Page 20 of Mysterious Teacher : Arrival
As Igor helped himself to a second serving, and broke the remaining chunk of bread in two, Sonya tried to catch April’s gaze. Did the young woman see the potential danger of these men?
“I have another loaf of bread warming in the oven,” April told Igor. “Would you like some more?”
Through a feral snarl, he chomped down on his food and shook his head.
Sonya bit down on a worried smile. April was playing the perfect little hostess, ensuring that her guests had everything they needed. She seemed completely oblivious to the growing tension in the room.
“April,” Sonya said with forced calm. “Could you pass me that last piece of bread, please?”
“Sure,” April said.
As the young woman handed the piece of bread to her, Sonya caught her gaze and made a slight gesture with her head, hoping April would understand the need for her to get out of the room.
“Why do you not eat?”Igor growled suddenly.
Sonya looked down at her untouched plate, then glanced at April’s plate. Despite playing the polite hostess, she had barely touched her food either.
Igor threw his fork on the table with a clatter. “What’s wrong with this food? Why you do not eat?”
“It’s good,” Boris said, his mouth full. “The food is good, Igor.”
“Shut up,” Igor said as he slapped Boris’s fork out of his hand. “They’ve poisoned the food.”
“What?”April said, clearly shocked and appalled at the notion.
“You eat nothing,” Igor shouted. “Why you don’t eat your food?”
“My good sir,” April said with the utmost calm and serenity. “It would simply be impolite of me as your hostess to eat before you’ve had your fill. Nay, it would be downright rude of me. You are my guests, unexpected as you were. Clearly you’ve not eaten for days. Imagine the selfishness of my gesture were I to eat the food on my plate only to not have enough of this roast to fill your very empty bellies.”
Boris chuckled through a grunt. “The girl is right, Igor. I’m ready to fill my plate again and there’s almost nothing left of that roast.”
“Shut up,” Igor snapped.
“Besides,” April added. “I’m a nibbler.”
Frowning, Igor glared at her. “Nibbler? What’s that?”
“I have the incorrigible habit of nibbling while cooking. Without exaggeration, I took at least five bites of that roast while checking to see if it was cooked to my liking. I also ate a large spoonful of those mashed potatoes. I have no doubt that my hunger is far less important then yours.”
Igor turned his angry eyes to Sonya. “What about you? Why don’t you eat?”
Sonya froze.
“Yeah,” Boris said, finally joining in on Igor’s suspicions. “Why aren’t you eating?”
Shaking off the surprise of the accusation, Sonya smiled and looked down at her plate. “I didn’t want to bring it up...” She glanced apologetically at April. “I didn’t want to make my hostess and new pupil uncomfortable, but...”
“Is there something wrong with your meal, Sonya?”April said, genuinely distraught.
“I should have mentioned it earlier,” Sonya said with a shake of her head. “Thing is, I don’t eat meat.”
“Oh, Sonya,” April gasped. “You should have told me sooner. I would have been happy to prepare something else for you.”
“I didn’t want to trouble you,” Sonya said.
April brought her open palms to her cheeks. “I’m so embarrassed. I didn’t even think to ask you what you wanted for dinner. I just assumed that my roast would do the trick.”
“Don’t fret over it, April,” Sonya said. She looked at her young hostess and was so impressed by her maturity and composure. “Your roast looks delicious, and this is all my fault.”
