Chapter 3
Damien appeared in the dining room of the B&B just as the staff were sitting down to dinner. Because they had no guests right now(they were still in the off-season at the moment, although summer was just around the corner) they all sat together at a cozy little table in one corner of the dining room, and ate Franny’s excellent cooking. All of them looked up when the new manager strolled in, looking pleased with himself and with a decided smirk on his well-shaped lips. That expression didn’t bode well, and Karlie spoke up cautiously as Damien came up to the table. “Is everything all right with your apartment and everything, Mr. Buckley?” her eyes were narrowed and full of suspicion as she said this.
Damien’s lips lifted into an evil smile that didn’t lay any of their fears to rest. “Yes, it’s actually quite charming,” he replied. “The apartment, that is. The rest of this place looks like Jack the Ripper’s dream home, but apparently the former owner had SOME taste where his own living quarters were concerned.” he paused, and sniffed. “That smells good. What is it?”
“Franny’s homemade beef stew,” Karlie replied. Then she added reluctantly: “Would you like to sit down with us and have something to eat?”
“You know, I believe I would,” Damien said. “I’d rather not drive to that laughable excuse for a town that we went through, just to take my chances on whatever slop the local restaurants sell,” he pulled out a chair and sat down, while Molly gave him a cold look for denigrating the local restaurants. Her husband ran the local diner, after all. She also didn’t appreciate Damien making fun of their town in such snide way. She looked away and refused to glance at him again as Franny ladled out a bowl of the beef stew for him, and also handed him a freshly-made bread roll to go along with it.
Damien picked up his spoon and sampled what was in the bowl. “Hmm,” he remarked, as Franny tensed and waited for him to make some nasty comment about her cooking. But to her surprise, he nodded at her. “This tastes as good as it smells. I can see that you’re a real asset to this place, Franny.”
Her mouth dropped open over the fact that he not only liked her cooking, he also remembered her name! Seeing her expression, Damien laughed lightly. “I AM the new manager of the Amityville Horror,” he remarked drolly. “So it behooves me to recognize and retain people who will keep customers coming back. What? I suppose you all think that I don’t intend to really manage this place…but I’m not my father’s son for nothing. Maybe I Picked up some things over the years from him after all, who knows. Whatever the case, I WILL be a hands-on manager around here.” his eyes went to Michael’s face as he said this, and the double entendre was quite clear for them all to hear. He smirked at the handyman, because while he’d said that he wouldn’t make unwanted advances to him anymore, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t still find SOME entertainment to be had where Michael was concerned - even if it was only a little light verbal sexual harassment.
“Oh, and I’m warning you all that I have some big plans for this place,” he added after a moment, as they all digested his words, “Including a massive remodel. The workers will start arriving tomorrow. Thank God that your former manager had internet access up there in his attic. I’ve set the ball rolling already.”
Alarmed, Karlie blurted out: “Remodel?! You want to remodel the B&B?!”
Damien nodded. “That’s right. From top to bottom, although I doubt that I’ll do much to my own apartment. I couldn’t stand living and working in this horrible house as it is. So if any of you doesn’t like it, I’d recommend that you go and find another job now. Oh, and one other thing - if any of you don’t like gay people, then I’d definitely recommend that you clear out now. Because I won’t stand for any of you to treat our guests badly because you’re homophobes.”
“Guests? Gay people?” now Karlie sounded bewildered. “What do you mean?”
Damien took a sip from his bowl before replying. “I’ve decided to make this the ’in’ place for gay couple and singles when they go on vacation,” he explained calmly. “So if any of you can’t stand being around gay people, quit now. Because I want the best customer service possible for our guests when they start arriving.”
A bewildered silence fell for a moment, as Damien began to eat his food with relish and concentration. After a bit, Franny spoke up in a brisk, no-nonsense tone of voice: “None of us has anything against gay people,” she told Damien. “As our Michael is ’that way’, and we all like him. What other people do in their private lives is nobody’s business but their own. And that’s an end to it.”
