Chapter 18
The humming sounds of a woman
singing along with the clatter of dishes, felt akin to Julian. In the
many years he had spent living with Orion, he had never seen guests
and much less any other women than Lucia or the cleaning ladies in
the house. For some unexplainable reason, Orion didn't like to have
women around; he tolerated their presence, but kept distance from
them.
A singing girl, carelessly
placing the china on the table could prove too much for his lover's
patience. Julian finished dressing and hurried to the dining room to
stop her.
“Keep it quiet, will you?”
he asked Paula. “Mr. Koiranos dislikes noises.”
“All right. I'm finished,”
she shrugged and contemplated the table. “Lucia told me to use this
service. Is it all right?”
“I guess so,” answered
Julian, watching the unknown delicate china. “Do you need help in
the kitchen?”
“No, thanks. Everything is
under control. You shouldn't trouble yourself,” she said and
quickly vanished into the service area.
Still unease, Julian
contemplated the table set with three places and wondered about the
odd disposition. The two heads of the table were taken and there was
one place to the right of one of them. He imagined that would be
Orion's and his places. His hand went automatically to his neck and
briefly touched the lion cave figurine hidden under his turtleneck
dark brown sweater.
In the living-room, Orion sat
reading a book with Lýkos at his feet.
“Did he dine?” Julian asked
softly.
“Not yet. He will stay with
us. I told the girl to serve him tonight in the dinning room.”
