Eric looked through the papers on his desk. He drummed his fingers along the wood of his desk with a small smile on his face. Picking up a new paper and scoffing at it. A few knocks at the door broke his focus.

“Yes, Mrs. Houper?” He called and set the paper down. The door opened and Mrs. Houper came in with a coffee pot.

“Mail!” She called cheerfully. “I also brought you fresh coffee,”

“Thanks, but I still haven’t finished the first cup.” Eric said, picking up his forgotten coffee cup.

“Well, isn’t that a nice surprise!” Mrs. Houper smiled and placed the envelopes on his desk. Eric put the paper down and scooped up the envelopes. “You seem to be in high spirits today.”

“I actually got some sleep last night.” He said, putting down the cold coffee mug and shifting through the mail.

“Looks like that outing did you good.” Mrs. Houper beamed, “maybe you should try running after Seren more often. I’ll bet that’s a good amount of exercise.”

“Like they run on solar.” They shared a chuckle. “Oh, speaking of.” He said as he recognized the messy scrawl on one of the envelopes.

“Oh? Wonder what they wrote.” Mrs. Houper put the pot down,

“Me too.” Eric said as he looked at the unintelligible writing. “See what you can make of this.” He handed over the paper to Mrs. Houper, who took a pair of reading glasses from her apron and adjusted them on her nose.

“Oh no.” She said.

“Oh, gods. What now?”

“I think it’s a resignation,” Mrs. Houper said sadly.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s a bit difficult to read the script…” Mrs. Houper said, narrowing her eyes and holding the page closer. “Oh, it seems Seren’s dad is in the hospital again. And they want to focus on him.”

“Give me that,” Eric said. He took the letter and tore it to pieces. “Sounded important, shame we never received it.”

“Eric.” Mrs. Houper sighed.

“Don’t give me that tone,” Eric said. Dropping the shreds into the wastebasket. “I have been going through resumes all morning and not one of them meets the benchmark Serenity’s set. I would be stupid to let them walk out of this job.”

“Please don’t threaten children,” Mrs. Houper said with a sigh.

“I won’t threaten them.” Eric rolled his eyes.

“All right…” Mrs. Houper narrowed her eyes and took the still full coffee pot out of the study. Eric looked at the pieces in the wastebasket and back to the resumes and sighed. The intercom hissed.

“Your twelve o’clock is here.”

“Send them up,” Eric pressed the button. He piled up all the paperwork and placed it back in its file and into the desk. He looked at all his notes for the day, then the notes from Seren. Messy but halfway down the page the notes came into their own and he hated to admit he’d taken some pointers from them. Moreover, he missed having them take notes for him.

Throughout the appointment, the notes he took were cleaner than Seren’s had been but somehow it took forever to write them. When Eric had to look through previous he scowled at the figures. They were straightforward, but clearly different from the newer ones.

“Mrs. Houper,” He asked into the intercom.

“Yes?”

“What’s my schedule like tomorrow?” He asked.

“Two appointments, both in the morning. Open for walk-ins.”

“I am no longer available for walk-ins tomorrow.” He said. Sitting back and pulling out more records to see how many of them were in need of updating. More sighs came as the pile grew. Standing and going to the other cabinet to look through those as well.

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“Come in,” He said to the knock on the study door.

“Just coming to see what the fuss is about,” Mrs. Houper said as she entered.

“What fuss?” He asked thoughtlessly.

“You’ve made yourself unavailable tomorrow, usually that means there’s a fuss.” Mrs. Houper held out her arms and helped hold the files Eric pulled from the cabinet.

“I don’t know about a fuss,” he said. Then sighed as he looked through the last of the drawers. “These files are terrible. They all need to be redone.”

“Oh, no.” Mrs. Houper sighed, a cramp already forming in her wrist.

“And there are records that need going through and new records that need to be moved from the cabinets to their permanent homes in the basement…” He sighed.

