Out of the Blue
"I wonder if I might disturb you a moment, Miss Baxter?"
"Just for a moment, Mr. Molesley," she replied with a smile. "I'll be taking these things upstairs before the gong."
"I've got a problem and I think you might be able to help me," he said in a low voice with a look that verged on desperate.
Miss Baxter raised an eyebrow as he tugged discretely at her sleeve. He jerked his head towards the boot room. She hurriedly gathered the dress she was mending into her arms and followed him.
"This is rather out of the blue, Joseph," she said as he shut the door behind them and began unbuttoning his livery jacket. "I really don't think I've enough time to 'help' you with any problem."
"What?" he asked, pausing in his unbuttoning and goggling at her. "It'll only take a moment, Phyllis."
"Don't sell yourself short," she replied with a smile, watching him as he frantically shed his jacket and went to work on his waistcoat. "Really, Joseph, I don't think we have time…"
Mr. Molesley threw his waistcoat to the floor and spun around to reveal a long, yellow stain from his collar down to the middle of his back. He looked back over his shoulder with pleading eyes.
"What happened?" she asked, running her hand lightly down the still damp stain.
"I'm not sure, exactly," he replied, sounding bewildered. "But I was helping shift some things around in the small storeroom and bumped into a shelf that had packets of carpet powders on it. One must have spilled down my back. Mr. Carson saw the stain at the top of my neck and, well…"
"Bit your head off?" she asked gently. "Yes, I imagine he did."
"Well? Is it fixable, do you think?"
Miss. Baxter shook her head. "I doubt it. But go ahead and take it off and I'll set it to soak."
"I can't take it off down here," he hissed at her, flushing red.
"I'll fetch you another livery shirt," she said. "Just go ahead and strip it off. And hurry." She paused for a moment at the door and looked sternly at him until he huffed agitatedly and began undoing the buttons. "You don't usually give me this much cheek when I tell you to take your shirt off," she said as she went quickly out the door.
"I'm not usually in the boot room when you do," he replied to the empty room.
Miss Baxter hurried to the livery closet and found another shirt. Ears peeled for the gong, she made her quick and careful way back to the boot room. Fortunately, everyone was busy getting ready for the evening; otherwise, her errand to the livery closet would have certainly raised questions. She shut the door firmly behind her and leaned against it for a moment, enjoying the sight of Mr. Molesley in his vest, staring glumly at his ruined livery.
"Here you are," she said, handing him the shirt. He smiled in thanks and began to put it on.
"Perfect fit," he commented. "Thank you for your help."
"I should think I'd know what shirt would fit you by now," she replied. "It's not the first time I've seen you in or out of one. I'm glad I could help, although this isn't the "problem" I thought you had in mind when you shanghaied me into the boot room."
"What did you…" he began to ask, pausing in buttoning his new shirt. He caught her look and his eyebrows went up in delighted amusement. "Oh…you thought…well, I only wish it had been."
They smiled at each other as the sound of the gong echoed through the house.
"I best get on," she said, stepping closer to him and taking over the task of doing up his buttons.
"Maybe later, you can undo them for me?" he asked, catching her under the elbows.
"Maybe I'll be the one with a problem out of the blue and you can undo mine," she replied, catching his lips in a quick kiss before snatching up her mending, hurrying to the door and slipping out.
At Mr. Carson's mighty rumble in the hall, Mr. Molesley threw the rest of his livery on and bolted out of the boot room, leaving the stained livery crumpled on the floor. As Miss Baxter's parting words rang in his head, he was beginning to have a different problem to deal with, and very much looked forward to her assistance with it.