Ivan

Sitting beside the two pots, we watched the men move to and from the truck. Finally, one of them walked towards our direction.

"Hi! I heard we could get some food here?"

I smiled at him and took one of the bowls.

"Yes! Feel free to take some!"

Scooping the soup from the original pot into the bowl, I passed it to him. At the same time, I took another bowl to taste the second one with.

"Mmm! Tasty!"

The mover in front of me praised as he gulped down the whole thing in seconds. He then glanced at the second pot.

"What's this?"

He lifted the lid and looked into the pot.

"Hey! It's rude to just lift the pot lid like that!"

Coming from behind him, a hand grabbed the lid from his hands and put it back.

"Hey Jim, you don't have to be so stiff."

"And you need to be more proper!"

Shooting back with a glare, the man behind the mover bowed in apology for his co-worker.

"I'm sorry if he has done something inappropriate. I'm Jim and this is Ren. Our leader, the really buff guy, is Ivan."

Waving away Jim's apology, I scooped one more bowl of the original soup and passed it to him.

"No worries! In fact, if you want to you can try it. it's just a slightly different variation of this soup."

Hearing me say this, Ren immediately took the ladle and scooped some of the second soup into his bowl.

"Then don't' mind if I do!"

"Oi!"

Jim gave a side eye to Ren and sighed. He then took a sip of the soup from his own bowl.

"Mmm! This is delicious!"

Gulping down the whole thing, Jim asked for seconds while Ren went for thirds.

"The second soup is slightly sweeter than the first! By the way, what are these balls at the bottom?"

Pointing to berry balls, I said it was made out of berries and that they could eat it if they wanted.

"Then don't mind if I do!"

Ren scooped one out with a ladle and put it into his bowl. He then passed it to Jim who did the same.

"Then excuse me."

Taking a bite out of the berry ball, Ren smiled in bliss as he ate.

"Ms Alex's food is really good!"

Talking with a mouth full of food, Ren was given another side eye by Jim, who nevertheless echoed the praise.

"Guys! Is something holding you two up?"

Ivan's voice rang out before he appeared from behind the two.

"Just enjoying the food! Ms Alex's cooking is really good!"

I took another bowl and scooped some of the soup into it. I then passed it to Ivan.

"Thank you."

Sipping it, I saw Ivan's eyes light up in delight.

"Indeed. It's delicious!"

"Boss! You should try this one!"

Ren snatched away Ivan's bowl and scooped some of the new soup for him.

Enjoying the meal, I also scooped up some of the soup for Oliver and I.

"Ah, right! We've finished moving everything into the truck, so all we have to do now is wait for all the things to be delivered to the AT center."

Ivan pointed to the mostly full truck, and I pulled up my alternate terminal.

"We can probably go soon. Most of the stuff has been delivered. There's just one more item left."

Collecting all the empty bowls, I headed into the house to wash them at the sink.

"If that's the case, let me help you wash up!"

Taking the empty pots, Ivan followed behind me.

Washing the bowls, the two of us engaged in some small talk.

"Ms Alex, thank you for being quite kind to my men. They are quite a handful sometimes, especially Ren, so I hope they didn't bother you."

Ivan talked as he took another sponge and started washing the pots in the neighboring sink.

"Not at all! They were quite nice! And they praised my food a lot!"

He laughed as he heard me recount their small quarrel.

"That's good. Also, if it's not too much, could I ask for the recipe for the soups just now? They tasted great and I want to make them at home."

"Sure!"

Telling him the recipe, from the beginning to the end, we kept all the plates and bowls in the cupboards before heading outside.

As we rejoined the rest, I pulled up my alternative terminal once more to check on the delivery progress.

"Nice timing! The last package has arrived. We can head for the AT center now!"

The three movers nodded their heads, and Ivan escorted Oliver and I into the truck. We sat in the passenger's seat, while Jim and Ren were demoted to sitting next to the dismantled furniture.

Driving to the AT center, the truck didn't go into the carpark. Instead, it went near the back where there was a recycling area that I had never seen before. Oliver and I sat in the car and watched the three men place the furniture neatly in the area, using some ties to bundle them up.

"Hey Sazzy, why are they bundling them up?"

Since they were gone, I spoke out loud to Sazzy, who had been chilling on the roof until she saw them exit the truck. She then snuck into the truck and now sat in the driver's seat.

