Chapter 10

Claire

I poured hot water into the French press and then waited for five minutes. On the other side of the wall, there was silence. I stirred the coffee and then pressed it down, pouring the mixture into the teapot.

Why weren’t they talking to each other? The quiet was making me nervous. I gently lifted the teapot, placed it on a tray, and then set the sugar pot and milk jug on the side.

Carefully carrying the tray, I peered through the door. Arthur was perusing a file that Gerald had handed to him. I breathed a sigh of relief. That made sense about why they weren’t chatting right now.

Gerald looked up when I brought the coffee tray inside. I set it down on the table and then began preparing their coffee. I could feel him staring at me. The gaze made me tense up.

“Sugar?” I almost asked Gerald, but then I remembered that he disliked milk and sugar in his caffeine. I added a dash of milk to Arthur’s cup, the way that he had told me he preferred it, and then brought those cups over to