Page 87 of The Player in New Zealand
“My visa is up in five months. Less than five months, actually,” I pointed out. “I will have to leave the country.”
“Sure, sure, and there’s no way to make your stay indefinite.”
My stomach fluttered at Iris’s insinuation. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. How is Indonesia?”
“Claire! You’re so chickenshit, you won’t even say the word. Get married!”
“I’m not having a green card—or whatever the New Zealand equivalent is—wedding.”
“Babe, it’s not a green card marriage. You and Tane love each other. That’s literally what those visas are for. So you can stay in the country with the person you love.”
“Shut it, Iris. It’s months away. We might break up by then. Besides, I would miss you too much. Being on the other side of the world from you was always supposed to be a temporary state.”
“Okay, true. But as much as I like having you nearby, I would suffer for true love.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You know I can see you, right?”
I smirked at her. “So, how’s Rico?”
Well...” Iris said. “About that...”
“Iris,” I warned her. “Spill.”
“We slept together.”
The seconds ticked by. I was stunned and speechless.
“Excuseme? You gave me all that shit about not updating you even though you were unavailable and now I find out I didn’t even get so much as a text message?! It’s only been a few days. How did this happen?”
“Come on, Claire, don’t be like that. And it’s not just a few days. It’s Rico. We’ve known each other for a decade. I thought he was so cute when I was thirteen, but oh my God, he’s so hot now. And our very first night in Bali they just assumed we were a couple and gave us the honeymoon suite and it was so romantic.”
“You slept with him on the first night?”
“Judgy McJudgerFace. It was the second,” she huffed.
I loved how Iris had given me absolutely no information about her trip other than she slept with Rico. Which I suppose was fair, because I could hardly stop thinking about Tane.
“I’m really happy for you,” I told her. “I’m just surprised. Wow.”
“I know. But”—her tone became more solemn—“I think that was it for us. I don’t know. He’s kind of...”
Iris thought for a little bit before continuing. “He’s kind of a loner. He’s got these plans to be in an apartment somewhere in Bali and just surf every day, which is like, great, but... I don’t see how I would fit into that.”
“Have you talked about the future? How long will he be in Bali?”
“Another month or so. But, like, I have a job and stuff back in Chicago.”
I leaned forward in the office chair. “Come on, you just told me that whatever I want to do, I should do it, and figure out how to make it work. What do you want?”
Her voice was much firmer when she said, “I want to be a teacher.”
“Good. Then go be a teacher, Iris. Figure out how to make that work.”
She took a deep breath. “Yeah, yeah. You are right.”
“I know I am.” I smirked at her. “Okay, so, for real this time, how is Indonesia?”