“And it isn’t even March yet,” Mrs. Houper said, knowing he wasn’t really listening.

“Probably won’t be available for walk-in’s for a month. Maybe two.” Eric huffed, getting more irritated as he placed the files he handed to Mrs. Houper back in their places. “A waste of time!” He slammed the drawer.

“Well… you know…” Mrs. Houper crossed her arms innocently. “If you are going to ignore Seren’s resignation…”

“What? Have them and their illegible script rewrite important legal documents?” Eric asked skeptically.

“The practice would be good for them, and there’s really nothing a good tutor couldn’t straighten out.” Mrs. Houper said. “Your tutor got you writing perfectly in a day.” Eric stared out the window, his gaze faraway. Mrs. Houper cleared her throat and Eric snapped out of it.

“Right. Are you suggesting an assistant?” Eric asked, walking to his desk and picking up the cold coffee.

“More or less,” She said.

“Yeah right, at their rate…” Eric stopped to sip the ice cold coffee and grimaced. Though it brought to them another thought. “I’ll think about it,”

“Glad to hear it, would you like a fresh cup?” Mrs. Houper asked.

“That would be nice,” Eric held out the cup for her to take. “And, get the staff to pull everything from the guest room that faces north. I want it all washed and ready for…” He paused, deep in thought.

“For?” Mrs. Houper prompted.

“Just strip it for now,” He continued. “Make a list of things a child needs, if you have the time today.” Mrs. Houper’s cheeks went rosy as a giant smile cracked across her face.

“I don’t think you’ve ever acknowledged them as a child,” she said.

“Aren’t I expecting another lawyer today?” He changed the subject curtly.

“Yes sir, I’ll get right on those chores.” Mrs. Houper said, still smiling. She exited the office and left Eric to his own devices. He listened to her short heels down the stairs.

“It’s so quiet.” He said aloud just to break the silence. No interruption from beyond the grave came. Only the phantoms of his own mind that echoed in the silence. “So quiet.”

He sat down at his desk, wondering if the silence was new or if he just never noticed it before. Either was possible. He pulled out his address book and looked through it idly, putting off his own work for what he swore was idle curiosity.

He found several educators, many of them had records in his cabinets. It got the gears in his mind working. Plans being laid out like the foundation of a house. It would need a lot of work in the foundation but there was a very good chance it would grow in value far past the work put into it.

“Admittedly,” Eric said quietly to himself. Trying to break the crushing silence. “I’m not much of one for a fixer-upper project but I do love a good challenge.” The room turned into a vacuum, sucking up the sound and throwing it out, filling that space with a static void that caused discomfort in Eric’s ears.

“I almost miss Acoran, if only for the noise he brought.” He sighed. Mrs. Houper knocked again and Eric called her in.

“Fresh Coffee!” She sang, and the ringing noise filled the room graciously.

“Ah, thanks. I appreciate you more than you know.” He said. Taking the mug from her.

“If that’s true you should show it more often,” Mrs. Houper said, only half joking.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Eric nodded. More concerned with sipping the coffee.

“Well, I’ll get back to work then.” Mrs. Houper snickered and shook her head.

“Oh.” Eric wracked his brain for something else to say or ask. “Have the carpets been cleaned recently?”

“Yes, almost a month ago. And vacuumed yesterday,” Mrs. Houper nodded.

“Ah, curtains?”

“Washed and dusted.”

“Oh… has the laundry been done?”

“All of it is folded and put away.” Mrs Houper frowned, “You’ve never taken much of an interest in the state of the house before. You specifically brought me on for that reason. What’s going on?”

“Nothing, just curious.” Eric shook his head. Feeling a bit guilty now that she called him out.

“All right then,” Mrs. Houper nodded, still watching him closely. “If you’re sure.”

“I am,” Eric nodded. Picking up his coffee again, he went back to the paperwork that was demanding his attention. “That will be all then.” Mrs. Houper took her leave, which in turn left Eric in the stifling silence once more.