This sounds like a french band name, but it's actually a somewhat long summary of Avis's life as a butler.
Born to Jean and Elise Laurent, Avis came from a poor family he barely remembers. Elise was sickly, and Jean's printing business began to fail. On the brink of bankruptcy, Jean and Elise knew that they did not want their son to have to live in such poor conditions.
Enter Blaise Labarre, an upperclassman of Jean's from when they went to school together. Blaise inherited his father's wine business and is sitting pretty. He offers to give the Laurents the money to pay off Elise's medical treatment, which is a lofty sum, and Jean is wondering how on earth he will be able to get the money to reimburse Blaise, but he insists that monetary payment will not be necessary. In exchange, instead, Avis would have to live as a Labarre and work as a butler for a few years. At age five, Avis was reluctantly sent with them, his name legally changed to Avis Labarre ("Laurent" was removed from his name), and working as a butler. As mentioned on his page, Avis was a butler before he was a Labarre.
The family business was a dual-operation between the Labarres and their business partners, the Adamos, who had no biological relation but still lived in the mansion. Emilianne was concerned that Avis did not appear to be happy at this new living situation, but only because she felt a low-class boy did not deserve such lavish conditions (ie, she thinks Avis would be living it up there but had severe homesickness). Blaise was busy with work and did not pay much attention; the only times he really gave him notice were at the dinner table and when he was taking English lessons. Avis's adoptive older brother, Christophe, mostly ignored him, but seemed to be the most decent Labarre to him. The Adamos looked down on him, save for young Lisette Adamo, five years Avis's junior, who became a friend to him and a playmate.
Avis got along with the butlers and maids, but as the years passed, they would be swapped around for new ones. Lisette was still there, however, but as Avis grew older he was told by Lisette's mother, Claudine, to know his place as a lower-class butler, and distanced himself from Lisette. Without her parents knowing, Lisette often would talk to Avis about her schools (which she was often changing) and would ask for advice or at least someone to listen to new gossip or her problems. Let it be known that Avis doted on Lisette, but not once felt any romantic feelings for her.
This relationship would soon change. As a teenager, a group of Lisette's friends at one of her high schools asked her if she was interested in anyone, and Lisette decided to simply describe her ideal crush as an imaginary "suitor" to knock the other girls' crushes out of the park. The description of this mystery man ended up sounding eerily like Avis, and even though the girls never noticed, Lisette sure did. She thought long and hard about whether or not this meant anything, and when she realized she could not bring this topic up with him or even speak to him normally, she was mortified. She, a proper girl with a respectable pedigree and promising future, had apparently fallen for some low-class butler that should know his place. (Further reassuring that this was never a mutual feeling, especially since, at this time, Avis was 20 and Lisette was only 15).
Instead of confronting her feelings, Lisette bottles them up. Avis finally asks her what's the matter, and she responds by slamming him into a wall and punching him in the face. Lisette wasn't thinking at the time, but she thought that if she treated Avis like the lower class man that he was, she would no longer feel anything towards him. Avis had no idea why Lisette had a sudden change in temperament, and still does not know now. He had a gut feeling that if he had told the Labarres or the Adamos what Lisette had done, they would surely send him away for a false accusation, so he would lie and say he got into fights with other men on his way home. He took weekly, almost daily beatings from Lisette for three years to save his own job security.
On the day Avis turned 23, instead of a birthday party, he worked as usual. Lisette came home with a present. She wanted to finally stop the trouble she had caused him and make amends, but when Avis immediately responded to Lisette's arrival in fear, she knew it wouldn't be easy. She bleakly apologizes and hands him the present, and as Avis reaches for it with a scared expression, he accidentally touches her hand and the feelings Lisette thought she had repressed began to resurface. As a result, Lisette drops the gift and, instead, pushes him so hard he crashes into a glass coffee table. This attracts the attention of older brother Lucien, and he and the other Adamos quickly enter the room.
With Lucien about to tell Blaise that Avis had ruined the table, Avis snaps and tells them that this was Lisette's doing, that he had lied for the past three years about how he was getting injured, and that he would rather get fired and live in poverty like "the lower-class butler" he was than spend another day in this hell. As he had predicted three years before, the mother and father, Claudine and Joel, immediately assume Avis is lying and trying to slander their daughter. Lucien does not appreciate Avis's audacity and slams him into a wall. Even though he never laid a hand on Lisette, Avis fights Lucien back, and Blaise has to come in and break it up. The Adamo parents give their side of the story, and Blaise decides it's best to fire Avis.
Avis could not move well for a few days due to his injuries, so Blaise arranged for him to stay at a hospital for those days to recover, all costs taken care of. Avis says he would like to know the names of his parents, as it had been almost twenty years and had forgotten their names, but Blaise instead responds that "they do not wish to see you." Avis has never set foot in the Labarre mansion ever since, and because of the last few years of living there, he developed a severe case of haphephobia.
In the end, only Blaise truly believed Avis's story, and fired him so that he would have to face fewer consequences than staying in the mansion, as well as the reasoning that Avis was old enough to be on his own and could speak two languages. Christophe did not really know Avis well enough to know if he was lying, and Emilianne wondered how he could have lashed out so badly (as if she cared). Lisette still carries guilt over her bullying, but has yet to admit to anyone that Avis was really telling the truth that day.
On the whereabouts of the Laurents, as Blaise promised, Elise's medical treatment was paid for, and the two were able to get back on their feet and barely reach above the poverty line. However, five years had passed since they gave Avis away, and while they pined for his return (unaware that the Labarres were starting to make Avis forget his family), they were too ashamed to show Avis that they had basically sold him. Eventually, they had never gotten around to it, and now assume that Avis does not want to see them, even though that is absolutely not the case. Avis, in fact, is a little nervous of seeing them over the "they do not wish to see you" incident.
