Page 14 of Lumi

“Look at the bright side. At least you no longer have a crush on me.” I raised our chained hands. “That would have made this awkward.”

Lumi gave me a blank stare and changed the subject. “I’m thirsty.” The moment she started walking toward her kitchen, I had my first realization about how this would be.

“We’re going to be like two brains in one body.”

“Excuse me?”

“You want to live your life, and I want to live mine, but we’ll have to compromise and do a little of both since we can’t go our separate ways.”

“Do you want anything?” she asked when she opened her fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.

“No, I’m good. To be honest, I’m tired. It’s been a hard week at work.”

“What happened?”

“Maybe ye heard about the political summit that Ireland was hosting?”

“Yes. I saw it on the news.”

“We’ve had everyone workin’ on security, protectin’ the international heads of states. Nothin’ but long shifts all week.”

Lumi led us back into her pristine living room, picked up the papers from her dining table, and moved to her white sofa. She had decorated her apartment with expensive pieces of art and beautiful designer furniture that people on my salary could only drool over, but my favorite part about this place was the bay window with a view of the canal and the rooftop terrace that came with the penthouse.

“I’m sorry to hear it’s been such a hard week for you, but at least you did a good job. I’m sure the public would have found out if you’d lost a few heads of states to terrorism.”

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. “I think the press was hopin’ somethin’ like that would happen. It makes for juicy news. Anyway, what do ye want us to do first?”

Lumi held up the papers Jolene had given us. “How about we get today’s questions out of the way?”

Despite this place being tidy as a museum, I knew from our past movie nights that Lumi was fine with me putting my feet up on her coffee table. Getting comfortable, I leaned my head back on the back of the couch. “Ye mean one of those discussions that we need to record?”

“Yes.” Lumi placed her phone against a candle and moved a little closer to me. “I think we’re both in the picture now. All right, let’s see. There’s one page for each day.”

Her eyes ran over the questions on the list, and then she gave a small snort. “Most of these are easy, but you won’t know the answer to the last one.”

“What’s the last one?”

“What do I wish people knew about me?”

The edge of my mouth lifted. “I can answer that question.”

“It’s not what you wish people knew aboutyou. It’s what youthinkthat I wish people knew aboutme.”

“Oh.” I looked at her. “And we have to be honest?”

“Yes.” Lumi wrinkled her nose up and undid the bun on her head. Her long shiny, black hair cascaded down and changed her appearance from stylish businesswoman to a more relaxed version of my friend. The scent of flowers and femininity wafted through the air and ignited parts of my brain that I had put on lock-down when it came to Lumi.

“Did you get a new shampoo?” I asked and leaned over to sniff it.

“Mhmm. My hairdresser recommended it.”

“I like the smell.”

Lumi smelled her hair. “It’s all right. Anyway, why did you ask if we have to be honest when we answer the questions? You made it sound as if you normally lie when you’re around me.”

“Sometimes, I do. Everybody lies now and then.” I peeked at the paper. “What are the other questions? Maybe we should start with an easy one.”

Lumi nodded and began reading aloud.