Chapter 3

The master suite was a marvel. The main point in the room was the sleep comfort bed. It was a super king. There's plenty of room for my legs. All the furniture was Queen Anne style. It just happened to be my favorite style. Two dressers, and a mirrored chest lined the walls. There also was a piece of furniture that looked like the others. When I opened it there was a full TV Stereo setup. The TV was at least 50 inch. Looking at the wires from the set, the Stereo had to be a Dolby sound setup. I checked the corners of the room and I verified the fact. It was a sweet setup.

The room was big enough to also hold a couch and two chairs, end tables and a coffee table. There was a secretary in the corner and it contained access points for a computer. There was no computer, though. I had just the thing for that spot. I'd install it later.

I took a long shower. The shower was tile floor to ceiling. There were a total of six shower heads in it, two on each of the three tiled walls. Three were about 5 ft. from the floor and the other three were at 6 ½ ft. from the floor. I'd never seen the shower heads like those. They pulsed and rotated at the same time. Man, I could get used to that shower! Fifteen minutes later I was clean AND very relaxed.

Since I didn't have company, and really didn't need company tonight, I slipped on the silk pajamas I'd gotten years ago when Denise and I were, well, let's just say we were feeling a little better about each other. They felt as luxurious as they felt. That's the main reason I kept them.

I lay on the bed, the adjustment was almost perfect. I clicked the dial, 4 units higher and was there. Nirvana! This bed was the most comfortable bed I'd ever been in. With the adjustment set, I was ready for sleep. I laid my head down on the pillow, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I slowly let the air out and let my body relax. It took no time at all before I was asleep.

My internal clock woke me up at 6:00. It doesn't matter what day of the week it is, my clock wakes me up at six. I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so I got up and got dressed. I made my way down to the kitchen. I'd started to put away the groceries I'd purchased. At least the perishables, as in milk and ice cream, made it to the fridge. The house came complete with table settings and I opened cupboards and drawers until I found a spoon and a bowl. I poured myself a big bowl of Malt-O-Meal Golden Puffs. When I was growing up they were called Sugar Smacks, but in the time of P.C. they had been renamed. They were still my favorite morning filler. I made them all soggy with the whole milk I slathered all over them and sat at the wrought iron and glass table. I brought the carton of OJ with me. I refilled the glass three times before I was done.

I rinsed the dishes and stuck them in the stainless steel dishwasher. It looked kinda empty, one spoon, one bowl and one glass. I was sure it would fill up eventually. I noted the time. Somehow I'd diddled away two hours. It was eight o'clock and I picked up my droid and called Connie. Second ring and she picked up.

"I was thinking that I'm going to need staff for the house. I was just wondering if you could recommend an agency where I could get a cook, gardener, housekeeper and gentleman's gentleman. There are the apartments over the garage and I'm thinking married cook and gardener for the two bedroom apartment and housekeeper for the single bedroom. The butler would have the efficiency bedroom apartment behind the kitchen."

The other end of the line was quiet a moment, then Connie came back on. "I think I can arrange for staff for you. They will have complete security background checks and they will be bonded by the agency. The hardest to get will be the butler. I would recommend a true English butler as they are the best in the world. I can arrange that part for you. You may have to sponsor him in order for us to obtain the work visa. Would that be alright?"

I was enthralled by her accent. I quickly agreed with her. I let her handle the entire arrangements for the help. She gave me the number for the pool maintenance company that handled the house before. She also gave me the number for the alarm company and suggested I call them immediately. I told her I would call as soon as we disconnected. I wanted to ask her out, but didn't. I hung up the phone, then dialed the number for ADT. I told them I needed service immediately. Once I told them the address they pulled it up on their computer and saw which property I was referring to. They said their man would be there in less than an hour to activate the system and program the system. I let them know I'd be waiting.

Forty minutes later, the doorbell rang. I went to the door and looked out the peephole. The ADT man was there. Just at that moment, my cell rang. Caller ID informed me it was the ADT office. "This is David with ADT. Our man Chris should be at your door. He will program your system and activate your service with us. Thank you for choosing ADT." That short message was all he gave before hanging up. I opened the door and the man on the steps handed my his ID badge. It was Chris. I let him in and he thoroughly tested the system, every access point, the garage and the front gate. He checked the armored phone line, which was separate from the rest of the house and he pronounced everything in top shape. He reset the access codes for the entry boxes. I thanked him and handed him a Benjamin as a tip. He started to refuse, but I insisted.

