• WATTYS 2022 WINNER •
When Iris Monet married millionaire Jared Darling, she had only one rule - that he could cheat on her with anyone except the household staff. This arrangement of theirs would have gone on quite happily if she hadn't caught him...
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"SHE is not naming the foal."
"Of course she's naming the foal! She has to." Chihiro looks up at me. "You found Maiko first, didn't you?"
Akai's voice reeks of disapproval. "If you let Miss Iris name the foal, she'll be giving him silly names like ... like Ferrari, or Prada."
"Those are perfectly respectable and proper names!" I protest.
"Case in point," Akai mutters.
Chihiro's face lights up as she claps her hands together. "You know what we should do? We should let the foal decide. Come on!"
Outside the stable, Maiko and her three-day colt are romping around the grass. Chihiro makes Akai and I sit six feet apart on opposite sides.
"It's easy. Whoever calls the foal over successfully gets to name him," the little girl declares.
The truth is, I'm not really that bothered about whether or not I get to name the foal. I've never been good around kids, human or not. It's not that I dislike them; I just don't know what to do with them. When Heather first asked me to hold Millie, I was debating if she meant hold as in like a pot or tucked under the arms like an LV bag. (The answer, it turns out, is neither. You should never tuck a baby under your arm like an LV bag. Or any other bags for that matter).
But I also know that naming the foal will annoy Akai to no end.
Akai scoffs. "That's ridiculous. The foal doesn't even – "
"Well, aren't you the charming little prince?" I coo. Reclining on the grass, I offer the colt a good view of my better side. "You know what's better than one good-looking person? Two good-looking persons. I'm talking about you and me."
Akai stares. "Are you ... are you actually flirting with the horse right now?"
Swishing my blonde hair over my shoulders, I click my tongue. The sound catches the colt's attention, and he regards me with bright, curious eyes.
"I'm not playing this game," Akai declares.
"That's fine by me," I say, keeping my attention on the foal. "You forfeit; I automatically win."
"You are not naming the foal, Miss Iris. If anyone should name him, it's me. I've been handling him for the past three days."
"Then you should have no problem calling him over."
"Of course." Akai sounds extremely confident. "However, I find this game to be entirely childish, so I am not participating."
"That's what a sore loser would say." Reaching behind my back, I pull out the red ball the colt's been playing with for the past few days. He's now viewing me with a lot more interest.
"Objection!" Akai proclaims immediately. "The usage of props is forbidden!"
"Since when did you make the rules?" I scoff. "Besides, I thought you weren't participating?"
