Beyond the Contract

Avery

The rest of the meal passed with a few more snippets of conversation, mostly about mundane things: the weather, a new movie Mom wanted to see, and the neighbor's dog that wouldn't stop barking.

After dinner, I cleared the table and began washing the dishes. The warm, soapy water was a welcome distraction from my swirling thoughts, and the rhythmic motion of scrubbing the plates offered a sem