As he was leaving, my cell rang again. When the door was closed, I activated the alarm system. Then I answered the phone.

"This is the Wexstaff Agency calling. Ms. Moore advised us you were looking for staffing. You want a cook, gardener and housekeeper to live on the property, in apartments separate from the main house, is that correct?"

After waiting for my reply she continued. "I have a retired chef from a four star hotel in New Orleans and her husband. He is a retired botanist with a penchant for yard work. Their wage is negotiable since housing is to be supplied. I also have available the assistant housekeeper to the Strong mansion. She is looking for something less stressful, and would easily fit your situation. She too, is open for negotiations."

"Alright, I'd like to meet with them all this afternoon. Would you be able to have them available at your office at 2 o'clock?"

"Yes sir, they will be here at the office to meet with you."

She gave me the address and I told her I'd be there. It was 11:30, so I got my directions programmed into the droid's GPS and grabbed the Tesla's keys. I went out the back door and armed the alarm system. When I got to the garage, I used the key card to disable the garage alarm and opened the door. I took one of the combination door openers/alarm deactivation units and climbed into the Tesla as the garage door opened. The remote allowed me to close and restore the alarm with one button. I got to the end of the drive and turned towards Hillcrest again.

The GPS directed me to a stately looking house just outside the business district. It must have been multi-use zoned and there was no sign in the yard to indicate a business was located at that address. I parked on the street as there was no parking on the property. I locked the fail safe on the Tesla and knew it wouldn't be moving unless someone had a fork lift.

The house was Victorian, complete with round tower. I walked up the sidewalk to the door. Beside the bell was a Texas Landmark plaque. This was a historical landmark home. I rang the bell and a short Hispanic woman in a blue suit opened the door. She asked my name and I told her. She graciously asked me to come in. She showed me to a large room and asked me to make myself comfortable. Shortly, a tall, middle aged woman entered the room. I rose to greet her and she extended her hand to me. She indicated that we be seated. The Hispanic woman brought a tray of refreshments and left again.

The woman introduced herself as Marjorie Wexstaff. I immediately got the feeling that I could trust her. She explained about her agency and then asked if I was ready to meet the prospective employees. For the next hour we had a stimulating conversation with three of the most wonderful people I'd met. I took an immediate liking to Joe and Sue Kulas. They were definitely going to be my gardener and cook. I enjoyed talking with Betty Kirkwood and listening to her trials as assistant housekeeper at the Strong mansion. I told her my house was smaller and would be much easier to keep up. By four o'clock we were agreed on all counts. Betty would need to give 2 week's notice, but Joe and Sue were available now. I told them to come to the house tomorrow at 9:00 and I'd have their keys ready. (Actually they were ready now, but I wanted a little privacy.

"You have a fine agency here, Ms. Wexstaff. I want to thank you for putting this together on such short notice. If you will bill me their agency fee, I will pay it for them. Don't tell them that, I want it to be a surprise."

"I can see they are going to be very happy working for you. Most employers don't give a darn about their employees and I can't remember when the last time was that the employment fee was paid by the employer. I heard you were also looking for a Gentleman's Gentleman. What became of that?" she asked.

"Connie, uh, Ms. Moore is going to arrange that with someone in England. I'm getting a real English Butler." I replied smiling broadly. "Hopefully he will be able to teach me some real high society manners."

"Well, good luck with that." She said as she showed me to the door. "Goodbye. And please think of us first if you should need any other staff."

"Thank you, I will." I responded as I stepped off the porch. I got in the Tesla and checked my entertainment directory on the Droid. I found an OutBack and sent the address to the GPS. About twenty minutes later I pulled in. I got a blooming onion appetizer and had the large T-bone steak with all the trimmings. My waitress was a cute little redhead by the name of Patty. She flirted every chance she could. She didn't have a dynamite figure, rather it was just average, but her eyes twinkled when she laughed and I thought she was pretty enough just the way she was. There was only one problem I could see. She was too young for me. She was a senior at Highland Park High School. After awhile the "ya knows" and the "likes" got to me. I made her day by leaving her a large tip, but that's all.