There was a murmur of agreement around the table, except for Michael who said nothing and Damien who was still eating. Finally he spoke again, “Good. I’m glad that you all have that attitude. I expect all of you to work hard to make this come together - in a few weeks, that is. I’m paying a ton of money to speed up the remodel process as much as I can, but it’s not like they can finish it overnight. So you’ll all have a three-week paid vacation, which will begin tomorrow morning. Enjoy your time off, because you’ll be working your butts off after that.”
Stunned, they all just stared at him. Everything was happening so fast! But still, they all had three weeks paid vacation to look forward to, even if what they returned to might be something awful. But Franny said tentatively: “What about you, Mr. Buckley? Your meals and things?”
Damien stared at her, looking faintly surprised that any of them cared about him enough to ask such a question. “Oh, I’ll get by,” he said with a careless wave of his hand, “I’m having a catering company deliver meals to me from the nearest big town.”
Their mouths dropped open. The ’nearest big town’ was over a hundred miles away! The fortune it would cost him to have meals delivered every day…it was mind-boggling. Seeing their pole-axed expressions, Damien folded his fingers under his chin and chuckled. “Have I mentioned that my father is filthy rich?” he asked sweetly. “And until he cuts off my credit cards, so am I. And since I’m doing what he wanted me to do, there’s no danger of that happening any time soon…so I can afford anything that I want.”
“But…I could just come out and cook for you every day,” Franny offered.
“That’s sweet of you, but since I’m having the kitchen redone along with everything else, it wouldn’t be very practical. I suppose you could cook up in my apartment, but it wouldn’t be a vacation for you if you had to come out here every day. Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine,” Damien told her. “And if I need anything else, I’ll hire a car to take me to the nearest airport, where I can catch a chartered plane to…well, anywhere I want to go. As long as I don’t go A.W.O.L. forever, Daddy won’t get mad at me for running away for a few days to go shopping or re-enter civilization for a bit. When the three weeks are up, call and see if everything’s ready for you to come back to work. There might be delays; there often are with workmen, no matter how much money you throw at them.”
“You ain’t remodeling the grounds, are you?” William demanded suspiciously. “Cause I won’t stand for that.”
“Ah, no. The grounds are quite pretty and well-maintained. Although I was thinking about putting up a nice gazebo out there were couples could come to get married, since gay marriage is legal in this state. Actually, William, if you want to keep coming to work and taking care of the gardens rather than taking a vacation like the rest of the staff, I’ll pay you triple your salary for that three weeks. Otherwise, I’ll hire a professional gardening company to take care of it while you’re on vacation.”
William considered this in his phlegmatic way. “Ayuh, I think I’ll keep comin’ in,” he said slowly. “It’s my garden; I’ll take care of it. But thanks for the money; I can always use it.”
“Can’t everyone?” Damien replied drolly. “Well, that’s all settled. You should all finish your dinner,” and he returned to eating himself with relish.
The staff exchanged glances, but finally began to eat their dinner and chat a little. There was nothing that they could do about Damien’s plans for the place anyway; they’d just have to go along with it and hope that Damien didn’t turn the Sweet Water B&B into some horrible gay pleasure palace done in neon pinks and purples with disco balls in every room…
The time seemed to fly by for all of them. William gave them daily reports on what was happening to the outside of the B&B, though he had no idea what was going on inside. Just that there was clearly a ton going on; workmen were everywhere, as were building supplies, buckets of paint, rolls of fabric, etc. Damien also seemed to be everywhere; he was in and out of the place, directing all of the workmen like a gay general commanding his troops. He left William strictly alone, though, only talking to the gardener when the day for the gazebo to arrive came. He asked William’s opinion about where he thought it should go, much to the gardener’s astonishment. Moreover, he took William’s advice and positioned the gazebo facing the ocean view so that couples could look out over the water as they tied the knot in this ultra-romantic setting.
Finally the day to return to work arrived, and everyone called in to see if their vacations had been extended. But Damien’s light voice over the phone told them that everything was ready on time after all. So they all drove out of the B&B, crossing their fingers as to what they would find when they got there.
They got out of their cars and stood looking at the B&B. The outside of the building had been redone in different shades of blue and cream, which surprisingly worked well with the gingerbread and fish scale wooden shingles on the front of the building. Lovely light pieces of white wicker furniture were arranged on the wide front porch, along with round tables covered in sky-blue linen, with delicate glass vases full of roses set in the middle. “Wow,” it’s pretty,” Karlie said in amazement.
