Chapter 2 - One Hell of a Bad Beginning, Noon (Rewritten)
Klaus thought that he had just dreamed that man, that he would never see him again. But here he was, in the flesh. Without thinking, Klaus reached up and touched the drapes that were covering his eye. "I am sorry, Young Master, for not coming to you sooner." Count Olaf, who was already angry at him for coming into his home without asking, stepped forward. "I was speaking to you! What. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing?"
It was clear that this new man was annoyed with him but he turned around and smiled politely, "I was speaking to my Master. Although, I suppose that I should have introduced myself. I am Sebastian Edgar, the Baudelaire butler." The Baudelaires could see the gears turning in Count Olaf's mind - a phrase which here means 'they could see him making a sinister plan'. He smiled darkly, "Since I am the orphans guardian then that means you are my butler." Mr. Edgar matched his smile, "I'm sorry, I didn't know that your name was Baudelaire as well."
Count Olaf's anger was back, "I am their guardian, they belong to me. Besides, the girl says that she can't touch the money until she is 18 anyway. You're not going to get paid." Mr. Edgar gave him a scary look, "I have made an arrangement with the Baudelaires. That is not an issue for you. After all I am the Baudelaire butler."
Swiftly, he turned back to the orphans, "Master, if you allow me, I will rebandage your eye. Not that your job wasn't a wonderful attempt. Afterward, we can go to the bank to talk to Mr. Poe if you would like." Violet's eyes brightened, "That would be wonderful but I really think that Klaus needs to see a doctor." Sebastian smiled, "I can assure you that I have the skills that are needed, after all, a Baudelaire butler should at least be able to do that."
"Unfortunately," he continued, "I currently do not have a car. Of course, if it's acceptable, we could take the trolly." Klaus wondered if he knew that they liked taking the trolly. He had a feeling that he did. It felt like this man was looking right into his heart. The thought was ridiculous but he just couldn't convince himself otherwise.
"That would be wonderful, Mr. Edgar." Violet said, stepping forward. Mr. Edgar put a hand to his chin and smiled to himself, "I would prefer to be called Sebastian." "Of course," she smiled back at him. "If you children would like to wait upstairs for me, I'll be there momentarily."
Sebastian stared down Count Olaf as the children slipped past him. They didn't know if this was the right thing to do. If they couldn't get the money and they made Count Olaf really mad, what would happen to them? "We have to do something." said Klaus. He really wanted to get his sisters out of this situation, no matter how. If things didn't work out at the bank, he would think of something else.
They had only been upstairs for a few minutes before they heard a light knock on the door. Violet was shaking as she went to answer it, afraid that it was Count Olaf. Instead, she found Sebastian with a basin of water and a few towels. "He put the basin and towels down in the middle of the floor and walked out of the room to bring in a chair from the dining room. "Young Master, please have a seat."
Klaus nodded and sat down. Violet picked up Sunny and sat on the bed. "Um, Mr. E-, Sebastian?" "Yes, My Lady?" He responded, unwrapping Klaus' head. "Klaus has something in his eye that I'm really worried about." Sebastian was touching Klaus' face gently, and Klaus was getting a little nervous at how close he was getting. "I see what you are talking about, he is fine. I promise he won't go blind."
Violet didn't like the way he was talking but Klaus thought he understood. When he was 'dreaming' he had asked if putting the mark in his eye would blind him. He suspected that was what Sebastian was talking about.
When he was finished, Klaus looked like he had just come out of a hospital. "Klaus, how do you feel?" Violet asked. Klaus nodded, "I feel alright,". "Sebastian," Violet addressed him, "you did a really good job. Were you a doctor?" Sebastian smiled at her, "No, I'm just one hell of a butler."
Klaus gasped at his language and Violet used one hand to cover one of Sunny's ear and pressed the other to her body. "Mr. Edgar!" said Klaus sharply. "Don't use language like that." Sebastian looked surprised for a moment before smiling hungrily. "I'm sorry, Young Master. I will curb my language to suit your tastes better."
Klaus blushed, He didn't mean to yell at him. Normally we wasn't that rude. "You don't have to call me 'Young Master'. You can call me Klaus." "As you wish." said Sebastian. "Are you prepared to go to the bank now, Klaus?" Sebastian asked. "Yeah, lets go." said Klaus, hopping off his chair. Violet picked Sunny up and followed him out the door.
The children were a little nervous about walking out of the manor, knowing that Count Olaf was there. Sebastian, on the other hand, walked confidently beside them. They didn't see Count Olaf as they left the house.
Sebastian helped both of them onto the trolly and got on himself. As Klaus sat with Sunny, Violet stood next to Sebastian. "I don't remember having a butler." she said. He smiled at her, "True, my contract began recently."
They stood together in silence for a moment before she said anything again. "What, um, what kind of arrangement do you have to get paid?" This situation was really odd. She wanted to know who this strange man was. "The contract that I have made is between me and the person that I have made it with." Klaus walked over to them, Sunny still in his arms.
"I know this sounds strange," he said, "but, I dreamed about you last night. Could it be that we have met and I just don't remember?" "No, Klaus. We have not known each other before. We've only met yesterday." Violet gave him a confused look, but Klaus bit his lip before saying slowly, "Are you a demon?" Sebastian smiled at him, "I'm a demon of a butler."
