The Sisters

by Kate Forster

‘How’s Frank?’ asked Calypso.

  There is no way she doesn’t know, thought Grace, but she wasn’t going to pretend. ‘Um, we broke up.’

  Calypso sat up and grabbed Grace’s hand. ‘What? No. Damn it.’

  Grace smiled thinly. ‘It’s OK, better to not drag it out,’ she said, wondering how much Calypso knew.

  ‘But why? I just told Kelly that I was sure he was in love with you,’ said Calypso, her pretty face clouded with concern.

  Grace looked away for a moment. Perhaps he was but not enough, she thought. ‘Oh well, things happen. It’s better that I know now.’

  ‘So you found out, huh?’ asked Calypso. ‘I told him he was an idiot for hiding it,’ she said to Kelly.

  Grace was confused. Found out what? It was him who found out about her, not the other way around. ‘I’m not sure what you mean?’ said Grace. ‘We broke up because...’

  And then she stopped. We broke up because I’m a sorry ass alcoholic who was raped by my half-brother and can’t cope with intimacy, she thought. But she said nothing.

  She saw the makeup artist looking at her, as though reading her thoughts. Grace felt unnerved. ‘It’s fine, I’m sure we will be friends,’ she said lightly. ‘Now, do you have everything you need?’

  ‘Yes, and TG is on his way. He’s dropping August at my mom’s for the day.’

  Grace was pulled away by Sophie, who was styling, and soon the shooting started. Grace watched entranced as Calypso worked her magic in front of the lens. The room was fun and they grooved to R&B and old classics selected by TG and Grace thought that if Frank was by her side it would have been perfect.

  At the break Grace went to get a coffee and something to eat after she realised she hadn’t eaten for nearly 12 hours. Kelly the makeup artist was getting herself a green tea and she looked up at Grace. ‘So how you doing?’ she asked.

  ‘Great, great, it’s all going well.’

  ‘I mean about Frank. I know him really well. He can be a little hard to read but he is a good person, really.’

  Grace felt unsure what to say.

  ‘It’s OK, really. It was just a brief thing. I am sure he is over me already.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ said Kelly, as she took some fruit and started to peel an orange.

  ‘Really, it’s nothing.’

  ‘Uh huh,’ said Kelly. ‘Anyway, don’t give up on him just yet. He’s very mysterious your Frank,’ she laughed.

  Grace smiled to shut the woman up. She was a loony, she decided.

  After the shoot Calypso insisted Grace return to her place for dinner with Kelly. ‘Just us girls. Tim can look after Augie.’

  Grace, careful to not upset Calypso, agreed, although what she really wanted to do was to fly back to New York and hide from the world.

  Kelly arrived with Grace later in the evening to find Calypso had set out a beautiful table under the trees in the yard. TG came out with August before bed and had a drink with them and then went back inside, leaving the girls to their evening. Calypso had her cook prepare Mexican food. Her favourite, she told Grace, and they settled down under the stars.

  ‘So tell me about Frank. Why did you split?’ asked Calypso nosily.

  Kelly frowned at her. ‘Perhaps Grace doesn’t want to talk about it, Cal.’

  Calypso made a face. ‘Sorry, I’m so nosy. I just want everyone to be as happy as me,’ she beamed at Grace.

  Grace laughed. It was hard not to like her even though she was prying.

  ‘Well, I have a lot going on in my life right now. My mom, my work, I have personal things I am trying to grapple with, you know, put old ghosts to rest. It wouldn’t be right to bring Frank into that,’ she said, toying with her fork.

  ‘So it’s not because he’s a bike courier?’ asked Calypso.

  ‘No,’ said Grace, looking down. It was true, she didn’t care but she knew her life was too complicated for Frank right now. Finally coming to terms with Matthew and what had happened consumed her and every day she fought not to have a drink, to stay sober and present.

  Kelly watched her. Something had happened to Grace, she knew it in her soul. There was a fragility that reminded her of someone else. She realised who it was and what had happened. The evening went on and the women spoke of nothing and everything, and finally Grace begged her leave as she was tired and heading back to New York in the morning.

  After Calypso saw her out she walked back outside to Kelly who was clearing the plates.

  ‘What do you think?’ she asked.