“Yeah, it is,” Molly agreed, shaking her head. “Who would have thought it?”
They all approached the front door, which had been painted a cream color with a gorgeous brass knocker shaped like a winged fairy set in the front. The irony of that knocker was not lost on Michael, at least. His lips lifted in the faintest of ironic smiles as they mounted the steps and walked into the lobby of the B&B, taking in the changes here too.
All of the dark wood had been stripped and bleach to a soft golden shade, and the walls had been stripped of the heavy rose-colored wall paper and painted a leaf green color. The dark oil color paintings had been replaced with prints of watercolor paintings by the French masters, and the heavily carved furniture had disappeared. Instead, simple but gorgeous chairs and tables done in more blonde wood and covered in gold-and-green fabric had taken the place of the heavy Victorian pieces. Ferns and tall potted plants were set here and there on the stripped and refinished wood floors underneath, and lovely carpets of cream and gold were scattered around. Long, filmy cream-colored drapes accented with falls of cobwebby lace covered the long windows, instead of the dark velvet swagged curtains that had hung there before.
“It’s…beautiful…” Franny said in an awed voice, and there were nods all around from the others. Damien apparently hadn’t destroyed the B&B at all; instead, he’d transformed it into a light, airy, charming fairy abode(again, the irony was not lost on the silent Michael), a place of beauty and wonder.
“Welcome back,” they all heard a voice say, and turned to see Damien lounging in the doorway to the dining room. “Welcome to the new and improved Sweet Springs Bed and Breakfast, a vacation spot and haven for gay people everywhere.”
“It’s lovely,” Molly told him, still sounding amazed.
Damien smirked. “I know,” he replied simply. “I always knew that I did good work when I really try, but I’ve surpassed myself this time. Anyway, look around and see all of the changes that I’ve made. Our guests are booked to start arriving the day after tomorrow, so be ready for a flood. I may have to hire some more people to keep up with all of them. This is going to be one of the most successful bed and breakfasts in the Northeast, or I’ll eat my gay pride flag.”
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Damien appeared in the dining room of the B&B just as the staff were sitting down to dinner. Because they had no guests right now(they were still in the off-season at the moment, although summer was just around the corner) they all sat together at a cozy little table in one corner of the dining room, and ate Franny’s excellent cooking. All of them looked up when the new manager strolled in, looking pleased with himself and with a decided smirk on his well-shaped lips. That expression didn’t bode well, and Karlie spoke up cautiously as Damien came up to the table. “Is everything all right with your apartment and everything, Mr. Buckley?” her eyes were narrowed and full of suspicion as she said this.
Damien’s lips lifted into an evil smile that didn’t lay any of their fears to rest. “Yes, it’s actually quite charming,” he replied. “The apartment, that is. The rest of this place looks like Jack the Ripper’s dream home, but apparently the former owner had SOME taste where his own living quarters were concerned.” he paused, and sniffed. “That smells good. What is it?”
“Franny’s homemade beef stew,” Karlie replied. Then she added reluctantly: “Would you like to sit down with us and have something to eat?”
“You know, I believe I would,” Damien said. “I’d rather not drive to that laughable excuse for a town that we went through, just to take my chances on whatever slop the local restaurants sell,” he pulled out a chair and sat down, while Molly gave him a cold look for denigrating the local restaurants. Her husband ran the local diner, after all. She also didn’t appreciate Damien making fun of their town in such snide way. She looked away and refused to glance at him again as Franny ladled out a bowl of the beef stew for him, and also handed him a freshly-made bread roll to go along with it.
Damien picked up his spoon and sampled what was in the bowl. “Hmm,” he remarked, as Franny tensed and waited for him to make some nasty comment about her cooking. But to her surprise, he nodded at her. “This tastes as good as it smells. I can see that you’re a real asset to this place, Franny.”
