Samuel had other things that he needed to focus and because of that he hadn't been bothering to text J back as much as he had in the beginning. He found out rather quickly this was problematic because the less often he texted the other, the more questions the other would ask by the time that he came back to replying to him.
He still hadn't figured out why the other was interested in knowing so much about him. He had tried to dig for a deeper answering than the fact that they were family, but J didn't give him any other answer except for that followed by asking whether it was a bad thing that he wanted to know so much about someone who was family but that he never got a chance to interact with?
Samuel's initial response would've been to say no, but after he and Lena had talked about family that one time, he wasn't sure no was the right answer since he really didn't know that much about this other person beyond what he had been willing to tell him.
Samuel was also more careful about who he texted the other around. The princess and her brother might not have been that noisy, but after the one-time Lena had saw him texting and wanted to know what he was doing, he didn't want to risk her finding out.
'Look, we have been texting for over a week and a half already. I have answered a lot of your questions, can't you tell me what I want to know already?' he texted J, hoping that the other would be willing to say yes since they had been texting back and forth for longer than the timeframe that he had originally been given.
'Didn't anyone ever tell you patience is a virtue, Sam?' was the text he got back in response to the question. There was a short pause before a second text came through.
'I'm working on it. Since we haven't met yet or talked much about work, you wouldn't know but I also have a busy schedule that I am working around.' J was right, he still had no clue what type of job he did for a living or even where he was located.
'You have time to text me already, how hard can it be to just explain everything to me via text? I don't mind a few long texts.' Samuel typed back with a stifled sigh.
After they had finished the meeting with Genson and Eve, Lena had said told Samuel he should go home for the day so he didn't end up missing a day of training with Clarice since she hadn't been told that he would be with the princess at work that day. Thus, he was trying to take advantage to the cool breeze that was blowing outside to sit out there while waiting for Clarice. He had found a decent try he could sit under that was near to the building that they were training in. It didn't completely shade him from the sun but it did a decent enough of a job that he didn't particularly hot while sitting under it.
'That's because it would be more than just a few long texts to explain everything to you. Hence why I want to meet with you in person- there's a lot to talk about.' J texted back.
'Give me a few days and let's keep talking and by then I will have something figured out by then that I think will work for both of us.'. Samuel didn't like this response since it felt like the same one he kept getting, but there was no way for him to object about it. He was stuck working off the other's timetable unless he wanted to drop the whole thing and go to his mom who had been unusually quiet recently.
Lena had mentioned that she had texted her on Monday asking about when they could talk. It wasn't the most opportune time for Lena for his mother to decide that she wanted to get in touch and talk since she had already had her phone number for almost two weeks, but she would try her best to accommodate the older woman since she was the mother of her fiancé, and she did quite like her.
Samuel was surprised when he looked up at the sound of footsteps to see not only Clarice walking towards him but Jeff following closely behind her.
"Jeff? I thought you were going back to wait for Lena to be done so you could take her home." Jeff smiled in response to his question as he stood behind Clarice.
"Actually, there's been a bit of change in plans with that. Clive is coming back to work since their daughter almost ready to come out of the hospital and his wife won't be staying there for much longer." Explained.
"And because of that change, the princess asked me to join you for training today. She mentioned something about possibly making me your personal assistant or guard, however you wish to look at it. Of course, if you're comfortable with it?" The last part he asked as a slight question. Lena had told him after all that it would only work if Samuel was okay with that arrangement, it wasn't something she could just dictate to happen.
"I guess? I mean I'm not sure what I would need a personal guard for." Samuel replied as he stood up from where he was sitting. This was something that the princess hadn't talked with him about, but maybe she didn't think it was that big of a deal if she had Jeff ask about it.
"There's a lot of reasons to have a guard." Clarice chimed in.
"They can double as a number of different things, and you always will have someone close to you that will have your back no matter what the situation is. Guards aren't just to protect people who can't defend themselves, they're also there as a type of support." She explained, patting Jeff on the shoulder.
"In this case they can also serve as a good friend and someone you can rely on when you're not certain who else to turn to when something is bothering you."
"I wouldn't have a problem with that. I was just surprised that Lena didn't mention anything to me about it when I was at the office with her this morning." Samuel replied as he looked between the two of them.
"That's probably because she didn't know that Clive would be coming back to his regular schedule until after you had left. She has been busy, so she just texted me instead to talk with you. You can bring it up to her later of course if you want to so that you can get a better idea of what role me being your guard would fulfill." Jeff told him.
"he's quite qualified for the role as well. He's just with us today to brush up on some things. He'll also of course have to go through some other training as well to make sure that he's up to the standard that Lena think is good enough. For the time being though, he'll still be able to accompany you if need to go anywhere without Lena or if you need something." Clarice. Samuel couldn't deny having someone to go with him if he wanted to leave the estate that wasn't Lena could come in handy. Especially since he knew that the ring would be ready soon to pick up. It had taken longer than originally promised because the birthstone that Zane had requested was on back order, but the jeweler had promised he would still have it done on time for them.
"You guys can chat more about this later. Right now, we need to get to training. I don't have all day today and training more than one of you is going to take extra time, but I'm sure it'll be good practice for the both of you." Clarice told them as he headed for the entrance of the building.
"I hope that I won't disappoint you. I look up to Clive so I hope that I can reach his level of excellency when it comes to being a guard as well as an assistant to you. I hope that you will rely on me as well if there is anything you need." Jeff told Samuel as they got ready to follow Clarice inside. He couldn't deny see how earnest the other was about this role that even if he wanted to object to it, he didn't think that he would be able to bring himself to say no and reject Jeff who was hardly much older than he was.
"I think that you will do just fine. The only thing that I will ask if you please don't treat me so formally as you treat Lena and the others in the family. You can call me by my first name and don't hesitate to ask or bring up anything that you're worried about, or you think that you should discuss with me." Samuel told the other with a smile.
