Page 101 of The Sun Sister

‘Even better,’ Fi smiled. ‘Who would that be?’

‘Mariam. She’s my PA, but, well, I really, like, admire her.’

‘Does she like you too, do you think?’

‘I...I’ve behaved real badly to her, but yes, maybe.’

‘Sometimes it can be good to have someone who is not so directly emotionally attached to you as your first contact. Anyway, you think about it, Electra, and tell me tomorrow.’

‘Okay,’ I agreed.

‘Great, well, keep up the good work,’ she said as I stood up.

‘Thanks. Bye, Fi.’

I walked out of her office feeling almost high and like a child who had just received a gold star from her teacher.

‘Any news on Vanessa?’ I asked Lizzie in the dorm later on that day.

‘No, even I couldn’t prise any information out of the nurse, so I guess not good. You look sparkly today, Electra,’ Lizzie commented as I grabbed my towel from the peg and prepared to go into the shower. ‘What’s been going on?’

‘Like, nothing,’ I said as I stripped off my clothes and pulled the towel around me.

‘Gosh, of all the dorm mates to get in rehab,’ sighed Lizzie, ‘I get stuck with one of the world’s most beautiful women. You seriously have a body to die for. And you eat like a horse and never put on an ounce of weight. I should hate you,’ she chuckled as I walked into the shower and shut the door behind me.

As I stood under the water, I thought about what Lizzie had said just now; I mean, it was hardly anything new, being told that I had a fantastic body. So if I did, why had I been so keen on abusing it?

Maybe it was becauseIhated it, because it had made others hateme. Most women didn’t trust me, and if they were with a man, I could almost sense their lacquered fingernails tightening their hold on their male as I approached. Besides, I didn’t even think Ididhave a beautiful face or body – it just happened to look nice in the clothes that were fashionable right now. I’d grown up with a sister who had always been known as the beauty of the family, and if I was asked to describe my image of a perfect woman, it would almost certainly be Maia with her curves, full breasts, glossy dark hair and stunning features.

While I brushed my teeth, I looked at myself in the mirror and decided I definitely had nice eyes, great cheekbones and a pair of lips that would never need fillers. The colour of my skin would never change. And that was one of the things that marked me out as a successful model. I only hoped that a time would come soon when there were more dark-skinned models. As a little girl, I’d never given much thought to the fact that I was black and the rest of my sisters were differing shades of brown (Maia and CeCe) to white (Star, Tiggy and Ally). Each one of us had looked different from the others so it was just my ‘normal’. It was only when I’d gone to boarding school, where I’d been the only black girl and also a good head and a half taller than the other girls, that I had become self-conscious about my outer self.

‘Electra, have you finished in there? I’m desperate for a wee.’

‘Coming,’ I said, opening the door to let Lizzie in. She’d obviously been on one of those juice regimes that filled you up with liquid, but meant you spent the rest of the day peeing.

When she reappeared, she regarded me as I sat on the bed in my track pants and hoodie.

‘You know it’s a Tuesday Night Out tonight, don’t you?’ she asked me, with her arms folded. ‘We’re all off to go bowling in town.’

‘Yeah, I do, but it isn’t my scene.’

‘I didn’t think it was mine either when I first came here, but actually it’s really fun. We’re going for a pizza afterwards – well, for everyone other than me – and I think you’d enjoy it. It’s a chance to get to know the other residents, have a chat out of school, if you know what I mean.’

‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ I shrugged. ‘I have some letters to write.’

‘Okay...By the way,’ she said as she went back to the cosmetics case to set up her make-up station in preparation for tonight’s outing, ‘did you see that hunk who arrived recently?’

‘Er, did I?’

‘You could hardly miss him; he’s at least as tall as you are, packed with rippling muscles and has the most seductive brown eyes ever.’

‘Oh, you mean Miles.’

Lizzie looked up at me, her mascara brush held in mid-air. ‘You’ve spoken to him?’

‘Yeah, he was on the trail this morning when I was out for my run.’

‘Now that is a man even I could imagine doing extremely rude things with,’ Lizzie giggled. ‘He looks like a movie star. Is he?’