Boring things

"Ethan, I told you not to get your uniform dirty and what's the first thing you do??" asked Chloe in an irritated tone as Ethan walked back into her office, all covered in dirt and grime, as if a sand storm had happened outside.

"It's not my fault mom, I accidentally fell into mud" replied Ethan.

"How do you accidentally fall into mud when there's no mud in the office budling or in the parking lot?" asked Chloe with a raised eyebrow.

"Which means that you went to the farm, which you were not supposed to do on your own, now whose fault is that?" asked Chloe in a stern tone as Ethan looked away.

"It's not my fault it's boring over here" said Ethan under his breath but Chloe was able to hear him loud and clear.

"Repeat that to me young man loud and clear, I don't like mumbling" said Chloe.

"I said it's not my fault it's boring over here" said Ethan as he looked at her.

"And it's not my fault your father went on a trip and Betty took her leave, now whether you like it or not, you are going to be stuck here with me and I with you, now until it's time to go back home, you will act like the good little boy I know you can be and sit down until I am done" said Chloe as Ethan scoffed out loud.

"Good, now clean your bottom before you get mud on the couch" said Chloe as she handed him a cloth as he murmured under his breath as Chloe shook her head.

"Hi Chloe" said Natasha with a smile as she walked into Chloe's office as Chloe stood up with a smile.

"Hi Natasha, that was super quick" said Chloe as she laughed.

"I know right" replied Natasha as she laughed and her eyes landed on Ethan that was obviously in a bad mood.

"Hi Ethan, how are you?" asked Natasha with a smile as she looked at him.

"Good Aunt, good, and how are you?" replied Ethan as politely as he could, because if he did not, he was sure his mother would smack the back of his head.

"I am fine, what happened to you?" asked Natasha as she noticed all the dirt and grime on him.

"I fell in mud" replied Ethan as Chloe shook her head.

"Hello Aunt Chloe, Hello Ethan" said Joy as she happily walked into the room with a bright smile on her face.

"Oh great, now I have to babysit as well" said Ethan under his breath as he shook his head.

"Oh what a surprise, hello Joy, I didn't know that you would be coming over" said Chloe with a smile as Joy giggled.

"Well she also got off from school early, and she begged me to take her with me" said Natasha as she smiled and Joy smiled at her.

"Well that's just sweet, it's lovely to see you again Joy" said Chloe with a smile.

"Anyway, in more important news my mom said she's on her way here to discuss her terms in person" said Chloe.

"Gammie's coming here?" asked Ethan as Chloe looked at him and nodded.

"Yes, now I bet you wished you knew that before you got covered in mud" said Chloe as Ethan frowned, what sort of bad luck did he have today? if his Grandmother was coming over, it meant that he had a shot to get some money from her.

But unfortunately for him, his Gammie was just like his mother, but even more strict, she always wanted his hair to be nicely combed, his clothes neatly ironed, every time he saw her, he got points for looking neat and tidy, and if she saw him like this, he would lose a lot of points, and more potential money.

"Anyway she should be here soon so we can get everything down" said Chloe as Natasha nodded.

"Well that's good" said Natasha as Joy looked around Chloe's office.

"Mom I want to go outside" said Ethan as Chloe looked at him.

"I thought you learnt from your little mud mishap" said Chloe.

"Can I go outside, it's better than being in here" said Ethan.

"Well I don't see Joy complaining and she only just got here" said Chloe as Ethan frowned.

"Can I go outside please mom?" asked Ethan as Chloe shook her head and looked at Joy.

"Sweetie, do you want to go outside while your mommy and I discuss some boring things?" asked Chloe with a smile as she looked at Joy who looked at Natasha for approval, and she didn't see a trace of disapproval on Natasha's face.

"Yes I want to go outside" said Joy.

"Well then that's just great, Ethan can take you, Ethan you can go outside, but you have to watch Joy" said Chloe as Ethan looked at his mother, he had anticipated this move of hers, but he would take babysitting any day rather than staying in here bored out of his mind.

"Fine, thank you" said Ethan.

"Come on Joy" said Ethan as he walked to his mother's desk to return the cloth she gave him as no one noticed that he stealthily managed to slip Chloe's car keys into his pocket.

"Okay, see you mommy" said Joy with a smile as Natasha smiled back.

"See you my darling" said Natasha as she smiled, she was not worried at all, there was nothing dangerous outside, besides she could tell that Ethan was bored out of his mind, and who wouldn't be??

She was an adult and she could admit that the office was boring even for her, how much more less for a child?

...

Joy happily skipped after Ethan as they walked through the office halls and out the door, she was happy that Ethan was here, they had not played together in a long time, and at school Ethan was always busy.

Joy could see that Ethan was not in a good mood, and before she made him be in an even worse mood, she decided to remain silent.

Joy silently walked after Ethan as they left the building and continued walking which made Joy frown, this was the way to the parking lot, and she was sure that they were not allowed to go there.

"Ethan where are we going?" asked Joy in confusion as she ran to catch up with Ethan who walked faster for that same reason.

"Where does it look like we are going dummy?" asked Ethan in his natural harsh tone.

"To the parking lot, but you didn't tell my mommy and your mommy that we would be going there" said Joy as Ethan ignored her words and kept on walking until he reached his mom's car and brought out the keys to unlock the door.

