"Well...uh...thank you for coming!" Charlie said lamely. Just then, Alan came in and greeted the valet.

"Charlie! Why don't you uh...give him a tour of the house?" Alan suggested awkardly. He had never made enough money to hire household servants, especially since he had to hire tutors for Charlie.

"Uh...okay." the mathematican said.

88888

"Well, I gotta go!" Charlie said after the tour. He had an eight thirty class.

Horatio asked "When would you like dinner, sir?"

"Actually, my dad does the cooking around here." Charlie said, then shrugged."Maybe you could go shopping for him?"

"Certainly" He had done such duties before his aristocratic boss had gotten married. "Would you like me to take you to work? The estate has given me the use of a BMW for your benefit."

"I prefer to bike, but thanks!"

"Dr. Eppes said that you might need me to go to the market, sir?" he asked Alan, who read in the living room. Decades of work had made getting up early an automatic routine.

"Sure!" Alan assented. He found shopping to be tedious and figured that he could buy the produce himself at the local farmer's market, while Horatio got the rest. "I'll draw up a list. Would you like something to eat?"

"I've already eaten" Horatio began pick up the clean dishes from the washer and took the liberty of rearranging where things went.

Soon, Alan gave him a list, a handful of coupons, and very specific instructions.

"Be sure to get the milk from the back, that's where they keep the ones with the later dates and I want the ribeye with the bone. Don't forget the coupons..." Alan gave him the cash. Don, given the way he was, had done a background check on the servant 'just to be safe'.

Horatio went to the market in a BMW, owned by the estate, for the purpose of driving Charlie around, whenever he required it. He returned with the groceries, the receipt, and the change. Then, he began to put the things away. After some time, Alan announced

"I'm going to skid row to volunteer at the homeless shelter. I'll see you later."

"Would you like me to take you?" Horatio offered "The estate has given me the use of a BMW and we could go on the carpool lane."

"Nah, it's okay" Alan told him. "Thanks for offering!"

After he left, Horatio got to work. He did a through job on the kitchen, dusted, and organized. Then, the man proceeded to fix Charlie's room, a choatic miasma of papers andbooks. Overall, the house sparkled and looked like no one lived in it by the time Alan got back.

"You really outdid yourself, Horatio!" Alan commented when he entered. "I almost felt like I came into the wrong house! Thank you!"

"Would you like me to get you something to drink, sir?"

"Well, a beer would be nice." Alan sat, with a grunt on his easy chair.

"Certainly, sir"

TBC