Boredom. That was all I was experiencing now. Lying on the bed and doing nothing. It was horrible. I couldn't go anywhere. My head was just spinning with questions that I didn't have answers to. And the worst part of it all was that I couldn't test my abilities. Why? Because Emily was still sitting on her bed and doing nothing. It seemed to me that she was watching me, but when I looked at her, she acted like nothing had happened. All of this was giving me a headache.

  We were both in the same room in silence until Emily finally stood up and went to the door. "We should go now."

  "Go? Where?" I asked.

  Emily just looked at me like it should be obvious. "Well, for lunch."

  Lunch? Has it been so long? It was strange to me because I didn't feel any hunger at all. But I stood up anyway and followed Emily. We left our room and headed towards the main room. When we got there, the girls were already sitting at the rge dining table. I stood at the entrance for a while and watched Emily walk to an empty seat at the table and sit down. There were only two empty seats left. But I still hadn’t seen Sofia.

  Twenty-one. That’s how many girls I counted at the table. So with Sofia, it made twenty-two. So I headed to the empty seat in the middle of the table because I assumed Sofia would be sitting at the head of the table. When I got to the seat, one of the girls turned to me.

  “I'm sorry, but Merry is sitting here.” She said and went back to her conversation with the girls. I just stood there for a while but then I turned and sat down on the nearest couch. It didn't take long before another girl entered the room through the curtain, it was probably Merry, but she had a strange expression on her face.

  "Girls, we have a problem!" She announced. "The boss is coming." And she quickly sat down in the pce I wanted to sit.

  "Why?", "The boss never comes here.", "Does anyone have a problem?" There was a murmur of girls. It was fascinating to watch them, while Sofia entered the room from the kitchen.

  "What's going on?" She asked confused.

  "The boss is coming here." The same one who had announced it to all of us answered.

  "What??? But why? The boss never comes here." She asked the same thing as each of the girls.

  Suddenly there was silence. All eyes were on the curtain, which was soon revealed and there stood a young man in the same beautiful suit as before. When the girls saw him, they all quickly stood up as one.

  “Good day dies.” He greeted the nervous-looking girls.

  “Good day sir.” They responded the same way they had to Anna but with less enthusiasm and a slightly shaky voice. It was clear to me that they had respect for him and a little fear.

  “What brings you here sir, if I may ask?” Sofia spoke up and came closer to him.

  “I’m looking for a new girl. Where is she?” He asked, while all the girls looked at me. He just followed their gaze and looked at me too. “Evelyn, right? Have you had lunch yet?”

  I just stood up and looked at the full table of girls. “Not really.”

  “Excellent.” He smiled. “Come, you’ll have lunch with us.” At that moment I noticed how all the girls looked at me with expressions as if they couldn’t believe what they had just heard. Sofia's expression in particur was priceless, making me forget about my headache.

  But I couldn't just let it go. I didn't want them to think anything bad about me. Even if it was fun, I didn't see any benefit in it for me. "Umm, Hen... Boss, is it really okay to just go to lunch with you?"

  "You had some questions, didn't you? We'll answer them over lunch. Come."

  Well, I couldn't say no to that, even if the girls hated me for it. I needed answers. So I just nodded and left with him. We both walked in silence. No one said a word. We passed through the curtain, but instead of going straight to the other side of the salon, past the tables, like I did, Henry turned right and went to another door.

  There was another hallway beyond them, but it wasn't guarded. I guess I should have gone this way. I thought about it. Henry continued on and opened another door. On the other side of the hall was another rge room. Man, how big is this pce?

  It looked like a restaurant, no, it was a restaurant. With tables, chairs, and the sound of the kitchen coming from somewhere in the back. And it all looked luxurious. As if I had walked into a Michelin restaurant. Red carpet, pure white tablecloths with flowers on the tables. Beautifully arranged cutlery and ptes on it. It all looked like something out of a fairy tale. But it was empty, not a single customer, except for one person sitting at a table in the middle of the room.

  It was Anna. She was sitting there in her dress, holding a gss of wine in her hand. When she saw us, she put it down and stood up. “You don’t have to get up.” Henry announced as we got closer.

  “Henry, like I said, I would bring her myself. You didn’t have to go there yourself and scare the girls.” Anna said worriedly. While Henry gentlemanly pulled out my chair so I could sit down.

  “Thank you.” I said, but he acted like it was nothing.

  “But Anna, you know I don’t mind. And scaring the girls, come on, don’t joke, why would they be scared of me?” Henry asked incomprehensibly as he sat down in his own chair.

  “Ohh, they were scared. Quite a lot.” I announced and they both looked at me so I just lowered my head and was silent.

  “Anyway,” Henry continued, “I heard that Evelyn here has some questions and since you already told me, it would probably be best to tell her too.”

  Anna looked at me and my confused expression and just sighed. “I guess you’re right. But leave it after lunch.”

  “I take that. Arthur, you can start bringing the food.” Henry announced to the person I had only just noticed at that moment. He was an older, thin man with white hair and a bck tailcoat-style suit.

  Soon, other people came out of the kitchen in the same clothes and started carrying food. “Would the dy like a gss of wine?” Arthur asked me, holding a gss and an already opened bottle in his hand.

  “Yes, I’d like one. Thank you.” I replied.

  “With pleasure.” He smiled and poured the contents of the bottle into the gss. I took it in my hand, took a sip, and was shocked. Why is it so good? I asked myself and continued to drink the whole gss. If all alcohol is this good, then I will become an alcoholic. I thought while Arthur poured me another gss and left.

  Then the waiters put a pte of soup in front of me and left. And for me, the cssic dilemma began. Which spoon to use and why are there so many of them on the table?