Minefield of Mirrors

-25-

Patiently Iris waited for Mick to arrive in the lobby of the fancy hotel. After the phone call with her mom, she was let down and empty. Normally phone calls with family should feel happy and careless, but calls with her mom were anything but that. Her mom somehow always knew to hit her insecurities. Sometimes in a subtle way and sometimes in a really harsh way. There were always comments about how she was trying to lose weight again, which triggered Iris's mind to think about that all again.

Childhood memories easily find their way back to the surface and she remembered the first time her mom sat down with her to talk about not eating a cookie after school anymore. No, from that day on, she was only allowed to eat fruit. Back then, she didn't think it all through. But as soon as she grew older and started taking over her mom's weird eating habits, Iris realized how fucked up everything was.

Even though her mom never admitted it herself, she had always been obsessed with food. Was there something wrong? Her mom would eat. Was she happy about a certain achievement? It should be celebrated with sweets. Was she in pain because of her back issues? Chocolate was the remedy to all the pain. Up until the scale underneath her feet would reach a certain number and she would radically stick to a really strict diet again. But if there was only one little moment where her emotions would be too strong, the emotional eating would return to the surface again.

It was a vicious circle over and over again. And let's say it really hit Iris. After doubting her own weight for months, she started a diet herself at the age of fourteen. Way too young, but her mom only encouraged her so she didn't have to diet all by herself. And well, Iris never recovered since then. She hadn't learnt a good relationship with food and it seemed that she never would. Her insecurities and her eating habits were always put on edge after a phone call with her mom. 

After Iris had hung up the phone, she felt the need to talk to someone. Someone who didn't know her family and would just have a little chit-chat with her so she could forget about this horrendous moment with her mom again. For a moment she doubted whether she should call Lando or Mick, but when she saw all the texts Mick had sent during the day again, she knew Mick was the person she would like to talk to. So she had quickly given him a call and together they decided to have a little stroll in the fresh air outside, as he had just gotten back from his media event.

Iris sat down in a comfortable chair in the lobby of the hotel and within a few seconds, her phone started vibrating in the pocket of her denim jacket. Out of curiosity, she took it out and opened the several texts that were coming in.

Linsey:
Iris, you have to tell us
What happened with Max today?

Emma:
Yes, please! How did you get him to volunteer for a new video?

Veronica:
Wait, a video?

Linsey:
Oh, yeah, I forgot! How did that happen too?

With a smile on her face, Iris started writing back to the girls. Mick wasn't here yet anyway.

Iris:
Whoah, calm down girls. I can't answer everything at the same time

Veronica:
Then start at the beginning. I don't even have a clue what this is about

Linsey:
Something definitely must have happened! Max FUCKING ASKED ABOUT YOU!

Iris:
He did?

Emma:
I'm dying to know everything, so spill the tea!

Iris leaned back in the chair and started to think. On one hand, not much had happened. On the other hand, so much had happened. Max must have felt the same, otherwise, he wouldn't have talked to Linsey about her, right? Or was she just making everything up in her mind?