Page 129 of A Fae in Finance
He waylaid her with possibly the worst distraction he could’ve picked.
“Can you stay, Miri? Will the Princeling come after you?” my dad asked, his nostrils flaring. He glared at Sahir. Then his eyes flicked back to me. “Can you trust these people?”
Gaheris was sniffing his tea bag and Lene had curled up into a little ball on her armchair. I couldn’t imagine finding them alarming in any way, even with the furry face and the fire-hair.
“Yes, Dad, they’ve been helping me.” I put my hands out, placating. “These are my friends.”
“You never really explained how you got trapped in Faerie. Did he trap you?” my dad asked, pointing to Sahir.
I glared at my dad, who was supposed to be defusing the situation and had instead chosen violence.
“Um, Jeff and I went to a client dinner,” I started.
“Your boss Jeff?” my mom interrupted.
“Yes, my boss Jeff. We went to a client dinner—”
“Where was the client dinner?” she asked.
“In Faerie,” I said, trying not to clench my jaw. “We talked about it, remember? You told me to wear heels.” Her face remained blank. “At the client dinner, I ate some food that I thought was human food, but it wasn’t.”
“You ate food in Faerie?” my mom asked. “Haven’t you seen theJust Say Noadvertisement? Miri, really,” she scolded. “It’s everywhere.”
Next to her, my dad wore his Solemn Face. This meant that he was highly amused and unlikely to be much help.
I rubbed my eyes. “I’ve seen the ads, Mom. Jeff was pretty adamant that I eat the food so I didn’t embarrass him.”
“You ate faerie food, knowing it might alter your life forever, because your boss told you to?” my dad asked. The Solemn Face had disappeared; he looked like he was going to throttle me.
Sahir, unconcerned, leaned back and flung an arm around me. He’d flung his other arm around my grandma, who was still staring at his profile with open hunger. I couldn’t even be mad at her.
I glanced at Gaheris and Lene. Gaheris was listening to the exchange with a bemused sort of interest. Lene had fallen asleep.
“When you put it that way it feels dumb,” I said. “But it wasn’t dumb. I didn’t want to get fired.”
“You ate faerie food, knowing it might alter your life forever, because you didn’t want to get fired,” my dad repeated. It was a statement and not a question.
“I—” I shook my head. “We have to get back to Faerie soon. I just wanted to see you and let you know what was going on. I’ll be able to come home more now.”
“Or we could come visit,” my mom said. “Is there a beach?”
“What?” I tugged at my ear, like I’d misheard her.
“In Faerie, is there a beach?”
For a moment I felt frustrated. She wasn’t going to think critically about the ethical implications of my kidnapping? We were going to play “all’s well that ends well” with the most miserable three months of my life? She was going to pioneer Faerie’s tourism industry with nothing but sheer force of will and an unending dedication to her daughter?
“There are beautiful beaches,” Gaheris said. “The water is always calm, and the sand is soft beneath your toes.”
“And is there skiing?”
I put my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands, inadvertently knocking my knee against Sahir’s. He kicked my shin with his heel in retaliation. I debated murder.
“What is skiing?” Gaheris asked.
“You strap two pieces of wood to your feet and go down a snowy mountain face-first,” I said dismissively to the floor. “Mom, I don’t think faeries ski.”
“Two pieces of wood?” Gaheris repeated. “This is quite odd. We strap one piece of wood to our feet and go down sideways.”
