Clockwork [final]

Thirteen

Flames danced around eagerly in the fireplace, eager to escape their confines before they died to embers, forgotten ashes that would only turn to dust. Adette and Derek sat close together on the couch, their hands intertwined, both of them absorbed in a book while Lassie and Benson lay sleepily in front of the fire, the orange glow bathing the room in a dim, flickering light.

Through a lot of hassling and gentle pestering, she had managed to get Derek to begin reading lightly roughly a month ago; simple things, like a newspaper article she thought might interest him or a magazine. Gradually, she had worked him up to reading at her level; whenever she found a book that she thought he might like she would pass it on to him and he would gladly read it. Due to this, they both enjoyed long conversations about the books they had read. It made both of them happy; it gave them another common interest.

At that moment, a robot came scooting into the room and disturbed the quiet, a tray balanced on its head. “Dinner is served,” it beeped.

“Thank you, chef bot,” Adette said, taking the tray while Derek stared. Though it had been a few months, he doubted he would ever get used to the abundance of robot assistance in her house. The chef bot made a beeping sound and then scooted out of the room, returning with two bowls of food for Benson and Lassie. The dogs eagerly started to wolf down their food.

“Despite the fact there are four of us, it still gets quiet around here,” Derek commented absently past his mouthful.

 Adette looked surprised. “It’s usually louder in other households?”

“Oh, much, much louder.”

“You seem like an expert on the matter.”

“I had four brothers.”

“Ah,” she replied, not requiring any other explanation.

“Did you have any siblings?”

“An older brother and sister.”

He nodded and they were quiet for a moment before Adette remarked, “Maybe I should make a noise robot.”

Derek looked at her, raised an eyebrow and then laughed. “That’s your idea of getting some noise around here?”

“Well then, I could consider having kids instead,” she shot back.

“That better not be your way of telling me you’re pregnant.”

“Impossible! We haven’t even had sex yet!”

“Oh yes, but there could be something you’re not telling me.”

Once they both recovered from their laughter, Derek hesitated for a moment before saying, “Adette, just out of curiosity, what is your opinion on that sort of thing?”

“What, sex?” she answered bluntly.

“Uh, yeah,” he said, ducking his head in a failed attempt to hide his flushed cheeks.

“Well, it’s part of life, like breathing or eating or sleeping, isn’t it?”

“That’s a pretty unique view on it,” he remarked.

“What? It is?” She looked so puzzled that he almost laughed.

“A lot of other chicks make a big fuss about it, especially about their virginity and shit.”

Adette shrugged. “I guess I’ve never really socialized enough to have an idea of what others think on the matter. But, the way I see it, we’re clearly put on this Earth to reproduce. Making a big fuss of it seems pretty silly and is very clearly a learned approach. After all, we need sex to make babies, don’t we? That’s the main purpose of it. It’s like all we need is a pleasure factor, the media and some intelligence, and it becomes this huge deal that everyone’s all delicate around.”