Her mouth dropped open over the fact that he not only liked her cooking, he also remembered her name! Seeing her expression, Damien laughed lightly. “I AM the new manager of the Amityville Horror,” he remarked drolly. “So it behooves me to recognize and retain people who will keep customers coming back. What? I suppose you all think that I don’t intend to really manage this place…but I’m not my father’s son for nothing. Maybe I Picked up some things over the years from him after all, who knows. Whatever the case, I WILL be a hands-on manager around here.” his eyes went to Michael’s face as he said this, and the double entendre was quite clear for them all to hear. He smirked at the handyman, because while he’d said that he wouldn’t make unwanted advances to him anymore, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t still find SOME entertainment to be had where Michael was concerned - even if it was only a little light verbal sexual harassment.
“Oh, and I’m warning you all that I have some big plans for this place,” he added after a moment, as they all digested his words, “Including a massive remodel. The workers will start arriving tomorrow. Thank God that your former manager had internet access up there in his attic. I’ve set the ball rolling already.”
Alarmed, Karlie blurted out: “Remodel?! You want to remodel the B&B?!”
Damien nodded. “That’s right. From top to bottom, although I doubt that I’ll do much to my own apartment. I couldn’t stand living and working in this horrible house as it is. So if any of you doesn’t like it, I’d recommend that you go and find another job now. Oh, and one other thing - if any of you don’t like gay people, then I’d definitely recommend that you clear out now. Because I won’t stand for any of you to treat our guests badly because you’re homophobes.”
“Guests? Gay people?” now Karlie sounded bewildered. “What do you mean?”
Damien took a sip from his bowl before replying. “I’ve decided to make this the ’in’ place for gay couple and singles when they go on vacation,” he explained calmly. “So if any of you can’t stand being around gay people, quit now. Because I want the best customer service possible for our guests when they start arriving.”
A bewildered silence fell for a moment, as Damien began to eat his food with relish and concentration. After a bit, Franny spoke up in a brisk, no-nonsense tone of voice: “None of us has anything against gay people,” she told Damien. “As our Michael is ’that way’, and we all like him. What other people do in their private lives is nobody’s business but their own. And that’s an end to it.”
There was a murmur of agreement around the table, except for Michael who said nothing and Damien who was still eating. Finally he spoke again, “Good. I’m glad that you all have that attitude. I expect all of you to work hard to make this come together - in a few weeks, that is. I’m paying a ton of money to speed up the remodel process as much as I can, but it’s not like they can finish it overnight. So you’ll all have a three-week paid vacation, which will begin tomorrow morning. Enjoy your time off, because you’ll be working your butts off after that.”
Stunned, they all just stared at him. Everything was happening so fast! But still, they all had three weeks paid vacation to look forward to, even if what they returned to might be something awful. But Franny said tentatively: “What about you, Mr. Buckley? Your meals and things?”
Damien stared at her, looking faintly surprised that any of them cared about him enough to ask such a question. “Oh, I’ll get by,” he said with a careless wave of his hand, “I’m having a catering company deliver meals to me from the nearest big town.”
Their mouths dropped open. The ’nearest big town’ was over a hundred miles away! The fortune it would cost him to have meals delivered every day…it was mind-boggling. Seeing their pole-axed expressions, Damien folded his fingers under his chin and chuckled. “Have I mentioned that my father is filthy rich?” he asked sweetly. “And until he cuts off my credit cards, so am I. And since I’m doing what he wanted me to do, there’s no danger of that happening any time soon…so I can afford anything that I want.”
“But…I could just come out and cook for you every day,” Franny offered.
“That’s sweet of you, but since I’m having the kitchen redone along with everything else, it wouldn’t be very practical. I suppose you could cook up in my apartment, but it wouldn’t be a vacation for you if you had to come out here every day. Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine,” Damien told her. “And if I need anything else, I’ll hire a car to take me to the nearest airport, where I can catch a chartered plane to…well, anywhere I want to go. As long as I don’t go A.W.O.L. forever, Daddy won’t get mad at me for running away for a few days to go shopping or re-enter civilization for a bit. When the three weeks are up, call and see if everything’s ready for you to come back to work. There might be delays; there often are with workmen, no matter how much money you throw at them.”
“You ain’t remodeling the grounds, are you?” William demanded suspiciously. “Cause I won’t stand for that.”
