"I didn't think of inviting your sisters, to be honest." She wasn't being honest. But Alyssa wanted this first meeting to herself, to do her own judgement of the situation.
Alyssa leaned forward and began pouring the tea into the cups, listening to her daughter's swift excuse. She pressed her lips together in an odd, almost condescending smile that was her trademark. "Incidentally, how long, may I ask, have you two... known each other?" She took a drink of her tea, keeping eyes on her daughter in the meantime, barely twitching an eyebrow at her jumping to answer for her companion. She set the cup back on the saucer.
"Well, Mr. Garrettson," she continued, her eyes landing on the lanky man. "Do you enjoy being a potioneer?" An innocent question, right? She was capable of reasonable questions. For now.
The man almost gave his wife an accusing look when she declared she hadn't thought of inviting Shelley and Clarice. She had thought of it, but it was him who insisted it was only the four of them. But he said nothing. He reached forward and plucked the lid off of a small silver dish, inside freshly cut, yellow lemon wedges. They had been sure to prepare for anything. He, himself, took his cup and saucer and sat back in his chair, flitting his eyes slowly between the two of them. |