by Cat T. Mad
“I have already told you that I will take care of that. I will be in London the day after tomorrow at the latest. Then we can settle the matter,” Jethro Reddington explained to his conversation partner, while he kept his eyes glued to Bennett.
The butler went straightway to the table. He put everything down on it that Kate had given him, and then he removed the dirty dishes.
He couldn’t hear what the other person was talking about, except that he sounded angry.
“Well, I have promised it and I will keep my word. Please wait a moment. The slave of my grandparents has just arrived with my breakfast.”
Bennett tried not to show his growing fury. He concentrated on the tray and left the room at a normal pace. The very last thing he wanted was to leave the impression that Jethro could chase him away with this statement.
After the butler had closed the door behind him, he hesitated for a moment. Then he did something that had never entered his mind before. Bennett True put his ear on the wood and eavesdropped.
“Don’t worry, Steve, my grandmother will fork the money out. I merely have to be cautious that the old man doesn’t become suspicious, therefore I will stay a couple of days longer,” Bennett heard the muffled words through the door.
His throat went dry, and with a stone in his stomach, he remembered Charles Reddington’s statement that his grandson only showed up when he was in need of money. Bennett thought that he heard a noise inside the room, and he turned round on his heels at lightning-speed. With quick steps, he went along the hallway and dashed silently downstairs. At the very moment when he was out of sight, the door of the sleeping room was opened, where he had stood and eavesdropped seconds ago.
Inevitably, his cheeks began to blush, and he sighed with relief, because he hadn’t been caught. Usually, the idea to spy on other people would never enter his mind, but Jethro’s statement that it would be easy to twist her around his little finger, had caused a bad feeling inside him, and his concerns were confirmed now.
As soon as the butler arrived in the kitchen, he placed the tray carelessly aside, and he sat down at the table. Ceaselessly, the question was spinning in his mind, what he should do next. It was impossible to approach the Reddingtons and to tell them that he had happened to hear something. This indiscretion could result in losing his job, even then, when he meant it well and wanted to protect Aethel from possible disappointments.
A butler had to maintain silence and absolute discretion about private matters, his employees expected it from him after all. He also had the impression that Jethro was well aware of this fact, too.
While he was sitting there and racking his brain about loyalty, Kate appeared in the kitchen.
“Aethel and Charles are coming,” the housekeeper informed him briefly.
Bennett struggled to his feet and he avoided a sigh. Jethro Reddington disturbed his daily routine completely. Usually, he would already stand at the staircase, but it was difficult for him to stay on top of things now.
He swiftly left the room, but then he turned around one more time. “Where is the table set, Kate? Is it set in the winter garden again, or in the dining room?”
The gray-haired woman looked at him in surprise, and she answered, “In the dining room. Haven’t you noticed it?”
Bennett apologetically shook his head, and he headed towards the stairs. He arrived before the couple not a moment too soon. He escorted the two people into the adequate room. Thereby, he perceived steps which announced that Jethro followed them.
During their breakfast, Bennett positioned himself unobtrusively against a wall, and he laboriously tried not to dwell on his thoughts, but to maintain his attentiveness. When the man made the suggestion to go together with his grandmother to an art exhibition in London, Bennett started to listen attentively. For him, this idea was tinged with bad premonitions.
Aethel however was full of enthusiasm. She was delighted that her grandson wanted to go with her on an excursion.
The butler nearly sighed with relief, when Charles Reddington announced, “It sounds really interesting. I guess I will neglect my plants today and accompany you.”
Bennett observed that Jethro nearly lost control over his set smile, after he had heard this statement. In a voice as sweet as sugar and riddled with deceitfulness, the man explained, “But I only drive a two-seater, grandfather!”
Charles Reddington was surprised, and he gave a ringing laugh. “But Jethro, Bennett will drive us to the exhibition, of course.”
The butler grinned inwardly, and he was grateful for the decision Charles Reddington had made. For a moment, Bennett wondered if the man had probably seen through his grandson, or was he really interested in the exhibition of an unknown artist?
The butler hoped that Charles would pay attention that Jethro couldn’t squeeze any money out of his grandmother.
“I hope that Jethro actually visits the exhibition, and that he won’t secretly walk into a store that sells indecent things,” Kate commented the revelation of the butler that they would go on a trip to London.
The housekeeper’s tone of voice was mischievous, and Bennett couldn’t do anything else but looking at her in surprise and inquiringly at the same time. While he shoved the last piece of his bread into his mouth, the woman supported herself against the table and bend down to him.
“It almost leaves me speechless that the boy has become so bad-mannered, Bennett!”
The butler raised his eyebrows, and his face reflected his ignorance. He anticipated that Kate was talking about the remains on the linen, but nevertheless he was quite surprised that the woman was furious about it all the morning.
“Imagine it, Bennett,” she silently pointed out. “Not only the bedclothes prove that he does indecent things, no, in the middle of the blanket, I saw something which certainly doesn’t belong there! No man should use things like that. I really don’t know what to say!”
“Oh,” Bennett uttered in astonishment, and his eyes opened wide.
