Sounds of Fire

9

Still wet from a shower, Anatolia flicked her hair off her shoulders to keep water from getting onto her breakfast. The house had an air of relaxation since the Prentiss incident was resolved, for the time, and Anatolia didn't feel an ounce of worry. She stuffed a handful of berries into her mouth and leaned back in her chair, watching Derek take a bite out of his sausage. He followed the bite with a forkful of eggs.

"Where is Lady Grace?" he asked, after swallowing his mouthful.

"Resting still," Anatolia answered, popping more berries into her mouth. "I assume. She hadn't slept for a few days so I don't blame her."

"What about the firm? We should probably start physically going in."

Anatolia shrugged. "Lady Grace hired a few more people and they're taking care of things for now."

"She told you that?"

"Yes, because I asked."

Derek smirked. "Were there inappropriate actions shared that made her spill?"

"Oh, shut up." Anatolia finished off her berries and started on her toast. "It's not like that."

He chuckled. "What I saw at the museum tells me that it's exactly like that."

Putting down what was left of her toast, Anatolia glared. "Talk about that again and I'm going to jump across this table and-"

"What are you two talking about?" Lady Grace padded into the dining room, freshly showered and adorned with a pretty sundress, scratching her lower back with an arm bent behind her. Nan came in a moment later with a steaming plate of waffles and yogurt as a side, placing the breakfast where Lady Grace sat down.

Derek stuffed his mouth with more egg while Anatolia nibbled on what was left of her toast until Nan went back to the kitchen. "Nothing," she said.

"I think I can assume it wasn't nothing," Lady Grace said, dribbling syrup onto her waffles, "but I won't ask anything more." She looked at Anatolia from under her lashes, licking her lips before putting a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth.

Anatolia had no idea what the look meant.

"We'll go back into the offices tomorrow, Derek," Lady Grace said. "Since you want to know."

Derek's face went ashen. Once again, he was caught talking crudely, and he didn't like it. He coughed around his food and excused himself from the table with a grunt, hustling out of the dining room without taking his plate with him. Anatolia pushed her plate away, noticing the little smile on Lady Grace's face.

"He gets mortified when you hear him talking," Anatolia said. "Why would you do that?"

Lady Grace started on her waffles. "Because he wanted to know." Anatolia stared. Lady Grace sighed. "I can't just pretend I don't hear him talking about us like we're his favorite show. I hate it."

"I'm sorry. He knows about us, and, no, I didn't tell him. He just knows. I can't stop him from being excited about it."

That grabbed Lady Grace's interest. "He's excited?"

"Very. He likes the idea of you and me." Anatolia shook her head. "Not like that, but he likes us together. Happy. Or at least he likes me happy. You're roped into that, so I suppose he wants to see you happy too."

"Oh." Relaxing, Lady Grace licked a glob of syrup off the pad of her thumb. Now she felt bad for having fun at Derek's expense. "Then I should probably apologize for making him feel embarrassed."