Chapter 23
23
In the morning, Iris woke to find herself wrapped securely in Angel’s embrace. Both too exhausted to get up and change last night, they’d fallen asleep fully dressed. Angel looked so peaceful while he slept. Gently, reverentially, Iris touched his face, brushing her fingers across his brow and his nose ring, down to his lips. This man wanted to be hers and hers alone. He’d agreed to take things slow. Her heart felt full, brimming over with joy and amazement.
When she looked at their situation from a bird’s-eye view, it almost seemed miraculous that they’d found each other. But right now, as he dozed before her in the early-morning hours before the sun had risen, she wasn’t thinking about his fame or her ordinariness. She knew only that she wanted them to have a fair chance at something real and she wanted to be brave enough to try.
Angel stirred, blinking. He smiled sleepily at her and nuzzled closer, placing a kiss against her collarbone.
“Good morning,” he whispered.
“Good morning,” she whispered back, reluctant to break the spell. “I have to leave soon.”
She was flying back to Newark. Angel had purchased her roundtrip flight, first class. His flight to JFK was later in the afternoon.
“Stay,” he said, voice husky as he pulled her closer, until she was sidled up against him and there was no space between their bodies.
“I really wish I could.”
But she had to get home. Violet had purchased a new car and had volunteered to pick Iris up from the airport and take her to their parents’ house, where Iris would then pick up Calla and return home to go through her usual Sunday-evening ritual of preparing for work.
She slipped from Angel’s embrace and her heart squeezed as he rose and drowsily kissed her. She promised that she’d call him once her flight landed. Angel planned to be in Manhattan all week at the recording studio, so they made plans to meet up again in a few days.
Iris slept during the first half of the flight, and she spent the second half thinking of what she’d say to Dominique about her and Angel. It racked Iris’s nerves something serious to admit to her boss that she and Angel were in a relationship, but she was happy with him and she wanted to hold on to that, to preserve it. And since they’d agreed to wait until his ambassadorship ended in a few months, Iris had plenty of time to think about how she’d broach the topic with Dominique. She just hoped that her decision wouldn’t impact Dominique’s opinion of her.
The positive news was that Calla had met Angel and they’d gotten along. They’d looked so sweet together when they’d interacted at the store last weekend. It gave Iris hope. With time, maybe she could have the partnership that she’d been looking for after all.
When the plane landed at Newark, Iris switched off airplane mode on her phone as her seatmates and others in first class stood immediately, even though the flight attendant hadn’t opened the main door. Iris was rolling her eyes at their lack of patience when her phone vibrated again and again with alerts that she’d missed during her flight. There were over a hundred messages in the group chat that she shared with her sisters, as well as voice mail alerts from Lily and Violet. Angel had left her a voice mail too, and he’d sent a text. Call me ASAP.
Calla. Something happened to Calla.
It was Iris’s first thought. But Calla was with her parents. And if something had happened to her, why hadn’t Dahlia or Benjamin called?
With shaking hands, Iris started to call Dahlia, but her phone vibrated again. Lily was calling.
“Lily, what’s going on?” Iris said, answering. “Is Calla okay?”
Her seatmate glanced down at her as he retrieved his suitcase from the overhead compartment.
“What? Calla’s fine,” Lily said, but there was a hint of nervousness in her voice. “Where are you? Are you still on the plane?”
“Yes, I just landed.” Iris’s shoulders sagged in relief, knowing that Calla was okay. “Why is everyone calling me? Is Dad okay? Did something happen to his back again?”
“Dad’s fine too,” Lily said. In the background, she could hear Violet saying something about their group chat. Lily asked, “Have you checked our messages?”
“No, I haven’t had a chance to.” Iris lowered her voice as people began to pass her as they exited the plane. “Why?”
There was a weighted pause on the other end of the line. Iris remembered Angel’s text, asking her to call him ASAP. An eerie feeling overtook her.
“ Why, Lily? ” she prompted.
“Um, okay, so someone took pictures of you and Angel last night and it’s all over the internet,” Lily finally said. “We sent you links.”
Iris jerked her phone away from her ear and opened the group chat. Violet had sent a link to a gossip blog, one that Iris didn’t recognize because she didn’t read gossip blogs for fun. But she did recognize herself and Angel in the photograph. It had been taken right after they’d left the ceremony. Angel was leaning his forehead against hers, closing his eyes, and her hands were placed on either side of his face. It had been an intimate, private moment, where she’d felt the need to protect him from whatever bullshit his mother had spewed. And now their moment was displayed for the world to see, along with a bold headline: Angel seen nuzzling noses with a mystery woman in his hometown.
Iris inhaled a shaky breath. Okay, it wasn’t too, too bad. It was dark, and you couldn’t really see her face. It could’ve been any woman.
She kept scrolling. Then she saw the second photograph of them walking hand in hand to the car, taken head-on. Here, her identity was unmistakable.
“ Oh shit ,” she whispered. Her breathing turned shallow. She dropped her phone in her lap.
She’d been so caught up in the moment last night, so incensed and filled with fierce care for Angel, she hadn’t even thought about how people might be around to see them, that someone would take a picture and share it.
“Iris? Iris! Can you hear me?” Lily was still on the phone.
“Ma’am?” A flight attendant appeared, leaning across the empty seat beside Iris. “We need you to exit the plane now. Do you need any assistance?”
Numbly, Iris looked around her. She was the only person left in her section.
“S-sorry,” she stammered, standing on shaky legs. She got up and grabbed her suitcase, placing her phone between her shoulder and her ear. “Lily, I’m trying to get off the plane now.”
“We’re here waiting for you,” Lily said.
