‘That’s because it’s the middle of the night.’ I groan, flicking the bedside lamp on nonetheless.
Squinting at the image of my sister sitting on her beachside balcony, I can’t help but admire her peach short-sleeved blouse. The sun beams on the horizon behind her and tendrils of her hair sway in the soft breeze.
How can anyone be this chipper in the mornings?
‘It’s time you were getting up anyway, you have a multimillion euro castle to run!’ She jokes, oblivious to the true financial difficulty this multimillion castle is actually in.
‘Hmm. You could at least wait until I’ve had my coffee to call.’
‘Get one of the breakfast staff to bring you one up.’ She shrugs. ‘You are the boss.’
‘Yes, I’m the boss, not the fucking queen. Jesus, Chloe, I swear you’ve been watching too muchDownton Abbeyor something. Either that or you’ve been away too long. This might be a castle, but I’m no princess! There’s never a dull moment. Every single person works their ass off here.’
‘Oh stop complaining, you love it really!’ she scoffs.
She’s right. I do love it. Which is why I need to think of a plan, and fast, if I’m going to make this place profitable before I lose it forever.
‘Anyway, enough of the small talk! Did Ryan-Runaway-Cooper arrive yet or what?’ She raises her sunglasses from her face up onto her head, peering intently across the screen like she’s trying to see inside my soul.
My eyes roll skywards. ‘Who told you about that?’
‘Victoria, of course. Do you even have to ask?’ She smirks. We both know when it comes to our baby sister, Chloe’s the good cop and I’m the bad cop, and that’s just the way it has to be.
‘But even if she didn’t, it’s all over the Irish news channels.’
I’m still half asleep. ‘You get Irish news channels in Dubai?’
She rolls her eyes at me. ‘On the internet. Get with the times, sister.’
Unlike Chloe, I don’t have time to search the internet, surf social media, watchDownton Abbeyor anything else of the sort. I’m too busy. But like she said, I love it. It gives me a sense of purpose.
‘Have the press started hounding the place yet? Are the paps circling like crazy? How have the bookings been? I bet the place is swamped with calls!’
If it is, it’s news to me. Mind you, I’ve been locked in our family quarters since yesterday lunchtime sorting through a mountain of paperwork I’ve been putting off all year. Funny how yesterday suddenly seemed like the perfect afternoon to tackle it.
When I don’t reply, Chloe continues the interrogation. ‘So, what was it like seeing him again? Tell me, is he as hot as he looks on TV these days?’
‘Eurgh, Chloe! Do we have to do this? You know I hate talking about him! He might look good on the outside, but remember what Mam used to say? “There’s many a good-looking bastard.” Ryan is a prime example. It’s just a shame that at eighteen I wasn’t equipped to see it.’
‘Oh, please. He was never a bastard. He was utterly enamoured with you.’
‘So enamoured he left,’ I remind her. ‘Why are you taking his side? You know what he did to me.’
‘I’m not taking his side! You’ve spent the last ten years avoiding the issue of Ryan Cooper. Now he’s sleeping under the same roof as you, it might finally be time to confront it. Find out what the fuck actually happened.’
‘I know what happened. He left. I stayed. End of story.’
‘But why? Did he say why? Honestly, Sash, I know we were all kids, but I could have sworn you two were the real deal.’
So could I, that’s why it hurt so much when he disappeared. It was so unexpected.
It should be comforting that I wasn’t the only one he fooled, but Chloe isn’t exactly the best judge of character either. The last serious boyfriend she had was her office manager. He took half her clients, big names she acquired through her own sheer hard work and determination. She too was left high and dry, well almost. She managed to claw them back, eventually, and so many more.
Fast-forward three years and her events company has overseen some of the biggest occasions in the Middle East, going from strength to strength with each passing year. She’s one of the most successful women I know, but she learned her lessons the hard way. These days, she’s ruthless.
Chloe is permanently dating, dining in fancy restaurants and living the high life on private yachts, schmoozing men over business deals. And I hear way too much detail than any sibling should have to endure about her sex life, but she never lets anyone into her heart or into her life, refusing to be taken for a fool twice. These days she point-blank refuses to date the same guy more than once.
I’ve tried to tell her that not all men are the same, but I’m not exactly blazing a trail. Apart from an awkward couple of dates with the son of a friend of Aunty Mags, I haven’t really been on many dates.
