The Hurt Game

❧ twenty-six

Quietly I stirred my fork around in my food. My head was bowed as I watched the fried tomatoes being pushed, watching it topple over or bump against the other. My bottom lip was stuck between my teeth, preventing me from smiling too much. My heart was full with happiness as it steadily pumped in my chest.

My appetite was as good as gone, slowly coming back after having snacked on fries for the largest part of the afternoon. And even after that, I somehow managed to drink a smoothie. With the amount of food already in my system, I knew I wasn't going to have any appetite in the next two or three hours yet I couldn't let down Daniela. Neither could I tell my father why I didn't have a desire for food around dinner time.

I placed my chin in the palm of my hand while taking a bite of a tomato and pasta. The flavours burst in my mouth and it was delicious, but I couldn't find to stomach the full plate.

Daniela walked into the kitchen with her plate in her hands. My father didn't like her dining with us, in the same room. "She works here. Staff doesn't eat with their boss," were the words my father would speak every time I had asked him about it. It was ridiculous.

"How do you like the food, sir?" Daniela asked him.

"It's good," he replied, never looking up from the newspaper. He read two papers every day, one at breakfast and one at dinner. It was the only times I might be seeing him and he still wouldn't pay much attention to me.

"Pleased to hear," she said before directing her gaze to me. Her eyes flickered towards my almost full plate and I showed her a sheepish smile.

"I'm not having much of an appetite, but it is delicious," I explained to her.

She nodded her head. "You're feeling alright?"

"Oh, yeah, perfectly fine." The smile on my face grew and Daniela smirked at me slightly before nodding her head. She knew I had been out with Royden. She must assume some things.

"If you're feeling fine, then you can finish your plate," my father interjected. He was looking at me with that stern and blank face he always wore.

"I'm just not that hungry. I will save some for later if I get hungry," I said. I stuck a little piece of ham on my fork and placed it in my mouth.

"Why aren't you hungry? Have you eaten something in the afternoon? Eaten too much?"

My eyebrows furrowed into a frown and my eyes flickered towards Daniela. She busied herself with cleaning some dishes, keeping out of my conversation with my father. I turned my eyes back on him and shrugged my shoulders a little.

"I only had a smoothie," I lied. I couldn't tell him the complete truth and not expect some kind of punishment. "That's all. Maybe it filled me more than normal."

"You shouldn't have had that smoothie. You should have thought about it, Waverly. Use your brains and don't be stupid."

"Sir," Daniela cut in before I could say a word or even think of a response. She turned around to face him, holding a towel in her hands. "It is no problem at all. She couldn't have known and it can be heated later easily."

"Daniela, don't interfere. Stay out of my business." My father warned her with a stern look. She kept her head lifted, her nostrils flared even a little, but she didn't respond.

A gentle sigh escaped my lips. My appetite already barely there, was completely gone by now. I shoved my plate ahead of me, placed my fork on the plate. It gathered my father's attention back to me.

"Finish that plate, Waverly. Show some damned gratitude," he snapped at me.

"I am grateful, dad," I said quietly.