Page 71 of Origins of Eternity

Iro

Arwen smiled at how Iro worded the note as if she were a lord inviting a lady to supper or something. She tucked the cardinto her pocket, not wanting Zara to see it and make yet another disparaging comment about Iro.

“I’m sorry about that, too,” Zara said.

“It’s fine,” she replied, although it wasn’t. “I should get these to my office. Can’t leave them out here all day.”

“Did you ride your bike today?” Zara asked.

“No, I took the train.”

“Do you want a ride home so that you can take those with you?”

“I think I’ll ask Iro to pick me up. Easier that way. She can take me home to drop these off, and I get a bag or something.”

“So that you can stay the night at her place again?”

“Yes,” Arwen said as she reached for one of the roses, wanting to breathe it in and think of Iro. “Ouch!”

“What?” Zara asked.

“Shit. They didn’t remove all the thorns on this one, I guess.”

She put her thumb in her mouth and sucked a little, and Zara’s eyes went both dark and wide.

“What?” Arwen asked. “It’s just a little poke. I’m fine. I should probably tell her to stop sending me these, though, since they’re delivered in gas-guzzling vans and are literally cut from–”

“I just… I need to go.”

Zara stood quickly.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I have a thing with blood.”

“You do? Since when?” she asked.

“Always!” Zara exclaimed loudly.

“Okay. Well, let me wrap it in a paper towel or something. I really went in there trying to smell the damn things, and it’s pretty deep.”

“I’m going to my desk,” Zara said.

“Why don’t you just sit down? I can see if we have any juice in here or something. Would that help?” She wrapped her thumb in a paper towel and pulled open the fridge. “No juice. Want to steal someone’s soda? I will get a new one to replace it when I go to lunch or bring one in tomorrow.”

“I’ll be fine. I just need some fresh air.”

Zara didn’t say anything else before she hurried to open the closet door off the kitchen, which they used for storage, and walked into it.

“Zara! That’s not fresh air.”

“I’m… getting supplies first.”

Zara slammed the door shut between them.

Arwen closed the fridge, not knowing what to do now. Clearly, something was going on with Zara, but the woman didn’t want to talk toherabout it, which probably meant she hadno oneto talk to about it at all. Arwen would give her a little space and hope Zara would tell her what was happening soon.

Having checked her thumb, she found that the bleeding had stopped, so she tossed the paper towel in the trash and walked to the wall-mounted first-aid kit. She put a Band-Aid on it and left the kitchen, first with her flowers and then returning for her coffee. The storage door was still closed, and Zara wasn’t at her desk, so Arwen assumed she was still in there.