“Ruby gets dragged along by Stacey to this reunion, and has a great night,” says Louisa Lytton, aka Ruby. “She’s drinking and dancing, and having the time of her life!”
However, while the evening starts off in high spirits, it soon takes a very dark turn. Stacey is quickly bored by the chats going on around her, but Ruby is enjoying flirting with Martin’s mates: Ross, Matt and Glenn. As the drinks flow, she takes a shine to Ross – yet it’s clear Ruby has all their attentions.
“Stacey and Martin leave, but Ruby stays in the club,” shares Louisa. “She’s flirting and having a great time, and is up for something more – though that’s the end of the episode. You don’t see what happens afterwards.”
However, when the next episode picks up the story the following morning, it’s clear a lot happened once Ruby and the blokes left E20. While Martin meets up with his three pals for breakfast, Ruby visits Stacey, who is eager to find out what went on after she went home.
“It’s a very good episode,” promises Louisa. “You hear what happened from Ruby’s point of view, and from the boys’ point of view. It’s like a two-hander, with the two conversations telling the story from different sides.”
As the men tuck into their breakfasts, Martin learns that Ruby had sex with Ross and Matt. Martin is shocked by the revelation, but the men insist that it was consensual.
Meanwhile, as the girls stop off at the chemist on Turpin Road, Stacey overhears Ruby asking the pharmacist for the morning-after pill. Although Ruby says everything is fine, Stacey senses something is wrong with her pal, so asks her to come home with her.
“RUBY STAYS IN THE CLUB – SHE’S FLIRTING AND HAVING A GREAT TIME”
Once back at the Slater house, Ruby admits that she had consensual sex with Ross before she passed out. However, she then says that later that night she woke up to find Matt on top of her – and Ruby tells Stacey that she blames herself for being so drunk.
“Ruby’s point of view, at that moment, is that she wasn’t raped,” explains Louisa. “She tells Stacey, ‘Well, no, because I didn’t stop him’. Stacey says, ‘But you didn’t say yes. You didn’t choose to have sex with him, so you’ve been raped!’”
Not long afterwards, Stacey is utterly appalled to hear from Martin that his former school friends are insisting that what occurred was completely consensual. She goes to the police station to ask for advice, and then reunites with Ruby, who is struggling to come to terms with what happened. Stacey convinces her pal to visit the clinic, and to consider talking to the police about what happened.
“I’ve spoken to [charity] Rape Crisis, and people in this situation often blame themselves,” Louisa tells us. “You’re traumatised and disgusted, and you don’t want to accept what happened. So you don’t want to go to the police – you just want it all to go away. Stacey has been through this herself, so she has the experience to tell Ruby, ‘You need to report this and take the blame away from yourself’.
“Ruby doesn’t really know what was right or wrong,” continues the star. “She doesn’t know what she remembers to begin with, but things start coming back to her. Ruby begins to piece everything together and says, ‘Yeah, I didn’t want that’.”
You’ll have to wait and see how the story unfolds over the coming weeks. However, it becomes clear that Ruby’s account of the night is very different from Matt’s. Can she admit to herself that she is a rape victim, and will she be able to bring herself to report Matt to the police?
“STACEY TELLS RUBY THAT SHE NEEDS TO REPORT WHAT HAPPENED”