A Room With A View

Chapter Twenty - Elena

September 15th, Friday

Elena clenched her fork with an iron fist. She dragged her lips across her teeth in a smile and nodded at whatever Neil had just said. Gordon was seated on her left, and he was still chewing his food. No...masticating his food. Chewing was too simple a word. Gordon's jaw was working away at a sliver of arepa as if he could grind the thing into flour.

Joshua laughed. Elena laughed too, looking wildly around to see who had told the joke. Clearly it had been Neil, he was still in throes of some story that included a lawyer, a doctor, and, surprisingly, a pheasant. Elena tried to focus in on this new joke that she was sure would kill with her ladies' book club, but she couldn't get the sound of Gordon's gnashing teeth out of her ear.

Elena turned to face him, hoping that Gordon was almost done with his meal. She had been brought up not to clear the plates until the last person at the table had finished eating. Everyone else had finished twenty minutes ago. The twins had even left the table, and were huddled beneath a blanket fort plotting the take down of their larger-than-life FAO Schwartz giraffe. The giraffe had been a gift from her sister. More for its sheer obtrusive size than any display of sisterly love.

A knife skittered across a china plate. Elena flinched involuntarily, smacking her fork against her own plate. The room went silent.

"You okay?" Joshua asked. All three were now staring at her over the floral centerpiece she had so carefully arranged just that afternoon. Even Jeremiah and Isaac had gone quiet.

"Yep, just a wee headache." Elena glanced at Gordon's plate. He was slicing one bite of arepa into three.

"Can I get you an Advil lass for your wee headache?" Joshua asked in a mock Scottish accent.

Elena gave him a look. "That's alright. I'll just get one myself. If you'll excuse me." She picked up her plate and silverware and brought it all into the kitchen, hoping to lead the way for the rest of the table.

"More wine?" She heard Joshua ask.

Elena closed her eyes. Thank you. Joshua got up from the table and laid his dinnerware in the sink. He gave Elena a quick kiss and picked up the opened bottle of red wine.

"Dinner was great, El. Truly." He returned to the table and refreshed everyone's glasses, leaving Elena beaming in the kitchen.

"It was, wasn't it," she whispered happily. Gordon's knife scratched the plate again, cutting through her mood.

She liked Gordon, she really did. It's just that he was...particular. He had these little idiosyncrasies that made Elena thankful he wasn't the one related to her. One such quirk was the way he ate. It was like a bird and a cow all mixed up in one. Every bite needed to be smaller than the size of one tooth, yet he would chew that one bite until it just disintegrated into his gums. Elena didn't know how there could be any nutrition left to keep his body looking the way that it did.

"Well I don't know how I could possibly eat any more," Gordon said at last. He stood from the table and brought his plate to the sink, Neil close behind.

"Truly tremendous," Gordon continued. His rubbed his stomach in emphasis.

Elena smiled. "Well I hope you're not too full for dessert!"

That was the magic word. The twins leapt out from their blanket fort and raced into the kitchen, wrapping their small arms around Elena's legs. She patted their heads and gritted her teeth against the pain of unclipped fingernails digging into her thighs.

Gordon quirked an eyebrow. "I could be persuaded."

"He's never passed up a dessert," Neil said.