Both of the children were skeptical. Klaus had read some things about demons but there was no proof that they existed. That didn't really make since, and he didn't like things that he couldn't figure out.
When it was time to leave the trolly, Sebastian helped both of them to the ground. Unfortunately, none of the children knew where the bank was. Sebastian seemed to know exactly where to go. He led them through the meat district, the flower district and the sculpture district before arriving at the banking district. There were banks all around them and they didn't know which one Mr. Poe worked at.
Sebastian stopped and looked around for a moment. "One moment, please." he said. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. While he was doing this, the three children left to take a refreshing sip of water from the Fountain of Victorious Finance. By the time they were finished, Sebastian was already walking up to them. "I have located your banker, Mr. Poe." "Really?" asked Klaus. "Of course," said Sebastian and gestured down the street.
The children followed Sebastian into a square, plain looking building with a sign out front that said Mulctuary Money Management. Sebastian held the door open for them. Once inside, the children were a little intimidated by the hustle and bustle of people, racing around to get their jobs done. Every now and then, someone would spare a glance at Klaus but nothing more.
While they were looking around, Sebastian disappeared. He was only gone for a few moments before returning with a uniformed guard who offered to lead them to Mr. Poe's large office.
Mr. Poe's office had a lot of file cabinets but no windows. His entire desk was covered in important but boring looking papers. There were three telephones with flashing lights in front. Off to the side of the desk was a framed picture of his wife and two sons.
He looked like he was very busy but when he noticed the children coming into his office he stopped what he was doing. He stood to greet them, "Please come in. Klaus, what happened to your eye!" The children came in and sat in front of the desk, "We think that Klaus has an infection in his eye." Violet said. "Oh, that's terrible!" Mr. Poe said.
He didn't notice Sebastian until he was already in the office. He was standing behind the children. "I don't think I've had the pleasure." said Mr. Poe, outstretching his hand. Sebastian held his right hand to his chest and bowed slightly. "The pleasure is mine." He stood up straight, "I am Sebastian Edgar, the butler of the Baudelaire family." Mr. Poe wanted to address him but he fell into a coughing fit. He took out his handkerchief and coughed into it while the others waited.
When he was finally able to speak again he said, "I didn't know that the Baudelaire family had a butler." Sebastian smiled at him and responded, "A good servant is neither seen nor heard unless his master wants to be and I am very good at my job."
"Anyway, I, um," Mr. Poe tried to continue, he was having a little trouble getting back on track. "I'm very busy today, so I don't have too much time to chat." He turned his attention back to the children. "Next time you should call ahead when you plan on being in the neighborhood, and I will put some time aside to take you to lunch."
Violet nodded, "That would be very pleasant, and we're sorry we didn't contact you before we stopped by, but we find ourselves in an urgent situation." "Count Olaf is a madman," Klaus stepped in. "We cannot stay with him." Violet gestured to Klaus' face. "He struck him across the face."
Mr. Poe looked shocked, "Did he cause the injury to Klaus' eye!?" The children looked a little dejected, "Well, no. But he did bruise his face."
As she was trying to explain one of the phones rang. "Excuse me," he said and picked up the phone. "Poe here." The children felt something ominous behind them. They turned to see Sebastian staring at Mr. Poe, anger rolling off him. "What?" Mr. Poe said into the phone. "Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. Yes. Thank you." He hung up the phone and looked up at them.
"I'm sorry," he said, "what were we talking about? Oh, yes, Count Olaf. I'm sorry you don't have a good first impression of him." "He has only provided us with one bed." Klaus argued. "He drinks too much wine." But once again the telephone rang. "Excuse me," he said as he answered the phone, "Poe here." This time Sebastian stepped around the children and up to the desk where Mr. Poe was talking. "Seven. Seven. Sev-" Sebastian had taken the telephone from him and hung it up.
"Speaking on the telephone while you have guests is incredibly rude." He said in a polite way. Mr. Poe was dumbfounded by his actions. "Now, I believe that my masters were speaking to you about their living conditions and, as you are in charge of their current financial affairs, it would be best if you listened to their complaints. Master Klaus, Lady Violet, would you permit me to speak with Mr. Poe alone for a moment? I'm sure he is very busy and would like to return to his work as soon as possible."
The children nodded and reluctantly stood from their seats. Violet was carrying Sunny as they stepped into the lobby. As they stood over by a wall, out of the way they watched the people move around the building. "What do you think Sebastian is going to say to him?" asked Violet. Klaus shook his head, "I have no idea. He was really rude but he did get Mr. Poe to listen to him."
They waited for Sebastian to finish. Every now and then they would look over at the door. They were nervous that Count Olaf would come find them. They didn't know what they would do if they ran into him again and they were afraid what he would do if they went home alone.
Although it wasn't very long at all, it seemed like he had been in there for a very long time. When he did finally come out the children walked over to him quickly, "What happened?" Klaus asked. Sebastian smiled at him, "I'm taking you home." The children had hoped that he had been able to do something but it looked like nothing had changed. Everything looked hopeless.
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Well, it didn't really come out very well but I thought it would be fun to call Sebastian 'Mr. E' because no one knows anything about him. That was the whole reason I gave him the last name Edgar.
