Disclaimer: I don't own BATB or any characters that you recognize from Disney. Collette, her family, and any OC's are mine unless I say otherwise. Any errors are my own. Mind you, some spelling errors-like how maitre'd is supposed to be spelled (with a small arrow over top the i)-is due to writing this on a Mac that I am not entirely familiar with. As with errors, any character differences are my own and most will take place over the course of the story. However, if you feel like I am doing a character wrong, let me know politely. Don't say "You're doing so-and-so wrong" without saying HOW I'm doing it wrong. Mind you, this only applies to the canon characters, not my OCs for now. I will let you know if this changes. The time period in which I have placed the story in is my own interpretation and as such, please don't tell me I've placed the fic in the wrong era. As I haven't been able to find any official statement on when the Beauty and the Beast films and musical take place, I can only place it based off of my own best guess. On THAT note, I've placed the films and musical between 1810 and 1820. 1830 at the very least. To explain further would require more space then I've allotted to the disclaimers and authors notes. Most of the chapters will be focusing on Collette, though there will be times where I'll switch to another character's viewpoint. As for French words, I'll try to stick to the obvious ones-pere (father or dad), mere and maman (mom), mon ami (friend) and so on-but I'll keep it in character. For instance, you won't see Cogsworth using mon ami, nor Lumiere old friend, linguistically.
Chapter 2: Collette makes a new friend
For the week after she settled in, Collette couldn't believe her luck. She was grateful for her father arranging this; she didn't think that she'd have been able to get a position here-or many other places-otherwise. She had been placed under the tutelage of Mrs. Potts, which Collette thought was a good thing. On one hand, she much preferred the kitchen to maid's work, while good at either, cooking came easier. On the other hand, she'd never worked at a castle and had been more nervous her first day in the kitchen then she'd been the day she'd arrived. She found, though, that Mrs. Potts was every bit as kind as she looked and had taken the time to calm the younger girl's nerves. Collette found that the work there was the same as it had been working for her former master. The biggest difference that she had found was that the dishes were fancier, but she had been expecting that.
What she hadn't been expecting was the amount of attention she had gotten from other servants. From what she had heard a little bit from Mrs. Potts and more from one of the maids, "Call me Babette," Cogsworth, the castle's majordomo-and by proxy, their master, the Prince-hadn't needed to hire a new servant in ages. Those that had been hired were mostly maids. Why she had been hired had set a number of tongues wagging, but Collette wasn't about to say anything and the servants that hadn't been warned off by either Mrs. Potts or Babette didn't want to get on Cogsworth's bad side. Well...except for Lumiere, who seemed to take some delight in winding the majordomo up, though the two remained good friends. From what she had gathered, he was the castle equivalent of the village womanizer. Her second day there, he'd flirted with her and tried to kiss her only to find that she'd slapped his face. To add insult to injury, Collette threatened to tell Babette if he even tried as much with her...again. He largely left her alone romantically after that. She did apologize to Babette when the latter had come storming into the girl's room, making her wonder what, exactly, Lumiere had told her...and had to swear the maid to secrecy about her past.
"Babette, I am sorry about that, but if you had been in my shoes, from the situation at my last master's house, you'd have done the same thing," Collette had said, half-pleading. She didn't want to lose one of the first friends she had at the castle. "Just let me explain, please?"
Babette still didn't look to happy, but relented, "This had better be a good reason."
After Collette had extracted the promise, she started her story. "At my last home, the master's son was the type to sleep with any servant who was female and unattached. His father, the master, probably knew what his son was doing, but made no effort to reign him in. I was the only servant who was bold enough to fight back. Most of the others either didn't care or were too afraid of what would happen. I started by doing what the other servants had done-say no. He kept at it though, as if to prove that even the majordomo's daughter wasn't off limits. My eldest brother being his valet probably didn't help matters. He wants me to marry into an aristocratic family. Failing that, any wealthy family would do. It got bad enough that two days before I came here, he'd tried to force himself on me after dinner. I'd punched him in the nose and was then dismissed. Thankfully, my father and Cogsworth know each other somehow-or at least that's what my father implied, but without that, I don't know where I'd be. Likely worse off then I was or am now-very worse off. I don't know how my father and Cogsworth know each other, never had the chance to ask, and I don't know Cogsworth well enough to ask." Collette felt drained after telling that story and prayed that she'd never have to tell it again.
The two had become better friends after that and Collette was pleased that while Babette may be somewhat of a gossip, she had kept her promise and not spread the younger cook's story all over the palace. Babette had also explained that it was a rule of the master's that the female servants had the right to say no if asked to be in a romantic relationship. That included when they had male guests at the palace who might have been used to that either at their own homes or at the castle during the reign of the master's father. Collette was relieved because that meant if Jean visited the palace, she was safe. Privately, she felt that he and her brother Andre would at least try if not outright break that rule if or when they came. Lumiere had also spread the word among the male servants to avoid trying to flirt with her right off the bat. That story had made its way around the palace grapevine in no time, leading many of the servants to say that it wasn't the first time that the maitre'd had been slapped, but that this was the first time he had been slapped by a woman before he'd slept with her, making it a new record.