“Ah, no. The grounds are quite pretty and well-maintained. Although I was thinking about putting up a nice gazebo out there were couples could come to get married, since gay marriage is legal in this state. Actually, William, if you want to keep coming to work and taking care of the gardens rather than taking a vacation like the rest of the staff, I’ll pay you triple your salary for that three weeks. Otherwise, I’ll hire a professional gardening company to take care of it while you’re on vacation.”
William considered this in his phlegmatic way. “Ayuh, I think I’ll keep comin’ in,” he said slowly. “It’s my garden; I’ll take care of it. But thanks for the money; I can always use it.”
“Can’t everyone?” Damien replied drolly. “Well, that’s all settled. You should all finish your dinner,” and he returned to eating himself with relish.
The staff exchanged glances, but finally began to eat their dinner and chat a little. There was nothing that they could do about Damien’s plans for the place anyway; they’d just have to go along with it and hope that Damien didn’t turn the Sweet Water B&B into some horrible gay pleasure palace done in neon pinks and purples with disco balls in every room…
The time seemed to fly by for all of them. William gave them daily reports on what was happening to the outside of the B&B, though he had no idea what was going on inside. Just that there was clearly a ton going on; workmen were everywhere, as were building supplies, buckets of paint, rolls of fabric, etc. Damien also seemed to be everywhere; he was in and out of the place, directing all of the workmen like a gay general commanding his troops. He left William strictly alone, though, only talking to the gardener when the day for the gazebo to arrive came. He asked William’s opinion about where he thought it should go, much to the gardener’s astonishment. Moreover, he took William’s advice and positioned the gazebo facing the ocean view so that couples could look out over the water as they tied the knot in this ultra-romantic setting.
Finally the day to return to work arrived, and everyone called in to see if their vacations had been extended. But Damien’s light voice over the phone told them that everything was ready on time after all. So they all drove out of the B&B, crossing their fingers as to what they would find when they got there.
They got out of their cars and stood looking at the B&B. The outside of the building had been redone in different shades of blue and cream, which surprisingly worked well with the gingerbread and fish scale wooden shingles on the front of the building. Lovely light pieces of white wicker furniture were arranged on the wide front porch, along with round tables covered in sky-blue linen, with delicate glass vases full of roses set in the middle. “Wow,” it’s pretty,” Karlie said in amazement.
“Yeah, it is,” Molly agreed, shaking her head. “Who would have thought it?”
They all approached the front door, which had been painted a cream color with a gorgeous brass knocker shaped like a winged fairy set in the front. The irony of that knocker was not lost on Michael, at least. His lips lifted in the faintest of ironic smiles as they mounted the steps and walked into the lobby of the B&B, taking in the changes here too.
All of the dark wood had been stripped and bleach to a soft golden shade, and the walls had been stripped of the heavy rose-colored wall paper and painted a leaf green color. The dark oil color paintings had been replaced with prints of watercolor paintings by the French masters, and the heavily carved furniture had disappeared. Instead, simple but gorgeous chairs and tables done in more blonde wood and covered in gold-and-green fabric had taken the place of the heavy Victorian pieces. Ferns and tall potted plants were set here and there on the stripped and refinished wood floors underneath, and lovely carpets of cream and gold were scattered around. Long, filmy cream-colored drapes accented with falls of cobwebby lace covered the long windows, instead of the dark velvet swagged curtains that had hung there before.
“It’s…beautiful…” Franny said in an awed voice, and there were nods all around from the others. Damien apparently hadn’t destroyed the B&B at all; instead, he’d transformed it into a light, airy, charming fairy abode(again, the irony was not lost on the silent Michael), a place of beauty and wonder.
“Welcome back,” they all heard a voice say, and turned to see Damien lounging in the doorway to the dining room. “Welcome to the new and improved Sweet Springs Bed and Breakfast, a vacation spot and haven for gay people everywhere.”
“It’s lovely,” Molly told him, still sounding amazed.
Damien smirked. “I know,” he replied simply. “I always knew that I did good work when I really try, but I’ve surpassed myself this time. Anyway, look around and see all of the changes that I’ve made. Our guests are booked to start arriving the day after tomorrow, so be ready for a flood. I may have to hire some more people to keep up with all of them. This is going to be one of the most successful bed and breakfasts in the Northeast, or I’ll eat my gay pride flag.”
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