Lupo

Chapter Six: The Here and Now

(C)Copyright SJCLewis2016

Picture: Alpha Maya

Song: The Gypsy

There was a distinct lull in the general chatter as the three of them entered the kitchen. 

Darcie blanched under the scrutiny of at least thirty pairs of eyes, which all turned to gaze curiously at her unfamiliar, dishevelled appearance. As she passed them all, ripples of questioning murmurs swelled after her.  She felt herself go red.

They probably think I'm somebody's one night stand...

The room was much bigger than Darcie had expected, with enough space to comfortably fit a vast expanse of kitchen counter, two huge fridges, two red kitchen ranges and three long wooden tables. Once again she wondered what sort of place this was. The bits of the house she had seen were big enough to host hundreds of people, and judging by the number of men and women who were sat breakfasting with a casual familiarity, it often did. 

Some religious community? Darcie wondered, accidentally catching the mocking eye of a young man and blushing still more furiously. A commune?

 In striving to concentrate on her socks and to ignore everyone else, she also noticed two large dog baskets, within which were sat two pretty looking Huskys. They, she noticed, were two of the few not bothered by her appearance. In-fact, both were ignoring everything and everyone in the kitchen, aside from the huge platter of bacon and sausages which sat on the counter in front of them.

 Leala halted in-front this counter, which was laden -buffet style- with food, and motioned for Darcie to stop also. She handed her a plate.

"Help yourself!"

Darcie surveyed the food uncertainly as Leala began to spoon yoghurt and fruit into a bowl. Her head throbbed painfully again and she sighed. This really wasn't what she wanted to be doing the morning after her birthday night out. 

  Tito trotted up to the counter and stood on Darcie's other side. He surveyed her for a moment before reaching out and patting her comfortingly on the arm. Darcie turned to look up at him and he gave her an encouraging smile.

"Don't worry about everyone!" he told her quietly, bumping her shoulder with his own in a friendly way. "It's not often we get...guests here."

Darcie gave a distinctly forced laugh. "It's ok." she mumbled, placing a piece of toast on her plate and deciding she was too shy to take anything else. "The way I look this morning, I'd stare too!"

Tito grinned. Seizing a couple of empty mugs, he began to pour himself some tea from a comically huge polka-dot tea pot. "You don't actually look that bad, considering how drunk you were." he remarked good-naturedly, pouring a second cup for Darcie before waving her over to an empty seat. "I've seen you look much worse than this - remember Brian's house party?" 

Darcie placed her plate where he'd indicated and sat down next to him. She snorted. 

"Oh god! How could I forget!?"

Leala, In spite of her apparent hostility towards Tito, followed moments later and sat down opposite him. They ignored one another, choosing instead to angle their chairs towards Darcie and take turns bombarding her with questions. Darcie was grateful for this. It took her mind off the other people in the room, many of whom were still twisting in their seats to stare at her. 

They chatted away at her easily enough; about University and Oxford and general drunkenness. It turned out Leala was coming to the end of her Masters degree, and was studying classics and ancient history in France.