The Sun Sister (The Seven Sisters #6) - Lucinda Riley Page 0,293

gave the look an air of elegance. Some heavy ethnic orange beads went around my neck, and I was ready for anything.

‘You look great, Electra,’ said Lizzie as she arrived in the bedroom for a viewing. ‘I just love those trousers, although they’d look hilarious on little old me.’

‘Hey, tell me what you think about some of the designs I’ve been playing with this afternoon,’ I said as I heaped the massive pile of clothes I’d tried on back into the wardrobe for the maid to sort out tomorrow.

‘Some of these are great,’ Lizzie said admiringly. ‘You’re going for it then?’

‘I am. All the profits will be for the drop-in centre – I’m gonna get Susie’s in-house PR to come visit me in the next few days and get some interviews set up. Mariam’s found me a company that can turn my designs into actual clothes, because I wouldn’t have the first clue how to do it. We’ve got the ethical fabric lined up and I’m really fired up about it.’

‘A new venture,’ said Lizzie with a smile. ‘Well, if you want anyone to do the accounts, I’m good with numbers, so just say the word.’

‘I might just take you up on that.’

‘You know what, Electra? Tonight, you’re just so full of . . . light. It’s lovely to see.’

‘Yeah, well, it’s a new me and I’m embracing it,’ I said as the bell rang. ‘That’ll be Stella. Do you mind letting her in?’

Lizzie left and I went to the bathroom to make one last check of my face. I felt cool and composed as I walked through to the living room to greet my grandmother. She immediately gave me a hug and reiterated Lizzie’s sentiments about my outfit and somehow, even though I’d been told a million times how beautiful I was, coming from my new best friend and my grandmother, it meant a lot.

‘I don’t think I need to ask you how you are, Electra,’ Stella said, sitting down in her usual chair as I poured some water and handed it to her.

‘I’m good. As a quote Pa left for me said, life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.’

‘Even though I only had the pleasure of meeting him briefly, it was obvious that your pa was a very wise man. I truly got the feeling that he’d seen a lot in his life.’

‘Well, me and my sisters wish we knew just what he’d seen. He was a total enigma. We never knew what he did, or where he went when he was away, or why he collected us girls together from all over the world. And we’ll never know now, because he’s dead.’

‘Do you miss him?’

‘Yes, I do, badly. Now that the anger has gone.’

‘Wherever he is, I know he would be so proud of you. Talking of which, I have something to put to you. Do you remember you saw me on TV that night, speaking about the AIDS crisis in Africa?’

‘How could I forget it?’

‘They’ve asked me to go to the Concert for Africa at Madison Square Garden and speak to the audience, tell them what I’ve seen out there. And . . . well, I’d like you to come on stage with me, talk to the audience – which will be millions globally – about the epidemic of drug addiction amongst the young, both here in New York City and across the world. Dirty needles are one of the major causes of the spread of HIV, and I know Obama is a big supporter of the campaign. Would you? Could you?’

‘I . . .’

I was so taken aback, I opened and closed my mouth like a goldfish. ‘Me? But, Stella, I’m just a model. I mean, I’ve never given a speech in my life – I’m a clothes horse, I don’t have a voice, I—’

‘Oh, but you do, Electra. And your story, and the way drugs nearly destroyed you, would be such a powerful message to the youth across the world, because it would show them that it could happen to anyone, don’t you see?’

‘Oh wow.’ My head was spinning at just the thought.

‘When I was out in Africa these past few months, I saw the pushers, I saw the pimps with their prostitutes, too drugged up to know what the hell they were doing and with whom. Half of those women – some of them as young as ten or eleven – will end up catching the HIV virus