The next morning, both butlers were up early, Geoffrey to prepare breakfast and Marcus who had to fix the door of one of the cupboards, as it was stipulated in Philip's endless to-do-list.
"How was your first night here, Marcus ?" Geoffrey asked politely.
Marcus reached for the toolbox on the counter to look for a screw "Pretty good Geoffrey, thanks. You know, as I beat Will in our little one-on-one game, I slept like a baby with victory on my mind !"
Geoffrey smirked as he got the orange juice from the fridge "I was right to bet on you, you made me win fifty dollars against Master Carlton."
"Well I'm glad I could help you on this." The young man said still searching in the toolbox. "Tell me a bit more about here and about them too. I mean, as a butler you probably know things, right ? You know, I just want to make sure I don't put my foot in something or say anything risky..."
"Well to sum up in a few words" Geoffrey said holding the frying pan in one hand and the plate of beacon in the other "Mister Banks eats a lot, Mrs Banks tries to prevent him to do so, baby Nicky cries a lot and doesn't have a clue about what he is doing in this family (fortunately I'm his godfather), miss Ashley is a very intelligent girl but still a baby even though she claims otherwise, Master Carlton is fond of money and Tom Jones, Master William is always getting chatted up with 'honeys' as he calls them, and Miss Hilary is a weather girl and absolutely crazy about shopping... and I don't mince my words..."
Marcus giggled during Geoffrey's whole speech "Wow, that was a quick summary, very condensed but full of precious information. I bet you're glad that I'm here to give you a hand."
"Oh if you only knew Marcus..." Geoffrey said with a sighed of relief. "You'll see the whole family in action in a few minutes, mornings are something you can't miss if you want to laugh a little."
"Can't wait to see that ! But tell me, aren't there any screws elsewhere because I can't find them in this toolbox."
"Oh what was I thinking ! I forgot to put them back in last time I used them. I must have let them in my room, let me go get them. And keep an eye on the toaster for me, please."
Before Marcus could say anything Geoffrey rushed out of the kitchen leaving him on his own. The young butler continued to dismantled the little cupboard's door when he heard the glass door open behind his back. Hilary had just entered the room reading a magazine and not even paying attention to the people in the room.
"Good morning Geoffrey." she said not looking up, her eyes glued to a model and her outfit.
Marcus turned around intrigued by Hilary's voice he didn't know. When he saw the beautiful woman standing in front of him, wearing an immaculate white blouse, a tight black skirt with dark thighs and a pair of heels, he couldn't help but let out a soft "wow" escape from his mouth. He eventually got a hold of himself and said "Hi, um, sorry but I'm not Geoffrey."
Hilary lifted her head to finally look at Marcus who was standing a few feet away from her. Even though she seemed not to have slept well and to be in a bad mood, which is more than rare if Marcus had known her like her family does, she still had her usual make up on and her curly hair perfectly floating around her head. When she realized that somebody else than Geoffrey was standing in front of her, she frowned and asked in a snobby way "Oh, and who are you ?"
Marcus raised an eyebrow, this girl might be beautiful but she seems to have some attitude, he thought. "I'm Marcus, Marcus Payne, the new butler. I'm here to help Geoffrey. And who are you ?" he asked with the same tone she used.
"Um, excuse me ? Who am I ? I'm Hilary Banks, I live here !" she said scowling at Marcus.
"Oh... right ! The eldest of the Banks children..." he said out loud as he was remembering what Geoffrey said to him a few minutes ago.
She put down her magazine on the counter and came up to Marcus, one hand on her hip. This guy may be good-looking but he definitely needs to know his place, she thought. "And since when do we need a new butler ? Geoffrey can handle this house on his own."
Marcus was amused by Hilary's reaction and suddenly felt in the mood to tease her a little. "Well, they obviously needed somebody to handle you" he said sarcastically.
Hilary glared at him and was about to reply just when the entire family came in the kitchen for breakfast, greeting her and Marcus before sitting at the table. Philip came last and frowned as soon as he saw his daughter next to Marcus.
"Where were you last night ?" he asked curtly.
"Good morning to you too, daddy." Hilary said rolling her eyes.
"I asked you a question, Hilary." Philip said in his big resounding voice.
"I went out with Jane and other friends." she answered slightly embarrassed that everybody was listening to their conversation.
"I told you to be home before six because I had something to tell to all of you. I had to present you to Marcus, my friend's son that will live with us till he can go home."
Hilary had a sneering laugh "I didn't know you had poor friends..." she said looking at Marcus up and down as to inspect him.
The young man felt a bit hurt in his man's pride but didn't say anything.
"You could at least have let us known that you weren't coming back for dinner !" The judge continued.
"You know what, I'm sorry daddy." Hilary said quickly as she wanted this whole conversation to be over. "Besides, I won't be having dinner with you tonight either because... I have plans !"
She reached for her magazine on the counter and almost ran to the door.
"Miss Hilary, you haven't eaten anything for breakfast !" Geoffrey called after her as everybody was disconcerted by her behavior.
"Oh that's alright I'm not hungry, I'll eat something at the studio. See you later." she said before storming out of the house.
The whole family looked at each other dumbfounded. "What the heck is wrong with her this morning ?" Philip exclaimed. "I'm sorry Marcus, she was a bit rude to you."
"That's fine Mister Banks, she is a funny girl."