Minefield of Mirrors

-19-

Something on her shoulder tried to wake her up, but Iris snuggled some more into the heat, not ready to wake up from this state of peace.

'Iris'

She grabbed the blanket a bit tighter and dug her head further underneath it.

The shaking got firmer instead. 'Iris, wake up.'

It wasn't until something stroked across her forehead, removing some of her hair, that she opened her eyes. A pair of eyes stared back into hers. A shock went through her and she immediately shot right up.

'Whoah, calm down. Everything is fine.'

She blinked her eyes a couple of times and stared at Mick, who was sitting on the couch next to her.

He chuckled a bit. 'Don't be afraid. I just had to wake you up, since you have to be in the restaurant downstairs in half an hour.'

Wait, what? Why did she have to be in the restaurant in half an hour? She rubbed her eyes and looked around her for a second. Obviously, she was in her own hotel room, but it didn't make sense to her how Mick got here in the first place.

'Huh?' Her voice sounded crackling. A typical morning voice.

'Your meet-up with Thomas...?'

And that's when everything slowly got back to her. How she was together with Mick in her hotel room when she got a call from Max, telling her that Thomas was drunk at the bar downstairs. And then how they got him upstairs next, including her little outburst in the elevator that left Mick surprised.

She moaned. 'Yeah, of course... Thanks for waking me up.'

After they left Thomas in his room to sleep off the drunkenness yesterday, Mick accompanied her to her room and they just watched a movie together. Apparently, he had brought all kinds of snacks earlier, because he had heard from Lando that she wasn't really feeling like herself. He knew that she wasn't really up for going to the bar to have a drink and chat up there. All he wanted, was to comfort her and not let her be all by herself after a busy and crazy day like that. Again, Iris had to conclude that he was the absolute sweetest.

Iris pushed the blanket off her body and wiggled a bit forward to sit on the edge of the couch, slowly waking up from the deep sleep she found herself in a couple of moments ago.

'You know, you look pretty cute when you are sleeping.'

'Oh no... You didn't watch me sleep, did you?' Out of embarrassment, Iris dropped her head in her hands, hiding her red cheeks.

Mick moved a bit closer to her as well. 'Well, you fell asleep against my shoulder during the movie, so for sure I've seen you sleeping.'

It made things even worse. She fell asleep against his shoulder? How the fuck did she even end up in this situation?

He noticed her embarrassment and chuckled. 'I wanted to leave, but you seemed so at peace. I just couldn't get over my heart to wake you up. And besides, you're just like a personal heater. I fell asleep not much later as well.'

Iris grabbed the pillow next to her and threw it at Mick while she started to chuckle along. 'Oh, just stop talking. It only makes me feel more embarrassed about this all.'

'Don't be. You were an adorable personal heater.'

She shook her head and got up from the couch to escape this weird morning conversation. 'Yeah, yeah. Stop the compliments already. I have to get ready.'

On her way to her suitcase, she turned on some other lights and started to feel the upcoming nerves in her body. Her hands started to shake as she took some pieces of clothing and threw them on the bed. She was going to throw herself into this deep hole again, called Thomas. It wouldn't matter what Thomas had to say. She knew she wasn't ready at all, even while she would love to close the whole matter around him. Put a lock on it and bury it deep into a black hole in the forest. That one text from him, saying that he only saw it as friends back then, hurt her as hell. Her friends declared her a fool that she fell for him so soon and so hard. She even felt embarrassed that one little text made her lose herself even more than she already had during the time they were talking. If he only had said he saw it more as friends too, they would've started dating in real life.