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Collette found that her days had settled into a very comforting routine-get up, help Mrs. Potts with cooking the meals, wash the dishes, and generally help keep the kitchen clean. Even with all of that, there were other girls and some of the young male servants helping out Mrs. Potts and Chef Bouche. She found that after the evening chores were done, she had some free time on her hands to spend as she wished, as well as a day off a month. Collette could understand having the kitchen staff that they did. While the only people living in the castle besides the Master and Mistress were the servants, it wouldn't be that way throughout the year. There would be balls and such throughout the year, but once that Master and Mistress started a family, there would be those children and quite possibly their spouses once they grew old enough to marry. It made sense to have a staff on year round that could not only handle the ebb and fall of the number of people in the palace, but also knew the other servants in the palace and the ways of the palace. That system, along with how well their Master and Mistress treated them, left little room for any servant to betray the household.
After her evening chores had been completed, which usually included helping to wash, dry, and put away the dishes, as well as clean the kitchen, Collette usually explored the castle. She had been told by Cogsworth which areas were off limits to the bulk of the servants, including the West Wing. The only servants allowed there besides Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts usually ended up being the valet and ladies maid assigned to the Master and Mistress. That night, though, Collette quickly went to her quarters to get her yarn and crochet hooks. She had found a small room that looked somewhat like a study or common room during her explorations and would be perfect then just sitting around gossiping with some of the maids or kitchen staff. She usually heard enough gossip while she was working and during mealtimes. Even though she was making friends among the staff, Collette knew that alone time, where she could work on her knitting or crocheting would be a luxury, especially whenever there was any type of celebration to plan for.
That night, Fate seemed to work against her. When she got ready to open the door, she found it already open and Cogsworth was on one of the chairs in the room, staring into the fire. Collette didn't know who had lit it, but she suspected the majordomo himself, who looked up as she entered. It was useless to light a candle or fire in a room that wouldn't be occupied. That was just a waste of candles, wood, and matches. "I'm sorry, sir," she said, backing out of the room. "I didn't know anyone was in here." Her protestations about finding another room to be in quieted as Cogsworth raised his hand. He didn't seem like himself, at least not the over-stressed and somewhat pompous version that she saw during the day.
"It's all right. Collette, isn't it?" At her nod, he continued, "Come, sit down. How are you settling in? Everything going all right? And please, don't call me 'Sir'. That term is best used for the Master or any other male guests we might have. Call me Cogsworth."
Collette blushed and accepted the rebuke, as she set her bag of yarn down and sat in the chair across from the majordomo. "I am doing fine, Cogsworth, everything is going fine. Thank you for asking." She was wondering what was going on. Cogsworth looked older then he was, as if the stress and weight of his position was prematurely aging him. "How are you doing, Cogsworth?" The temptation to call him 'Sir' was still there, as what she had seen of the majordomo made it clear that he expected orders to be obeyed to keep the household running smoothly. However, running a household was a difficult job and he didn't look like he had anyone to talk to about it who would understand what he was going through that wouldn't either make a joke of it or spread it around to the other staff. Well, maybe Mrs. Potts, but the older cook had a smaller staff to work with and even Lumiere knew better to get on her bad side. She decided then and there to be that person for no other reason then that he not only was a friend of her father's, but it didn't seem like he had that friend. "I promise whatever you tell me won't be repeated unless you give me leave to talk about it and even then, it will be with whomever you say I can talk about it with and no other except yourself."
From the look on Cogsworth's face, her offer was the last thing he expected. Though, as he went over it in his mind, it was consistent with the type of behavior he had come to expect from Pierre when he had first met the man. It made sense that his daughter would make a similar offer. He smiled at her, already feeling some of the stress of the job leave his shoulders. The two soon fell to talking, and after a short while, he asked Collette what was in her bag. She quickly blushed.
"My maman, when she had the time, taught me to crochet, knit, and sew. It helps pass the time after the evening chores are done," she replied, still blushing. "I didn't bring out my current project while we were talking because I didn't want to seem rude or disrespectful." Why am I blushing right now? He's about mon pere's age and I don't know him all that well. I don't want to make the same mistake with him as I did with Jean! Collette resisted the urges to both run from the room and bang her head upon the closest hard surface.
Sensing her discomfort, accompanied by the blush quickly spreading across her face, Cogsworth went over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Collette, I don't mind if you work on your projects while you're talking to me. I know I come across as a bit of a strict taskmaster during the day, but all you really see of me is in the kitchens before and during the meals."
Collette smiled. "There is no need to explain yourself or your behavior to me, Cogsworth. I'm sure you know that my father holds the same position for the Rochefort family. He was one way when it was just family, but when it came to doing his duty, he could be just as strict as you are, when the situation called for it." She frowned, unsure how to phrase what she wanted to say, which was that he needs to find a way to relax outside of his job. This wasn't like it was when she was at home, where she could say what she thought in private to her father, within reason. Here, she knew very few and the man she was talking to was, for all intents and purposes, her boss, not her father. On top of that, they were just starting to get to know each other outside of their duties. It wouldn't be proper to suggest such a thing at that moment, if at all.
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Well, That's it for this chapter. Still not happy about how I did Cogsworth at the end there, but I promise that when I write scenes between him and the canon characters, he'll sound more like he does in the movie. As always, any suggestions on how to do the canon characters better is appreciated. Flames, though, will be used to make s'mores.