Heart of Ice

Chapter 21

Iris
~~~

I hope I don't mess up. "So sir..." I say as I make eye contact with Rhys. "I was going to Paris for a figure skating competition and Rhys went there for a business meeting," I say confidently.

His father nods. "One day I was really exhausted from training so I went to a bakery," I say. "And so did I," Rhys says confidently.

"Let Iris speak, hmm?" his father chuckles. "Whatever," Rhys mutters. "So anyways, I wanted to order a coffee, but the problem was, I didn't speak French," I lie.

His father listens attentively as he eats his dinner. This is going well. "Rhys was behind me in the queue, and he noticed I was having trouble communicating with the cashier," I say.

"Yes and then?" says his father. "Well Rhys told the cashier what I wanted, in French," I say. Rhys nods proudly. "We then made eye contact and we felt and instant connection," I lie.

I'm good at this lying thing. "So after we both our items, Rhys asked me out," I say. "And of course I said yes! He was so sweet and loving," I lie. "Exactly," Rhys says.

"That's beautiful," his father says. Wow he actually believed us. That was extremely unexpected. "You know what they say. Paris is the city of love," I chuckle.

"Indeed it is," his father nods with a smile. From the corner of my eye I see Rhys smiling. "Iris, what about your parents?" his father asks.

"Uhm..." I pause and look down. I don't like talking about my parents. "Yes?" he says . "Father don't pressurize her," Rhys says. "No it's alright," I say.

"My father passed away, soon after my mother got addicted to drugs and she also passed away. So I live with my sister," I sigh. Rhys looks at me, wide eyed. We've barely spoken about our parents before.

"Speaking of parents," his father says with a smile. "Today is Rhys's mother's 16 year death anniversary!" he says enthusiastically. "F-father don't talk about that," he mutters.

I can see him getting angry. "S-so your wife p-passed away 16 years today," I ask softly. "Oh no! Rhys's first mother. I remember how they told me the way she died," he says with no guilt whatsoever.

First mother? What the f*ck was he talking about. "Don't f*cking talk about my mother," Rhys tells his father coldly. "I bet she was a bad person, to just be killed like that," he continues and starts to laugh.

"Don't f*cking talk about my mother like that!" he shouts and stands up from his chair. He opens the back door. "Eat f*cking dinner yourself, I'm not hungry," he says as he goes into the backyard and slams the door behind him.

What the f*ck is going on. "I didn't mean to do that," his father mutters guiltyly. I have to find out what's truly wrong. I run outside into the rain to comfort him.

(Thank you to my bestfriend Aveera for helping me with the meeting scenario 😭)