Peppermint Tea

Summary

• The chapter is set in a 'VIP Business Lounge', where the protagonist, Nora, is sitting with her brother, who has been her manager for seven years since she gave up professional swimming.
• Her brother offers her peppermint tea, which Nora has never drunk before, indicating that she might not drink caffeine in this life.
• They discuss the talk Nora is scheduled to give, which is set to last 40 minutes and earn them a significant sum of money.
• Nora and her brother reminisce about their shared past and discuss how their lives could have been different. They both fail to fully understand the different aspects of each other's lives and histories, implying their relationship is different in this reality.
• Nora learns that in this reality, her brother attended university and is also married to a man named Ewan. This is shocking to her because in her original life, her brother had not attended university or been in any long-term relationships.
• Nora struggles to reconcile her multilayered life experiences with her current reality, including her brother’s teetotalism and his story of bumping into their old friend Ravi, who planned to come to the talk.
• She learns that her mother died from alcoholism in this reality, something Nora was not previously aware of.
• The chapter ends with someone named Priya entering the room saying it's time for Nora's speech.