Page 189 of The Sun Sister
I sighed heavily.
‘What’s up with you?’ Lizzie stood there eying me, her hands on her hips.
‘Nothing, nothing.’
‘There’s obviously something. Is it to do with Miles?’
I paced restlessly round the living room. My anxiety and irritation weren’t helped by the fact that Lizzie was pouring herself a fresh glass of white wine from the bottle on the table.
‘Come on, Electra, what’s eating you?’ Lizzie asked as I watched her take a large gulp.
‘Oh, this and that,’ I shrugged, knowing that if I wasn’t careful, my anger would boil over like a volcano and I didn’t want to traumatise poor old Lizzie.
‘It must be to do with Miles. Are you two in a relationship?’
‘What? God, no! Hah!’
‘Okay, Electra, keep your hair on.’ Lizzie grinned at me. ‘It’s just obvious that he thinks the sun shines out of your bottom, from the way he looks at you.’
‘Yeah, well, that’s just peachy but...Listen, Lizzie, I didn’t say anything to Miles earlier because I thought I’d never get rid of him, but my grandmother is due here any second. And the thing is’ – I looked at her hard – ‘it’s her I’m really pissed at.’
‘Right.’ Lizzie took another couple of large gulps of wine and nodded. ‘I’ll go and make myself scarce, shall I? Central Park is so lovely on a summer’s evening.’
The concierge phone rang and I went to pick it up. ‘Yup, send her up.’
‘Good luck, Electra. I’ll see you later, sweetheart,’ said Lizzie, as she grabbed her bag and walked towards the door.
It banged shut behind her and I only just managed to refrain from draining what was left in her wine glass to calm my nerves. Instead, taking some deep breaths in, I was relatively composed by the time the bell rang to announce that Stella Jackson was at my front door.
I went to open it and there she stood, wearing the same smart tweed jacket I’d seen her in on TV earlier. She must have come straight from the studio.
‘Hi, Electra, how are you?’
‘Good, thanks, Stella. How are you?’ I asked, smiling at her through gritted teeth.
‘I’m well, thank you, dear. I’ve had a very busy, but productive weekend.’
‘That’s, um, good then,’ I nodded as I watched her walk to her favourite chair and sit down. ‘Can I get you some water?’
‘Thank you, honey, that would be great. Oh my, those pants you’ve got on sure are tight,’ she commented, as I poured some water into a glass and handed it to her. ‘I like your hair, by the way; no one would doubt now that the two of us are related.’
‘No,’ I agreed, as I sat gingerly on the couch, wishing to God I’d changed out of these pants before she’d arrived.
‘How has your weekend been, Electra?’
‘It’s been...interesting,’ I nodded. ‘Yup, interesting.’
‘May I ask in what way?’
‘Oh, I discovered where I’d been found by my father.’
‘Did you now?’
‘Yup, I did.’
‘And where would that be?’
I stared at her hard then, wondering if she was simply being disingenuous or playing some kind of weird game that I didn’t know the rules of.
