The pair made the familiar walk to Charles' old office, and Charles looked down at Edith to see her face set in an already annoyed expression as he lightly knocked on the open door and poked his head through

Michael looked up from the papers he was sorting and began to walk from behind the desk

"Good afternoon Charles."

"Hello Mr. Gregson, I trust Ms. Hughes has you all sorted out?"

"Yes, she's been amazing, and please 'Michael' is just fine."

Charles smiled and nodded and moved to the side to reveal Edith

"I'd like to introduce Edith Crawley, our greatest talent here at Grantham and your new responsibility."

Edith bristled at the last part of Charles' introduction and gave her new editor a quick once over. Edith looked at his dark brown khakis and blue dress shirt casually rolled up to his elbows, foregoing a jacket and tie she decided he was not bad looking for a close to middle age man but definitely the type that's painfully desperate to be considered 'hip' among the younger staff and thought to herself that Elsie and Charlie better keep an eye on him around the young interns

"Edith, it's a pleasure to meet you, I very much look forward to working together." Michael earnestly said as he stuck out his hand

She quickly and limply shook his hand only because she would get another earful from Charles if she didn't and walked further into the office

"Lovely office you have here, it's the best one really. You got quite lucky.

Charles let out a soft groan that Michael found a bit puzzling

"Yes, I did. I'm very happy to be at Grantham, Charles and Elsie and the whole staff has been wonderful really."

"When we have a someone with such a sharp mind as yourself we need to be as accommodating as possible, isn't that right Charlie?" Edith asked with a raised eyebrow

"Exactly Edith, accommodating and professional. I'll leave you both to it." Charles said realizing that his presence wasn't doing Michael any favors in Edith's attempt to make a point

"Please take a seat Edith." Michael offered as he took his place behind the desk

"You're awfully informal Mr. Gregson, do you always act that way?" Edith questioned with a haughty look

Michael was taken aback by Edith's somewhat apparent animosity, he was aware that Charles had been her usual editor and that some writers tended to be a bit temperamental about their work but he thought she would at least give him chance

"Oh, so sorry. I guess I just got used to being in the states, everyone's a bit casual there" Michael said as way of apology

"Well, you're back in England now." Edith said flatly

"Yes, the weather has been reminding me of that!" Michael offered the little joke as a way to relieve some of the tension he was feeling while Edith only responded by giving him an almost pained smile

"Right, well erm, Miss Crawley, I have to say that I am a fan of your work and I'm very excited about this opportunity."

Looking around the office that Michael had taken over Edith commented

"Yes, it should be interesting."

Michael nodded and politely smiled, it didn't take any special insight to tell that Edith wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but Michael was excited about her talent and the opportunity and wanted to get started as soon as possible

"So before we discuss your new ideas I'd like to talk about what you've done in the past, as to avoid repeating any mistakes..."

Edith narrowed her eyes and nodded skeptically

"...Your first one was very good, characters were well developed, lively dialogue and really a fascinating plot. Now the second one about the heir who was a lawyer started off well I think, but towards then end it dropped off a bit, almost suddenly...I have to ask was there any major changes in your life when you were finishing it?"

"Excuse me?" Edith indignantly questioned

"What I mean to ask is that, it seemed to me that around the final third of the book the writing changed to a more cynical and almost angry tone, and I was wondering if that was an artistic choice?"

"Are you trying to be my therapist or my editor?" Edith sarcastically asked

Michael felt a twinge of embarrassment as he let out a nervous laugh

"It's something I've run into before, something happens to an author and they end up taking their frustrations out on their work, I didn't mean to-"

Edith cut him off as she suddenly gathered her things

"This is ridiculous, I won't have some smug, pompous know-it-all grilling me about my life outside of writing, I'm sorry if this proved to be a disappointment but I'll let Charlie know that I won't be able work with you."

Edith quickly said to a stunned Michael then stormed out of his office and towards the door

Michael got up to go after her and smooth things over but decided against making a scene in his first week

From across the office floor Elsie saw the whole scene of Edith stomping off with a sour look and her face and Michael watching her with a confused expression in his doorway before he retreated back into the office and decided to go see what was the matter

"You look like you've been hit by a truck" the office manager said from the doorway

"I think I was..." Michael said as he leaned back in his chair

"So it seems your first meeting with Edith could've have gone better..." Elsie started as she walked in and closed the door behind her

"That's a bit of an understatement,...Charles did nothing but rave about her, and everyone here told me how wonderful she is, but she seems like she hates me for no reason."

"I've known her since she was a wee babe and Edith can be a bit temperamental at times, and there is a stubborn streak in the Crawley family a mile wide. Just give her time to get used to you. Your only fault is that you're not her 'Charlie'" Elsie said as she set down a stack of files and lowered her self into the chair opposite Michael

Michael huffed out a laugh and rubbed the back of his neck

"I just asked her if there were any changes in her personal life when she was finishing her second book and she took off like her hair was on fire."

Narrowing her eyes Elsie said in an ominous tone

"Oh, dear...you didn't really?"

Becoming worried Michael's eyes widened

"What's the matter, what did I do?"

Letting out a sigh Elsie explained

"While she writing her second book she became engaged to, well, really a lovely gentleman, apart from his later actions. Right before the wedding he called it off. He was a bit older than Edith, but she was crazy for the man, but he thought she would grow tired of him and felt like she would be giving up her career to be married to him. The poor dear was heartbroken, and in an act of kindness he suggested spreading a story that Edith had been the one to call it off, so the gossip papers didn't take much notice. A story about a young successful writer dumping her older fiancé isn't as interesting as a romantic creative gets her heart broken."

Michael leaned his head back and closed his eyes

"Wow, I really put my foot in it didn't I?...God, now I remember hearing something about that, how could I be so stupid?"

Elsie gave him a sympathetic smile

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Charles should have told you but Edith was so hurt he'd rather pretend it never happened I think."

"I should go apologize, you don't happen to have her address do you?"

Elsie nodded and gathered her things

"Of course, I'll get it right now..."

Before leaving Elsie turned

"...And Michael, word to the wise, no flowers and she prefers red over white."