  Kelly put down the dirty dishes and looked at Calypso. ‘I think something terrible has happened. Not recently, but something that has come up again for her. I think that she and Frank are right for each other but not right now.’

  Calypso looked at her closely. ‘What do you mean something has happened?’

  ‘I mean she reminds me of you when you went to live with TG at his villa after Raphael attacked you.’

  ‘You think she was raped?’ asked Calypso, sitting down with the weight of the memory.

  ‘I don’t know, I’m just saying she reminded me of you – shocked, fragile, emotional, guilty,’ said Kelly, still standing.

  ‘Then why won’t she let Frank help her?’ asked Calypso.

  ‘Because she has to help herself first. And she has her sisters. You saw how much love there was when she spoke of them. Maybe they are the ones to help her, not Frank. Not every man is a knight in shining armour.’

  Calypso sat thinking and then looked at Kelly. ‘He needs to tell her.’

  Kelly cocked her ear to one side. ‘I know he does, and he will, and she will tell him when she is ready. Meanwhile we wait.’

  Calypso looked at the lights on in her house, knowing TG and August were inside. She smiled at Kelly. ‘Well, maybe it will work out,’ she said optimistically. ‘Nothing’s impossible.’

  Kelly smiled in return. ‘You’re right. Nothing’s impossible.’

  27

  Jeff walked into Birdie’s room as she was preparing to leave for rehabilitation. ‘OK Birdie, you will see me soon. Four weeks, OK?’

  ‘Yes, of course, Dr Carson.’

  Birdie was walking well, going to the bathroom by herself, and besides a few headaches and a need to sleep more than normal, she was fine, except for her belief that she and Spencer were married.

  ‘Wait until rehab,’ Jeff had said to Spencer. ‘Things often come back then.’

  Spencer picked up a few of the bags and left the room as Birdie was piling magazines onto the bed. ‘Tell your nurses I bequeath these to them,’ she said, laughing.

  ‘Sure, they are always looking for new material, especially the night girls.’

  Birdie picked up a book. ‘Here, you take this,’ she said. ‘I have read it so many times.’

  Jeff looked down. ‘Washington Square. Henry James.’

  Birdie looked knowingly at him. ‘Have you read it?’

  ‘No, I never have.’

  ‘A good story, a girl has a terrible father who uses money and class to divide her and her love.’

  ‘Sounds compelling,’ said Jeff politely.

  ‘Yes, it must be awful for girls to make good choices when their fathers have almost brainwashed them to think they are nothing more than decorations,’ she said.

  Jeff smiled at Birdie, unsure if she knew what she was talking about. Leon, her daughters? But she didn’t remember Leon, she said, or did she in the corners of her mind?

  Spencer walked back in. ‘Ready darling?’

  Birdie beamed at him. ‘Well, I am off on my next adventure.’ She reached up and kissed Jeff on the cheek. ‘I believe I owe you everything,’ she said, her eyes misting a little.

  ‘No, I did nothing, your brain repaired itself.’

  ‘Nonsense,’ she said, and left the room in a waft of Joy perfume.

  Jeff stood in the empty room. No more Violetta visiting him, he thought, and pushed his sadness away. He knew he was doing the right thing; girls like Violet
ta would just break his heart and leave him behind.

  He put the book on the top of the magazines and lifted up the hefty pile. As he walked out into the hallway, the book slipped off onto the floor and a photograph fluttered down to Jeff’s feet. He bent over and picked it up. It was of Violetta, smiling at the camera, looking gorgeous with her two fingers up in a peace sign. She looked younger, and more blonde, he noticed.

  He missed her.

  He wanted her.

  He loved her.

  Dammit, he loved her, he realised and he pulled out his phone and dialled her number.

  ‘Hi,’ he said.

  ‘Is Mom OK?’ she asked quickly.

  ‘Fine, out of my full-time care, and off to rehab,’ he said.

  There was a pause.

  ‘Does this mean you can see me now?’ her voice was soft and low.

  ‘I would like to take you to a movie, if you’d let me.’

  ‘Movie theatres are dangerous for us, you know this,’ she said and he could hear the laughter in her voice.

  ‘That’s true. Perhaps dinner then? Or I have a day off tomorrow,’ he added. ‘We could do lunch?’

  ‘Perfect,’ said Violetta.

