Page 15 of Mysterious Teacher : Arrival
“Why...there’s enough food here to feed...” He almost said an army but caught himself. “...well...a lot more than two delicate ladies such as yourselves.”
April laughed as she cut into her slice of roast beef. “It’s hard to make just a little bit of roast beef. And as for the mashed potatoes...you can never have too much of that. Then you have the string beans and dinner just wouldn’t be complete without a thick and rich gravy.”
Boris licked his lips as he picked up the gravy boat and poured some gravy over his meat and potatoes.
“Did you reach your family?”Sonya said.
“My what?”Boris said, already forgetting his lie. “Oh. My family. Yes. Yes. Thank you so much. They’d grown worried and just knowing that I am safe is very much a relief to them.”
“You have a very interesting accent,” April said, her brow scrunched up as she tried to identify the origin.
With his fork load of roast beef ready to make its way to his mouth, Boris gaped at the inquisitive young woman.Did she figured out what he was?
Chapter 5
A Nice Dinner
––––––––
“YOU HAVE A VERY KEENear,” Boris said for lack of anything smarter to say.
“Well,” April said. “Here in California, a lot of people sound the same. I mean, there’s a way about us here. It’s like nowhere else in America. New York has its way. New Orleans has another. Not only do you not sound Californian; you don’t really sound American at all.”
Boris shoved his fork in his mouth and chewed as he tried to think of an appropriate answer. Did she assume he was from Europe? If so, from what country? Could he get away with telling her that he was from France? Probably not. What about Poland? Maybe. Austria! Yes. That was it. He was from Austria.
Holding his finger up to keep her waiting, Boris chewed on his roast beef then finally said, “I’m from Austria.”
“Oh, my,” April said. “How fascinating. I hear the mountains there are spectacular. My father spent a great amount of time in Austria. What town are you from?”
He sighed in an attempt to hide his growing frustration at the constant questions. “This is really good,” he said with a pressed smile.
Where was he from. He didn’t know Austria all that well. The only city that came to mind was, “Vienna.”
“Oh,” she said with an amused clasping of her hands. She’d put her fork down and was giving him her full attention. “That’s where my father was.”
Of course it was, he thought with dread.