I headed on home satisfied that it was a day well spent. The pushbutton control worked like a charm and I had the Tesla in bed and locked up tight in short order. I punched in the code on the door panel and let myself in the back door. I locked up and wandered into the game room. I turned on the 72 in. TV and switched channels until I found a movie I wanted to see again. Total Recall was being shown on one of the Oldies Movie channels. Young Arnold with all the muscles and the mediocre acting. 'Twwwoooo weeeekkkkksss!' Always gets me when someone says that. It always reminds me of the movie. I took a break to toss a bag of Orville's finest into the microwave. That and a Sprite and I was ready.

I had a thought flash through. So I concentrated and pulled a picture out of the wallet. I turned expectantly and was ready when Connie came through the door. Dressed in jeans that looked like she was poured into and a light sweater that molded to her body contours, she came over to the couch and sat down, leaned into me and swiped some popcorn. She didn't say anything, she just cuddled up to me. I placed my arm around her and held her as we watched the movie. The second feature of tonight's double was The Running Man. About half way through it I fell asleep, Connie still in my arms. She hadn't moved for about a half hour, either. Sometime in the night we had shifted positions. When my internal clock went off at six, she was gone. I made myself a resolution that I'd explore that territory some more later.

I was going to test the wallet some more this morning, so I took care of business quickly and grabbed a bowl of cereal and a glass of apple juice. After rinsing the dishes I made my way down to game room. I surveyed the large room and then closed the door again. "I want to have a picture of the room on the other side of this door; it would be of a ballroom in the antebellum South, replete with Southern Belle's, Southern Gentlemen and a small orchestra playing music of the day. The date should be in the vicinity of June 1856. It will include me dressed as a dapper Southern Gentleman. When I speak I will have the proper accent and I will know everything about the norms of the era. No one will notice me when I enter the room. The picture will have been taken two minutes ago"

'Well here goes nothing.' I told myself as I opened the door and stepped in. Looking down at my clothes I could see the instantaneous change in my wardrobe. I gazed into a full length mirror attached to the wall beside the door. I was the vision of Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in 'Gone With the Wind'. Now if only I could find my Scarlett. There were black people stationed in identical livery around the room. There was a table piled high with food and there was a bar serving drinks next to that. Over in the opposite corner of the room there was an 8 piece orchestra playing some long forgotten tune. I marveled that the room I was in measured many times larger than the room in my house. I was tempted to look back through the door, but I didn't want to break the spell.

Quickly I gave myself a biography in case someone asked. I took the name Rhett because it would be easy for me to use automatically, without thinking. I needed to find out where I was, so I could make up a plausible story. I ambled over to the bar and told the black man to make me a bloody mary. His brow wrinkled and he spoke.

"I's not sure what dat is, sir. Coulds you tells me what to use to make dat?" he said, murdering the English language as he spoke.

"Oh, never mind." I replied. I would make it easy. "Just give me bourbon, neat. Tell me where exactly this plantation is located"

He handed me my drink and said this was the Montgomery plantation in Bayou Parrish, Louisiana. He took a moment to brag on the plantation while I waited. We were 75 miles North of New Orleans. He offered that the Massa had 183 slaves and not one had tried to run away in years. The Colonel, Randolph and his wife Ophelia were blessed with three children, Maybelle the oldest was 22. Randolph the 3^rd was 19 and the youngest daughter, Elizabeth, was a plain girl of 17. This ball was her coming out cotillion.

I made my way around the room, first stopping at the buffet for a light snack. The food was as delicious as it was plentiful. I just nodded greeting to the folks standing there. They had no idea who I was, but as people are, they pretended they did, smiling and shaking hands and such. I finally got to the honoree of the night, Miss Elizabeth Montgomery, better known to her peers as Bitsy. I held my hand out and asked if I could have the pleasure of the next dance. Blushing profusely she nodded yes.

We took the floor as a waltz began. She had been schooled in dance and was an excellent partner. As we swept around the floor, I took the opportunity to examine her more closely. First thing I noticed was that her dress was horrible. It looked like it was a cast-off from her buxom older sister and whoever was the seamstress for the household cared little about quality work.

Her body was to say the least, immature. Perhaps given time she would fill out in form and maybe even fit some of her older sister's dresses without alteration. But for now, she needed all the help she could get. The boys at the cotillion for the most part, ignored her. I could see possibilities. Her body was boyish, with little curve to it. The bad fitting dress did not help. Her figure would have made her a high demand runway model. A closer examination of her face showed an inner beauty. It was something I wished to explore.