Manny Needs a Nanny - 3. Moving Day, and Multiple Surprises

Manny pulled up to the front gate at two-forty. The commute there was quicker than he thought it would be. He went around two curves on the driveway before he saw the house.

Manny talked to himself when he was alone, so in his car, this was a common occurrence, "Holy shit. That's a big mother-fucking house. What the hell did Boris do?"

He pulled up to an empty spot next to the four-car garage, thinking that he wouldn't block anyone in parking there. He walked up the front stairs—he'd have to count them sometime, it looked like there were around twenty-five. Just before he got to the top, the front door opened, and a little light shone through. It was only a little light because the man standing there would have made Andre the Giant look small. 'Where the fuck did he get clothes that big?'

"Good evening, Manny."

"Um, hi. You must be Bass."

"That I am, come on in."

Manny wasn't a small man, he was six-foot-three and two hundred and twenty pounds. Bass had to be over seven feet. More impressive was the fact, he was as wide as the doorway, but didn't appear to have an ounce of fat on him. Manny wanted to get lost in those muscles. 'Yeah, dream on, idiot.'

"You look a little shocked."

"Yeah. I guess, I was expecting a smaller man to be a nan… um, manny."

"That's just one job. Technically, I'm the family's bodyguard and house manager, a.k.a. butler."

"Why would they need a bodyguard?"

"Oh, that's right. You hadn't seen Boris since you were kids. Boy, do I have a lot to tell you tomorrow. It would take too long to go over tonight. I'll show you to your room. I hope you won't mind an earlier than usual wakeup call in the morning. The cook will start breakfast around ten. She'll get you breakfast, and then we can go over some things before Rocky Junior gets here."

"Sure, I guess, you're the boss."

"I'm training the new boss. That's it. You'll be in charge once you know everything you need to. First things first, this is one of the alarm panels. You'll see many of them around the house. Six-Two-Two-Seven-Four-Star arms and disarms the alarm. It's to stay armed all the time, unless someone is walking in or out. You probably didn't see it, but there's a keypad outside all the exterior doors. You have to disarm the alarm before you enter, then re-arm it once you're inside."

"Got it. Six-Two-Seven-Four-Star."

"Six-Two-Two-Seven-Four-Star. You don't want to ever get it wrong."

"Um, okay. Why not?"

"Tell you tomorrow."

They walked up a huge flight of steps.

"You're down the hall, second door on the left. I'm right across from you and Rocky’s is the next door past mine. Have a good night. When the alarm goes off in the morning at ten, just hit 'silence' on the small screen next to the bed. Sleep well."

"Goodnight, Bass."

Manny changed for bed. His last thought before falling asleep was, 'What the fuck have I gotten myself into?'

Friday

"Manny, wake up… Manny, wake up…"

That repeated through the alarm system until Manny realized what it was. He hit silence on the touchpad and started moving. After a short stop in the connected bathroom—which might be bigger than his bedroom at home—he threw on a spare set of clothes and headed downstairs. He quickly realized; Bass hadn't pointed out the kitchen. Fortunately, Bass was waiting for him, having realized the same thing himself.

"Follow me. I guess I should have told you where the kitchen was last night. But it was late, and I wasn't thinking."

"No worries. You're showing me now, so I won't starve, hehe."

Entering the kitchen, "Sandy, this is Manny Talbot, Rocky's new guardian."

"Nice meeting you, Mr. Talbot. How do you like your eggs, and do you drink coffee or tea?"

"Same here Sandy. It's Manny, no need to be formal. Scrambled would be great, milk and two teaspoons of sugar in the coffee, thanks."

Manny sat down, and Sandy brought his coffee. He and Bass drank their coffees while she prepared the eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, and toast. Once they were done eating, Bass showed him into the study.

"Boris always held any meetings where he didn't want the rest of the staff hearing anything in here. The room is nearly soundproof. We will do the same."

"That's fine. However you want it."

"Again, that's temporary. You will be in charge once you're up to speed. So, in that vein, there is also a housekeeper, Linda, who does the neatening and cleaning. You'll probably run across her soon. Patrick is on call as a chauffeur. He'll mostly shuttle Rocky around, but if you have any local errands to run, feel free to buzz him; he's idle most of the time and isn't bothered by interruptions. Each of us has a cell that will get a text from the alarm system. The process is straightforward: There's a 'Staff' button at the lower right of all the panels. Press that, then the name of whichever staff member you require, and we'll be there in short order."

"Okay. Do I have to worry about paying you all?"

"No. Mr. James has that all taken care of. If for any reason one of us leaves, you'll need to inform him to take that person off the payroll. That probably won't be necessary, because except for Patrick, we've all been here for several years. Only Patrick is new. His predecessor was also killed in the 'accident.'"

"That's the second time you've implied, it wasn't an accident that killed the Tanners, and, I guess, the previous chauffeur."

"Yes. As much as he wanted to avoid it, Boris was more than occasionally dragged into what had been his father's business. Ivan was, let's just say, connected."

"I'm not going to have any responsibilities there, am I?"

"No. Hopefully that is all over for the entire household. Ivan's partners may attempt to recruit Rocky, but that won't happen for almost eight years. By that time, it probably won't even be desired."

"So, they were murdered."

"Yes. The brake line was cut. The rest of the vehicles have been checked, so it's safe to use any you please. You should meet with Patrick at some point later and get the low-down on them."

