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☾ 𝑇𝐻𝑅𝐸𝐸
Mr Elsner had an indubitable way of speaking. No one knew it or would ever dare mentioning it in fears of besmirching his respectable reputation. But he was sure that there was always a latent threat from those beneath board. He felt like they would rise against him at an imaginable moment. In thinking it, he was rather big-headed. Perhaps no one had told him that complacency was a sure sign of a person who shouldn't be trusted. Then again, it seemed that Anna had never been taught that either.
He smiled down at her, his face kind like an old librarian smiling down at a young girl with pig tails and bright, curious eyes. He was younger than Robert, she noticed, his cinnamon coloured hair not yet close to greying, but older than the women in the dining hall, as his eyes showed signs of ageing, as the smooth skin creased as he smiled. Mr Elsner nodded politely, beckoning her to follow as he moved down the walkway, opposite to the way that Robert had been taken.
Anna looked nervously between the smiling man and the empty space where Robert had stood. They had been separated, and she couldn't help but wonder why. She felt alone and unsure of what to do.
Mr Elsner turned back to her. "You look like you haven't eaten. We can get you both a plate."
Anna nodded, before stepping forward cautiously. The idea of food warmed her stomach despite having consumed half a portion of fish and chips only half and hour ago. Although they had both been mentioned, Robert didn't appear again from around the corner and Anna was instead walking back toward the dining hall alone behind the man.
He must have thought she was an upstairs passanger, surely, she thought. Why else would he be leading her to a plate of food and smiling to her with such an air of cordiality? But that couldn't be true. She was wearing tatters after all, and her face was thick with muck. Mr Elsner also seemed too prosperous to be fooled by a girl like her. He wore a handsome blazer and a smart kind of hat that she couldn't even name.
They entered the dining hall, weaving through the different tables that she had looked at not so long ago. Her hands trailed across the fabric that coated them, the expensive stitching feeling smooth to her touch. Mr Elsner stopped abruptly, turning to gesture at a long table covered every inch by plates of food.
There were plates that held strange slobs of foods that she had never seen before, plates of eggs still steaming with heat and plates of bacon piled so high that they could topple down any moment. Her mouth was watering again, the scent it all overcoming her control.
"Take what you like, please," the man insisted, nudging his hands toward the table.
