Knock Knock Knock
"Ernst."
A few seconds passed without a response.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Ernst!"
Her brother stumbled and fell out of his bed in a panic, running up to the door to see what the commotion was about.
"Yes? What's wrong? What happened?" he said, half awake. His eyelids struggled to keep themselves open.
Emilia seemed to have something important to say.
"What are you still doing?! Sonia is here!" his sister urged.
Sonia…? The mere thought immediately woke Ernst up from his grogginess. He no longer felt the desire to return to his bed. Although he initially planned to laze around for the day, he was now met with a new task to tend to.
She's probably here to ask why I wasn't able to go to her building yesterday…judging by Emilia's reaction, Sonia probably didn't tell her that I hadn't visited at all…
I'll see it as an opportunity to apologize…
With any luck, the offer should still be standing…
The level-headed Ernst quickly rationalized the situation at hand. Then, he spoke to his sister, who had been wondering what she should do.
"Tell her that I'll be down in a few minutes. I just need some time to get ready."
Emilia turned her body and responded to his request, "Okay! I'll do that. In the meantime, I'll try to entertain, but please hurry…"
No longer within sight, Ernst immediately ran to the washroom and roughly scrubbed his face. Roughly,y he brushed his teeth, wet his hair, and applied fresh scents to prevent the emergence of any undesirable odours. Moving swiftly back to his room, he threw on his typical outerwear — a combination of regular monochrome khaki pants and a beige button-down shirt.
Then, he slipped on the watch his father gave him.
Arranging his hair to look more presentable, he slipped on his dress shoes and began to head to the bakery downstairs.
Opening the door, he saw the face of a woman he was supposed to see a day prior. The woman's face was refined, showing both signs of youth and maturity. Her dark brunette hair helped exemplify her most attractive features. Sonia, who was leisurely chatting with Emilia, noticed the backdoor of the bakery open. Seeing Ernst, she waved him over to their table.
As he approached her, Emilia had already gone back behind the counter to serve a customer who had just entered.
"It's nice to see you again. I'm glad you're doing well.
"Please, have a seat," Sonia said with a smile.
Accepting her invitation, Ernst plopped down onto the chair and returned her gesture with a similar outward appearance, plastered onto his face. The awkwardness he was feeling could not be fully shielded. As a result, the edges of his curved lips seemed to struggle to uphold themselves.
Then, the mature Sonia noticeably inspected Ernst's appearance. Moving her head around the table, she looked at his legs, then stomach, then upper torso as if she was searching for something.
What is she doing…?
As Ernst observed her strange behaviour, he took the liberty to speak up.
"First off, I would like to apologize for yesterday.
"I was actually headed toward the address you provided, but I ended up getting caught up in something.
"Even though the matter was out of my control, I don't believe that it justifies my actions."
Seemingly done with her strange ritual, Sonia's eyes met the young man who was sitting across from her. Still maintaining her bright smile, she spoke once more.
"Oh? If I may ask, what exactly happened?"
Ernst's eye twitched upon hearing her prompt.
"Ah… the way to the plaza was blocked. And, although I tried to take a detour, I found that the other road was inaccessible."
I hope she doesn't ask more…I can't think of anything else…
Ernst cursed himself inwardly. Under normal circumstances, would he tell the truth? However, the events of yesterday were something so fantastical that he believed that Sonia would consider him mad. Should one say that the monsters akin in one's dream had manifested themselves in real life, those hearing him would surely be dissuaded by him.
Once again, Sonia spoke a short, yet simple question.
"That's strange though… I took a longer route, and it seemed fine to me…"
"Additionally, it seems your sister is under the assumption that you had met with us yesterday…"
Damnit. Ernst cursed himself again.
He began to sweat buckets due to the dilemma he was faced with. On one hand, he can continue to lie, but on the other, he could tell the nice woman across from him about the fairy-tale-like experience he bore witness to yesterday.
Yeah…even I'm not that crazy…
Almost immediately, an answer came to him. To Ernst, the answer seemed the most logical. To preserve any sense of dignity in this particular situation, he had to lie once more.
"...Sigh… You're right."
"What actually happened was… that I overslept…"
"Regarding my sister, I only told her I accepted that job because I was too ashamed to see her disappointed…"
"I spent the day out, thinking about what to say to her…I only returned home late due to my losing track of time…"
At this point, Ernst felt a slight sense of defeat. No longer did he care for whether or not the job offer was still available to him. However, the least he could do was take responsibility for his faults in some way.
Sonia stayed silent for a few seconds, digesting the words that had come out of his mouth. She seemed to be seriously considering Ernst's explanation.
"Hmm…okay."
"Okay?" … Confused, he pondered what this meant. Before he could further inquire what Sonia was implying, she spoke before him.
"Don't worry about it too much, you're free to come in tomorrow if you'd like."
"Of course, that still depends on whether or not you still want to accept the job…"
A few seconds ago, Sonia's smile had ceased. And now, it had almost immediately returned. Her statement was spoken in a cheery tone – one that made Ernst feel as if an abundance of weight had been shed from his back.
"Again, I apologize…but, thank you so much for this chance to make up," he spoke sincerely, truly grateful for Sonia's leniency."
"Ahh, don't worry at all, things like this can happen."
Flapping her hand up and down, she emphasized how at ease she was with the situation. Picking up her mug, she continued to enjoy her hot cup of coffee.
Sigh…I can't mess up tomorrow…I'll be sure to wake up extra early and see to it that I make it to their building…maybe I could bring sweets to add to my apology…yes, that might be a good idea…
As Ernst continued to think of ways to strengthen his relationship with his potential colleagues, Sonia had begun to rummage in her pocket in search of something. The young man, not noticing her actions, was more concerned with other matters — weighing whether or not he should ask what the lady preferred among their family bakery's menu.
