AN: I'm thinking this will be ten chapters. ABC/Disney still owns everything they own.
[b]Chapter 1[/b]
Some men propagated orchids, finding the delicacy of the flower a challenge, not so Alfred; the orchid is too tame, too mild of a plant for him. He cups the delicate pink and white buds gently between leather clad fingers. Small and fragile the buds may be but few plants are more deadly than the oleander.
Gently he uses shears to take a small cutting, with a sharp knife he splits the end and removes any leaves that would sit in the water. He places the cutting in a large glass of good well water on a shelf on the East side of the conservatory. His final act of the day is to cover it with a small glass terrarium to increase the humidity before leaving the peace of the conservatory.
He stops by the gardener's room on his way to the kitchen to exchange his old leather gloves for crisp white butler's gloves.
"There you are," Mrs. Hudson crows while stirring the polenta. "Playing with those plants again when we have a dinner party to get ready. Three hundred people in attendance and the additional waitstaff is late."
"Thirty-four waiters in crisp black uniforms are on the launch and will arrive momentarily. Rachel has begun to unpack the Hapsburg china. Twenty-four cases of premium liquor arrived this morning, it's five hours before the first guests arrive, and dinner smells wonderful as always.
Mrs. Hudson laughs, "As always you know and manage everything with your all seeing eye"
Alfred bends his head towards the six people in white chef coats, "How are you finding the assistant chef's?"
"It took awhile to get them used to how I run things but they'll do."
Now it's Alfred's turn to laugh, "Only you could get chefs from a three-star Michelin restaurant to do things your way."
"Michelin chefs," she scoffs. "Here to steal my recipes no doubt."
The house phone rings interrupting their conversation. White gloved fingers grab the phone, "Yes?"
"The helicopter is thirty minutes out."
"Excellent, thank you," Alfred says and puts the phone back on the receiver. He nods goodbye to Mrs. Hudson and leaves the room. Stopping at the entrance he re-arranges some flowers and trails his finger along a table top. Finding no dust, he moves on.
The front door opens and a whirlwind of awkward young limbs comes flying at him. He hears Norma yelling outside, "Spencer I said use the side door."
"Hey Alfred," Spencer says in greeting. "I jumped Nippit today. I can't wait to tell Cameron about it." He tries to run past Alfred but Alfred grabs him by the shoulder and ushers him out to Norma.
Norma gently directs Spencer's gaze to the line of muddy footprints lining the marble floor. "You, young man, will be cleaning that, but first we need to get you out of those muddy shoes. Thanks for the catch Alfred."
Alfred stands at attention at the top of the steps, hands clasped behind his back, watching them as they walk to the side of the house. He leans back slightly and takes a deep breath inhaling the sent of freshly mowed lawn. He scans the horizon, the property is in good shape, not a blade of grass is out of place. A lone gardener hangs one last Chinese lantern down at the docks.
He nods his head in approval and turns back into the house. Nimbly he avoids the mud and makes his way to the dining room. He enters to find controlled chaos. The extra wait staff is being directed by Rachel and the younger maid is arranging flowers in a centerpiece.
Unable to resist, he steps in and re-drapes the English ivy, winding it more gracefully down the vase.
"When you are done in here, please make sure the gardeners placed the potted plants correctly throughout the ballroom," he asks the young woman. "Last time they didn't distribute the oleanders well."
"Of course," she answers with a nod.
"Good job on the centerpieces," he says before leaving everyone to their work and heading to the helicopter pad. He leaves the house using a back door and pauses, noticing a fallen leaf on the path. He picks up the leaf and puts it in his pocket, making a mental note to throw it out later.
Standing at attention he waits, but not for long. The sound of rotor blades beating the air comes from the South. The helicopter appears to slow upon approach, floating in air like a hummingbird before making a near perfect landing.
He watches as black stilettos swing from the open helicopter door, long graceful limbs follow. He might appreciate the figure that heads toward him if he didn't know who and what she was. Her steely eyed gaze meets his, not a strand of blonde hair moves in her tightly wound bun as if in defiance of the beating rotor.
Silently she presents a slim arm, baring a silver cuff. He extends the key and opens the cuff releasing her from a silver briefcase. He opens the case, verifies the content and nods acceptance. She pulls out her iPhone and hands it to him. He types in the access code approving the transfer of funds. Still in silence she takes back the phone and returns to the helicopter.
Alfred watches her leave, never turning his back on her. When the helicopter is no longer in sight he takes the case to Nikolas' personal suite. After it is locked securely away in the vault he makes a call and says four little words, "The game has begun."