We arrived at the Carmichael mansion some time later. The high fence with shrubs inside and cameras along the exterior brought us into a snow covered courtyard. The trees were well maintained, and I couldn’t tell how big the grounds actually were. The mansion itself looked like it belonged in a Victorian story, like Pride and Prejudice or something. I couldn’t even guess how many rooms it had.
We were greeted by uniformed staff. They wore black business-looking suites with a white button-up and a tie, both men and women.
“Don’t worry about your bags, they will be taken to your rooms.” Clarence instructed, and the assembled men and women stood respectfully as we walked to the front door.
“Don’t you have to park the car in the garage?” I asked Clarence.
“Oh, that duty will be performed by one of the valets.” Clarence informed me.
“Oh, so you are just the chauffeur?” I asked.
Clarence glanced at me, “I perform the duties of a chauffeur for Miss Courtney because I choose to. I am the head of the staff at the Carmichael estate.”
I was suddenly very glad that he had taken to me so nicely, and it made sense how he could set up the ‘boba tea’ instructions.
We were brought inside, our coat taken and our shoes replaced with in-house slippers. We were led to where my room was, down a series of halls.
My room was large, at least 30 feet on each side, with a walk in closet and its own bathroom. The furnishings had a blue theme with green highlights. The king sized bed was freshly made. A large window showed the front yard of the estate. The Limo was already gone. My bags had already made it and were unpacked.
“Daddy trusts him enough to put us in the same hall?” Courtney asked.
“As I said, I believe your father believes you are already engaging in sexual activity… so I don’t know if this is permission or a test.” He informed us.
“My room is just down here.” Courtney pulled me down two doors to her room.
It was pink. So much pink. I could tell some of the design choices had been made when Courtney was a little girl, but could also see some of the decorations that had changed as she had gotten older. She, two, had a King sized bed, freshly made, and her window was drawn with pink curtains inside darker curtains to block out the light.
The room in between ours had been converted into a gaming room, similar to what we had at the house we lived in at college.
“I would advise against being too enthusiastic with your boba tea until you have had a chance to meet with Master Robert.” Clarence advised, “But the choice is yours.”
“Thanks Clarence, we can behave for now.” Courtney thanked him, and he walked away.
“Let me show you around the old place.” Courtney told me, grabbing my hand and leading me. “Most of the facilities are open to the staff, though they try to let us have our privacy when we want to use them.
The Carmichael estate was even larger than it looked from the outside, and not just because it had two sublevels. There was an indoor olympic pool, indoor basketball court, a private theater that could seat at least 50 people, a private gym, and 3 dining rooms. There was almost always a member of the staff within beckoning distance.
“Hey, I’m sorry, you’re new here aren’t you? What’s your name?” Courtney asked one of the young men.
“Yes, miss. The name is Brandon.” He replied.
“Do you know if my parents are home?” She asked.
“Not at the moment. Your father is scheduled to be home at six. Your mother will be arriving in the morning.” He informed her.
“Where is mother?” She asked.
“A social event in Florida.” He replied.
“Ah.” Courtney accepted and thanked him.
She continued to show me around. The garage was full of interesting vehicles, they had a Tesla model 3, a 1967 Chevy Impala, a 1981 Delorean DMC-12, and several Ashton Martins.
“The Impala is one that got damaged on the set of Supernatural. Daddy is wanting to trick out the Delorean to look like the one in Back-to-the-Future, if he’d ever finds time. And the Ashton Martins are all from the sets of the James Bond movies.” Courtney told me. “You shoulda seen the Impala when it got here. The studio had brought in a look alike to wreck for one of the episodes and it got mangled.”
And that was in addition to the convertibles, muscle cars and sports cars.
“Daddy mostly stopped buying fancy cars a couple of years ago, says he doesn’t drive enough.” Courtney told me.
“Is that my Sunshine I hear?” A man’s voice called out from the door to the main house.
“Daddy!? Oh, Daddy, you’re here! We were told not to expect you for two more hours!” Courtney squealed with delight running to hug the older man.
