Wellstead - 8. WSD Chapter 8

“Mrs Parkes is back housekeeping for me, and her nephew, Kyle, is my driver and butler, not that I really need one, but I am enjoying it while it lasts. Come with me to the car and we can ask Kyle the address,” I said as I led the way back to where the car was parked.

It was during this short stroll that I noticed the group split up into pairs. Julia and Toby were holding hands, as were Danny and Mark. I had to take a second glance to make sure I was seeing correctly, and Sam saw this as he was walking alongside me.

“Yes, they are a couple. They both came out to our families just after graduating from high school and have been together ever since,” Sam whispered to me. Even though I was a bit shocked and surprised I smiled as I saw both of them happily walking together.

When we arrived at the car everyone was surprised to see such a classic car in such great condition, and they all began examining the car while I asked Kyle for the address and phone number of my new home, as I wanted to pass the information on to my old high school friends.

With information in hand Julia and the others waved goodbye as I climbed into the back seat and made the short journey home where Mrs Parkes was ready to serve lunch. While eating I asked Kyle if he could take me to do some shopping, as I needed to buy some new clothes suited to the Australian climate. I suggested that we take the Bentley this time, which made Kyle smile.

After three exhausting hours of shopping, we arrived back home with lots of packages which I was instructed to leave on the kitchen table so the new clothes could be washed. Leaving the packages on the table I retreated to the library to do some more reading. Kyle came in half an hour later with some afternoon tea, biscuits and cake, and left me to continue reading for the remainder of the afternoon. He returned again just after 6pm to inform me that dinner would be ready in the kitchen at 6.30pm.

It was a delicious dinner. I thanked Mrs Parkes and Kyle for it, and I informed them that I had no plans for the next day and so would be staying at home. I went to the music room and started playing on the grand piano. I only knew the basics of playing and was not very good at reading music so it was really just a matter of experimenting on such a wonderful instrument.

After a while I returned to the library to do some more reading before retiring for the evening. I woke up the next morning feeling a lot more refreshed, having recovered mostly from all the travelling and the jet lag. After a quick shower and getting dressed into some of my new clothes that had been laid out onto my bed while I was in the shower, I made my way to the kitchen for some breakfast.

No sooner had I sat down when the telephone rang. Kyle motioned for me to stay as he would answer it.

“Wellstead residence, how may I help you?” Kyle said as he picked up the receiver. I saw a strange look on Kyle’s face and he held the receiver away from his ear.

“I believe this may be for you, Sir,” Kyle said as I stood up to take the receiver from him. That is when I heard a lot of laughter at the other end of the phone. I smiled at Kyle understanding why he had the expression.

“Julia Crenshaw, will you cut out that laughter and tell me why you called please, and you owe my butler an apology too,” I said to try and get to the reason for the call. I had to wait a few moments before Julia could stop laughing to reply.

“I’m sorry. Yes, I will apologies to him. It’s just I wasn’t expecting the phone to be answered that way and it sounded so proper. Now, I called because the gang and I all have the afternoon off from lectures, and we are all dying to see your place, so we wanted to see what time we can invite ourselves over,” Julia said eventually.

“How about 3pm for afternoon tea. Bring your tennis racquets as I have a tennis court here, so we can have a bit of a match, and bring swimmers too for a soak in the spa afterwards,” I said looking at Mrs Parkes to see if it was ok with her. She nodded yes.

“Sounds fantastic. I will let the others know. Now let me speak to your dear butler so I can apologise,” Julia replied. I smiled as I held out the phone in the direction of Kyle.

After the call had ended I sat down again. “It is my five closest high school friends - Julia Crenshaw, Danny and Sam Alder, plus Mark and Toby Kilton. Now as I discovered yesterday Julia and Toby are an item, as are Mick and Danny, who apparently came out to their families soon after graduating from high school. I hope that won’t be a problem with you both,” I explained to Mrs Parkes and Kyle.

I noticed Mrs Parkes looking at Kyle as if they shared a secret of some kind, and she was about to say something when Kyle spoke first. “Well, as a matter of fact, that is partly the reason why I am staying here with Aunt Anne. I came out to my family 3 years ago last month, and I didn’t get a very good response from my parents.

