Page 39 of My Secret Snowflake
We ask Rose to sign our card, and she asks Iris to sign hers as a cat person.
“Definitely. Fatma will be insulted if she’s not part of this,” Iris says. “Do you like cats?”
“Yes,” I say.
“But you don’t have one?”
“Maybe someday.”
The bell rings.
“What?” Iris looks around to see who won. “Already?”
“That was quick,” I say.
“Insider advantage,” Iris mumbles grumpily. “It’s my sister’s best friend.” It’s cute that Iris is so competitive. Iris awards Rose’s best friend a bottle of wine.
A tall guy who looks very similar to Iris joins us, standing very close to her, feet hip distance apart. He puts out his hand. “I’m Iris’s brother, Liam. I don’t think we’ve met.”
Very protective vibes. Given the way Iris was treated by her last boyfriend, I’m not surprised.
“This is Sebastian,” Iris says. “He’s Rupert’s best friend.”
Her brother’s stance relaxes…slightly. Nice to know that Rupert is liked here.
“And we work together. We’re just friends,” Iris adds.
That’s right. We’re just friends. Even though I’m a little less than flattered at how matter-of-fact she is when she conveys this information.
“Work colleagues. Right. That’s why you brought him while dressed as a pregnant woman?” her brother asks.
“It does sound odd when you point that out, but work colleagues can be good friends.” Iris pats Liam’s back. “Someday, you’ll learn.”
“Where’s Maddie?” Liam asks.
“She’s covering a story,” Iris says.
“Are you in cybersecurity too?” Liam asks.
“No. I’m a lawyer. We’re really just work colleagues,” I say.
This does not seem to impress her brother. If anything, he seems to look at me with even less favor.Why am I claiming we’re just work colleagues?
“And becoming good friends,” Iris says.
I smile at her. “Yes, definitely.”
“Do you game?” Liam asks.
“Um, not really,” I say.
“All right, I believe you, Iris,” Liam says.
Isnotbeing a gamer a fatal flaw?
Liam says, “Hey, come meet my friend who works for Shooting Stars—I thought you guys should connect. He just moved back from LA.”
Liam waves to a tall guy who joins us. It turns out he works in creative, but he’s very excited about Shooting Stars opening a studio in New York and has nothing but praise for the CEO. We chat for a while, until Iris looks at her watch.
