Page 25 of A Fae in Finance
Miri, I would say, trying to sound calm and soothing.You got stuck in Faerie.
EEEEEEEEK, younger me would reply.THIS IS THE BEST NEWS EVER.
I would put my hand to my head at this point.No, Miri, this isbadnews. They kidnapped your cat, too.
Younger me would probably be vibrating at a frequency strong enough to break her own chair.You mean I’m in a magic realm,andI get to keep my cat?
I’d search for something to upset her.Miri, Mom and Dad aren’t here.
A pause.Well, we can go visit! And did a faerie prince fall in love with us yet? Are we really pretty?
The Princeling—I would stop. Green eyes, tunic open at his throat to show the smooth column of his neck.Is cruel.
But she was a child, with a little-girl smile, one tooth missing, too many freckles.You’ll make him nice!
In my head, I sighed.Miri, it’s time for me to explain the harmful trope of fixing a broken man.
And then I stopped. What the hell was I doing?
I wrenched myself out of that little fantasy and shook my head, scrunching my eyes shut. My hand was still on the not-window. I looked for the sun but couldn’t see it in the sky.
Nothing for it but to dial into our team meeting, so I booted up my computer.
Maybe it was the magic, but the computer turned on faster than usual, and I had set up the meeting screen before nine a.m.
The Wi-Fi—named FairFolk ’Fi—had no password. I sat in the virtual waiting room and shot a quick text to my mom.
Call you when I can.
Corey let me into the meeting. I stared at his initials. He came off mute.
“Hey, Miri, you aren’t in today?” He sounded so normal.
“What?” I gasped. “Jeff didn’t tell you?” But I was still muted.
Should I tell him? Did Jeff want me to keep it quiet?
Fuck that. I tapped the spacebar and came off mute.
“I got trapped in Faerie, Corey,” I said. “Jeff really didn’t tell you?”
“What?” His shock sounded genuine. “How is that even poss— Miri,did you eat their food?”
“I—”
“Miri, there’s asubway campaign about this,” he said. “Don’t you even look up when you’re on the train?”
I could feel my eyes watering again, but I didn’t want to cry on a work call.
“Yes, thank you,” I snapped. “I told Jeff that yesterday. They tricked me. I thought it was a bowl from Grain Up.”
“That place is terrible,” he muttered. “I could’ve told you it would ruin your life.”
Matt and Levi both dialed in at the same time. “Morning,” Levi said. Matt didn’t say anything.
We all sat in silence for a few minutes, waiting for Jeff.
His name popped up, and he said, “Jeff here.”
