Every Time I Try to Get Out…: The Tale of Giovanni

The butler woke up at five in the morning, stretched, and greeted the warm day with a yawn. This town was a beautiful place in the wee hours of the morning. Giovanni smiled as he rose out of bed and began pulling back the curtains and letting the light of the sun shine in the household. As head butler, it was his job to make sure that the Lepant residence was as presentable as it could get.

"Good morning, Master Lepant," he addressed, setting down a tray of tea, juice, coffee, and chocolate on the table. "Good morning, Mistress Eileen. How are you today?"

"Perfect," replied Lepant, chugging down the coffee. "Absolutely perfect."

"And you, Madame?"

"Good as always," she replied. "Oh, after you serve us breakfast, will you do us a favor?" Giovanni smiled and bowed. She knew that she did not have to ask him to do a favor.

"Of course, Mistress Eileen. What do you need?"

"Giovanni, would you kindly tend to the lawn?" she asked. "It's gotten a little… overgrown recently."

"Yes, mistress Eileen." Quietly, Giovanni bowed his head and laid their breakfasts down. Ignoring the mumblings coming from Master Sheena's room, Giovanni stepped outside. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as they saw just how high the grass really was. Giovanni shook his head, swearing that Master Lepant's lawn had gotten an infestation of trees. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. No, it was true--the grass was at least a foot high. He sighed, and forested through the jungle in search of the tool shed. It was going to be a long day.

Giovanni sighed, his shears useless in mowing down the tall grass. I don't need cutters, he thought, I need a flame thrower!! He sighed and sheared a few more blades, but quickly grew tired of the activity. He tossed the cutters away, and quickly hurried over to a Rune shop for a Fire crystal…

CRASH!!

"Oh, sorry Sheena… I apologize…"

"Aw, mom! My model ship!!"

"I apologize… I'll get Lepant to buy you another…"

"No, it's okay…"

"Where's Giovanni? Giovanni?"

"Oh, he's outside trimming the lawn."

"Ah. Giovanni!" Giovanni sighed, shook his head, and stepped back into the house.

"Yes, Master Lepant?" Lepant pointed to a destroyed model ship on the floor.

"Giovanni, could you please clean that up?" he asked. The butler sighed, agreed to do the job, and went in search of a broom.

Silently humming a tune, Giovanni finished sweeping up Sheena's model ship. It was far too destroyed to rebuild, so he had no choice but to throw it away. After he gave the tiny vessel its final rites, Giovanni did his usual rounds of the house. Since he was head butler, it was his job to make sure that everything was running smoothly in the Lepant household. He had Rock and Juppo to help him, but more often than not, it was left up to Giovanni to make sure that everything was okay.

Finishing his rounds of the house, Giovanni sighed and took a quiet walk outside. Mentally he cursed as he remembered the condition of the lawn, and set about getting that Rune. No man-made item could possibly trim this monster of a lawn, so he had to rely on magic. As Giovanni's hand touched the Runemaster's door, he heard a distinctive explosion.

"FIRE!!!!" Nearly half the population of Kouan ran around screaming; the other half was desperately trying to put out the blaze. Giovanni grunted, turned around, and meandered back to his home. Effortlessly, he walked through the door and activated the sprinkler system that Juppo had installed. Mentally, he cursed. Of course, if that clown had any sense left in him, he'd have activated the sprinklers! After all, he's the one who started that fire!

Giovanni sighed as the house was littered with water. A half-burnt, half-soaked Juppo stood there in the hall, a brand-new invention in his hand. Needless to say, it still had a few bugs to work out.

"Uh, hi, Gi," he said. Giovanni grunted.

"Please refrain from starting any more fires, Juppo," he groaned. The trickster grinned and scampered away before anybody could accuse him of anything. Giovanni growled to himself, and without anybody asking him, he left in search of a mop and pail…

Exhausted, Giovanni finally placed the very last dish in the cupboard. With a satisfied smile and a soft chuckle, he shuffled out of the dining room and back into the den. With the Masters and Mistress away, it was up to him to make sure that nothing bad happened--in other words, he had to keep Juppo chained up.

Obeying his nose, Giovanni wandered through the den and into the kitchen. Rock was there, stirring up some noodles and singing a very off-key drinking song. Giovanni was so hungry, he would have endured an entire chorus of drunks to get some food.

