"Welcome to our family Benedikt!" Verisha beamed as he prepared tea for both of them.
'Sigh…. Well it seems luck is on my side this time' he thought as he ate the soft cakes that the valet himself made. FUCK! This is GOOD!
In between sips Verisha explained the daily routine he should follow;
Trimming two gigantic gardensCleaning both residencesMaking sure his master receives all his meals and his afternoon teaGrind ink on the inkstone every MondaySort out all the letters that come in the mailbox according to importance and clean the organizer.
The person in question seemed quite hesitant to follow the first one as trimming two gardens in one day does not seem feasible like AT ALL! Verisha explained that they will take turns and trim the gardens part by part as there is no other servants in the area. If he did the job last week Verisha will do the job the next week then rinse and repeat it all over again.
Yelena the mistress of the mansion was overjoyed when she received news about Benedikt being the new housekeeper and thanked him every time he helped around the mansion which made him really embarrassed.
Yelena and Benedikt became friends as he was the only outsider other than Verisha who resides in her husband's manor and rarely visited her. They would talk about many topics from the very interesting ones to the most mundane ones, gossips about next door neighbors and politics. He wondered why his master never converse with his own wife anymore, since according to him she is a nice person even-though she may look bossy and overbearing. He didn't ask since it was not his place to ask about personal things between the husband and wife.
Unlike Yelena her husband was a silent person and they never had much of a conversation, rather they spent quiet evenings working simultaneously like two tongs of a machine. His master read, he organized. It was good to find silence after talking with Yelena and cleaning everything.
Verisha and Benedikt joked around the garden while trimming the stalks into funny shapes which incited a laugh from Yelena who accompanied them due to boredom from sitting alone and doing nothing.
"Please.... that looks more like a pelican than a duck!!" Benedikt said with a straight face.
"ITS NOT! IT'S A DUCK! I JUST ONLY NEED TO CUT THE BEAK A LITTLE SHORT FOR YOUR INFORMATION!"
"OH MA GWAD!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAH cough! cough!" the mistress laughed loudly until she choked on her own saliva and tears came out from her eyes.
Verisha's face turned bright red as he tried to explain that it is really a duck with a big beak not a damn pelican and then poked fun at Benedikt's creation calling it 'a jumbled mess' and his is better when compared to the two of them placed together. These were the most peaceful and fun days Benedikt had, they did their work and at the same time they fooled around as well.
The mistress was not lonely anymore so her mood improved quite well! she no longer caused a huge fuss and fought with her husband but unfortunately their relationship was never the same again, as there was still an unyielding tension around them and Igor became very distant towards her. She couldn't pinpoint the reason behind it; yet she just brushed it off as him being too busy with his work to bother with her. The children returned afterwards from their grandparent's house and Benedikt and Verisha ended up being their babysitters much to their dismay.
'Verisha if I ever get married I am never ever going to have children, I'll tell you that!' Benedikt complained as he hoisted Lenzo onto his shoulders as the child squealed with excitement. The kids were quite pleased to have new playmates and they caused as much mischief as they could really muster especially the seemingly silent Valentina which made both men a run for their money.
Verisha ended up drinking as much water as he could and sat everything else out because chasing a bunch of four-year old's was quite tiring!
"At this rate you're going to die old man!" Benedikt laughed even though his own situation wasn't worse off. He was really sweating and was nearly going to collapse from running around all day trying to sit those kids out. He still found a way around his exhaustion and was able to entertain them till the point they had their afternoon nap. The mistress bribed the kids chocolates to make them go to sleep faster so that she could give them both some slack.
"UGH…...never again madam EVER!" Benedikt said as he watched the children sleep peacefully tucked in under the sheets.
"Sorry.... the kids are quite the troublemakers, it's kinda hard to put your foot down when they are having fun and enjoying their childhood!" She replied sheepishly.
'At the expense of our energy and time!' Verisha muttered as he went back towards the manor
"BENEDIKT QUIT YAMMERING AND COME HERE! WE HAVE A JOB TO DO!!!" he yelled at the person behind him who quickly said his goodbyes towards the mistress and hurried towards the irritable Valet to continue their shift.