Page 38 of The Sun Sister
‘Will you call her when you get back to the hotel? Her note said she was free tonight and we don’t have to leave for the airport until ten o’clock.’
‘Course I will,’ I said, feeling irritated. Lately, I felt Mariam had started acting like an overprotective – and bossy – parent. Nevertheless, when I got back to my suite, I dialled the number I’d written down yesterday.
‘Oi!’ Maia’s gentle voice answered immediately.
‘Hey, it’s me, Electra.’
‘Electra! I just can’t believe you’re here in Rio. How long are you staying?’
‘I fly back tonight at midnight.’
‘Then have you the time to come over for a couple of hours and meet Floriano and Valentina?’
‘Probably not,’ I lied, thinking of the assignation I had with Joaquim in twenty minutes. ‘But I could meet you for a quick drink here around eight before I leave for the airport?’
‘Oh, okay. Well, I’ll be there.’
‘Just ask the concierge to send you up to my suite, okay? I’ll let him know you’re coming.’
‘Okay. I can’t wait to see you, Electra.’
‘Yeah, bye.’
I put the phone down, then did a line from the stash Joaquim had left me last night before taking a shower. I called down to room service for a bottle of vodka and another champagne on ice. Ten minutes later, Joaquim was in my suite, then in my bed.
‘You are a gorgeous thing,’ he murmured in my ear. ‘I can’t get enough of you.’
Having fallen asleep afterwards, we woke up and both did another couple of lines and made more love. Then when I complained I was still struggling to stay awake, he produced a couple of pills from his wallet.
‘Try these, Electra; they will pull you up like nothing you ever take before.’
I washed a tablet down with champagne and he did the same. Ten minutes later, we were making love yet again, then we showered and giggled helplessly as Joaquim tried to teach me the samba naked on the terrace.
‘Someone might see,’ I whispered as I saw the pool below me over the balustrade.
‘And it will make beautiful picture,’ he smiled as he kissed me.
‘No!’
Even in my drug-and-alcohol-fuelled blur, I knew what we were doing was dangerous, so I pulled him back inside.
And found Mariam and my sister, Maia, standing in the living room.
‘Whoops!’ I said as I did my best to cover bits of me with my hands and watched Joaquim grab a cushion to preserve his modesty. I burst into hysterical laughter at the looks on my PA’s and my sister’s faces.
‘Sorry, guys, you should have knocked.’
‘We tried that, and calling the room. We were worried, so in the end the manager let us in,’ said Mariam, and at that moment I wanted to slap her round her almost certainly virginal and non-alcoholic cheeks. ‘I’ll go and get your robe, Electra.’
‘And I had better leave you,’ added Joaquim, disappearing behind Mariam into the bedroom.
‘Please, sit down,’ I said to Maia as Mariam returned and handed me my robe.
‘We must leave for the airport in forty minutes. I will go and pack for you,’ she said quietly.
‘Thanks.’
Joaquim reappeared fully dressed and I gave him a big hug.