Thud
Finally catching his attention, Sonia had placed her hand on the table.
Slowly, lifting her arm, she revealed a small pocket knife.
"Oh, right, I believe this belongs to you."
Although tension had returned to Ernst, Sonia's angel-like smile did not seem to fade. The tone of her voice remained heightened with a sense of warmth; however, he felt a great amount of dread and confusion.
The object in front of him served as a reminder of the horror he had seen yesterday.
Why does she have this…
Ernst spent a few seconds staring at the item. He could not imagine how Sonia had gotten her hands on the pocket in the first place. Up until now, he had actually forgotten about it. Now, he was served a direct reminder of his actions a day prior. The graphic scenes he had witnessed began to vividly replay themselves in his head. Such events are unnatural for humans, thus inevitably leaving a deep impression on the young man.
Ernst looked to Sonia, who seemed to be awaiting a response from him.
Truly...how did she get her hands on it?
…I could have sworn that it was left with Christopher after he…
Although he felt a bit hesitant to take back the object, he ultimately chose to accept it without showing any signs of refusal. In doing so, Ernst felt that this option would rile up less suspicion.
"Are you okay? You don't look so good." Sonia asked in a strangely caring tone.
Ernst fought off the quivering that had so eagerly revealed itself on his face. Clenching a handful of fabric on his pants, he strengthened his resolve to keep quiet.
"I'm quite alright…I just…didn't get much sleep last night."
The curious Sonia continued to comment on Ernst's unusual reaction.
"Yes, yes…I would imagine you wouldn't have gotten much sleep, especially coming home so late."
A noticeable pause had appeared as she spoke.
"Aren't you curious as to where I got it?"
Of course, Ernst was very much curious as to where his current employer had found the tool. However, he could not help but feel wary of his choice in answers whenever he came across Sonia. From the moment they met, it felt as if his guard had been forcibly put up. He felt as if he was intuitively shielding himself from a punch.
"Oh? Where did you get it?" Ernst mimicked the exaggerated mannerisms that were displayed across from him.
Crossing her legs and leaning back in her chair, Sonia looked at Ernst with a more serious look. Although she was still smiling, the crevices of her lips had slightly lowered.
Almost immediately, Ernst dropped his formal façade, still maintaining a sense of politeness. His back tingled as he observed the change in Sonia's ddemeanour Feeling as if he had been seen right through, he decided that further lying would be futile.
She had to know. There's no reason for her to be so confident…
The anticipation of her answer had fully awoken him. His heart was now beating as if he had run a few kilometres.
Ernst focused on her lips, awaiting an answer.
"My colleague handed it to me. He also hopes you're doing well after yesterday. After 'walking around' for so long, I can't blame your fatigue," Sonia said casually.
This answer provided Ernst with two answers. Firstly, Sonia was well aware of what had happened to him in the plaza, seeing through his pathetic attempt at a lie. Second, she seemed to have no interest in exposing his falsified story within the bakery.
What's her game…?
Ernst could feel his opinion of Sonia rapidly changing. The highly appraised mature woman was, in truth, a dangerous individual should one cross her.
"I would appreciate it if you pass on my thanks…and that I am doing well," mirroring her style of speech, Ernst added to Sonia's efforts in concealing the truth.
"That's great to hear. I'll be sure to pass along the message to him. I hope he wasn't impolite yesterday," Sonia responded coolly.
The dissonance between her face and vocal tone caused Ernst to nearly falter in his body language.
He then grabbed the knife in front of him, analyzing its condition after yesterday's battle. It seemed mildly scratched; however, it showed no traces of blood left on it. Other than the roughened state it was in, not much had changed since he was given it.
"I appreciate the trouble you went through to return this to me," Ernst said, slowly recovering some of his composure.
If she knew about the knife and the plaza …What else does she know…could she know anything about Christopher…as much as I would love to bring this matter to light, I'd doubt she'd be inclined to answer…then again, there's also the matter of her nature as a person….
Sonia paused once more, allowing silence to fill the air between the two. As if intentionally creating intention, she allowed time to make Ernst feel uncomfortable, depriving him of a response.
After a few more seconds, she had decided to finally speak up.
"I'm sure you have many questions, so I'll leave it up to you on whether or not you'd like to seek their answers for yourself.
"I do have somewhere to be, so I'll see to it that you arrive tomorrow at noon.
"Once you arrive, you may ask whatever you'd like…"
Ernst stayed quiet, internalizing her final words of their meeting. He watched as Sonia got up and pushed in her chair. Just before she left, she had seemed to whisper something under her breath.
She made a short glance at the young man, then turned to the door. The entrance bells jingled, announcing that she had exited.
"...I'm sorry?"
That's what she whispered… I think…?
To those who experienced such tragedies, those closest to the victims would naturally be inclined to feel a level of sympathy for them. Ernst initially believed in the aforementioned notion, assigning this very reasoning to her actions. However, now knowing that Sonia was more than niceties, Ernst felt that there could have been an underlying meaning to her words.
He ran his hands down his face. In doing so, he had hoped to shake off any stress that had befallen him from the short meeting.
Typically, those who offer an answer to their solution have more than what one is in need of. In order to gather the whereabouts of Christopher as well as to understand the attack a day prior, meeting with Sonia and her colleagues was the only option he could turn to.
Having decided to do so, Ernst went over to the counter in order to request a cup of coffee from his sister.
There goes my peace….