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14

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Kathy and Ed sat on one side of the dining room table; Howard sat on the other, next to an empty spot reserved for Nadia. The spot just happened to be right in front of Ed.

He knew this was going to be a bad idea.

Kathy looked at Ed with a raised eyebrow. "Ed, why is your tie all out of place? And your shirt is coming untucked. And... you've got something on your face."

Ed's eyes went wide. "Oh, um..." He adjusted his tie, fixed his shirt, and wiped at his face.

Kathy sighed. "Must I always do everything?" She asked, adjusting his tie. Then, similar to what Nadia had done, Kathy cleaned up his face.

"Thank you, Kathy."

"You're welcome... I don't know how you could've gotten so out of place, though."

Thank God! Ed thought.

Suddenly, Nadia came through the doorway with a trolley. She placed the various plates and bowls on the table, then sat down in front of Ed.

Howard looked disappointedly at a pot of soup, picked up the spoon and moved it through the water. "Honey, I thought you said you were going to make chicken," He said, putting the spoon down.

"Did I? Oh, what I meant to say was chicken SOUP. Besides, we always have chicken. I thought soup would be interesting for once."

Howard put on a fake smile. "Yes, but you make such good chicken, Nadia, I wanted our guests to see what a wonderful little cook you are."

"I don't see why they can't see that with soup."

"Nadia, I--"

"It's okay, Mr. Brinkley. Really. It is. Kathy and I adore soup, don't you honey?" Ed cut in.

Kathy nodded violently. "Yes! We love soup!"

Nadia smiled, satisfied. "See?"

Howard crossed his arms over his chest. "I like chicken," He said simply, in a tone that sounded very much like that of a child who hasn't gotten a toy it has wanted.

"Well, if Ed likes soup, then that's all that matters," Nadia said, winking at Ed.

Ed's uncomfortable feelings were returning. He only hoped Kathy hadn't seen her wink.

Though he couldn't help thinking that Nadia's accent was extremely sexy, including plenty of other things of hers as well. Ed looked down at his feet, feeling guilty about the thoughts he was thinking.

Nadia stood up and grabbed the pot of soup, then began spooning soup into each of their bowls.

When Ed looked up from his feet, he saw that as Nadia was bending over the table, distributing the soup, a fair amount of her cleavage was viewable.

He gasped and looked back at his feet.