“Exactly, Bennett! And in order to top it, Jethro had the gall to laugh at me when I was aghast at this sight and said to him, “But Mr. Reddington!” Subsequently, I requested him to put this thing away!”
“I hope that he complied with your request, Kate?”
The housekeeper panted for breath, and she explained, “Yes, but he called me an uptight, old woman at the same time!”
Bennett True’s chin dropped, and he looked at Kate with a mixture of embarrassment and bafflement. That Jethro behaved towards him absolutely horrible was a different kettle of fish, but to say something like that to an employee, who had started working for the Reddingtons almost thirty years ago, bowled him over.
“I was on the verge of storming into the sleeping room of the Reddingtons! Do I really have to endure such a treatment by this snotty-nosed brat? I saw him crawling on the floor in this house. I changed his diapers, and now that?” The woman was getting more and more agitated. “But I certainly cannot approach Aethel and Charles in order to tell them that their grandchild has an imitation of a male…You know what I am talking about…lying in his bed, and he labels me as an uptight, old woman!”
Bennett had no idea what he could reply. He merely voiced another, “Oh”, when the woman had revealed to him what else except for his sperm Jethro Reddington had left behind.
Kate straightened herself, and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Then the butler had the impression that she was thinking loud. “The thought imposes on me, after all, that Jethro is different.”
“Different?” Bennett pressed her.
“Well, Bennett, you know what I mean. He has this object of rubber lying in his bed, and he hasn’t found a girlfriend as yet. Isn’t it obvious that he is different?”
Kate’s voice was tainted with a disparaging undertone, and Bennett rebelled against it inwardly. He would have loved nothing better than kicking Jethro Reddington out of the door, and to gossip about his drug consumption and his bad
behavior, but he didn’t want to delve deeper into the subject their conversation already seemed to lead.
“I think this matter is none of our business,” Bennett pointed out briefly.
The woman looked at him in surprise, and before she could reply something, the butler said, “Even if you were right, would you plan to go to the Reddingtons and announce to them that their grandchild is homosexual?”
“No, of course not, but…”
“But, Kate?” the butler questioned coolly.
The facial expression of the woman froze, and she almost left the impression as if she was offended, because he blocked the subject so apparently.
“Nothing”, she replied sulkily, and then she turned around.
The fact that Kate subsequently clattered with the dishes, revealed to Bennett that she wasn’t only annoyed at Jethro, but at him as well. He shook his head and suppressed a sigh. He anticipated that she had been able to gossip with his predecessor much better than with him, but sitting at the kitchen table and to discuss if Jethro Reddington could be interested in men, was clearly not his world.
The Lull…
Two and a half hours later, Bennett sat in the car, and he fought his way through the busy traffic in London. The older couple was in an excellent mood, whereas merely Jethro left a tense impression on him.
He was surprised, when his navigation device led him to a seemingly reputable gallery. In the meantime, he thought the man was capable of a lot of surprises. He was grateful for the parking lot on-site. After the Reddington’s had stepped out of the car, he parked the small limousine there.
Bennett used the time and went into a café on the opposite side. While he was glancing at the façade of the gallery, his thoughts about Jethro were whirling around in his head. He wondered which kind of guy he probably had been before his life was taken over by drugs. He was surprised when he spotted the man he just was thinking about left the building and headed towards a small newspaper store. Bennett was on the brink of jumping to his feet and dashing to the car, but then he realized that the Reddingtons didn’t leave the building. Barely one minute later, Jethro got out of the shop. Subsequently he leaned against the masonry and lit a cigarette. The butler was amazed, because he saw the other man smoking for the very first time.
Soon afterwards, Jethro began to phone, and Bennett took advantage of this opportunity in order to scrutinize the man unobtrusively. It was out of question that he must have been a downright handsome human a while ago, whereas he presently looked haggard. His hollow cheeks were visible for him even from this distance, and his clothes were too loose-fitting.
The other man seemed to be nervous and jittery, he repeatedly lifted the cigarette to his lips and he took vigorous pulls on it.
Before Bennett sipped his coffee again, Jethro had grinded his cigarette butt under his heel, and he wiped his hands on his dark pants, as if they were wet.
The butler swallowed, when he felt sympathy for this man within a few seconds, although he actually did everything that would give him enough reasons to hate him profoundly. Bennett panted. He stared at his coffee and called himself an idiot. The last thing he wanted was having a feeling of sympathy for this junkie who scolded and provoked him, although the main reason for his behavior probably was a result of his drug consumption. Bennett wrinkled his brows, and he absentmindedly racked his mind, how Jethro might behave without the influence of this infernal stuff. Just when he thought that in addition to the powder which highly likely had been cocaine, he also consumed a large amount of alcohol, a menacing voice hissed at him quietly, “I really can’t stand you. Have you observed me long enough?”
Bennett gave a slight jerk, because he was startled, and he looked up. Furious blue eyes flashed at him, and Jethro’s facial expression reflected his blazing hatred. The butler raised his eyebrows in surprise, and he responded as calmly as possible, “I am merely drinking a coffee while I am waiting. It goes without saying that I have seen you, but you certainly haven’t failed to notice that I am occupied with the contents of this cup. And I don’t observe you.”
