193 A Family Meal

"Dinner is ready now, come sit down." She led them over to the grand dinning table. Once again a large spread of foods had been prepared for the small group of four.

Elle only took a small plate of food to start but at his mother's invitation she began freely pilling more and more food on.

"It's really delicious Mrs. Hayes." Elle complimented. "I'm surprised Adam hasn't complained about my cooking if this is how you feed him at home."

Mrs. Hayes laughed at the compliment. "You must have not been eating well because of the project." She noted. "Eat more."

"How is the project going?" Adam's father chimed in.

"It's going well." Adam replied dryly.

"Filming will be over soon." Elle added. "It's going very smoothly."

And with that it seemed Elle and Mr. Hayes had found a common interest. They delved into a steady conversation, talking back and forth about the project and their work. Adam chimed in every so often only to echo Elle's good work on the project.

"They've switched filming locations, right?"

"Yes, they're filming in a small town just outside the city. The shooting will wrap up there soon and then they'll move to the final location by the sea."

"Who picked the locations?"

"The staff members narrowed down the possible locations and then Adam and I went to each one to pick for ourselves."

"I heard you barely attend the filming." Mr. Hayes said to Adam, bringing him back into the conversation.

"I go from time to time but it's rare and I never stay long." Adam agreed. "Elle has been so good as to take charge of every aspect of this project. She attends the set at least once a week. With her there I don't need to busy myself. I can rest easily knowing she's on top of everything."

"Good, good." Mr. Hayes nodded his approval while Elle focused on her plate and tried to hide the faint blush that coloured her cheeks from being praised so well.

"Enough about work." Adam's mother chided. "Tell me more about yourself Elle."

"I'm pretty boring." Elle said with a shy laugh. "There's really not much to say."

"You're the Shaw family's daughter, right? The one's who own Tae."

"That's right."

"What is your family like? Do you have any siblings?"

"Ah," Elle hesitated. She wasn't sure how to answer such a question.

Adam's hand suddenly held her own under the table. "She has a half sibling but they're not particularly close." He answered for her.

"I see." Mrs. Hayes said, sensing the mood. "And what about favourite foods? I only cooked things I know Adam likes but you should tell me what your favourites are. I will cook them next time."

"It's no trouble at all. It's easier if you tell me now than for me find out for myself." Mrs. Hayes encouraged.

"I like seafood quite a bit. I like crab and shrimp." Elle offered.

"She likes spicy food but nothing too hot." Adam added without looking up from his plate.

Mrs. Hayes nodded intently, making a mental note of it all. Once they had finished eating they cleared the dishes and Mrs. Hayes hurried back into the kitchen to bring out dessert. While she was gone Elle looked around the dinning room.

It was a large room and it was decorated ornately but it was also quite cozy. It was a different feeling to sit at a big table with a small group and eat until she was full without restraint. It was a feeling she wasn't used to.

Her family had never eaten together. Not since her mother passed away at least. Her father was busy and so she always ate without him. Once he got remarried Elle didn't want to be around them and purposely went out of her way to eat her meals in her own room.

Honestly Elle had never thought anything of it. She ate out with Adam and her friends of course, and she had been to plenty of crowded work dinners, but this was the first time in many, many years that she had a meal as a family.

"Is something wrong?" Adam whispered, noticing that her gaze had wandered far away.

"Nothing's wrong." Elle said. "I just realized that I like it a lot."

Adam gave her a warm smile. "Good."

Mrs. Hayes was quickly back with dessert. They ate enough that Elle was quite sure she wouldn't be hungry for days. Even Adam seemed stuffed and comfortably leaned back in his chair.

Mrs. Hayes stood again and began collecting the dishes.

"Let me help you clean up." Elle offered, as she began collecting the rest of the dishes.

"Here, I'll take it." Adam said, reaching to take the dishes from her but his mother smacked his hand away.

"Leave me and Elle to it. Why don't you go have a drink with your father in his study."

"I need to drive tonight." Adam said with a frown.

"I'll drive us back. You should go with your father." Elle encouraged.

He gave her a look as if to ask 'are you sure?'.

"I'll take good care of Elle." His mother snapped. "Leave us girls to chat comfortably. Go keep your father company."

So Adam followed his father up to the study while Elle followed Mrs. Hayes to the kitchen. They each set down a stack of dishes on the counter next to the sick before Mrs. Hayes took Elle by the hand.

"Follow me." She said as she led Elle towards the back of the house.

"Shouldn't I quickly help in the kitchen?"

"The staff will take care of the cleaning, you don't need to worry about that." His mother insisted. "While the men talk we should take our opportunity to as well. Come take a stroll in the back garden with me."

So Elle followed Mrs. Hayes out through the back door and into the night air, feeling uncertain about what sort of conversation was about to occur.