"Well I do," Ernie said very quickly after Zacharias' reply, placing his breakfast on the table, and sitting down in the chair opposite his. But now that he sat in front of Smith he couldn't really help but feel lost as to where he should start. He didn't feel like going through the formalities of small-talk before getting to his real question. "I hope you don't mind me getting right to what I've been meaning to ask."
He looked squarely at Zacharias, and didn't pause much longer before stating what he had been trying to think about for the past few days, or even for the past several years. "Why?--Why do you do things that must make it plain difficult if not impossible to just get along with you?"