akai 👁

INU has tracked Maiko to a grassy knoll on the edge of our estate. As we round over to the other side, I immediately see the entrance to a cave. The golden retriever pads confidently in and within seconds, I hear a familiar whinny.

There's a sliver of light in front of us that's just a bit too bright to be moonlight. As we come closer, a voice squeaks out,

"Shoo! Shoo, wolf! Go! Git!"

I frown. England doesn't have wild wolves.

The cave opens out into a sort of mini clearing, and there's Maiko. I heave a sigh of relief – then do a double-take.

"What are you doing here?" I demand. A sniff of the air. "And why does the cave smell like lavender?"

Iris looks like she's about to cry. But with Maiko foaling, I've no time for her hysterics, so I let her sink alone to her knees. By the light of my oil lamp, I can clearly see Maiko's progress – the ground around her is damp; her water broke some time ago. Carefully I inspect the amniotic sac. The membrane is a smooth white, and the foal is coming out feet first. So far so good.

"Hey there big girl," I say gently. Maiko turns her head at my voice. "You're going to be a mama. Just a little bit more, okay? You're doing so well, just keep going. I'll be here."

Iris creeps up behind me. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine." I say, a bit more curtly than I meant to. Iris moves quietly away.

I don't touch Maiko, but I keep my eyes focused on her for the next fifteen minutes. With this being her first foal, there are about a dozen things that can go wrong. Beside me, Inu crouches down. His eyes are keen and alert, as if he too, is watching out for signs of any danger.

The tiniest twitch of movement – there's more of the foal coming out – its front legs break the sac ... and then with a silky plop! out comes the baby horse. It wriggles, taking the very first breath of its life. There's a tiny white star on its forehead that contrasts against the rest of its black coat.

I take a moment to close my eyes as my entire body sags from relief. A sigh escapes from my lips as air whooshes up from my chest and out in an exhale. There's the hardest part of the process done. Now all that's left is observation. I don't plan to move Maiko and her foal until at least 24 hours have passed – which means I'm not leaving this cave either.

Backing away, I take a seat in the dirt at the other end. Inu places his big head in my lap and I start scratching at his favorite spot behind the ears.

"Good job. Good boy," I whisper. "Here, treat." His jaws crack down on the biscuit noisily and I watch him, amused.

Iris Monet is staring at me. My cheeks prickle with heat as the air in the cave slowly turns warm. Must be heat from the lamp. I'm contemplating putting it out when she speaks.

"Everything good?"

"Yes."

"Anything we can do?"

"We wait." I glance over. "Preferably in silence."

I brace for the snappy retort but none comes. Instead, Iris hugs her knees to her chest. Five minutes tick by silently, then ten. The foal is now attempting to rise and doing rather well. I pick a stray leaf off my shirt and shift my sitting position.

"Why are you here?" I ask.

Iris sighs. "I know you want me to leave the farm as soon as possible, but if I recall correctly, trains in Ryefair don't run at night – "

"I don't mean that. How did you find this cave?"

Iris points up at a hole in the ceiling that I'm only just noticing.

My voice rings with disbelief. "You climbed down from there?"

"Sure, if you call slipping down the dirt while screaming climbing."

Oh, she fell. That makes a lot more sense. "Why did you even come out here?"

"Thought I could help."

"Help Maiko? You?"

A roll of those stunning green eyes. "Oh wow, look at this fraud who doesn't know jackshit about animals yet still wants to help – what a joke har har har. I know you don't believe me. But it's true."

"Why would you do that?"

"Despite what you think of me, I do have a conscience. Enough for me to feel bad about scaring away Maiko, at least. I figured you wouldn't let me help, so I went to the stable on my own. Saw Gacho there and followed her here. I didn't know geese could track horses. That's pretty cool. Though I'm just glad a fall down the hole was all I got. I thought she was going to murder me, for sure. I know Gacho doesn't like me."

A still beat. "I'm talking too much, aren't I? Sorry. You said silence."

Iris hasn't looked me in the eye since the conversation began, which means for the first time she isn't fluttering her eyelashes with every third syllable. If she really did walk all the way from the stables, she must have been trekking through some rather rough grass. I look at the hem of her jeans; they're wet. And she has a cut across the back of her right hand.

I spy the tiny glass bottle wrapped in her fingers. "You brought the lavender oil?"

"You said it was calming for horses."

"A few drops maybe." My voice is dry. "Not an entire bucket."

"I was panicking! I mean, Maiko was just lying there, with that ... that thing poking out of her ass – "

"Vulva."

"I was so scared, and when I tried to call you, you didn't even pick up!"

Oh. "You were the unknown number?"

Iris crosses her arms, a reproaching look on her face. "You shouldn't simply decline calls, you know. I had a real emergency here." She gestures empathetically at Maiko. "We had a real emergency."

"I don't pick up phone calls from strangers."

"I'm not a stranger," she says.

There's a long second of silence that's equal parts awkward and equal parts something else. My mind goes back to the sudden confession in the barn, and I resist the urge to choke on my own saliva.

"Anyway," Iris continues. "When I couldn't get to you, I dialed 999."

"You dialed 999 for a horse birth?" I ask, incredulous.

"Oh yes. The operator was very confused when I told her the hind legs weren't out yet." A burst of giggles. Iris bites down on her lip hard. "I ... I said Maiko's breathing sounded a little hoarse."

I've never seen someone laugh so hard at their own joke before. It's a fit of uncontrollable mirth, the kind that convulses every curve of her frame and intensifies with each effort to keep it down. It's gotten to the point where she's rolling on her side, one hand over her mouth while the other clutches her stomach.

