‘No!’ I shout, pressing the master switch to halt the window and make it go back up again. Serves her right. She flinches and sits back, keeping her hands tucked between her knees where I can see them. Once we are through the toll booth and well on route, I see a filling station up ahead and pull in.
‘You’ll have to pay,’ I say curtly. ‘I paid on the way here.’
‘You filled up on the way to the airport, but only put in enough to cover a one-way trip?’ she asks, confused. She turns in her seat to face me, ‘So that I could put the equal amount in on the way back?’
‘Yes.’ I lie. I mean, that’s not so unusual is it, surely? She’s deliberately making it sound weird. She better not make a huge deal out of paying.
Then her expression softens. ‘Are things that bad? Financially, I mean. I’d heard that life coaches don’t make much.’
I gawp at her.See how she twists things?This would be a good time to remind her that usually following a shock redundancy, one is out of fecking pocket until the twatting company eventually can be bothered to pay up. We were herded out so quickly that I can’t even remember any details about the financial package we were offered or when we would receive it.
As I unpeel from the seat with a loud squelch and swing my legs out of the car, I slam the door behind me. I can feel her piteous gaze on me as I grab the petrol nozzle roughly from the pump. I watch as she calmly opens the passenger door and walks over to the petrol station doors which swish open to let her glide through.
I am totally losing the plot here. It’s like I’m having an out of body experience. I cannot believe how awful and embarrassing I am being and yet, I feel powerless to stop it.
I fill the tank and get back in the car. Jeez, but it’s boiling in here. I turn the engine back on and quickly blast some cool air around. I’m absolutely baking. My throat is as dry as a bone, my head throbs with the heat and all I can taste is stale wine.
I must rise above this. I must. I will continue the rest of the journey with as much decorum as I can muster.
The slidey doors swish open and I see my sister nigh-on skipping back to the car, all happiness and carrier bags. Not a remorseful bone in her entire body.
I quickly switch off the air-con blasters before she gets in, and when she starts rummaging about in the bags, I speed off, sending her flying into the dashboard. As she lets out an annoyed yelp, I smile serenely as if I’d simply not even noticed.
Now I will rise above it. That was the last blip.Decorum, I’m all yours.
‘I bought you this,’ Ava says, holding out an ice lolly. She knows I LOVE a good ice lolly. It’s one of those extra fruity toxic orange and red ones. Full of hazardous chemicals and diabetes. So unhealthy for you. How typical of her to forget I hold my physical wellbeing in the highest regard.
I’d BLOODY KILL for one right now.
‘No thanks,’ I say stiffly. I’m so parched my tongue feels ready to blister at any moment.
‘It’ll just melt,’ she coaxes me like I’m a sulky child. ‘Go on, just have a bite to cool you down. It’s low-calorie. Real fruit juice. No chemicals.’
I drive back in silence, watching out the corner of my eye, tormented as she slurps noisily away and takes selfies with her licking it suggestively for her followers. She’s already removed most of her clothing so it looks like they’ve simply blown off in the wind.
‘Ah,’ she sighs unnecessarily loudly, ‘that was so good.’
I can’t help myself. After a few minutes, I slide my eyes over to her. ‘All right then, I’ll have one.’
My tongue is literally glued to the roof of my mouth.
‘Too late. I’ve eaten them both,’ she announces.
Rise above it.
I simply… breathe two, three….
Can’t stand.
My.
Fecking.
Sister.
Chapter 20
Wereachthevillain mercifully quick time, due to not much traffic and me breaking all the speeding laws that the European Union has imposed.