"You are not allowed to be in the car by yourself Ethan" said Joy as Ethan ignored her and entered into the car.

"I am allowed to do whatever I want dummy, besides, I am the oldest and that makes me the one in charge" said Ethan as he locked himself in the backseat of the car as Joy wondered what he was doing in there.

"What are you doing in there Ethan?" asked Joy as she looked around, the last thing she wanted to do was get in trouble for no reason.

"Just be quiet for a moment dummy, I will be out soon" replied Ethan as Joy could hear struggling sounds from inside which made her worried, she was about to open the door when Ethan suddenly opened it himself.

"Do you want me to hit you or what dummy?" asked Ethan in annoyance as Joy noticed that he had changed his clothes from his dirty uniform to a red shirt and jeans.

"Sorry" replied Joy as if she had been any closer, Ethan would have hit her with the car door.

Ethan just replied to her apology with a scoff as he closed the car door and locked the car.

"Come on dummy, this place is as boring as my mom's office" said Ethan as Joy nodded and followed after him.

"Where are we going this time Ethan?" asked Joy as they walked past the office building.

"Do you always have to ask questions?" asked Ethan.

"I wouldn't have to ask a lot of questions if you answered them" replied Joy as Ethan stopped walking and removed his shoes as he sat down on the grass.

"Are we going to stay here?" asked Joy as Ethan didn't reply to her, so she just sat down next to him and she remained silent as Ethan was completely quiet.

"How's that chicken of yours?" asked Ethan out of the blue as Joy looked at him in surprise.

"You mean Meggie, and she's fine, very fine, but she's a bit sick since my daddy took her to the VET to get some shots" said Joy as she happily explained.

"That's nice" replied Ethan.

"And where's Pluto?" asked Joy with a smile.

"My mom made her go with my dad on his business trip" replied Ethan in obvious displeasure.

"Aww that's sad" said Joy as she opened her backpack, she was hungry now.

"You want some?" asked Joy as she offered Ethan some of her potato chips as she opened the bag and Ethan shook his head.

"Okay" said Joy as she ate her potato chips.

"So how far with your whole getting your parents together thing?" asked Ethan as he seemed really chatty today.

"Not very far" replied Joy with a sad look on her face.

"I thought I told you to force them to spend time together" said Ethan as he shook his head.

"I tried to, but it didn't work, and I don't want to get them angry or get in trouble" said Joy as Ethan shook his head.

"You are not a professional at all" said Ethan in disappointment.

"But I still want them together, what do I do?" asked Joy as she ate her potato chips.

"Well spending time together is the best option, but since you can't do that" said Ethan.

"My mommy is very busy, and so is my daddy, they rarely spend time together in the same room" said Joy as Ethan took a potato chip from her bag.

"Hey, I thought you said you didn't want any" said Joy as she frowned at him.

"I did, but I changed my mind" replied Ethan as he ate the chip and Joy glared at him with her big brown doe eyes.

"You are mean" said Joy as she dug through her bag and brought out her empty lunchbox as she poured half of the bag of chips into her lunchbox and she handed the bag to Ethan.

"There, I don't like you taking my things without asking" she said as she ate from her lunchbox.

"You need to be polite and ask first before you take something that belongs to someone else" said Joy as Ethan scoffed, how could he be scolded by a five year old?

"Anyway dummy, if you want your parents together, make them spend more time together, unless..." said Ethan as he paused.

"Unless what?" asked Joy.

"Unless they are seeing other people, then that would make sense why they are so distant" said Ethan with his mouth full.

"That's a lie, they are together" said Joy as she frowned.

"Well whatever you say dummy, but they are together without being together, there has to be a reason why they aren't really together" said Ethan.

"There is, but no one will tell me why" said Joy as she frowned.

"Well then dummy, I advise you find out more before continuing your little mission" said Ethan.

"You mean our little mission, you are my partner in this" said Joy.

"Whatever you say dummy, whatever you say" said Ethan as Joy frowned.

"Stop frowning so much dummy, you look like an old woman when you frown" said Ethan.

"I do not" said Joy as she frowned even more and Ethan laughed and shook his head.

"It's so easy to make you angry" said Ethan as he laughed.

"No it's not" replied Joy as she shook her head.

"You are very annoying Ethan" replied Joy as Ethan scoffed.

...

"So Natasha, I was thinking about this whole fresh milk deal, and asked my mom for more information which made me remember that if we are going to get past health regulations to sell milk, the milk needs to be pasteurized" said Chloe as Natasha nodded.

"I already thought about that, so I was searching online for a pasteurization machine, I actually found a lot of machines, I was going to send you the pictures so we can choose one that's in our budget" said Natasha.

"Perfect" said Chloe with a smile as her phone beeped and she picked it up.

"Oh it's my mom, she says that she apologizes, but she won't be able to make it over here, there's serious traffic on her usual route" said Chloe as she frowned.

"Oh well, that's alright, we can reschedule this for another day" replied Natasha with a smile, there was no rush at all.

"Are you sure? you came all the way here for this meeting in particular" said Chloe.

"It's perfectly fine Chloe, we can do this another time, right now, I want to check on the produce that is ready to be sent out" said Natasha as she stood up.

"Well alright then, I will tell her that we can reschedule it for tomorrow" said Chloe as Natasha smiled and nodded.