Enter Blaise Labarre, an upperclassman of Jean's from when they went to school together. Blaise inherited his father's wine business and is sitting pretty. He offers to give the Laurents the money to pay off Elise's medical treatment, which is a lofty sum, and Jean is wondering how on earth he will be able to get the money to reimburse Blaise, but he insists that monetary payment will not be necessary. In exchange, instead, Avis would have to live as a Labarre and work as a butler for a few years. At age five, Avis was reluctantly sent with them, his name legally changed to Avis Labarre ("Laurent" was removed from his name), and working as a butler. As mentioned on his page, Avis was a butler before he was a Labarre.
The family business was a dual-operation between the Labarres and their business partners, the Adamos, who had no biological relation but still lived in the mansion. Emilianne was concerned that Avis did not appear to be happy at this new living situation, but only because she felt a low-class boy did not deserve such lavish conditions (ie, she thinks Avis would be living it up there but had severe homesickness). Blaise was busy with work and did not pay much attention; the only times he really gave him notice were at the dinner table and when he was taking English lessons. Avis's adoptive older brother, Christophe, mostly ignored him, but seemed to be the most decent Labarre to him. The Adamos looked down on him, save for young Lisette Adamo, five years Avis's junior, who became a friend to him and a playmate.
Avis got along with the butlers and maids, but as the years passed, they would be swapped around for new ones. Lisette was still there, however, but as Avis grew older he was told by Lisette's mother, Claudine, to know his place as a lower-class butler, and distanced himself from Lisette. Without her parents knowing, Lisette often would talk to Avis about her schools (which she was often changing) and would ask for advice or at least someone to listen to new gossip or her problems. Let it be known that Avis doted on Lisette, but not once felt any romantic feelings for her.
This relationship would soon change. As a teenager, a group of Lisette's friends at one of her high schools asked her if she was interested in anyone, and Lisette decided to simply describe her ideal crush as an imaginary "suitor" to knock the other girls' crushes out of the park. The description of this mystery man ended up sounding eerily like Avis, and even though the girls never noticed, Lisette sure did. She thought long and hard about whether or not this meant anything, and when she realized she could not bring this topic up with him or even speak to him normally, she was mortified. She, a proper girl with a respectable pedigree and promising future, had apparently fallen for some low-class butler that should know his place. (Further reassuring that this was never a mutual feeling, especially since, at this time, Avis was 20 and Lisette was only 15).
Instead of confronting her feelings, Lisette bottles them up. Avis finally asks her what's the matter, and she responds by slamming him into a wall and punching him in the face. Lisette wasn't thinking at the time, but she thought that if she treated Avis like the lower class man that he was, she would no longer feel anything towards him. Avis had no idea why Lisette had a sudden change in temperament, and still does not know now. He had a gut feeling that if he had told the Labarres or the Adamos what Lisette had done, they would surely send him away for a false accusation, so he would lie and say he got into fights with other men on his way home. He took weekly, almost daily beatings from Lisette for three years to save his own job security.
On the day Avis turned 23, instead of a birthday party, he worked as usual. Lisette came home with a present. She wanted to finally stop the trouble she had caused him and make amends, but when Avis immediately responded to Lisette's arrival in fear, she knew it wouldn't be easy. She bleakly apologizes and hands him the present, and as Avis reaches for it with a scared expression, he accidentally touches her hand and the feelings Lisette thought she had repressed began to resurface. As a result, Lisette drops the gift and, instead, pushes him so hard he crashes into a glass coffee table. This attracts the attention of older brother Lucien, and he and the other Adamos quickly enter the room.
With Lucien about to tell Blaise that Avis had ruined the table, Avis snaps and tells them that this was Lisette's doing, that he had lied for the past three years about how he was getting injured, and that he would rather get fired and live in poverty like "the lower-class butler" he was than spend another day in this hell. As he had predicted three years before, the mother and father, Claudine and Joel, immediately assume Avis is lying and trying to slander their daughter. Lucien does not appreciate Avis's audacity and slams him into a wall. Even though he never laid a hand on Lisette, Avis fights Lucien back, and Blaise has to come in and break it up. The Adamo parents give their side of the story, and Blaise decides it's best to fire Avis.
Avis could not move well for a few days due to his injuries, so Blaise arranged for him to stay at a hospital for those days to recover, all costs taken care of. Avis says he would like to know the names of his parents, as it had been almost twenty years and had forgotten their names, but Blaise instead responds that "they do not wish to see you." Avis has never set foot in the Labarre mansion ever since, and because of the last few years of living there, he developed a severe case of haphephobia.
In the end, only Blaise truly believed Avis's story, and fired him so that he would have to face fewer consequences than staying in the mansion, as well as the reasoning that Avis was old enough to be on his own and could speak two languages. Christophe did not really know Avis well enough to know if he was lying, and Emilianne wondered how he could have lashed out so badly (as if she cared). Lisette still carries guilt over her bullying, but has yet to admit to anyone that Avis was really telling the truth that day.
On the whereabouts of the Laurents, as Blaise promised, Elise's medical treatment was paid for, and the two were able to get back on their feet and barely reach above the poverty line. However, five years had passed since they gave Avis away, and while they pined for his return (unaware that the Labarres were starting to make Avis forget his family), they were too ashamed to show Avis that they had basically sold him. Eventually, they had never gotten around to it, and now assume that Avis does not want to see them, even though that is absolutely not the case. Avis, in fact, is a little nervous of seeing them over the "they do not wish to see you" incident.