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“Here, let me show you how to use the polish—do you think you can remember it?” she asked, setting down her little basket and stretching a palm out for the cloth in my hands.
“Yes,” I said, reaching for simple words so I wouldn’t give myself away. “Thank you.”
She folded the cloth into a palm-sized square and sprayed a healthy dose of cleaner onto it—much more than I’d used.
“Now, you really have to put your back into it to get it to shine.” She drew out her last word as she vigorously cleaned the kitchen tabletop. I watched her belly jiggle under the force of her cleaning and wondered if it was good for the baby. I had a mental image of a ball being tumbled about in a box.
“Let me help you,” I said quickly, and she handed me the cloth.
I sprayed a little more solution and slapped the cloth onto the unpolished side of the table, rubbing it as vigorously as I could. The visitor simply watched and murmured her assent in the background.
“I happened to wake early this morning and thought I would bring in the eggs from the farm,” she said as I cleaned. “Do you know how to cook them?”
I’d never been near a stovetop my entire life, but I nodded anyway. “How does my employer like them?”
Her laugh was melodic. “Look at you, speaking like a real person.”
She shook her head as though in disbelief. “Right, anyway, Cee likes them fried with a runny yolk in the middle. She takes them with two slices of thick toast and two cups of black coffee—one cup to drink with breakfast and the other to take to work in a flask.”
“Every day?” I asked, scrambling to take mental notes as I concentrated on polishing the plasti-wood.
“Yes, she’s a creature of habit, our Cee. Would you like me to show you where everything is?” she asked, transferring the eggs from her woven basket into a metal container on the kitchen counter.
“Yes, thank you.”
She gave me a brief tour of the large home, taking special care to tell me how to use the appliances in the most energy-efficient way possible. The Star was in an electricity deficit as one of the main solar panels was down. Apparently, they only had one left that was working properly.
The lady looked at her small solar watch and frowned. “Cee should be up any minute now. She’s an early riser. You should start cooking.”
I tried not to flinch outwardly at her words, but as I put away my cleaning materials, I struggled to recall how the servants had turned on the stovetop at home. Had I ever seen them do it? I wanted to believe I had. Was there a button or a knob of some kind?
I retrieved the small skillet from the overhead cupboard and placed it on the designated circle on the stovetop. There was a little button next to it that said “On” so I pressed it and the button lit up in green.
The lady clucked her tongue. “That kind of heat won’t cook anything. Press it twice more. Quick frying is best to save energy.”
I followed her directions closely and in five minutes, I had two freshly fried eggs with runny centers. I’d also cut two slices of thick bread while waiting for the eggs to fry. This cooking business wasn’t so bad after all.
As I assembled everything on a plate, she murmured, “Not bad for a bot.”
I fought a grin. Perhaps I could really make this work if Cedra decided to keep me on.
