Page 94 of Sisters

‘Thailand? What’s he going there for?’

‘It’s the summer holidays, Ellie! People are going away, having a nice, relaxed time. And now our only help is not contactable for thirteen whole hours.’

Ellie bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘For God’s sake!’

‘I’ve apologized.’

‘This is typical of you,’ said Abby.

‘What?’

‘You were always allowed to do whatever you wanted, no matter how it affected anyone else.’

‘For goodness’ sake, Abby, I just want to meet up with a friend...’ – she paused; she hadn’t known him long enough and knew Abby would call her on it – ‘...ly man that I get on with.’

‘Fancy, more like.’

‘That too,’ said Ellie hotly. ‘What of it?’

Abby cut her a furious look and Ellie waited for her sister to explode. She could see her wrestling with her anger, trying to stay in control, to be the grown-up one.

‘There was another one, you know,’ said Abby coolly.

Ellie was thrown. ‘Another what?’

‘Thing I used to do. To wish you dead.’

‘There was more than one?’ said Ellie, aghast.

‘I’d fantasize about going into your room at night and putting the pillow on your head and then sitting on it.’

‘Well, thanks very much.’

Abby just threw her a look of daggers and stalked out of the room.

SEVENTY-THREE

2008

Abby was aware her eyes were bloodshot through lack of sleep and her hair was a mess as she’d run out of time to wash it after finishing off an urgent report for her boss, due at six o’clock that morning. It was one of the drawbacks of working for an international company where deadlines were set by time zones.

She was late. It had been a hell of a day and she’d finally escaped the office with nineteen minutes to get to Westminster Pier – a journey that took twenty-five minutes. Now, seeing the pier ahead of her, she broke into a run, praying the boat wouldn’t go without her, and wondered if the others were already on board. She and Ellie had arranged a rare evening together. They both had new boyfriends – they were on the fourth or fifth date and Ellie had decided they should all go out together, for reasons that Abby now couldn’t remember.

Lungs bursting, she clattered down the gangplank onto a long, wooden boat where calm, relaxed people populated the decks, holding aloft flutes of fizz in the summer evening sunshine. She thrust her ticket at a man in a bow tie, while another man handed her one of the flutes. As she took it, she saw one of the crew untie the ropes –that was close.

Abby climbed the steps onto the upper deck, looking for her sister and the boyfriends, wiping the film of sweat from her brow as she did so. She noticed Ellie first – or rather her hair, its golden strands catching in the sun. Her sister was talking animatedly to Abby’s boyfriend, Jon, and beside him, another man whom Abby took to be Rory.

Abby took a deep breath and automatically fluffed her flat brown hair out. She raised a hand and caught Jon’s eye, and he broke away and came to greet her. His linen shirt and shorts and his feet clad in deck shoes made Abby suddenly feel hot and overdressed in her grey work suit. He leaned in to kiss her and she clamped her arms by her side as she caught the whiff of something unpleasant from her armpits.

‘Hard day?’ asked Jon.

‘Didn’t think I was going to make it,’ said Abby, laughing. ‘How about you?’

‘I was lucky. Finished at four,’ said Jon and Abby noticed he seemed to have already had a couple of drinks.

Ellie came over, leading her boyfriend by the hand. ‘Hi, Abby. This is Rory.’