Jethro braced his hands against the wooden surface of the table and bent down. The smell of nicotine and alcohol reached Bennett’s nostrils, when the blond man replied angrily, “Don’t assume that I am a fool! You have gaped over at me and observed me!”
In Bennett’s opinion, this situation was completely absurd. “It is my job to pay attention when the Reddingtons leave the gallery. I am the butler of your grandparents after all.”
Jethro’s eyes seemed to glare at him even more dangerously, and Bennett got the impression that he was unpredictable at this moment.
“What kind of problem do you actually have with me, Mr. Reddington? I do my job as any other butler would do it in the same manner, and I cannot remember having done anything that could justify your anger.”
Jethro bent his face further down, and Bennett noticed that his forehead was slightly covered with sweat. Your blinkered, overbearing and always calm behavior fucks me off! You are nothing else but only a damned slave that wipes other people’s asses clean!” the other one spit out.
Bennett took a deep breath, and he tried to avert the explosion which threatened to happen inside him any moment. The butler got up, and now it was him who looked down at Jethro for a split second.
“Then simply ignore me, Mr. Reddington. I think it would be the best solution for our mutual antipathy.”
Bennett was grateful that he had already paid the bill for his drink. He purposefully went in the direction of the exit of the café, and he hoped that Jethro wouldn’t follow him immediately and continue attacking him with words.
Bennett swallowed, and he was glad that the traffic lights requested him to cross the street.
He felt that his hands were quivering slightly, and he rubbed them briefly, as if they were cold. Rage was ranting inside him, but simultaneously, the words of the man were hurting him like a sharp blade. It didn’t matter to him at all that Jethro had accused him of being calm, bur he, Bennett True, was neither blinkered, nor overbearing, and damned, he wasn’t a slave that wiped asses clean! He would have loved nothing better than giving him a tongue-lashing, how difficult it was to maintain discipline in view of his provocations.
Bennett went to his car and leaned against it. He gazed in the direction of the building façade of the gallery, while his arms were crossed in front of his chest. He didn’t dare to look around in order to see if Jethro had followed him. Bennett was firmly convinced that he couldn’t withstand another confrontation without getting verbally abusive. As yet he had been able to swallow all the evil words that had been on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t endure more insults, otherwise, Bennett would forget his good manners for the very first time in his life.
He was boiling inwardly, and he admonished himself to take Jethro’s statements not too personally for the following minutes. He felt that he was gradually calming down, and since the blond man hadn’t appeared in his field of vision as yet, Bennett dared a 360 degree view. He exhaled with relief. Jethro was nowhere to be seen.
He lost track of time, and he stared at the ground in front of his feet, while he hoped that this man would rapidly vanish from his life.
When Bennett looked up again, Charles Reddington and his wife left the gallery, closely followed by their grandson. The butler immediately realized that the mood between them had changed. The old man looked angry and tense. Aethel seemed to be in low spirits, while Jethro’s eyes were filled with hatred and glued to the back of the gray-haired man.
Bennett opened the doors of the car, and he tried to scrutinize the small group not as attentively as his curiosity demanded from him. When he drove off, he solely glanced briefly in the rearview mirror. He wondered what might have happened, because a frosty silence prevailed among the family members. Both Jethro and his grandfather stared out of the window, while Aethel gazed at her fingers.
“I…” Jethro began.
“We discu
ss it at home,” the old man interrupted him harshly, and after his announcement, there was deadly silence in the car again.
Bennett swallowed in order to get rid of the sore feeling that was rising up in his throat. He didn’t know what Jethro had done, but he had never seen his employer angrier. Charles had always been friendly, and he had left the impression on the butler to be a calm, humorous man. But the person who was sitting on the backseat now seemed to be a complete stranger that radiated incredible iciness.
During the whole trip in the car, the situation was as tense as when they had gotten in. The present inmates didn’t exchange any words at all. Bennett’s mood also had changed after the drive of two hours. At first, he had been furious, but now he was concerned. What could have happened? He assumed that Jethro had brought up the matter of money.
He yearned for the departure of that man even more desperately, and he hoped that this incidence would contribute to convince Jethro Reddington to pack his bag and to depart.
…before the Storm.
“Thank you Bennett, I think you can withdraw now,” Charles Reddington told him.
When the butler nodded, Aethel hauled herself out of her armchair, and she excused herself with the statement that she was tired and wanted to go to bed. Bennett knew that it couldn’t be true. The mood among the family members was still considerably tense. And the air between Charles and Jethro literally seemed to crackle.
They had eaten dinner in complete silence, and their subsequent gathering in the living room had also been prevailed by quietness. Aethel had tried to set a conversation in motion several times, but her husband as well as her grandson had behaved like animals that lay in ambush and waited that the other one would make a wrong movement.
Bennett held the door open for Aethel. He bowed to her and closed the door behind the two of them.
