Page 179 of The Sun Sister

I read the few words that were on the screen and sighed heavily.

‘Quelle surprise!I was born – or at least found – in a mother and baby home for addicts and AIDS victims. Get me, hey?’ I said as I rolled my eyes.

‘Oh Electra, I’m sorry. Please don’t let this upset you. Maia came from an orphanage too, plus me from a hospital and...that’s how Pa found us, remember?’

‘I know, but...Anyway, it’s late, Ally, and you need to get some rest. I’m going to go now. Thanks so much for being there for me, and I promise I’ll be absolutely fine. Night.’

I ended the call before she could stop me and stared at the Wikipedia page, then closed the laptop. It wasn’t so much the mother and baby part that I minded – Ally was right to expect most of us to have come from somewhere like that. It was the fact that I was pretty sure that my grandmother had mentioned to me that I came from a line of princesses. And somewhere in my head, this thought had stuck with me.

‘You seem to have got that wrong, Granny,’ I shrugged. ‘The only genes I inherited are addiction ones. Oh, and maybe a side of AIDS for good measure,’ I added morosely, knowing that I was being overdramatic, but feeling that I deserved a little self-pity right now. At least I’d been tested for HIV and knew I was clear, but that wasn’t the point, was it?

Feeling distinctly unsettled, I decided to call the only sister who I knew was in a similar time zone to me and would also offer words of wisdom and comfort. Dialling Maia’s number, I waited for her to answer, but her voicletter picked up instead.

‘Oh, hi, Maia, it’s Electra. Don’t worry, I’m doing well and this isn’t a panic call or anything like that. I just wanted to see how you were and have a chat, you know? Oh, and also, do you have the translation you did of my quote from the armillary sphere? I’d like to know what it said. Okay, speak soon. Bye.’

I stared at the phone for a while, hoping Maia would call back, but she didn’t.

I picked up the remote again and started scrolling through the channels, trying not to dwell on what I’d just discovered, but felt panic rising up inside me as I pictured a vodka bottle, which could arrive within minutes if I simply lifted the concierge phone and asked the porter to go fetch it for me. It had become obvious to me that I was definitely more dependent on the booze than I was on the drugs – but one could so easily lead to another...

‘Shit!’I said as I got out of bed, knowing I was in the danger zone and looking for something to distract me. I was in the kitchen, making a mug of ginger tea, when I heard my cell ringing from the bedroom.

I’d just pounced on it when it rang off. It was Miles. I listened back to the message, which said simply, ‘Call me.’ In a panic that something might have happened to Vanessa, I did so immediately.

‘Hi,’ he answered after the first ring.

‘Is everything okay with Vanessa?’

‘As far as I know, yes. I’ve heard nothing more since this morning.’

‘Thank God,’ I said, breathlessly. ‘I...why did you call then?’

‘Because Mariam told me it was your first night by yourself.’

‘So you’re checking up on me?’

‘If you want to put it like that, then yeah, but I’m doing it because I know that the first night alone is always tough. I’ve been there, remember?’

‘Yeah, well, there are a heap of things I could have done tonight, but I decided to stay in,’ I replied, suddenly defensive.

‘And how is it?’

‘Oh, it’s...okay,’ I lied. ‘Not much on TV, mind you.’

‘You getting the feeling that the walls are closing in on you?’

‘A bit,’ I replied, which was the understatement of the century right now.

‘That’s normal, Electra. And I just wanted to say that I’m here – only a few blocks away as it happens – so if you need some conversation, all you gotta do is call, as the song goes.’

‘Yeah, thanks. That’s kind of you to think of me.’

‘One way and another, I’ve thought of little else,’ he chuckled. ‘It was quite a ride, these last weeks, wasn’t it?’

‘It was, yeah.’

‘The other thing I wanted to ask is if you were busy tomorrow?’

‘Er, no. Why?’