Jas.
‘There he is, being an asshole again,’ I thought to myself, my jaw clenched as I watched the new butler, Sylvio, scurry about and set things up. Becca and I were currently at the hall where the wedding would be taking place. She’d hired a butler who was no less than a pain in my side.
He favored little underhanded insults he thought would go over my head. “Oh, you’re the groom. Beg my pardon, sir. I just assud you were the father of the bride,” he’d said. Comnts like that drove nuts.
At the mont, he was setting up so tablecloths and carrying so chairs over while I oversaw that everything would be going well. I leaned against the wall, my eyes narrowed as I observed, annoyed that he did his job well.
Giovani was also here, always one to help out during tis like this. “Friend of yours, then?” I asked, my tone a bit tired. Giovani chuckled in response, though it wasn’t a kind one as he looked at the butler through narrowed eyes.
“Yeah, I know the guy. He’s done a lot of work for families in the area. He is obnoxious but good at his job,” Giovani replied. “I think ‘friend’ is a stretch. More like a convenient person to know, who is expensive but worth it.” He gave Becca a wave as the woman entered the hall to help out where she could.
Though we had hired quite a bit of outside help to set things up and make it perfect, Becca wanted so part in helping out here as well. I couldn’t bla her; this was going to be a big day for the both of us.
Madeline was here with the kids, making sure to watch over them and discourage them from getting underfoot. Alessandro and Dahlia played around with toys they brought, behaving very well. I smiled, looking forward to having them at the wedding with us.
So people opted for childless weddings, but Becca and I wanted the opposite. There would be plenty of hired help to watch over the kids of parents who wanted to bring them but also get so ti to themselves that night. In our case, we had Madeline, but she had beco such a close friend to us that we wanted her to have a break and be able to enjoy the wedding, too, so there would be other nannies available for our own children as well. All of them vetted, of course.
Sylvio approached Becca. They were standing close enough to that I could hear their conversation. They weren’t being all that quiet, either. The butler said, “Oh, Becca, you look beautiful today! Your children are adorable. You have such a sense of style, dear.”
“Oh, thank you!” Becca said cheerfully, smiling at the man and giggling with joy. She did a little twirl, then regarded the children who were having the ti of their life, playing around and exploring while trailed by our nanny. “You are doing a wonderful job with setting up.”
“Thank you,” Sylvio replied. “Don’t worry or strain yourself here. That’s my job! We will make this a perfect night for you. I would ask your fiance to help out a bit, but he might get winded–a man of his age,” he chortled, motioning over to where Giovani and I were sitting. “We won’t disturb those two.”
I rolled my eyes, having been more than willing to help, but my offers had been refused. Becca chuckled at his comnt and looked up to beam at , her eyes twinkling. I couldn’t resist that look and smiled back, blowing her a kiss. “Oh, stop, Sylvio,” she said, at least defending . “I’ve told them not to help. I want Jas to enjoy this day.”
At least Becca was happy, here and now. That made my heart warm. I comnted to Giovani, “Obnoxious is correct. He seems to have a bounty of nice things to say to Becca but has been making underhanded insults toward this entire ti.” Sylvio wasn’t exactly Becca’s age either, though he was younger than . He was one of those guys who always thought he could charm everyone in a skirt.
“Hm, well, I hope you’re not letting it get to you,” Giovani said, wearing a knowing smile. “Problems like him usually tend to work themselves out. One way or another.” What in the world did he an by that? I gave him a sideways glance in confusion.
“Are you planning sothing? Care to enlighten ?” I asked, wondering why he was being so cryptic lately. Giovani shook his head, giving a chuckle and turning to place a hand on my shoulder, shaking it sowhat.
“No, no of course not. I’m just speaking taphorically. I an, I am always planning sothing, Jas, but I’m not planning to take out the butler. My concern is you. You have been very uptight and worried lately despite this being the ti of your life. Becca doesn’t notice it. You lt like butter on a stove for her lately. In the best of ways. It is cute. I do have an eye on things, though.”
“What do you an?” I asked, tilting my head. I asked him a bit about those off-feelings, and if there was sothing going on, but he never stopped reassuring that all was well. Even if I had a feeling it wasn’t.
“We both know you have so things left untied, but it really isn’t sothing you yourself should be worried about. Family is important to us. If there were malicious entities dancing around in the shadows, that would be my business, even if they were after you,” he said.
“Are there?” I asked, my voice a bit edged. Giovani chuckled and gave a look. He let go of my shoulder and stretched, then cracked his neck. He turned to observe the hall being set up with tables and decorations again.
