The Safety Pin Affair

t w e n t y-n i n e - i can make it happen

take my hand and
show me what it's like
when the sun goes d o w n . . .

▪️▫️▪️

After a grand tour of the Hunt mansion, I'm surprised I still had enough energy to stay for dinner. Walking around that place was like doing an entire museum in under an hour. We were done a little after 7:30, and Josh had to rush it a bit just so we'd be ready in time for when dinner was served.

It was still mind-blowing though, regardless of how much time we spent in each room. Eight bedrooms, ten bathrooms, three living room areas, a gigantic indoor pool room, a library, and a kitchen that would send my mom to heaven. I counted a total of seven fireplaces in the entire house.

For as long as we could without freezing our asses off, we stood on a balcony that overlooks the entire backyard and I couldn't believe how vast it was. There was a spotless patio beneath us with chairs and tables, a staircase that led to the ground below it, and land that stretched for acres. Four acres, to be exact. Apparently there's a tennis court somewhere in the backyard, hidden between the trees, sculptures and greenery.

Josh and I descended the staircase, heading towards the dining room since it was time to eat. We crossed through the kitchen as the chefs ran about the room hysterically. I watched in amusement while they cursed in Italian to each other, waving their hands around with beet-red faces.

I felt Josh step closer to me as we both watched the frenzy scene in front of us.

"Dante," he said, pointing to the tallest chef who had a thin, lanky frame. Aside from their body shapes, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them all due to their uniforms.

"Ah," I nodded.

"Angelo," he gestured towards a second chef, a little shorter and stockier than Dante. "And Carmine," he said lastly, the shortest and heaviest out of the three men. "They're our chefs. They're here all the time – pretty much a part of the family."

"Cool," I smiled, briefly looking away from them to glance up at Josh. He just grinned back at me.

His hand reached for mine and he interlocked our fingers together, pulling me along to the dining room. That's the only room I haven't seen because people were running in and out of it, trying to set the table and prepare our meal.

I gasped obnoxiously when we walked in. "This is all just for us?" I asked Josh, my eyes darting all around the table.

"Yup. That's why my mom said I hope you're hungry," he chuckled quietly. I felt his thumb stroke the top of my hand, and I would have melted at the gesture if I wasn't currently drooling over the setup.

The table was stacked with food. There were ten, luxurious chairs seated at the table, with a chandelier hanging above of course. Jaclyn and Mr. Hunt were in the one corner, talking quietly to each other about something entertaining. Mrs. Hunt stood on the other side of the room, an intense look in her eyes as she observed the staff setting up. I didn't want to stare at her for too long before she gave me the same look and turned me to stone.

Once it calmed down a bit in the room, Josh and I took a few steps closer to see what we were actually going to eat.

"My mom would faint if she was here," I shook my head, and Josh chuckled along.

There were at least three different cuts of meat, three heaping bowls of pasta, two types of salad, four kinds of fresh bread, and all I could really think of is how much leftovers they're going to have after this. I don't even want to think about what could be for dessert.