So here is my attempt at an AU story for my favourite guardians of Downton.
Disclaimer: I don't stake any claim over these two wonderful characters, I'm just giving them a little run around in my imagination.
A/N I'm not overly pleased with the formatting on this chapter but it was the best I could do as Fanfic wasn't being too kind on that front.
This was going to be a new start and a new lease of life. Elsie Hughes had grown tired of her of working in one of the lesser hotels of the Crawley Court Hotels range. She loved Edinburgh but having reached the position of General Manager three years ago, she had felt restless knowing that she couldn't advance her career, or her salary, any further if she were to stay there. She had considered looking into some of the other hotels in the city but whilst they were new and fancier, they lacked the prestige and class that Crawley Court had garnered over the years.
When word reached her that the London base was expanding and would require an assistant General Manager, she had practically jumped at the chance. It may have been a step down in title but it was an increase in wage and an exciting new challenge to have to tackle and there was nothing Elsie liked more than a good challenge. She had never been ruled by her ego so taking an inferior job title was not going to bother her and her life had always managed to be a bit backwards in going forwards. If she was honest, there had been other factors in her excitement at leaving Edinburgh. She had been with Joe Burns, a local man who ran a farm that provided a lot of the meat for the hotel restaurant, for years. Marriage had never been something that excited her and children had just never happened. When the story of his affair finally reached her, she hadn't really been that surprised. She was deeply hurt by it but couldn't bring herself to try to make their relationship work despite his desperate pleading. It was the deceit that had hurt her most although it didn't help that he had chosen to go off with one of the young chambermaids from her own place of work. She had never felt insecure before but the image of that flighty young thing he shacked up with continued to come into her mind whenever she looked in the mirror or bought a new outfit. The aging process had been kind to her or at least that was how she used to feel. Now it was hard to always see herself as anything other than a washed up middle-aged hag that had been traded in for the newer model. It wasn't that she would have wanted to stay with someone like Joe but there was still a part of her that wanted to feel like she deserved to be seen as attractive. She was only in her late forties so it wasn't as if she was completely past but then again, the fact that Joe had felt the need to go elsewhere made her question what little confidence she had felt.
Leaving for London meant leaving those niggling doubts behind. It meant she could try and reinvent herself. If this was going to be her last chance at reaching the top then she was going to give it her all. As she sat on the train trying to calm her nerves, her mind wandered to the most exciting prospect had to offer: Charles Carson.
Charles Carson was a celebrated man in the Crawley Court network and the prospect of working closely with him excited her greatly. As General Manager of the London hotel, their paths had never really crossed but she had heard such encouraging things about how he ran his hotel. Some said he was a taskmaster but Elsie thought you would have to be in order to run such a successful hotel. She knew she would have to bring her best work in order to impress him and Robert Crawley who was the amiable C. E. O. When she had submitted her C.V. for consideration she had received a call from him almost instantly telling her that she was top of his list and that he was so delighted that she had felt like it would be an appropriate position for her. He had always seemed like a kind man and their phone conversation had only reaffirmed this assumption. He had told her that his personal chauffeur, Tom Branson, would awaiting her arrival at the train station so she was relieved when she spotted him straight away when she got off.
Branson was a pleasant and chatty Irish chap whose humour did great work for her frayed nerves. As they pulled up outside the hotel, Elsie could her heart beat faster with excitement. It was a magnificent sight and it was no wonder that they were getting so much loyal business. Branson said that he would follow her in with the luggage as she would be staying in an adjoining apartment which was in the east wing which was set aside for the most senior staff. She wasn't sure what this living arrangement was going to be like but as she approach the entrance, this worry was sidetracked the broad shouldered and towering figure that awaited her at the door.
''Mrs. Hughes, I presume'' Oh my, and an impossibly deep voice to match.
''Well it's Ms. Hughes but yes, you must be Mr. Carson''
''I am indeed. Now Mr. Crawley is waiting for you in the main lobby so if you wish to follow me in, we can get the introductions underway''
He may have seemed a little less than friendly with her but regardless, this was definitely going to be an interesting experience.
TBC
Thanks for reading.
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