Dominating Iris

A third wheel

Amanda was ecstatic. She had just successfully closed a deal with a giant store chain in the Middle East to carry Aglow's line of beauty essentials. Valerie couldn't have been more proud.

Her phone rang just when she came out of the conference. She checked the caller's number. The number was unknown, but she picked up. It was Jo.

"Holy cow, Jo! I thought you've lost my number in the shower. What's up?"

"I was out of the country, you know... work. But I'm back. Wanna hang out?"

"Of course, silly, I've missed you. Do you want to come to my office now, we can decide where to go later. I'll text the address."

"Sure, I'll be there in a heartbeat."

Excited to see her friend again added spring to her steps as she strode back to her office twenty floors up.

Joan, her secretary, met her at the foyer. "There's a lady here to see you, Miss Fox."

Amanda jumped when she saw Jo, sipping coffee at the lounge. "Damn, you were already here when you called, weren't you?" she said.

Jo laughed. "I told you. How many heartbeats did it take for you to get here? I love your office, by the way."

She pointed at the mural. "Have you seen that?"

Jo turned to check. "It's an iris flower... nice... I'm sure you paid handsomely for that."

"It's a gift, actually... check out who painted it."

Jo went closer to inspect the painting. "Alex... your Alex?"

"Yep, no less, but he's just Alex, not my Alex..." she felt a pinch when she said it.

"Sweet! I didn't know he was an artist."

"Neither did I until he delivered the painting on my inauguration."

"Well, I guess Alex had a thing for you since the start, Iris. Look at the strokes and vivid colors on that work, it's nothing but inspired... even passionate, I'd say."

"Wait... how did you get here before I even sent you the address?"

"Alex didn't tell you? We bumped into each other at McSorley's yesterday and had a few beers. He told me to surprise you, so... here I am."

"Of course he didn't tell me... or this wouldn't have been a surprise. A very good one I think." She gave her friend a tight hug. "Let's stop by my apartment first so I can get a change of clothes and freshen up a bit. Then we can go out for dinner."

"Sounds great."

Jo suggested the The Poni Room, a quaint little bar in Noho that served delectable seafood dishes with a refreshing glass of rosé.

"This is not my idea of dinner, to be honest, but these oysters are to die for. It goes well with the rosé, too, perfect combination. I should tell Alex about it."

"Did you notice the room looks a lot like a ship's hull? It's genius. I really love this place— it's cozy, not too many people, and the food is fucking great."

"So where do you wanna go after?"

"Why don't we head over to Alex's place to cap this reunion?" Jo said.

"Ooh, I don't think he's up for it tonight. He said he had to do some work and might finish late."

"How about we just take a peek and check on him. If he's really busy then we can go some place else."

"Um... let me call him first." Amanda didn't feel like barging into Alex's place would be a good idea.

"No, no, no, I want to surprise him. Don't worry, this is on me, okay?" Jo insisted.