Two days later I was told I would be living with my Aunt and that I was not to return home ever again. My younger brother managed to slip a note under my door during the night, saying that he had suspected for some time that I was gay and that he had no issue with it. He was very angry with our parents with how I was being treated.

Aunt Anne lets me speak to my brother Quinn on the phone, when he is able to telephone when our parents are not watching. I miss him so much as we were always good mates,” Kyle said sadly.

“Well we will have to arrange a way for him to come and visit you, won’t we. How old is Quinn? And do your parents know where you and your Aunt live and work?” I said to cheer Kyle up.

“Actually, I was going to write a letter to my sister soon, to let her know the change of address and contact phone number. Quinn turns 18 next week,” Mrs Parkes said pleased with how her employer had taken the news of Kyle’s difficult situation with the family.

“Let’s just hold up on that letter for a while and see if we can arrange something more suitable. Do you have a message recorder on your phone at your home, Mrs Parkes?” I asked her starting to think of ways to get Kyle to spend time with his brother.

“Yes, I do. I go home to check my mail and messages twice a week. I’ve not decided what to do about the house. It’s so far away to travel each day, so I try and get there on a shopping day, and on my day off, so I can do some cleaning and gardening. Quinn knows that we live and work here of course, but my sister and brother-in-law think I still live at my house,” Mrs Parkes replied.

“What a sneaky pair you two are,” I said with a big grin, and we all laughed. “No, what is sneaky is that Quinn has applied to study at the nearby university. If he gets in he will be staying at one of the student colleges, so he will be just a few blocks away from here, and will be able to visit whenever he wants. Oh, that’s with your permission of course, Sir,” Kyle said to me. I couldn’t help but laugh at that and Mrs Parkes and Kyle joined in, with the humour.

“Permission is granted, young man. Oh, and hands off my friends too,” I said with a wink and smile, as I finished off my breakfast. I saw Kyle blush from my last comment. While Mrs Parkes and Kyle were busy tidying up in the kitchen, I went out the back to look at the tennis court.

Going to the shed I found a large outdoor broom, and I began to sweep the court surface of all the leaves and excess dust that had gathered on the court due to its lack of use. “I can do that for you, Sir,” Kyle said when he came out to see what I was doing.

“I’m fine to do this. Could you please check on the spa pool? Make sure it is ready for use for this afternoon. And can you locate the tennis net too?” I added as I continued with the sweeping, which was quite hard work, even on a cool late autumn day. I still had five weeks before the start of the 2^nd semester of university, so I wanted to keep myself busy till then, and I was happy to do my share of work around the property.

By lunch time, I had the court fully swept and Kyle had treated the water in the spa pool and found the tennis net and put it up. He also brought out the outdoor chairs and tables, which he set up on the decking near the spa, which gave a good view for tennis matches.

After lunch, I retreated to the library to relax for a while before returning to my room to find the other items that I had purchased recently: a new watch, 2 tennis racquets, two containers of tennis balls, a lap top computer and a new mobile phone, the first one that I have ever owned as up till then I had not really needed one.

Grabbing the phone and the laptop boxes, I went to the office where I sat down and opened the box containing the phone, took out the instructions and began to read how to use the iPhone 5. About twenty minutes later while the phone was on charge, and I was satisfied I knew enough to operate it, I turned to the laptop.

Once again, I read the instructions, put the battery into place, and turned it on. Doing the setup was easy as I had used computers before at school in Scotland, and found I was quite good at using them, but it was just the first time I actually owned my own lap top.

When Kyle knocked on the door and entered, he reminded me that my guests would be arriving in half an hour. “Kyle, do you know what subjects your brother will be doing when he starts university?” I asked as he was about to leave the room.

“I think Aunt Anne said he is doing business law and …,” Kyle saw the huge grin on my face and stopped mid-sentence, wondering why I was grinning.

“Do you know what I am studying at the same university next semester?” I asked him, still with a big grin. Finally, Kyle realised the connection and he dashed out of the room to find his Aunt.

