Grace.
“He’s not a medical doctor,” Eleanor says
when we shake hands. “Just a professor in Anthropology. And I’m a
freshman in the same department.”
“Anthropology sounds interesting,” I mumble,
uncomfortable by the number of eyes staring at me all at once.
Grace sits at the head of the dinner table;
Nikki and Brendie on either side of her, Eleanor is next to Nikki,
I settle between Eleanor and Adam, and his father is at the other
end of the table. Adriana and her husband take their seats together
across, from me.
Between the murmurs of conversation, I hear
Adriana’s daughter is already sleeping in her bedroom. Which makes
me wonder whether Adriana, too, lives here in this house with her
husband and her daughter. The space wouldn’t be an issue, for
sure.
Adriana efficiently serves us the plates. The
beef is melting off my fork, so is the mashed potato with gravy.
Simple dishes turn into heavenly tastes in my mouth. I fill the
little space left on my plate with the delicious Greek salad with
lots of olives and feta cheese and dig in. Adam confirms my
suspicions about Adriana’s accommodation. After Grace had been
diagnosed with cancer, Adriana and her husband had bought the house
together with her father, in order to accommodate the entire
family.
Nikki is the first one to finish her plate.
She takes a large piece of the beef and biscuits for the second
round, while Brendie’s plate remains mostly untouched. She
mindlessly plays with the lettuce with her fork. I can’t help but
notice her delicate wrists and arms and sunken eyes, in comparison
to Nikki’s plumper figure.
Eleanor keeps me entertained about the
shortcomings of studying at the same department where her father
works. At some point, Peter asks me about my career. Before I can
swallow a big chunk of beef, Grace raves about my songs and the
exceptional quality of my voice. Feeling glad he didn’t ask me
about my love life—probably because he must be thinking there’s
something between Adam and me, and he wouldn’t be completely wrong
about it—I explain to him about my brief role in the movie.
“Her role is the best part of the movie,”
Adam adds when I swallow another piece of meat. I should probably
take a break from eating, so that I don’t make a fool of myself
while talking, but the food is addictive.
“You’re exaggerating.” I elbow his ribcage
gently and turn to Peter with an attempt to change the topic to
something other than me. “I’d really love to hear how you and Grace
met. You look great together. A perfect match, I must say. I love
hearing about true love stories. It gives me inspiration for
composing songs.”
“Well, I don’t know whether it’ll inspire any
songs, but here it goes,” Peter says and blows a kiss to Grace.
“Her fiancé was a friend of mine.”
I nearly choke on the potato in my mouth.
“Grace was engaged to another man when you two met for the first
time?” I can manage to ask between coughs. Now Adam’s pursuit of me
makes total sense. It’s in his genes. His existence happened based
on that.
As if Adam has read my thoughts, he chuckles
and pats on my back to ease my coughing. “Yeah, you heard him
right.”
My eyes dart between Adam and his father,
waiting for an explanation. His father continues, “When I saw Grace
with her fiancé for the first time, I knew they weren’t meant for
each other. Grace is, simply put, an elegant, beautiful woman just
like her name is, while her then fiancé, was everything but. I
spared her the trouble of an unsatisfying marriage and possibly a
heartbreaking divorce by stealing her.”
“Yes, you did, Love. And I’m thankful to you
for that,” Grace says, lifting her wine glass toward Peter.
I feel Adam’s gaze on me. I have little to no
doubt that he’s trying to telepathically persuade me that he wants
to save me from a potentially broken marriage, too. I’m tense, and
too much pressure makes me lose my appetite in a flash. Good
“He’s not a medical doctor,” Eleanor says
when we shake hands. “Just a professor in Anthropology. And I’m a
freshman in the same department.”
“Anthropology sounds interesting,” I mumble,
uncomfortable by the number of eyes staring at me all at once.
Grace sits at the head of the dinner table;
Nikki and Brendie on either side of her, Eleanor is next to Nikki,
I settle between Eleanor and Adam, and his father is at the other
end of the table. Adriana and her husband take their seats together
across, from me.
Between the murmurs of conversation, I hear
Adriana’s daughter is already sleeping in her bedroom. Which makes
me wonder whether Adriana, too, lives here in this house with her
husband and her daughter. The space wouldn’t be an issue, for
sure.
Adriana efficiently serves us the plates. The
beef is melting off my fork, so is the mashed potato with gravy.
Simple dishes turn into heavenly tastes in my mouth. I fill the
little space left on my plate with the delicious Greek salad with
lots of olives and feta cheese and dig in. Adam confirms my
suspicions about Adriana’s accommodation. After Grace had been
diagnosed with cancer, Adriana and her husband had bought the house
together with her father, in order to accommodate the entire
family.
Nikki is the first one to finish her plate.
She takes a large piece of the beef and biscuits for the second
round, while Brendie’s plate remains mostly untouched. She
mindlessly plays with the lettuce with her fork. I can’t help but
notice her delicate wrists and arms and sunken eyes, in comparison
to Nikki’s plumper figure.
Eleanor keeps me entertained about the
shortcomings of studying at the same department where her father
works. At some point, Peter asks me about my career. Before I can
swallow a big chunk of beef, Grace raves about my songs and the
exceptional quality of my voice. Feeling glad he didn’t ask me
about my love life—probably because he must be thinking there’s
something between Adam and me, and he wouldn’t be completely wrong
about it—I explain to him about my brief role in the movie.
“Her role is the best part of the movie,”
Adam adds when I swallow another piece of meat. I should probably
take a break from eating, so that I don’t make a fool of myself
while talking, but the food is addictive.
“You’re exaggerating.” I elbow his ribcage
gently and turn to Peter with an attempt to change the topic to
something other than me. “I’d really love to hear how you and Grace
met. You look great together. A perfect match, I must say. I love
hearing about true love stories. It gives me inspiration for
composing songs.”
“Well, I don’t know whether it’ll inspire any
songs, but here it goes,” Peter says and blows a kiss to Grace.
“Her fiancé was a friend of mine.”
I nearly choke on the potato in my mouth.
“Grace was engaged to another man when you two met for the first
time?” I can manage to ask between coughs. Now Adam’s pursuit of me
makes total sense. It’s in his genes. His existence happened based
on that.
As if Adam has read my thoughts, he chuckles
and pats on my back to ease my coughing. “Yeah, you heard him
right.”
My eyes dart between Adam and his father,
waiting for an explanation. His father continues, “When I saw Grace
with her fiancé for the first time, I knew they weren’t meant for
each other. Grace is, simply put, an elegant, beautiful woman just
like her name is, while her then fiancé, was everything but. I
spared her the trouble of an unsatisfying marriage and possibly a
heartbreaking divorce by stealing her.”
“Yes, you did, Love. And I’m thankful to you
for that,” Grace says, lifting her wine glass toward Peter.
I feel Adam’s gaze on me. I have little to no
doubt that he’s trying to telepathically persuade me that he wants
to save me from a potentially broken marriage, too. I’m tense, and
too much pressure makes me lose my appetite in a flash. Good
Similar Books