"Excuse me, Rock?" he asked. "I couldn't help but notice that you're making dinner. May I--"

"For the Master," interrupted Rock, tapping Giovanni's hand with a wooden spoon. Those three words were enough to drive the butler away.

"Oh, I see. Well, if you need any help--"

"Actually," blurted Rock, "I could use a cleaner working area. Here, I'll let the noodles simmer while I work on the salad, so you can go ahead and clean anything that's dirty." Wordlessly, Giovanni groaned and went in search of a clean rag. The stove was still too hot to touch, so he was forced to sweep the floor up. The filth that had settled underneath was sickening.

"It's going to be a long evening," he mumbled to himself.

When the Masters and Mistress finally arrived, dinner had been prepared and the dining room was perfect, as always. Lepant thanked Giovanni and Rock for their efforts, and personally gave them their payment for the day. With a smile and a bow, Giovanni began serving the dinner: salad, noodles, and lamb, the Mistress' favorite. A snifter of red wine went into two cups; for young master Sheena, spiced tea. Giovanni shuffled away once dinner had been set, and once again reminded his masters that he would be nearby if they needed anything.

"Ahh…" Giovanni smiled to himself, his fingers hugging the delicate sub sandwich. He stretched his jaws, nearly crying out of the sheer blissful scent of the meal he was about to engulf, and slowly shoveled the sub in his mouth…

Ring-ring-ring!!

"Of all the…" Giovanni muttered out some other choice words, and reluctantly laid his supper down. With a crestfallen heart, he managed to return to the dining room where the masters were. Apparently, it had been a full day for all of them: dinner was completely gone.

"Ahh, wonderful meal as always!" chortled Lepant. His wife smiled and applied a napkin to her lips. "Giovanni, will you be so kind as to…"

"Of course, Master Lepant," he replied. His fingers were already grasping a dish as he made his way to the sink. He bade his masters good evening as they left the dining room, and put his appetite on hold as he began scrubbing the dishes…

When he returned to his room, the only remainder of his meal were crumbs and the cellophane it had been wrapped in. Words that would have made a pirate blush escaped out of Giovanni's mouth, but his stomach cursed even louder.

As night fell, Giovanni went through his rounds one final time. The yard had finally been cut, which left one less thing for him to do the next day. Everything was looking okay, with some exceptions that would have to be taken care of the next day. Satisfied that he had done all he could, Giovanni shuffled off to his room to retire for the night. He had gotten up at five in the morning; it was well past midnight now. Just another long day at the Lepant household…

Ever since he could remember, Giovanni was Lepant's butler. He had literally been in servitude all of his life, and his father before him had been under Lepant's father's payroll as well. Giovanni still couldn't recall how he had ever gotten involved with this admirable family, nor could he remember how he became their butler.

Perhaps he had been one of those thieves that they caught, and subsequently punished by forcing them to do menial labor? Maybe his father had owed Lepant's father a debt, and he was still trying to pay it off. Perhaps he desired this kind of job, a life taking care of other people; after what had happened with Helene, Giovanni wanted to do whatever he could to make up for his mistakes. Or perhaps this was just his destiny, to sacrifice his own dreams and desires for that of another.

Whatever the reason, Giovanni was content in his position--most of the time. There were those very rare moments when he desired nothing more than to escape Kouan, go out into the world, and be his own boss for a change. Once, just once, he desired to get out and see what else the world had to offer. He wasn't that old, and he still had dreams and ambitions. But for the time being, they could wait.

At five o'clock in the morning, Giovanni rose with the sun and decided that today would be a good day to escape his job and see the world. He had earned enough money to pay off any debts he may have acquired, and he had enough with him to see the world. He had given almost all of his life to this family; certainly they could do without him for a few years!

"Yes," he reasoned, smiling to himself, "I'll do just that! I'll simply tell Master Lepant that I desire a few years off for a vacation! And I will most certainly promise to come back here soon! Yes, yes…"

CRASH!!

Giovanni flinched, knowing full well which item had been broken. He groaned as Lepant called his name, and his adventurous spirits sank. Quietly, he let out a growling sound, and balled his fists up.

"Every time I try to get out," he sneered, "they pull me back in!!"

The End