“Why don’t you sit down and I’ll start dishing up,” I offered with a small smile.
Eli simply nodded as he lowered his large frame into one of the chairs. And soon, the others followed suit. I noticed that as everyone seated themselves, the head of the table and the chair on the opposite side mirroring it were left empty - for Dimitri and myself. A veined fist squeezed my heart tightly at the thought of not sitting next to Dimitri - of getting through this dinner without being able to lean into him.
Henla and I made quick work of ladling the soup into beautiful white hand-made ceramic bowls. While Dimitri had a cupboard filled with good china, he somehow lacked bowls. And so, I had found these at the market and had instantly fallen in love. There was something so very special about hand-made items. The ethic of hard-work and love for one's craft often transferred from the artist’s hands to the creation itself, and these bowls were no different.
Henla was surprisingly efficient, adding garnishing to each bowl with a flourish of elegance. Her blush pink wrap dress accentuated her curves and was a stark contrast to the emerald green dress I wore. My dress was far more subtle, with a boat neckline, capped sleeves, and a wide skirt that seemed to puff out, resting just above my knee. It was the kind of dress my mother would have approved of.
The problem was I felt so out of my depth at this dinner, because I couldn’t simply act as I normally would around my mothers people, because the ones sitting at the table here knew exactly what I was. But I couldn’t simply act like a Witch either, because I was also representing Dimitri.
It was so damn confusing.
Madame Elise was the last to arrive, and although I recognized her from the burlesque club, here she wore far less makeup and seemed younger somehow. Perhaps it was the very fact that without the girls around her to command she had lost her air of authority, and actually few could boast such authority next to Dimitri. Her red hair was pulled back in a low chignon and she wore a white dress that was almost virginal in comparison to her line of work.
Henla served Dimitri first, bending low in a way that offered him an eyeful of her prettily pushed-up cleavage. It mollified me only slightly that Dimitri looked on in bored indifference.
His face hardened when he took in the dish before him, and I watched his knuckles turn white as he clenched his fist around his spoon. That was the only indication I received that Dimitri wasn’t happy with what I had made - the presentation - all of it.
I should have called the chef.
The conversation was strained - the table was not at all filled with the kind of joy I had experienced from my vision. In fact, Ravi and Stepen kept casting furtive glances in Dimitri’s direction to see if he was eating the soup.
But he ate it without complaint - at least not verbally.
Ravi’s date was introduced as Nina, and while her hands were on Ravi’s thigh, her gaze was focussed on Dimitri. She laughed whenever he said something that could be construed as remotely funny. When I joined in with the conversation, she diverted the conversation back towards her - in Russian. And from the small bits I managed to understand, I became painfully aware that Nina and Dimitri were childhood friends - there was a distinct familiarity there that had me imagining the creation of a sour jar with her name on it.
She tilted her head as she took in what Dimitri said, her lashes fluttered seductively, and it was all I could do to not get up and drench her and her pretty golden dress in tomato soup. Worse still, she ate the soup and complimented me, and I was infuriated that this woman would reap the benefits of the Magick I had bestowed on the meal - would thrive off of it.
I spoke to Madame Elise for the rest of the evening and found her to be refined and sophisticated. She may even be a possible ally - I would have to check my cards to determine the truth of everything.
Ravi and Stepen were gentlemen, and Ravi’s lack of flirting towards me did not go unnoticed - I couldn’t tell if it was due to Dimitri, or if it was because Nina sat beside him.
Everyone complimented the food, and by the time Henla brought out the coffee and beignets, the knot in my chest began to ease a little, my heart pumping at a rate that was far steadier than it had been for the duration of the dinner. The conversation no longer trickled, stalling in a stop-start momentum, but instead flowed easily, and for a moment I did not feel like the dinner was a complete failure.
But Dimitri drank his coffee quickly before he pushed his chair back and stood to his full height. Stepen and Ravi followed suit, causing dread to weigh me down in the pit of my stomach.
Dimitri walked towards the library and I sat there in stunned silence as I heard the tell-tale clinking sounds of whiskey being offered and poured. It was something my father would have done, but the difference was my mother was far more adept at holding court than I would ever be.
“Shall we discuss literature?”
I saw in the furrow of Madame Elise’s brow that she was throwing me a lifeline - an opening to discuss something among us. Because after all, isn’t that what I should be doing? Engaging and directing the conversation to something that all of us could enjoy.