"I will. I think, I can understand why Ms. Callahan mentioned, Rocky had a situation."

"Correct. Ivan's partners have been informed that neither you, nor Rocky, will have anything to do with their business. Any calls that come to the house phone, I will take. I'm expecting no more than a couple before everyone is aware of the new family dynamic."

"Anything else I need to worry about?"

"I believe that should be all for now. When Rocky gets home, we'll meet again so you can learn his schedule. I'm sure he'll be looking forward to getting back to the things he likes to do. How about a tour of the premises in the meantime?"

"Sounds good. Maybe a map, too. The place looks huge."

"It's big, but well laid out. You shouldn't need a map. Just wander around a few times and you'll get used to it quickly. If you do get lost, just use the alarm panel to call me."

Bass showed Manny around the rest of the house and grounds. The rest of the staff had rooms at the back of the ground floor. Manny would make use of the pool, for sure. The tennis and handball courts, probably not. Shortly after the tour was over, Gloria brought Rocky home. She simply nodded a ‘hello’ and left. Once again, Bass led them to the study.

"Settling in, Mr. Manny?"

"Yeah, Rocky. I was surprised to find out I'd be moving in here, so it'll take some getting used to, but Bass has given me the rundown on most of it. He told me we'll be talking about your schedule now."

"I expect to change a few things. I don't mind continuing to take Russian language lessons, but I think, I'll give my brain a rest for a while and pass on the French and Spanish. If that's okay with you, of course."

Manny looked to Bass to see if he would give him a hint, no help there, "I don't see a problem with that. I'm new at substitute parenting, so we'll have to make up a lot as we go along."

"That's cool. As far as the rest of it, I think I'll continue the tennis lessons. You may want to join me in that," Rocky smiled, "so I have someone to beat. Dad liked handball and racquetball, but I think they're kind of a waste of time."

"Fine, I'll probably have enough trouble learning to play tennis. What about school?"

"It's summer. School starts back up in late August. You'll need to enroll me; I don't want to be home-schooled anymore. That worked with mom, but I'm guessing, I'm already smarter than you."

Bass finally spoke up, "Rocky. Manners."

"What? He's a bartender, not a rocket scientist."

"It's okay, Bass. He'll find out how smart I am over time. I'm a bartender, Rocky, because I enjoy being around people and not having a difficult job, one without a lot of responsibility."

"So, you're lazy?"

Bass rolled his eyes.

"If you want to call it that, sure. But I'd rather say, I have a lack of ambition."

"Bass, can we talk about the other thing now?"

Winking at Rocky, silently confirming their secret, Bass replied, "Of course, Rocky. Manny, Rocky is a little concerned about your sexual orientation. Even though he was okay with his father not being exactly straight and is okay with gay people as long as they don't hit on him; he doesn’t know you. He wanted me to warn you that I will be asked to step in if anything untoward occurs."

"And by step in, you mean physically, I suppose."

"Yes. Obviously, I would not be able to harm you significantly, but if you touch him in that way at all, you will feel pain."

"Not to worry. I prefer that my partners are within a few years of my own age. That, and just the threat of you inducing any pain would be enough to deter anyone, I'm sure."

"Only once did it take more than a threat. But that man can't swing a tennis racquet any longer."

With a shudder, "Uh, yeah. I get it."

"In addition to what I've already mentioned, I take self-defense courses as well."

"That makes a lot of sense based on your size."

Rocky frowned, "We don't talk about that."

"Okay. Sorry. It's not a bad idea for any young man to know how to protect himself."

"That's better. Thank you. You will join me in the gym when the trainer is here. There may be times when I need more protection than I can give myself. Since you’re a grownup, you will have fewer disadvantages."

"Okay. I have no problem learning new things."

"Cool. I'm going to go for a swim now."

"We'll be there soon. I have two more things to discuss with Manny."

Rocky left. Manny wondered what else there was to discuss. Bass handed Manny a slip of paper.

Pointing to a corner of the room, "That is the combination to the gun safe. It is behind that bookcase over there. Do you know anything about guns?"

Smiling, "Yeah, they're like using a mouse, just point and click."

Bass shook his head, "I'll take that as a ‘no’. We will spend some time together from now on going over gun safety and usage. The risk is much lower now, but I can't discount the possibility of intruders. The household is still wealthy."

"Understandable. I'll be fine learning all that."

"Great. The second thing is related to the concern Rocky had before."

"My being gay?"

"Yes. I want to let you know that it won't be a problem with anybody here. Especially me."

Manny was startled, "Especially you? Am I interpreting that correctly? You're gay, too?

"Yes. I think you're a beautiful man. I would love to get to know you better. I’m hoping, over time, we can get a little closer. I'm currently unattached, so getting into a relationship is something I would relish."

"You're not so bad yourself. I've just started seeing one guy, but after moving in here, that may be difficult to continue. There was no magic there, anyway. I'll keep an open mind about it, for sure."

Manny's mind kept the thought going, 'Maybe I will be able to get lost among those muscles, after all.'

Bass replied, "That's all I can ask. We'll just give it time. I mean, we've known each other less than twelve hours, more than half of that we were asleep. It's too soon to consider anything more than friendship. Are you okay with starting there?”

Manny smiled, “Yes. I’d be happy to start out as friends and see where it goes from there.”

Bass gave Manny a thumbs up, “Awesome. Let's go have a swim."

Manny nodded. Bass really gave him some things to think about.

Next up - "Getting Used to The Routine"