Robert Carmichael was older, at least 50, maybe even 60, but he took care of himself and was in shape, making him walk like a younger man. He had black hair and green eyes, like his daughter. He had his hair short, and combed back it showed that even at his age, his hairline was not moving at all. His facial hair was neatly trimmed leaving his mustache and goatee looking immaculate. Only the slightest hint of gray touched his hair, though half of his goatee was gray.
He wore a business suit, though it was now unbuttoned, signifying that he was home and could relax. It was obvious that his suit was custom tailored, as it fit his frame perfectly. He had removed his tie and undone the top button of his white shirt. Like us, he had traded in his shoes for comfortable house slippers.
His eyes settled on me.
“You must be this ‘Tom’ I’ve heard so much about. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Now is it Tom or Thomas?” He asked, extending his hand.
“I am only Thomas to my grandmother. To everyone else, it’s Tom. The pleasure is all mine.” I told him, taking his hand and giving a firm handshake.
“Come, let’s sit and relax. The lounge is quite comfortable. What’s your drink of choice? Scotch? Brandy? Rum? Or something harder? I have a few whiskeys and vodkas I’ve never tried before?” He offered, walking us through the house to a warmly lit room with overstuffed armchairs, couches, and a large Lovesac.
I sat in one of the armchairs and Courtney flopped on the Lovesac. Robert took his seat in an armchair near me.
“I don’t drink alcohol.” I informed Robert, “My father had the misfortune to be an immediate alcoholic, and it took him nearly 20 years and a divorce ultimatum to get him to give up the bottle. I will take fruit juices, I know a lot of bars and such serve them to mix with their other beverages. Now, is it Robert, Rob, or Bob?”
“I prefer Robert. I was named after my grandfather and he was always Bob. And I’ve never been a fan of the nickname Rob, my least favorite aunt ruined it for me as a child. And I understand on avoiding alcohol, so what’s your favorite fruit juice?” Robert asked.
“I generally go Mango, peach, then almost any of the red berries, except cranberry.” I told him.
“Oh, not into cranberries?” He asked mirthfully.
“No, but I have to give it to the cranberry salesman. For a berry with such an unfortunate aftertaste, that brings so little to the table, they put cranberries in everything.” I lamented.
Robert laughed, “That says a lot about you actually. Any other hot takes?”
“Pomegranate and blueberry mix amazingly well. I used to find this awesome blueberry/pomegranate juice in my supermarket, but it disappeared a while back and now I can’t find it anywhere. It’s most unfortunate.” I replied.
Staff members appeared with mango juice for me, raspberry lemonade for Courtney and a brandy for Robert.
“So in late September, you two hit it off and became inseparable, from what I hear. From what I understand, you two have had classes together for the past two years, what happened?” Robert asked, nonchalantly, but there was a dangerous air about him.
Sarah had prepared us for this.
“Well, daddy, one of my girlfriends had an experience where she was at a party and several of the guys ganged up on her and started pressuring her to have sex with them. She was afraid if she said no then they’d rape her. Luckily a guy from one of her classes stepped in and got the guys to back off. I was afraid I didn’t have any guys that would stand up for me, because I’d kinda been mean to every guy that talked to me.” Courtney related, “So I decided to find a guy that I could bring into my friend group. I wanted a guy who was respectful to women, didn’t sleep around, I could have something in common with and that my girlfriends would like. So, after I went over all the guys I knew, Tom stood out the most, and once I gave him a chance, he’s been the best and we ended up going to dinner a few times, and I asked him to be my boyfriend.”
Robert turned to me, “Really? You made my little girl make the first moves?”
“Well, she had a bit of a reputation for hating when guys asked her out, and when we talked, she said she wasn’t looking for a boyfriend and just wanted to be friends, at least for now. I wanted to be her boyfriend, but was respectful of her requests until she changed what she was asking for.” I told him.
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t push her before she was ready.” Robert sat back content. “What did your friends think of your new boyfriend?”