Page 51 of Safer Alone
After the conversation regarding Arthur’s work had died down, we all stand up and make our way toward the dining room. Taking up center stage is a large glass table, surrounded with ten seats. Maggie wanders straight past, walking through a swinging door. No doubt toward the kitchen; my suspicion proved correct when she returns with a large crockpot in hand. I can smell seafood wafting through the air.
“That smells delicious, Maggie,” I say as she places the pot down in the middle of the perfectly-set dining table.
“Did you make my favorite, Mom?” Elliot appears to be nearly bouncing in his seat, he lifts up slightly trying to look into the crockpot.
“Of course I did. Spaghetti marinara for my boy” She takes her seat to the right hand side of Arthur who has positioned himself at the head of the dining table. Elliot pulls out the seat two down from his father, and scooches it in for me once I am in place. He then sits himself on my right, in between his Father and me, and across from his mother.
Now that we are all sitting, I take notice of the place settings. White fabric placemats with two forks and two knives laid out on either side of the black, oval shaped bowls. A fabric serviette folded into a triangle sat underneath the bowl.
Toward the top of the placemat I see that we have new wine glasses. This time filled with a blood red liquid. I’m not a wine connoisseur myself so I’m not sure what it could be. Only that it is red wine. Thankfully I catch sight of the water jug, sitting on my side of the crockpot. I reach out and grasp it, pouring it to fill my water glass. I was getting thirsty, and this I could drink, without worry of side effects.
When I have filled my glass, I turn towards Elliot “Would you like some water, Elliot?”
“That would be great. Thanks, baby”
He moves his glass closer to me, making my job of pouring easier. When I am finished with my task, he collects it. Looking at his face I see him wink at me.
It reminded me of the game we played at the airport yesterday. Was it really only one day ago? So much has happened since then. It was the first time he had called me baby; it was for show though. However today he had used another term of endearment, babe, and we were at home by ourselves. Should I call him something too? Does he want me to? I will wait and see if a suitable moment arises and use a term that comes to mind then.
Elliot stands up and scooped out a large serving of marinara for everyone; he dishes his own helping out last.
“Bon appétit” Arthur says. Lifting his wine glass up toward the midpoint of our places at the table. Maggie and Elliot quickly follow suit. I raise my own too, albeit a few seconds after everyone else and we all touch glasses. Hearing a resounding clink, we all drink some wine before placing our glasses down. It tasted like a Cabernet Sauvignon to me. It is quite a lovely drop.
We all eat our meal in relative silence, everyone too busy forking in mouthfuls of pasta and delicious seafood. I am enjoying the spaghetti very much. Unlike a lot of restaurants who charge top dollar and only provide a couple of pieces of seafood, Maggie didn’t skimp at all. There are good amounts of everything. I enjoy mouthfuls of fish, prawns, scallops, mussels, octopus and something else that is scrumptious. The tomato sauce has hints of many herbs, basil and garlic too. It was so flavorsome. The pasta itself was cooked al dente, just the way I liked it. I think to myself even a chef like Liam would be impressed with this meal.
I make sure to leave a couple of mouthfuls in my bowl, as a sign of respect, something my grandmother instilled in me in my early teens. When I place my fork down, I look over to Elliot and I see that he has started to slow down with his meal.
“Looks as though you loved it, babe” I say to Elliot. Mission accomplished. Term of endearment spoken.
He smiles at me, clearly happy with my chosen word, and drops his fork seeking out my hand.
“I certainly did. How about you, baby?” He gives me a small wink.
“It was delicious” I reply. Then turning towards Maggie and Arthur who are watching us with small smiles worn on their faces. “You are a wonderful cook Maggie. It was very tasty, thank you.”
I look to both of them as I speak. Maggie is the one to reply.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Angela. This has been one of our boy’s favorite meals since he was a young lad. I try and cook it for him when he comes to visit us.”
We all sit at the dinner table for a while longer. Elliot is engrossed in a conversation with his father, something to do about sports. Since I’m not a fan of any type of sport myself, I tune out. Nodding occasionally and smiling when they do. All the while hoping they don’t ask me a question, knowing full well that I won’t be able to answer.
Sometime during this conversation Maggie had excused herself to the kitchen, taking all of the dirty dishes with her. She returned a short time later with a large silver tray, topped with a teapot and four teacups, all of which were on matching saucers. As she places mine down on the table in front of me I lift it to have a good look at it. It has a beautiful design, with dusty pink roses intertwined with a vine, the handle was very small, only large enough to allow one finger through. It was also rimmed in gold. The matching saucer was also beautiful and in immaculate condition. I know that they are older, antiques even and marveled at how they still looked like new.
We enjoy a cup of tea before Elliot announces the lateness of the hour and advises that we should be heading off. I am extremely glad to hear him speak up because I am hoping for some alone time with him before I go to sleep tonight.
After we say our goodbyes, during which Elliot went into his father’s office for a short time, I wonder what is going on behind those closed doors. We exit the home and walk to the car. Price is waiting for us. I do hope he hasn’t been waiting for us here all this time. I can’t help myself. I just have to ask.
“Hey Price. You haven’t been waiting for us this whole time. Have you?”
He looks surprised at my question, looking to Elliot first he then turns back to me and replies.
“Yes, I have, Miss White. I have been keeping myself busy by watching Netflix on my iPad”
He opens up my door for me and I slide in. Poor man, had to wait here for us outside while we were inside eating marinara. Has he eaten?
Once we are both comfortable in the back seat of the Mercedes, Price begins the short drive home.
“Mom and Dad like you. You know?”