“What did I just say?” he said cheerfully. He then said, “This is a wonderful choice of decorations, by the way. Did you and Becca pick them out together?” He was genuine even if clearly changing the subject. I sighed, then nodded. “Good taste,” he finished.
With that, Giovani dismissed himself for a bit, getting a call regarding matters he needed to take care of. I was left here, for now, watching the butler and Becca interact. That guy was incredibly annoying, a feeling I really couldn’t shake.
I couldn’t wait until my interaction with him was said and done because he really ground my gears. He definitely wouldn’t be offered a long-term position after the wedding was over.
Becca went off to check on the children when he approached , a snide look on his face. He said, “Your soon-to-be wife is wonderful. The two of you are so very different, sir. It leaves one to wonder how she ended up with soone like you.”
I remained polite, though I spoke through a clenched jaw. “We have had our ups and downs, but are very happy together. Our family is growing, and in a very good spot.” It took everything not to respond with my own snarkiness. Who did he think he was, speaking to like that?
“Oh, married because of the kids, huh? Always a sha to see that happen,” he comnted, once again tossing in that underhanded insult that was driving up the wall. I twitched an eye, then shook my head.
“Not at all. The kids deserve married parents, yes, but we genuinely love each other. Again, we had many ups and downs, but matters worked out in the end for both of us, and we are very happy together,” I said, wondering why I had to defend myself to this guy.
“How sweet,” he said, though I doubted he ant it. He looked up and down, and said again, “I’m just so surprised, given you are so much older than her. I wonder if she will ever regret not marrying soone younger... soone in his pri.”
Annoyed now, I motioned toward the room. “Pardon , but don’t you have a job to do? I know you ca to us highly recomnded, but if you can’t get back to work and stop analyzing everything, I might have to find soone who talks less and works more.”
He twitched his lip in annoyance but dipped his head. “Yes, sir, that is very true. It would be a sha, since I gave up several other opportunities to work on this one on short notice. My servies are always highly sought-after. That said, back to work indeed.” rcifully, he returned to his work and left alone.
So ti later, Becca bounced over and embraced , saying, “The kids have been having a blast here, Jas. Everything is set up for them to be happy too. They have a large play area with tons of toys, so really large ones. We should get so like them at ho. The kids really seem to love them.”
I chuckled, returning her embrace and holding her close. She slled wonderful, of her typical floral perfu. I ran my fingers through her hair, causing her to relax in my other arm before pulling away and giving a huge smile.
I said, “I would say they have plenty of toys, but you can never have enough of them, right?” I winked at her, causing her to chuckle. I then said, “Things in here are going well, the adult room, rather. The butler may be an ass, but he does get the job done.”
Becca blinked in confusion. “Oh? An ass? Sylvio? What makes you say that?” she asked, and I just let out a sigh. I didn’t want to worry her with this, or think I was being uptight for no reason. Therefore, I just shook my head, grumbling a bit but not elaborating.
“Nevermind that. It’s not sothing you should worry about. I will talk to Giovani about it later. The important thing is that the setup is going well,” I said to Becca. Hopefully, she wouldn’t burden herself with too much worry about things like this.
Thankfully, she dropped it quickly, doing a twirl in front of and beaming. “Alright. I trust you, Jas. Giovani has been super helpful every step of the way in this, hasn’t he?” she asked, prompting to nod.
I leaned forward and gave her a deep kiss, which she returned. She even deepened it, exploring my mouth with her tongue for a while and prompting to groan with satisfaction. Eventually, and unfortunately, the kiss had to end.
We stared at each other lovingly for a while before I finally answered her question. “Yes, Giovani’s helped us out quite a bit. I’m proud to have him as my best man.” My cousin had been very honored to earn that title at my wedding.
With that, Becca went to go check on the kids, likely playing with them as well. I kept overseeing the wedding preparation, jumping in to help when I could. Or rather, when this butler wasn’t jumping down my throat for not to do so.
He kept the annoying spree of underhanded insults up, tanking my mood as ti went on. Giovani eventually returned and asked what was wrong. I said, “The butler and his tendency to be an asshole. It’s getting on my nerves, but I’m tolerating it.”
“Like I said, obnoxious, but good at his job. Trust , I’m not a huge fan of him either. He did co highly recomnded, though. I’m sure it will all work out in the end,” Giovani said, with a hint of amusent in his tone.
I wanted to ask him what he ant by that but looked up to see Becca waving over, wanting my opinion on sothing. After shooting Giovani a curious glance, I pushed off the wall and walked over to help Becca.
Did Giovani know sothing I didn’t know? Probably. Anymore, it seed like that was always the case.
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