Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 132649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“I know who you are.” The other woman said, not reaching for her hand, and Iris let it drop limply to her side. “Chance didn’t tell me about you being here.”
“Oh…” Iris swallowed thickly, trying to keep her breathing steady and her anxiety under control. What would she do now? Where would she go? “I’m sorry. I thought… I’ll just get my stuff and call an Uber. I—”
“No.” The woman, who was wearing a blue pencil skirt, crisp white blouse and a matching blue jacket, shook her head. “I’m sorry. You must think I’m terribly rude. I just wasn’t expecting to find anyone here. Least of all someone who’s been dominating the entertainment news lately. Not that I’m really that interested in gossip, mind you. I just need to stay abreast of things because of our client list, you know?”
Iris nodded automatically. Not at all sure what to make of this pretty woman with the Betty Boop figure, the doll-like face and the earnest wide, round blue eyes. She was cute as a button, while simultaneously appearing to be as serious as a heart attack.
“I’m Colby Campbell, Chance’s housemate. And, of course you’re welcome to stay for as long as you need to. What’s happening to you is very unfair, and I’m sorry.”
The sincerity in her voice brought tears to Iris’s eyes, and the other woman’s already large eyes widened even further at the sight of them.
“Oh God, please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I’m not upset. It’s just that… people haven’t been very kind recently.”
“I can imagine.” Colby placed her briefcase neatly—in a slot obviously for that exact purpose—next to the shoe rack in the entrance hall, and kicked up her heels one at a time to unbuckle and peel off her neat black and white Mary Jane pumps. The shoes also very tidily went into an empty spot on the shoe rack.
Without the heels she was a good four inches shorter than Iris. Probably only barely scraping in at five-foot-one.
“Have you settled in yet?” she asked Iris, as she padded past her on stockinged feet.
“I’m unpacking now. I only arrived about an hour ago. Chance dropped me off, but I wasn’t expecting either of you back for hours.”
“I have a migraine coming on,” Colby murmured, heading toward the kitchen. “Nothing I can do to stop it really.”
“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry.”
“I sometimes get them when I have my period. Like women don’t suffer enough, right? I need a cup of chamomile tea, some ibuprofen, my heated beanbag, and a dark room.”
“Of course. Why don’t you get changed, and I’ll sort out the tea and beanbag?” Iris offered, happy to be of some use to the woman who was being so kind despite the shock of finding an unexpected intruder in her home.
“Do you mind terribly?” Colby asked, looking pale and strained. “The beanbag is in my knitting basket in the living room. You’ll find the tea in the cupboard above the kettle.”
“Not at all.”
The other woman gave Iris a weak smile “Thank you so much. I’m going to be useless soon. I’ve been seeing bright spots for half an hour already, which is why I left the office. I didn’t sleep well last night. That’s usually a sign of an imminent migraine for me, but it’s such a vague symptom staying home felt like overkill, especially considering how rarely I get migraines.”
“How long does it usually last?”
“It varies, but my average is seven hours. I try to sleep through it, but that doesn’t always help.”
“You go on up to bed. I’ll be there shortly with your tea and beanbag.”
“We’ll talk later, okay?” Colby muttered apologetically, her words slurring ever so slightly. She stumbled a little as she turned and headed toward the staircase.
Colby and Chance’s bedrooms were upstairs. Chance had taken Iris on a quick tour of the place when they’d first arrived. The two larger upstairs bedrooms shared a Jack and Jill bathroom, which now seemed odd to Iris since they clearly weren’t a couple and neither appeared to be using the smaller downstairs bathroom. Which had to mean they shared the one upstairs. It was an intimate arrangement for two people who barely communicated enough for one to convey to the other that he’d invited a guest to stay at their house.
Oh well. It felt rude to speculate when these two strangers had been so kind to her already.
She got busy with the tea and the beanbag and took the items upstairs less than ten minutes later. Iris found Colby curled up in a king-sized four-poster bed—one of those romantic ones with a gauzy canopy. The bed dominated the medium-sized room, and the rest of the oversized pieces of furniture looked stuffed in, with barely any room for movement between them.
“Colby?” Iris whispered, as she stepped into the darkened room. “I have your tea. I’ll leave it on the bedside table, okay?”