When my friends arrived, I introduced them to Mrs Parkes, before showing them around the house and the outside grounds of the property. We ended up at the tennis courts where we spent the next two hours playing a number of games, swapping partners each game, so everyone had a go at playing. We had a refreshing afternoon tea served to us half way through the afternoon and ended with a relaxing soak in the spa pool.

“If I’m not mistaken, I think Kyle is one of our kind,” Danny said more to his partner than to the rest of the group as we chatted while soaking in the spa. I laughed at how Danny said that.

“Yes, he is, and he’s been told to keep hands off you two, so don’t start any trouble do you hear me?” I said sternly to Danny and Mark, who both nodded that they understood. “He was forced to leave home when he came out to his family.

Luckily his Aunt Anne, my housekeeper, was more understanding and has let him stay with her, and now he works here for me. Apparently, his younger brother was already suspecting that his brother was gay and didn’t have a problem with it, and they try to talk when they can, when their parents are not around. The parents think that Anne & Kyle live in her home on the other side of town.

They know Anne works for the family she worked for 6 years earlier, but in a different area, and they know Kyle has a job as a chauffeur, but they do not know it is with the same family that Anne works for. Also Kyle’s brother Quinn, who turns 18 next week, will be studying at the university nearby, and living in one of the colleges, and I discovered today he will be studying Business Law like I am,” I said letting the group know the situation with Kyle and his brother.

At 5.45 Julia announced that it was time for them to leave, and so we all climbed out of the pool. “How about we make this a weekly event, say on a Sunday. Come over at 11am for a game of tennis before lunch, and we can continue on from there,” I suggested after having such a wonderful afternoon, which sadly was coming to a close. Everyone agreed with the idea, and Sam said he would have to change some other plans but he would definitely be here.

After my guests had all gone, I went into the kitchen in search of Mrs Parkes, and only found Kyle scrubbing some pots. When he saw me he smiled. “I overheard your guests saying they thought I was gay, and, no, I didn’t mind you telling them. I’m glad that I have such an understanding employer, and glad that you were able to share it with your friends,” Kyle said to me.

“I’m sorry. I should have asked before I said anything, but Mark brought up the subject and it wasn’t very easy to avoid,” I added, pleased that he wasn’t angry from revealing that information to my friends. “Can you let Mrs Parkes know that we have set a regular date for my friends to come over for tennis on Sundays at 11am.

Oh, and I suggest you and your aunt, get some tennis whites, as I’m inviting you both to join in,” I said as I walked out. I went into the library to do some reading for the rest of the afternoon, while I waited for dinner. When Kyle came to announce dinner would be ready in 15 minutes I remembered about my mobile phone and laptop in the office, and went to get the phone, which I noticed had two missed calls and three text messages.

Message today @ 6.01pm: Thanks for a great afternoon, looking forward to Sunday, Love Mick and Danny.

Message today @ 6.04pm: Great afternoon, can’t wait till Sunday, Love Julia & Toby.

Message today @ 6.06pm: Thanks for the invite, looking forward to Sunday, Sam.

I saved the three numbers into my contacts list on the phone, and pocketed the phone before making my way to the kitchen.

Once there, I took out the phone and scribbled my phone number on the message pad, before sitting down to dinner, leaving my phone by the message pad. When Kyle noticed my phone, he picked it up and added some more numbers to the contacts. When he saw me looking he just blushed and handed me the phone.

“I’ve added the house phone number and address to the contacts, as well as my mobile number in case you need picking up from anywhere,” he explained before returning to the stove to finish serving dinner. This is when I noticed only two place settings at the table. I was about to ask about this when the phone rang, and Kyle dashed over to answer it.

“That was Aunt Anne just reminding me not to over-cook the gravy and to make sure there is the right amount of pepper in it. She is ill in bed, so I’ve had to make dinner tonight,” Kyle explained after putting the phone down.

I smiled and was pleased to see that Kyle seemed to know what he was doing in the kitchen, so I waited to be presented with my dinner: pork chops with vegetables, gravy and apple sauce. It looked very delicious and tasted even better than it looked. After dinner I asked Kyle if he had a picture of his brother, so I could see what he looked like. Kyle said Aunt Anne had a recent picture of him on the desk in the pantry. He retrieved it so I could see it.