  Jeff’s day off was spent talking, exploring each other’s bodies and sleeping. Finally Violetta emerged to order some takeout Chinese which they ate in bed.

  ‘This is the first day I have ever taken off and not gone into the hospital because I didn’t have anything else to do,’ he said, as she searched through his meal to steal his broccoli.

  ‘Really?’ she asked, incredulous.

  ‘Really. I am very committed to my job,’ he laughed.

  ‘Well, I feel flattered.’

  ‘Who wouldn’t give up a day to spend it in bed with you?’

  Violetta thought about it. Men wanted to fuck her, sure, but not many of them wanted to stick around, she noticed.

  ‘Is this a one time thing?’ she asked quietly.

  Jeff put down the noodle box and pulled her into his arms. ‘Not if you don’t want it to be.’

  ‘How would it work? I mean, I am doing the TV show for another three weeks, until Christmas, and you have such a big job. Surely people will ask questions,’ she said, as she lay with her head on his chest.

  ‘One day at a time, Violet.’

  Jeff sat in bed with her in his arms and felt more contented that he had ever felt. It was not just being naked with a gorgeous woman, it felt right at a visceral level.

  ‘Do you think your mom knew about us?’ he asked.

  Violetta looked up at him. ‘I don’t know. How could she? I have told no one,’ she said, thinking about Birdie unwittingly bringing them together.

  As the day turned into night, they showered together, made love again and then slept.

  In the morning when Violetta woke, Jeff was gone. The only sign he had been there was the empty condom wrappers and food boxes. Violetta cleaned up and got ready for work, texting Lesley that the TV crew could meet her at Pajaro.

  She almost floated to work and the TV crew filmed her working hard but checking her phone repeatedly. No messages from Jeff, she thought, and tried not to panic. Perhaps he’d had a change of heart.

  At the end of the day, Lesley and the crew were filming her in a meeting with her team going over the delivery for the new line, when an assistant walked in. ‘Violetta, there is a delivery for you.’

  She walked over and put a large box on the table in front of her boss.

  ‘Thanks,’ smiled Violetta, opening it.

  Even the jaded Lesley and the crew smiled at Violetta's expression as she read the card.

  Inside was a huge bunch of white violets. The card read:

  Be mine.

  Violetta smiled and felt her eyes fill with tears. She knew in her heart that she would give up her profile, her TV show, her parties for Jeff, her brown-shoed black-belted nerd. Fame meant nothing when there was no love in her life. Love was all she wanted and now she had more than she imagined.

  Who knew, she thought, as she put her face in the violets. Who knew?

  28

  The DNA tests were back. Even with Spencer’s cajoling, they had to wait for the required five weeks for results. Carlotta sat nervously in the laboratory. Matthew stood on the other side of the room. Neither Grace nor Violetta had wanted to attend, so Carlotta had taken Chris and Spencer for moral support.

  A woman in a white coat walked into the room, holding the folder.

  ‘Hello, I’m Doctor Park, I have your results here,’ she said, without a hint of emotion.

  ‘Great,’ said Matthew. ‘Bring it on.’

  ‘Bring it on?’ mouthed Carlotta to Chris, who shrugged and rolled his eyes.

  ‘According to the DNA samples provided by the de Santoval family… we tested Carlotta de Santoval using a blood imprint and Matthew Sanger’s blood imprint and the samples from Leon de Santoval’s toothbrush and hairbrush…’ she said, looking at the forms in front of her.

  Carlotta crossed her legs and played with the zip on her boot, sliding it up and down nervously until Chris, who sat next to her put his hand on hers and she held it nervously.

  ‘According to the tests, which are ninety-nine per cent accurate, Matthew is the son of Leon de Santoval.’

  ‘Fucking told you, bitch,’ laughed Matthew. ‘I fucking told you,’ he screamed. ‘Whoo hoo! Suck it, bitch.’

  ‘Please stop the language or I will have to call security to escort you from the premises,’ said Doctor Park.

  ‘Do it, I don’t care. I’m outta here. See ya later, sis,’ he yelled, slamming the door as he left.

  Carlotta sat with her head in her hands. ‘Shit,’ she mumbled.