[That's because it's easier for the recycling crew to pick them up later. Most of the materials will probably be recycled in the recycling plant nearby. The planets around here were all part of the Alliance, so they are quite keen on recycling and conservation.]

As the last of the furniture was bundled up, the three of them wiped their sweat and Ivan climbed up into the truck driver seat once more. Sazzy also went back to her seat on the roof.

"Now that we have cleared the truck, we should go and pick up your new furniture!"

Hitting the drive button, Ivan didn't drive back to the parking area, but to a small indent in the side of the building nearer to the back.

This time all of us got out of the truck. In the ident there was a door. And opening the door led us directly to the post office.

I'm guessing this was where the delivery vehicles would park to deliver packages to the post office.

"Hi Ivan! I see it's your team who is in charge of today's big delivery!"

Coming out of the post office was a woman in overalls. She pointed to the large stack of furniture that was off to the side.

"Yep! We brought the client as well."

Ivan introduced me to her, Melisa, who was in charge of large delivery items.

"Just sign here, and you can take all your furniture with you. If you need an extra truck, you can use mine!"

Melisa pulled up her personal terminal and I signed onto the payment agreement page.

"We might not need it. Just by looking at it, we can probably fit everything into the truck."

Sizing up the packaged, Ivan gestured for Ren and Jim to start carrying them into the truck.

"Since you've signed, you can just rest in the truck. We'll take care of everything else."

Giving me another wink, he shooed me into the passenger seat of the truck before joining the other two in carrying the furniture in.

We watched them bustle about from the passenger seat. Looking down at Oliver, he seemed to be staring especially hard at Ivan.

"What's wrong?"

I asked him as I reached out to twirl my fingers in his hair.

"...Nothing."

Tearing his eyes away from the men, Oliver buried his face into my arms and sighed.

[It's probably jealousy. Don't mind him.]

Snickering from the driver's seat, Oliver turned his head to glare as Sazzy teased him.

Jealous? Oliver? At Ivan?

Soon, the driver's door opened and Ivan hopped into the Truck.

"Everything has been loaded, so we can head back to your house now!"

The truck backed out of the indent and started driving away from the AT center.

Before long, we arrived at my house and the three men carefully bought all the items out of the truck.

"Now, please tell us where you want them placed! We can help you shift them!"

Smiling, Ivan offered as the two men behind him elbowed each other.

"Thank you for offering. If that's the case, could we put this into the kitchen."

Pointing at each of the furniture, I started directing the men where to place each of them. It took a while, but just as the sun finished setting, all of the furniture we had bought was inside the house.

"Thank you so much for today! You were really a big help!"

Thanking the three movers, I signed their payment forms.

"It was no big deal! We even got to eat some tasty food!"

Ivan smiled as his two men waved and boarded the truck.

"Actually, we usually work around here. If you want to, you can call us to hire us anytime! Here's my contact. We not only work as movers, but also can do most kinds of manual labor."

He pulled up his alternative terminal and gave me his terminal ID.

"Thank you. If that's the case, whenever I need help, I'll call you guys!"

Bidding farewell to the three of them, we watched as their truck drove away from our house.

[Well now that that's settled, we should probably head back in.]

Sazzy walked back into the house and checked over everything once more to make sure everything was fitted and working.

[Should we order some food? According to the manual, the new stoves can't be used until 12 hours after they have been installed. The fridge too. Besides, it's late.]

Sazzy piped up after she inspected the stove, and I pulled up my alternative terminal.

"Sazzy's right! Let's buy some take out once in a while!"

From beside me, Oliver tiptoed to look at my screen.

Smiling, we walked over to the couch where it was easier for everyone to order.

"Since you two say so, what do you want to eat!"

As I said those words, Sazzy ran over and looked at the menu with sparkling eyes.

[Oh! There's so many choices!]

Oliver on the other hand briefly glanced at the screen before choosing a dish. It was the Red wood clams. And after a while, Sazzy also chose a dish. Although I would be the one eating it.

Confirming the order, Sazzy went back to inspecting the furniture while Oliver and I sat on the couch to chill.

Suddenly, I heard the notification sound from my alternative terminal. Pulling it up, I saw a message from Margret and Patricia. They were both saying that they were coming here tomorrow.