Page 139 of A Fae in Finance
Thea’s eyes narrowed again. “Hang on, aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
I sucked in a breath.
Luckily, Jordan lived very close to Thea, and a loudthudon the door interrupted this line of questioning.
I got up to let him in; he’d kicked the door with his foot because he had arms full of alcohol. “Did someone order delivery?” he asked, cradling the ciders.
“Jordan, hey,” I said.
“Miri, hey,” he replied. “Give me a second to put the ciders on Thea’s grandma’s coffee table.” If you’re friends with someone for long enough, you know exactly which deceased relative they got all of their nice furniture from. He swept past me and deposited the ciders.
Then, arms empty, Jordan came back and yanked me into a hug. “Don’teverdo that again,” he admonished. “I was pretty sure you were going to die and then I was going to have to write the most creative and heart-wrenching eulogy ever and deliver it to a crowd of adoring mourners, including your hot cousin, which you know I’dtotallyhate doing.”
“Both of you, fuckingsit,” Thea called from the couch. “I won’t cause either of you bodily harm, if you tell me everything right this second.”
Jordan and I went to the couch, still tangled together, and sat down. Thea came in close and wrapped her arms around my upper arm.
“Okay, so you know my boss, Jeff?” I asked.
“No, but he sounds lovely,” Jordan deadpanned. Thea groaned.
“Yes, Miri, please talk faster,” she said, and rested her cheek on my shoulder.
“Okay, so Jeff and I had a client dinner in Faerie in”—I thought for a second—“in August.”
“And you didn’t tell us?” Thea gasped.
“Let’s assume that I was a bad friend throughout,” I suggested. “Since it’ll make the story go faster.”
“You weren’t a bad friend,” Jordan said, with startling solemnity. “You weren’t sure how to process what happened to you and didn’t want to make other people who love you suffer for no reason.”
I glared at him. “Jordan, stop being so well-adjusted,” I said. He held up his hands in surrender, and I regaled them with my tale.
To their credit, they were a much better audience than my parents: They booed the Princeling, gasped at my recollections of being poisoned, were enraptured with my descriptions of the Faerie Court. And of course, I told them about Sahir, Gaheris, Lene, and the Gray Knight.
“So are these people your new roommates?” Thea asked, making a face.
I hesitated for a moment. “They’re my new friends,” I said, staring at my lap, where all of our hands were clasped. “I’d love for you to meet them.”
“Did she make the face?” Jordan asked. “I couldn’t tell from this angle.”
“She made the face,” Thea confirmed.
“What face?” I asked, my cheeks already flushing.
“Thecrush face,” Jordan said, exuberant. “So which one is it?”
“Or is it more than one?” Thea asked.
I ducked my head. “I don’t know what you two are talking about. I quit my job, by the way.”
I’d done that intentionally. They both exploded.
“Way to bury the lede!” Thea shrieked.
“I don’t think shedid,” Jordan said. “I think that’s genuinely the least interesting thing that’s happened to her in the past ninety days.”
“I told Jeff I’ve had bacterial infections that provided me with better mentorship than him,” I said, because that was probably my favorite part.
