#20

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TWENTY

''Careful how you play your cards when you have a queen in your hands.' - Unknown

I've never been good at making choices – especially when it comes to food and the platter in front of us is extraordinary. A stuffed turkey sits in front of me, dressed at the bottom with all the trimmings you'd find in a typical roast dinner. There's a smell of garlic salmon to my right and I watch as one of the girls takes a piece of steak from a hot plate the butler brings to her. I reach for the gravy and pour it over my mountain of food until the plate is swimming in it.

"I have no idea what that is but are your potatoes supposed to be floating?"

Amberley sits across from me but I can barely make her out over the large bird resting between us. I can just about see her dressed in a navy blue dress, her hair pinned and styled into a low bun that sits on her shoulders. The dining room is massive for our small table of guests, but the array of food seems to have made up for the gaping space that surrounds us.

I hide my smile and look down at my plate. "You've not had gravy before?"

"I'm sure I've had it, we must call it something else – back at home I mean, everything is different here."

"I can imagine,"

"The girls have been talking," Amberley makes conversation, glancing to the right of her. Henna sits beside her but hasn't so much as spared her a glance all evening. I can tell from the way Amberley looks at her that it bothers her more than it should.

"About what?" I ask, shoving the floating potato into my mouth.

"What we are doing here,"

"I've been wondering the same thing," I tell her truthfully.

"I heard it's something to do with showing how we could manage staff," Sophia interrupts, placing her cutlery down onto her plate on Amberley's right.

Amberley shifts in her seat, almost as if the idea makes her uncomfortable, "oh?"

"I heard we're visiting a children's ward not far from here," Henna turns to face us, her blonde eyebrow-raising at the mountain of food on my plate compared to the measly carrot and broccoli mix she has got on hers. I can't help but ponder the real reason she's a bitch is due to the lack of protein in her diet. A piece of turkey might gain her a personality trait.

"Oh, I love kids!" Sophia squeals.

I have no idea where any of the girls hear any of this stuff, but I mull over her words. "What hospital?"

Henna stabs her fork into her carrot, "I suppose we will have to find out, won't we, Princess?" she draws her fork to her mouth and bites down on her carrot with a smirk.

Lord tell me why does she feel as if she needs to turn everything into a snarky remark?

Amberley's mouth opens as if to speak when the door bursts open and Rubella comes strutting into the room, a man behind her carrying what appears to be a projector. The room falls silent as we watch Rubella walk to the head of the table and place her iPad on the surface. The man behind her begins to set up a projector and it flickers to life shortly afterwards.

"Evening, ladies. I hope your meal has found you well."

There is a murmur across the room and we all subtly shift in our seats to see what appears on the projector.

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