It's loud, but then again, every part of her is. Inu thumps his tail happily on the ground, apparently enjoying it. I glance at Iris giggling in the lamplight, then look away.

At least it's not intolerable.

¥

Sometime in the night, I fall asleep.

I wake with a start, and a horrid feeling that something has happened to Maiko and her foal.

"She's fine," Iris says from beside me. "The foal suckled a little, and now they're both sleeping again."

Indeed they are. Iris stifles a yawn. When I told her I planned to stay with Maiko overnight, she didn't even bat an eyelid. Just wrapped her jacket a little tighter around herself and nodded. I didn't bother to chase her away; I figured, by her posh princess attitude, that she would leave on her own by midnight.

I look at my watch. It's now a little past three AM.

"You should go to bed," I grunt. "I can keep an eye on Maiko."

"Yes." Iris yawns again, then says sleepily, "but who's going to keep an eye on you?"

"If anyone needs keeping an eye on, Miss Monet, it's you."

She doesn't answer. Just when I think she's fallen asleep, she asks,

"Why do you love animals so much?"

"They don't try to engage me in pointless conversation." As the words leave my lips, I realize how harsh they sound. A little guiltily, I add, "And they keep me going when I have nothing else."

"But you look like a man with everything. Except the ability to smile." Iris places a hand over her mouth. "I did not mean to say that last part out loud."

"I do smile," I state. "Just not around you."

"Hmm? Well" – another yawn – "I look forward to seeing it then."

"You're supposed to be leaving first thing tomorrow."

"Then you better start smiling."

A few minutes of silence. The shimmering light of the lamp pirouettes from crevice to crevice on the cave wall.

"Why did you come to Ryefair?" I ask.

Waking from her light doze, Iris stretches. "Boy, you're full of questions today, aren't you? I couldn't even squeeze three words from you for the past two days but now look at you, initiating a conversation and all."

I stiffen. "If silence until daybreak is what you prefer, I will gladly – "

"Only teasing. Goodness, you need to learn how to chill."

I turn, facing her fully. "So? Why are you here?"

£

iris 👁

I don't have anything to lose.

He's fired me. I've been banned from entanglements with men. Right now, in this cozily lit cave with sleep tugging at my eyelids, I can feel each of my defenses slipping away.

"I ran away," I say slowly.

Shadows and light make Akai look both holy and dangerous all at the same time. "From?"

"I don't know. I thought I knew, but I don't anymore." A sigh. "All I know is I'm homeless."

"You don't have family?"

"My mother's dead. I miss her." The last sentence comes out too easily, as I struggle to hold onto some of my walls. I can't possibly tell him everything; I've got an image to uphold. Iris Monet must always appear as a glamorous, sensual, and confident woman.

"Your father?"

"Related only by surname. I don't care for him."

Something in the depths of Akai's eyes flicker. "Is that why you don't like me calling you Miss Monet?"

Okay, this is getting too personal. I shake the sleep away and sit up straight. "What about you? Heir of the Satoh estate, I don't see why you should have any worries. When have you ever had your animals and nothing else?"

Akai's eyebrows furrow. "I'm not – "

The Weather Girls explode into life, echoing around the cave and shocking every living thing awake. Akai fires me a death glare as I scrabble to turn off my mobile. In my panic, it slips from my fingers and hits the ground, where it vibrates violently like a tiny earthquake.

I reach for it the same time Akai does, and as our hands come down together on the mobile screen, I realize he's flung himself right beside me. The silence after as our lips, noses, and eyes teeter within three inches of each other somehow manages to be louder than The Weather Girls have been.

The moment is swiftly broken when the two of us pull ourselves upright.

"Sorry." I say unevenly. "That was the uh, alarm. Google says we should time the foal's napping hours to make sure they're normal."

"Well, I think the foal's wide awake now." Akai's voice is as steady as ever, save for a hitch so slight that I think I must have imagined it.

"Yes. Yes, he is. Sorry."

We don't speak another word until dawn. Somewhere along the night I must have nodded off again, because when I wake it's to the sound of birds chirping and the warmth of morning on my skin.

Akai is pulling on his backpack. I notice with some apprehension that Maiko and the foal are gone.

"They're walking outside," Akai tells me. "I'm going back to the house." A pause. "You should too."

Right. I'm supposed to be leaving, aren't I? Gotta start packing. Reluctantly I get up. Akai has already gone on ahead and is now at the mouth of the cave. A far more respectable entrance than a hole, I must say.

A loud blast of The Weather Girls officially jolts me awake. Goodness, didn't I turn off all alarms after that episode –

It's not an alarm.

I stare at the caller ID. Then I look at the place where Akai was standing.

I pick up. "Hello?"

Akai's voice comes through crystal clear. "You understand I don't accept calls outside of work hours? Besides emergencies."

What's he going on about now? "Um. Okay...?"

"And if you do call me within work hours, it must be related to work. Not any of your idle prattle."

I'm indignant. "I don't prattle –"

"Because if you can agree to all that, then I'll go ahead and save your number."

I frown uncomprehendingly. "Why would you do that?"

Silence. Then –

"Colleagues should have each other's contact for work purposes, no?"

I can't quite believe my ears. "You ... you're letting me stay? I'm not fired?"

"Only temporarily. If you don't learn well, it'll be a very short employment, and frankly I'm not optimistic about your chances. So don't count your chickens before they hatch, Miss Iris. Goodbye."

A nano-second's pause. "By the way, I know you broke an egg."

Akai hangs up.