The Detective and the Contractor

Chapter 2: Cooperation

Ernestine simply stared at the coffee machine. She listened to all the noises it made from grinding the beans to pouring the brew into the mug. The machine then beeped when it finished pouring. Ernestine took the steaming mug and smelled it before taking a sip. For her, nothing beats a medium roast this early in the morning.

"Could you help me with the bread, love?"

"Yes, momma," Ernestine said.

Unlike most households, they did not have an autoslicer or had their bread pre-sliced. Instead, they preferred to slice the fresh loaf delivered from the local baker themselves, by hand. Ernestine took the serrated bread knife and started to cut then put the sliced pieces onto the serving dish. She tasted the small pieces that fell off and they were quite nice.

The morning was cooler than usual and she could feel the breeze coming through the open windows and the door to the deck. It was a very quiet morning, as usual, except for the sound of the creek near the back of the house. There was also the sound of the pan sizzling--and finally the footsteps of an older man.

"Daddy," Ernestine said as she put down the serving dish on the table, "You're finally up."

"Oh, I'm up long ago, just got lost in some reading, that's all," Ernestine's father said, sitting down.

"Can I get you coffee?"

"Don't mind if I do," her father said. Ernestine promptly went to the coffee machine when he continued, "You look ready to go back to work, seeing that you put on a trouser suit again."

"And you look like you're going out," Ernestine said, delivering the coffee to her father, "I hardly see you in a shirt anymore."

"Well, I'm thinking of going out," her father said, sipping on the coffee, "Maybe I can send you to work."

"Oh, daddy, you don't have to," Ernestine said, sitting down.

"Come on, Ernie! I'm going into town, anyway," her father said, "Besides, you wouldn't want to ruin your suit by being in a crowded tram."

"And I spent quite a bit of time making sure that suit is cleaned and pressed," Ernestine's mother said, "I don't know what those laundry bots did to it, but now it's nice and perfect. Better not ruin it."

Her mother came to the table with freshly cooked frittatas and put one in Ernestine's plate. She waited no time to spoon some into her mouth and while chewing she spread some alcoction--an algae-based high protein savory spread--onto two pieces of bread. And there was no time between her swallowing her frittata and her taking a bite of her bread.

"Only one weekend back home and you're back to eating when you were a little girl," her mother said.

"Sorry, momma," Ernestine said after swallowing everything.

"That's not a bad sign," her father said, "Your super was right to tell you to take time off. Never seen you so miserable when you got here Friday morning."

Ernestine went quiet for a few moments. "Well, I'm still a little mad about what happened last week, don't get me wrong," she finally said, lifting the piece of bread again, "At least coming here made me forget about everything for a little bit."

"Having to wear your old clothes might have helped," her mother said, "At least you didn't have to carry anything back."

"All right, let's hurry up and eat," her father said, "I don't want my little Ernie to be late for work."

Ernestine and her parents finished their plates in 15 minutes. They put away the dishes, leaving them under the care of the dishwasher. They closed the doors and windows then adjusted the climate control system. Before stepping out the door, Ernestine got a cup of coffee to go. She seemed almost reluctant to leave that coffee machine.