"We need to talk" (you pick!!)
@yeshallreceive
38. Your muse has had a fight with their family.
The tension in the air was palpable. Ben sat there at the Woodhull's dining room table, awkwardly glancing between Mary and Richard as they pored over their first course -- or rather, played with it and barely ate. Ben was starving, but he felt it impolite to dig in while Richard was glaring at Mary with such fierce, unadulterated disdain, and Mary, herself was spinning her spoon round and around in her soup.
Trying not to sigh -- the least attention he drew to himself, the better -- Ben carefully set down his spoon and lowered his eyes. That was when Richard slammed his fist onto the table.
"Have I not been a good provider for you?" he seethed at Mary. "Have I not taken the utmost care of you and Thomas after Abraham's death?" He chuckled then, the sound dark and grating. "Of course I have. I'm a damn good provider, and yet you have the audacity to not only spit upon my hospitality, but invite the direct cause of Abraham's death into my home?" Yet again, Richard slammed his fist onto the table, causing everyone present to flinch.
Ben exhaled, his stomach giving an agonizing flip-flop. "Judge Woodhull, if I may..."
"No, you most certainly may not!" Richard spat. "If you are to continue eating this meal prepared by my kitchen, then I expect you to do so on the floor like the dog you are!" Infuriated, he marched over to Ben's side of the table, then struck the bowl of soup, causing it to go clattering to the floor in a wave of broth, meat and vegetables.
Ben flinched, yet he did not resist. "I can leave," he evenly replied. "I didn't realize there were such hard feelings about my visit."
"No, of course you didn't," Richard hissed. "Despite your position in the war, you certainly failed to figure out what was important! Abraham was your friend! You were supposed to protect him!"
Paling, Ben rose from his seat and set down his napkin, his heart in his throat as he turned to Mary. "Thank you again for inviting me today, Mrs. Woodhull. I had a lovely time."