andhiswife: (overwhelmed)
The Baker's Wife ([personal profile] andhiswife) wrote in [personal profile] very_sharpe 2017-12-16 04:50 am (UTC)

Oh no. Greta stares at him, aghast. That's quite possibly the worst answer he could have given to that question, and she dearly wishes she could take it back. Even as he elaborates -- as if the fact that they weren't living together somehow makes it better, or the loss easier to bear -- she's shaking her head in utter mortification.

This really couldn't be going much worse, short of her upending the teapot into his lap.

And then he attempts to change the subject, and she can't help herself. She does try: she hastily lifts a hand to her mouth to stifle the sound she makes, which is more akin to a cough than a laugh, as if the horrible awkwardness is something she can physically dislodge.

"I'm so sorry," she hastens to add. "I'm not--it's not funny, it's dreadful, I just--" She just doesn't know how to make this right, and she unthinkingly reaches across the table to take his hand, a physical apology that she can manage more easily than a verbal one. "I'm so terribly sorry."

And now she is giggling, not out of amusement, but because she doesn't know what else to do in the face of all this awfulness except burst into tears, which she thinks might actually be worse. She has to bury her face in her free hand, and she can tell she's gone bright red. "God. Maybe we should just start with the weather and work our way up to books. I'm not sure we can be trusted."

Post a comment in response:

This account has disabled anonymous posting.
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting