Page 43 of The Sun Sister

‘Tell me some more of the story, Maia,’ I urged her, desperate to take my mind off the coke that sat so close to me in the bedside drawer. I’d never sleep if I took any more and I desperately needed to – I’d been so good at sleeping when I was with Mitch.

So Maia told me the tale of the man who designedChrist the Redeemerand the young sculptor whom her great-grandmother had fallen so deeply in love with and...

The next thing I knew, Maia was kissing me on the forehead and turning out the light.

‘Where are you going?’ I grabbed her arm in the dark.

‘Home, Electra. You need to sleep.’

‘Maia, please don’t leave me. Stay for a bit longer, please. And put the light back on – I’m scared of the dark.’

‘You never used to be,’ she said, but she did as I’d asked.

‘Well, I am now. I wanna find love like you and Floriano and Izabela and Laurent,’ I smiled up at her.

‘Chérie, you’re only twenty-six years old. Remember I’m almost thirty-four – eight years older than you. You have plenty of time to find love, I promise.’

‘Well, I hope I don’t have to wait another eight years for it,’ I shrugged. ‘I feel so old, Maia.’

‘I promise you that you’re not.’ She put a hand to my forehead and I liked the sensation of her cool palm on my skin. ‘You’ve had to grow up so very fast, haven’t you?’

‘Maybe.’

‘You’re so brave and strong, Electra.’

‘No, I’m not.’ I shook my head. ‘Do you wanna know a secret?’

‘I think so,’ she said with a grin.

‘You know why I think I used to scream a lot when I was younger?’

‘No, why?’

‘Because I hated being by myself, and I still do.’

‘Maybe you should get a flatmate.’

‘Who’d want to live with me?’

‘Electra, don’t be so down on yourself. You’re an icon to millions of women around the world. I’d love to take you out into the hills behind Rio and show you thefazenda– that’s a farm in Portuguese – which I inherited from my grandmother. I’ve developed it as a centre for disadvantaged children from thefavelas. If you turned up with me, I think they would believe they were dreaming. Don’t you see that you inspire them?’

‘Yeah, but they don’t know me, do they? Look at you, turning your inheritance into something that does good for others. I do nothing for anyone except myself.’

I heard Maia give a small sigh but the down wassodown, I couldn’t climb up, so I closed my eyes and begged for sleep to come.

I woke up the next morning with the mother of all hangovers, grabbed some Tylenol and Advil and threw the tablets down me with a bottle of water. I checked the clock and saw it was just past six. I ordered coffee and a basket of the cheesy cakes that I’d discovered came hot from the oven and were the best thing ever. As I waited for room service to arrive, my mind played over what had happened yesterday, and my heart sank to my feet as I vaguely pictured dancing naked with Joaquim on the terrace. And Mariam and Maia’s faces when we’d appeared in the living room...

‘Jesus, Electra,’ I groaned as I staggered out of bed to answer the door to room service. As I drank the hot coffee, I also remembered admitting to my sister that I’d taken some stuff – which wouldn’t exactly have been a surprise to her, given the fact she’d found me obviously high and stark naked with a random guy. Then the bit about her suggesting I stayed on for a couple of days here, and that I should think about going into rehab...

Shit! That was not good news. And worse than that, Mariam had obviously snaked on me. Well, there was no way – just NO WAY – I was going to a funny farm. Yesterday had been a bad day, that was all. And I certainly wasn’t going to hang around with Saint Maia to be lectured. I picked up the receiver and dialled Mariam.

‘Good morning, Electra, how are you feeling?’

‘Great, just great,’ I lied, wondering if I’d ever call Mariam up and catch her half asleep. ‘I need you to book us back on the flights to NY as soon as possible.’

There was a small pause on the line. ‘Right. I thought the plan was for you to stay here a while and spend time with your sister?’

‘It wasn’t a plan, Mariam, it was an idea, but I think I need to get back to the Big Apple.’