Author: ThePhantomsRedRose
Disclaimer: It's Dicken's
Chapter 2
Ten years have passed since that faithful day at the school for boys. The streets of London were aglow with the May sunlight. The smells of the streets were also in full stench. I became an Apprentice for Accountant, Charles Fezziwig. He held a small accounting firm that serviced elite clientele. Today a man named Richard Trousdale was coming to check on the status of his accounts. He was a wealthy landowner who had inherited his fortunes from his ancestors.
With accounts like this I am unable to sit in because it deals with too much money. These account's can only be trusted to the owner. I will simply be processing paperwork and making tea for Mr. Fezziwig. I got up to boil some water. It didn't take long to heat the blue tea pot. Mr. Fezziwig never changed. In my ten years with Mr. Fezziwig I had yet to see a day when he took anything but two lumps of sugar in his tea.
When I brought the cup to Mr. Fezziwig, he looked at me with the same appraising steel eyes that he crunched numbers with. His hair was always pulled back into a tail at the base of his neck. His eyebrows were bushy and brought a foreboding look to his facial structure. I wondered how someone could have such a menacing face.
Mr. Fezziwig's menacing face was nothing compared to his barking manner. Around customers he was a gentleman; but when it was just me, he would yell and get into a drunken stupor. His heart was as well fastened as his frock coat. There was only one time of year that he was jolly and that was Christmas.
Every year he would throw a grand party for friends, clients, and family. Even I was allowed to join in the festivities. There would be carols sung from the banisters of the stairs to the dining room drawers. Baubles were hung over Mr. Fezziwig's house, and in the center of all this cheer was a giant Christmas tree. It was aglow with fairy lights and ornaments of angels, deer, stars, and bulbs. Oh, what it was to be a member of that party. That was the one time of year that Mr. Fezziwig treated me as a human being. The women always wore dresses of red, green, and white velvet with their hair in curls. The men wore their best black garbs with top hats. Alas, Christmas was five months past.
"Ebenezer, with all the time you've spent in here my tea has become cold! Go and warm it quickly before Mr. Trousdale gets here!" he said; putting emphasis on the words quickly and before.
The solid oak door opened as the small bell that was fastened to it jingled. "I'll be there in a moment," I said from the kitchen as I walked away from the tea. A brunette woman I had never seen before stood in the doorway. "May I help you?" I asked the woman.
"Hello, How do you do? My name is Fanny Scrooge – Reynolds; I'm looking for my brother, Ebenezer. His old school told me to look here. You don't happen to know where he is, do you?"
"Well I don't know about your brother, but I am Ebenezer," I said introducing my self to Fanny.
"Oh well then you must be him! Blimey! I can't believe I finally get to meet you after all these years! I helped mom as she was giving birth to you. I only wish I could have done better. It was hard to handle as a nine year old. Watching mom die was the most haunting experience. She was a very kind person, Ebenezer; she would have loved you very much. I feel so bad that Dad sent you away. After all, I should have been the one to go. Mom died while she was giving birth to you, but she was in my care!" I am so sorry little Ebby!" said a sobbing Frances.
"Ebby?" I asked, wondering if this woman really was my sister. She looked to be about thirty, and our hair color matched. She was a bit shorter than I was, but that was to be expected of a woman.
"Oh sorry, I took to calling you that when I held you as a bundle in my arms. You were a very cute baby, Ebby. You had the biggest eyes and the smallest amount of hair. So tell me about your life. How did you end up working here?" Her eyes began to sparkle as she asked me with genuine interest.
"Well back when I was in school I…" I started. However it was only to become interrupted by the familiar rumble that was my boss.
"BUDGE UP EBENEZER!" Came the familiar yell, "Where the ruddy hell is my tea!"
"One moment sir!" I said. "Frances I have to go or the boss will have my head."
"Why don't you come to my place for dinner? Here's the address," She handed him a piece of paper before exiting out of the door.
I went back to the kitchen where I added the two lumps of sugar to the boiling black tea. I brought the mug, with my shaking hands, to Mr. Fezziwig. "I'm sorry it took so long sir. I was helping a potential client," I said, hoping that it would pass as a mediocre excuse.
"Scrooge, you always have some excuse. Now go file some of this paperwork, before I decide not to feed you tonight," Fezziwig said gritting his teeth menacingly.
"Oh, Mr. Fezziwig sir, would it be alright if I went to a friend's house for dinner tonight?" I asked.
"Scrooge, you have no friends, you're a lowly apprentice. Who in this City would be friends with you besides another apprentice? I can't allow you to be with apprentices because they will recruit you to their jobs, and I'd prefer not to loose free labor.
"Speaking of free labor, Mr. Fezziwig; perhaps you would like to go over my contract some time soon, if you get a chance that is. You see the ten years are up, and I would really enjoy a salary or a certificate of employment," I said, wincing at my own stupidity.
"Scrooge you may go to dinner tonight and you will get your certificate, but don't expect to continue your job here because of your cheek. I want you out by the end of the week.
