‘What is going on?’ I bark as they leap to attention. ‘This is a professional place of work, not a girly catch-up. What next? Bottomless brunch?’
‘I’m sorry, Ms Weston,’ says Maria-José-Inmaculada-Carmen, but she is interrupted by Ava.
‘It’s not her fault. I asked her to show me the ropes.’
‘Show. You. The. Ropes?’ I ask incredulously.
Ava lifts her chin and smiles broadly. ‘Yes, I’m training to be a life coach. I thought you knew.’
My scowl is all the answer she needs.
Chapter 24
‘Seeingasyouarethe boss, I thought I’d learn from the best?’ Ava says, a slight shake in her voice. Nice try, but she’s not going to win me over that easily.
‘Did you now?’ I say, folding my arms and glaring at her. There is no way on earth that I am going to train my own back-stabbing sister up to be my competition, even if I were the boss, which I’m not. Besides, I’ve literally only been doing it for a day, and I’m not even qualified to do that. Also, things are already complicated enough.
‘I can help you. I bring a lot to the table in terms of skills and experience.’
She thinksshewill helpmeto sort out the business. SHE can help ME to sort out the business. SHE! SHE! I see what she’s doing. Trying to take over.
‘So, did Mum ring you this morning?’ she asks, changing the subject. I know her game. I bet she bleated on all day yesterday about how awful I was. Boohoo, isn’t my sister terrible? Well, two can play at that. I nod stiffly.
‘I told her not to interfere,’ she tells me. ‘I know you are still very angry with me and quite understandably so.’
What? Am I hearing her right?
‘I am more than prepared to do anything to win back your trust and earn your forgiveness.’
Holy feckers. This sounds almost like an apology. THE apology.
‘Furthermore,’ she continues solemnly. ‘To prove that I am serious, I am going to turn my life around. Starting with how to fix our relationship.’
This takes me completely by surprise. I’m not even sure what to say as she hands me a coffee and looks me right in the eye. She seems genuine. She’s got tears in her eyes, and her voice is wobbly.
‘I’m building to an effective apology,’ she explains to Maria-José-Inmaculada-Carmen.
These are the words I have wanted to hear since the day it happened. I have played out multiple scenarios in my head about how she admits she is to blame and now she’s saying them. I can’t quite take it in. My sister smiles hopefully at me. I am completely thrown. Until she whips out her phone, checks her eyes are glassy, sexy and tearful and takes a selfie.
‘Hashtag broken relationship?’ I guess.
Ava shrugs her shoulder in response as though it is all out of her hands. ‘My followers are waiting to see a pic of us reunited. This is for the build-up. Then I thought we’d do a reel for the making up bit. Me owning my own truth. As part of a live energy cleanse. Then, I’ll put a link in the bio, and we can be likeactuallife coaches together, and help people with their own hashtag broken relationships.’
I should have known. It’s all about her.
‘I would have thought that you’d have enough money from your enormous redundancy pay out, not toeverhave to work again,’ I say sarcastically, ‘what with you having managed over TWO hundred staff across TEN regional offices.’
She goes bright pink and hangs her head, ‘They shafted me. I got barely anything. Enough to come here and live for a few months. That’s all.’
‘What goes around, comes around,’ I say.I’ll never last a few months.
‘I know,’ Ava says, looking very sorry for herself. ‘I should never have trusted them.’
I feel a sudden pang of sympathy for her.
‘Well, if you must hang around, Ava, then at least learn how to manage the phone system, which is about as difficult as blinking, and then please show Maria-José-Inmaculada-Carmen how to use it.’
‘Of course. I love helping people,’ she says, turning her kilowatt smile on my gullible assistant. ‘When I was in Thailand, searching for true meaning and happiness…’