  Doctor Park’s voice broke through Carlotta’s disappointment. ‘Actually, there is more but I think it’s better that Mr Sanger isn’t here.’ She looked to Carlotta. ‘When we tested the DNA, the results were clear that Matthew was indeed Leon de Santoval’s son. We also ran a mitochondrial DNA test.’

  ‘What’s that?’ asked Carlotta, squeezing Chris’s hand so tight he thought it might break.

  ‘It tests the lineage of the bloodlines. I ran it just to be sure. I tested your DNA against Leon’s and Matthew’s. You are not a blood relative of Leon de Santoval.’ She spoke formally but her eyes were wary. It was always hard giving this news and she never knew how people would react.

  ‘What?’ said Carlotta, so loudly it was almost a scream.

  ‘You are not Leon’s blood relative,’ said the doctor again to make sure she understood. ‘The lineage shows Spanish blood in Leon and in Matthew, but you have none of this in your DNA.’

  Carlotta’s mouth dropped open and she stared at Spencer. ‘Did you know this?’ she asked.

  Spencer looked as shocked as she did. ‘I had no idea.’

  Carlotta knew he was telling the truth. ‘So who the hell is our father?’ she asked the doctor.

  ‘I obviously can’t tell you that,’ said the doctor nervously.

  ‘Jesus, Spencer, what the hell?’ Carlotta looked at him. ‘What the fuck is going on?’

  Spencer stood up and took Carlotta by the hand. ‘Come on, it’s time we found your sisters and sorted this all out. You don’t mind if I whisk her away do you?’ he directed to Chris, who was sitting in shock.

  He shook his head. ‘Go, go. I’ll deal with Matthew and his lawyers, although he has signed the papers for the transfer of shares to someone. I don’t think it’s Berconi.’

  ‘Why is everything such a mess?’ asked Carlotta almost to herself.

  Spencer put his arms around her. ‘It will all work out, I’m sure of it.’

  ‘I don’t know anything any more, Spence,’ she said plaintively.

  Chris gave her a kiss on the cheek and Spencer looked away. It was obvious there was something going on between the two of them but it wasn’t his place to ask questions, he thought, as he and Carlotta left the building to find her sisters.

  Once in the safety of
the car, Carlotta rang Violetta and Spencer rang Grace. Carlotta sat in silence in the car, her mind swirling. She felt sick.

  ‘I think I need to throw up.’

  ‘It will be OK, Lotty, I promise,’ said Spencer kindly.

  ‘No really, I need to throw up,’ she said.

  Spencer ordered the driver to pull over so Carlotta could get out for a moment to get some air. He sat in the car as Carlotta stood on the sidewalk, gasping for breath. ‘You OK, sweetie?’ he asked as she climbed back in.

  ‘Yep, I just want to get his over with already.’

  At Birdie and Leon’s apartment, Carlotta sat and waited for her sisters to arrive.

  Violetta arrived first, looking incandescent. ‘You look amazing,’ said Carlotta. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Everything,’ said Violetta mysteriously.

  Carlotta felt sick again. Just wait till she told her sisters about what she had been told, no doubt the sparkle would diminish, she thought.

  Grace arrived soon after. She also seemed luminous and Carlotta stood and ran to the bathroom as soon as she saw her younger sister.

  ‘What’s up with her?’ asked Grace to Violetta.

  ‘I have no idea. What’s going on, Spence? What’s with all the cloak and dagger stuff about meeting here? Is Mom OK? I’m heading out there this afternoon.’

  ‘Your mom is fine,’ said Spencer. ‘Coffee, water?’ he asked, walking to the kitchen.

  The sisters shook their heads. ‘Nothing, thanks,’ said Grace.

  Carlotta emerged from the bathroom, her face pale. ‘I’m just going to get straight to the point,’ she said. ‘I went to the medical centre with Spencer and Chris this morning. The test results were back, as you know.’

  ‘Oh Christ,’ said Grace quietly. She knew what was coming.

  ‘Matthew is Leon’s son,’ said Carlotta dramatically, not even thinking about what Grace was going through until she saw the colour drain from her sister’s face. ‘But it’s worse than that.’

  ‘What can be worse than that?’ Grace asked, almost screaming.

  ‘Leon is not our father.’

  ‘What?’ screeched Violetta.

  ‘There is no DNA match to Leon and the test. He is not our biological father.’