Iris walked briskly through the airport in a fog of confusion. Pictures of her and Angel had made their way to the internet. She’d been called his mystery woman , but her face was plainly shown for everyone to see. For her boss and colleagues to see. She was supposed to have time to tell everyone in her own way—especially Calla. This was everything she’d wanted to avoid.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
She spotted Violet’s new sleek silver car as soon as she stepped outside.
Violet rushed to open her door and she ran to Iris and wrapped her in a hug. “Are you okay?” she asked, leaning back and looking at Iris in concern.
“No,” Iris said.
Lily took Iris’s suitcase and put it in the trunk. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s at least get out of the airport.”
“This isn’t the end of the world,” Violet was saying as they got in the car.
“ It’s not? ” Iris’s heart was hammering so hard, like it was ready to burst. Like she’d run the world’s longest marathon and her heart was seconds away from giving out. Her palms were drenched in sweat. She felt like she was seconds away from puking.
“Well, you look good as hell in those pictures,” Violet pointed out. “The body is giving!”
“That’s not helping!” Iris said, exasperated, terrified.
Lily turned around to face her. “The moment between the two of you looked so tender. I’m so sorry that someone took a picture and ruined it.”
Iris’s phone vibrated again, and her stomach seized. Angel was calling.
“Angel?” she said, motioning to Lily to turn down the radio.
“Where are you?” He spoke urgently, his voice dripping in concern.
“I’m on my way home from the airport. Have you seen that article?”
“I have,” he said. “It’s bullshit. I’m so sorry. We—”
“Are they allowed to do that?” Iris said, interrupting him. Her brain had shifted full throttle into problem-solving mode. “They can’t post our picture like that without our consent, can they? Can we get them to take it down?”
Angel sighed in frustration. “I wish it was that easy. I really do. But it’s not about our consent. All they need is consent from the person who took the picture, and we don’t know who took it. It could have been anyone there last night.” Softly, he added, “Either way, the image is already being shared online outside of that blog.”
Iris blinked, staring blankly at the back of Violet’s headrest. She leaned forward and rested her face between her knees. She felt dizzy.
“Oh my God,” she mumbled.
“This is all my fault,” Angel said angrily. “I shouldn’t have asked you to come. I should have told you to wait to say anything until we got in the car. But I was being so selfish. I wanted you with me. I’m so sorry. But it’s going to be okay. Iris, do you hear me?”
A dull buzzing had taken over her brain. She could barely respond. A block of ice lodged itself in her stomach.
“Iris, I have my publicist, Claudia, on the other line,” he continued. “You remember her? I’m going to add her in, so that you can hear what she has to say, okay?”
Iris blinked and nodded, forgetting that Angel couldn’t see her.
“Iris,” a woman’s voice said. Her tone was sharp, direct. “I’m Claudia Chin, Angel’s publicist. I’m sorry that we’re speaking again under such stressful circumstances, but I want you to know that we’re containing this situation as much as we can. It’s often best to wait until these things die down. Eventually, the media will move on to a new story. For the sake of your protection, we’re going to put out a statement saying that Angel has no comment and to please respect his privacy. His fans don’t have a history of harassing people, so that’s good.”
Iris’s throat went dry. She’d been worried about Dominique, but she hadn’t even thought about Angel’s fans. She’d witnessed firsthand how much they loved him. Would they be upset that she was dating him? Were they looking for her online? Her barely used Instagram account was private, but would they still try to find out more about her anyway? What if they hacked into her account and found pictures of her and Calla? She tried to tell herself that something like that would be wild and unlikely, but it shook her nerves nonetheless.
“Iris?” Angel said, snapping her to attention. “Are you there?”
“Yes,” she said, clearing her throat.
Claudia promised Iris that she’d check in again in a few hours. After she hung up, Iris swallowed, hard.
“This is so bad, Angel,” she said quietly.
“It’s going to be okay,” he repeated. “I swear to you. I’m not going to let any of this affect you.”
It seemed like such a silly thing to say. She wanted to believe him, but she couldn’t.
“I’m on my way to the airport now,” he said. “I’m going to come see you as soon as I land, okay? If you need anything— anything —please let me know, and I’ll do it.”
“Okay,” she said. She hated how weak she sounded. She wasn’t a weak person.
After she and Angel hung up, she bit the bullet and scrolled through social media. She searched Angel’s hashtags and his fan accounts. She’d become well accustomed with this search during the planning stages of his brand ambassadorship. Back then she’d been looking through these accounts for business purposes. Now it was personal.
The pictures of them were everywhere. She knew better than to read the comments, but she did anyway.
Who is that girl???
She’s pretty! Nice to see him with a normal person for once. Maybe I’m next!
She better get her hands off my man
I swear that’s the girl who was at his Refine event in DC!! She was working the event! He was all up in her face!
The block of ice hardened in Iris’s stomach. She imagined Dominique and everyone else at SFB reading these comments. She was so screwed.
“What did Angel say?” Lily asked.
“Why can’t people just mind their business?!” Violet asked angrily. “Trust me, from experience I know how upsetting it is to feel like the whole world knows about your personal life, but people have short attention spans! They’ll forget!”
“Are you okay?” Lily reached in the backseat and rested her hand on Iris’s knee when Iris didn’t respond to either of them.
Iris focused on breathing deeply, trying to calm her frantic thoughts. She felt like her head was going to explode.
“I—”
Her barely formed thought froze on her tongue as her phone vibrated again with a new alert. An email. From Dominique. She’d marked it as urgent. There was no message, just a subject line: I need to meet with you ASAP.
Not first thing tomorrow morning . Not call me later . She needed to meet in person with Iris now .
Iris’s heart thudded rapidly. She steeled herself and looked up at her sisters.
“Violet,” she said, trying to sound calm, although calmness was the last thing that she felt. “Can you turn the car around and drive me into the city?”