I couldn't resist banging out a minific in reply to the spoilers regarding the Chelsie tiff over whether or not he should call her 'Elsie' at the house this morning. It's going to be soooooo cute.
Elsie's head was full of silly thoughts, bouquets, bridal dresses, and vows, when she bumped into Charlie on the steps.
"Mrs Hughes," he greeted her with a nod, and it dawned on her, because of her frivolous thoughts she was sure, that the salutation sounded rather ridiculous, given their situation.
"I think Mrs Hughes sounds a little bit formal, don't you? I wonder if you should like to call me Elsie?"
His expression changed to one she unfortunately knew oh too well; his lips pursed and his nostrils flared.
"How could you suggest such a thing?"
"I open my mouth and I speak," she grumbled facetiously, all her happy daydreams disappearing from his one sharp question. "Charlie-"
"Not here! Not at work!"
He glanced over his shoulder, and then leaned out over the railing to check if anyone was under the stairs.
She rolled her eyes. "Everyone knows we're engaged now. It's no secret."
"Yes, but-"
"But? My name has never really been Mrs Hughes-"
"Stop right there," he interrupted, holding up his hand, to ward off her familiarity, she thought. "I cannot imagine where your head is today, away with the fairies obviously."
Now her lips pursed at his insulting tone. "I'll take that as a no then," she bit back before turning and marching back up the stairs. She didn't particularly need to do anything else upstairs at the moment, but she felt slightly better in turning her back to him and stomping off.
She even kept up her immaturity during luncheon. She refused to talk to him as they sat down to eat in the servants' hall. Instead she simply gulped down her food. She might have even placed her cutlery and crockery a little too heavily onto the dining table's wooden surface once or twice.
A knock came to her door a few minutes after she'd scurried back to the sanctuary of her sitting room.
He closed the door behind him after entering and she was instantly contrite. He looked as wretched as she felt.
"I'm sorry," they said in unison.
She jumped up and stepped closer.
"If you're worried about any cheek Barrow or-"
He never let her finish. "It's not them I'm worried about."
"The family have been very supportive," she pointed out.
"It's not them I'm worried about either."
She frowned, confused. "Then…"
"It's me," he confessed, his voice soft now as he spoke. "I don't want to be… Distracted."
Her eyes widened. "Distracted by my name?" she wondered.
"Yes." He stepped closer and she breathed deeply, his scent as reassuring and thrilling as it always was. "Mrs Hughes is my dependable housekeeper. Elsie, however, is quite the distraction."
He reached out and pushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear.
"Oh?" Her tone was strangled because his finger was now tracing a path from her earlobe to her lips.
"Charlie," she choked out when he pushed down on her bottom lip with his thumb.
"Elsie," he whispered in return before replacing his thumb with his own lips for the merest of seconds.
She swayed on the spot. Luckily he caught her by the shoulders and kept her upright.
"See, quite distracting," he said gruffly.
For once she was completely speechless. And only when someone else rattled urgently on her door, causing her to blink and jump, did she snap out of her mild shock.
Before he turned to open the door, Charlie gave her a crooked smile. "Back to work, Mrs Hughes."