Action (DNF)

Chapter 54: Casserole and Salad

Man... What entertaining chapter names...
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Clay POV.

I grabbed the wine and the chocolate from the bedroom, making sure both were in good condition before heading back towards the kitchen, just in time to hear George’s Mom announce, “And this is dinner! Everyone to the table please so I can serve it.”

Everyone in the room began following her instruction, with George’s brother-in-law trailing behind his mother. The other’s in the room all filed over to the table, with the adults grabbing their drinks and taking a final few sips before reaching the table, all except George who just walked with a glass of water. I set the wine and chocolate on the counter before joining them.

The table had enough seats for eight people, one for each of us when including the kids. I made sure that I had the seat right beside George, and left a singular spot on my right. The brunette was sitting next to the head of the table, and in that spot was his mother. I noticed how George seemed awkward about the seating arrangement but he didn’t say anything.

Once all of the adults had sat down we noticed that the two children were still watching the movie on the couch. Their father looked over at them and in a loud voice told them to come and sit with us. “Pause that movie you two,” he had instructed. “You can watch it again after dinner but you will be sitting with us while we eat.”

Both Liam and Leah groaned as the boy pressed pause and they both stood up, however their moods changed when they noticed one of the free spots at the table was beside me. Leah shoved her brother lightly before running over to the spot and settling into it, while I managed to hide a smile.

Her brother stayed pouting in his spot at the loss of his seat. Even when his mother called over to him to join us at the table he continued to pout. I couldn’t help but feel somewhat bad, so as his sister sat kicking her legs back and forth beside me I talked to the boy. “Tomorrow for breakfast you could sit with me instead.” I reassured the boy.

“For real?” He asked in response, his eyes lighting up as he looked over at me. I simply nodded and he grinned widely before hurrying over to his mother. Once he’d gotten settled down we all looked over to George’s mother at the head of the table and she smiled at all of us.

“Wow,” she grinned. “This is the first time that Richard and I have seen both of you together for years.” She said, addressing George and Sarah. “We’ve missed you both so much, and we are so grateful that you were able to come and visit us.” She then looked over at myself for a moment before her gaze shifted again. “And we’ve also come to gain new family in that time.”

“My beautiful daughter has gotten married to one of the nicest men I’ve met, and she’s had two perfect children of her own.” The woman smiled fondly at each of her grandchildren who were watching her with wide eyes. “And George, he’s met Clay, who I’m certain will make a fine addition to our family, if he decides to, of course.”

Everyone looked over at me as she said that, all besides George whose gaze was lowered onto the table in front of him. It seemed as if he was attempting to block out his mother’s words, and was distracting himself by tracing the patterns in the wooden table in front of him. None of his family noticed this though.

“Anyway, I’m going on a rant now.” George’s mother allowed herself to chuckle. “I guess I just wanted to say that I am happy that we are all finally able to see each other again after all this time. I hope that it can stay this way for the future. But this is the dinner that myself and Sarah’s lovely husband Mike cooked for you all.”

She looked over at her son-in-law for him to explain what it was and he stood up to do exactly that. “It’s a spinach pasta casserole, along with a chicken, bacon, and lettuce salad with spicy mayo sauce.” He explained. “We’ve also got some chocolate mud cake for dessert, based on requests from my children. So I hope you all enjoy.”

After saying that people began to serve themselves, and I served myself a decent sized portion of both the salad and the casserole. I waited until everyone else had plated up their own food before I started eating, noting the way that George was sitting quietly with his gaze lowered while he waited for everyone else to begin eating.

Chatter quickly began among the group, with everyone talking with one another, and quite a few members of George’s family wanting to talk to me and ask me questions about my career, most of which I either dodged or ignored. The entire time though, I was focused on the brunette beside me, who was slowly eating his own food without any interactions with the others.

I didn’t say anything to him, but the entire time I ate I watched him from the corner of my eye, all while being asked questions from his family. Even though neither of us exchanged a word for at least twenty minutes, it was clear he knew I was watching him, and that I was worried.

His brother-in-law and father were wanting to know whether I knew specific sports players, or a certain ‘undiscovered’ actor or songwriter. His sister was interested in listening to any celebrity gossip I’d overheard. The two children just wanted to know what kind of awesome movies were coming out in the next few months.

The only person who was not asking me anything completely random, besides George himself, was his mother. I didn’t want to be caught staring at her and so I kept my gaze averted, but she seemed shockingly similar to how George did. Her gaze was moving around the table, surveying everyone like a leader instead of downcast, but aside from that it was very similar.

She was making next to no comments as she ate her own food, instead watching everyone else more than eating, and I wasn’t sure whether it was because she was trying to keep up with the conversation, or wanting to see if we enjoyed her cooking. However a certain, indescribable harshness seemed to be directed at her son sitting to her right.

I didn’t know what the origin of this harshness was, but it was definitely there. Maybe it was because of the refusal to look at him when looking over the group, or the way an indescribable expression would appear on her face whenever anyone else mentioned him. Either way, it was easy to tell what she thought of her only son.

The only question was why she was acting like this. Perhaps she had some deep rooted dislike of her son, after all she has barely talked to him or I since we’ve been here, other than to tell us where we were staying. Or maybe she noticed her son's reluctance towards her because of the worries he’d confessed to me, and was mirroring his emotions. Who knows.

My eyes narrowed in her direction, but it didn’t stay like that for long as another question was asked of me. I went to answer, but before I got the chance the sounds of chair legs scraping against the floor caught my attention. Instead of responding to what Sarah was about to ask of me I looked to see George standing up.

“I’m feeling quite tired from the drive.” He stated to the group, avoiding everyone’s gaze as he grabbed his now empty plate from the table. “I’m not feeling all too hungry and so I’m going to go lie down.” Then he barely allowed himself to look at his mother and brother-in-law. “Dinner was great though, I’ll have to have some more sometime. Thanks Mum and Mike.”

Then his gaze dropped back down again and he began walking off. “Goodnight all of you.” He said to the group before he left. “I’m sorry that tonight's talk will be cut short, but I’ll see you in the morning.” And then he left, after taking his plate to the kitchen of course. The whole group, including the two small children, stayed silent until he left.

I wanted to go and follow after him immediately, to go and make sure that my boyfriend was feeling okay. But I didn’t. I was only halfway through my plate of food after all, and I didn’t want everyone to think I was following after him to make out or something, and so I quietly went to finish off my food.
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1503 words

Who here thinks George's sister is going to hit on Clay?