As happy as Bo was to be free of Mr. Damiano's lustful gaze, she was even more elated to escape Sebastian's watchful eye. She immediately began to set about making preparations for dessert; Ciel had requested lemon meringue pie for the evening and Bo wasn't sure Baldroy had quite enough culinary skill to handle such a dish yet.
Making sure to leave the light off, Bo left the oven room door slightly open and brought the pie to the kitchen. Just as she finished slicing the pie, Bo felt an uncomfortably familiar presence watching her from the door. "Can I help you with something, Mr. Michaelis?"
"Have you finished making the preparations for dessert?" he asked plainly. Bo was well aware of what he was really asking. Sebastian Michaelis was many things, but he certainly wasn't foolish enough to ask her about dessert while Bo was cutting it right in front of him.
"I was just about to inform the young master and Mr. Damiano that it was ready," she replied easily. No matter Bo's personal feelings for him, Sebastian was a Phantomhive servant just as Bo was, and they both had a job to do.
Bo could feel Sebastian's smirk even as she kept her eyes on her current task. Once she had finished cutting and plating the pie, Bo placed the plates on a tray and made her way out. "Mr. Damiano is currently on a phone call," he informed Bo as she passed him. "Do take care to ensure he is shown every hospitality once he is done."
Nodding silently, she walked out, her expression impassive. Damiano's voice echoed throughout the hall as Bo made her way to him. "I'm tired of babysitting this child earl," he hissed into the phone as I neared him. Careful not to make any noise, Bo move closer to the doorway until she was just outside, her body hidden by shadows. "Yes, I've already sold off the factory. Now all that's left is to pocket the extra cash. I'm trying to squeeze more out of the brat right now. The employees? Who cares about them?" Bo grit her teeth and fought the urge to lunge at Damiano. Not only was he insulting her master, but his obvious selfishness infuriated Bo. Yes, it seemed Bo had been right; Mr. Brown was still haunting her, except now he was thin, rich, and Italian.
She must have made some noise to alert Damiano, because he suddenly turned around. Pressing myself against the wall, she held her breath and waited. The person on the phone seemed to ask what was wrong because Damiano replied, "Never mind. The rest of the formalities will be for you to deal with. No, it'll be easy. Please, he's only a child." Bo heard the click of the phone and ran as quickly as she could to the end of the hallway.
Once Bo was certain she was too far away for Damiano to suspect she had been listening, the black-haired woman turned and began walking down the hallway once more. Mr. Damiano had a strange expression on his face and he was looking around nervously. "Good evening, Mr. Damiano," she called out and fought back a smirk as he jumped at the sound of Bo's voice.
Realizing that it was only her, Damiano visibly relaxed and shot her a grin. "Miss Isabo," he said cheerfully. "What a lovely surprise."
"The young master asked me to see how you were faring," Bo lied easily. "He feared you might have gotten lost."
"How thoughtful of him." Damiano sounded irritated and Bo had to hide her smirk once more as he clenched his jaw and continued walking. "This manor is quite large, I must admit. An estate truly worthy of the Phantomhive name!" This time it was Bo's turn to grit her teeth. Keep singing my master's praises, you filthy traitor. I'll see to it you sing a very different tune by the end of the night.
Instead of voicing her thoughts, Bo merely forced a kind smile as they moved up the stairs and replied, "Yes, indeed. It's almost too much for a mere five servants, but we make do." Mr. Damiano, however, wasn't listening. When Bo turned around to face the older man, he was staring at the portrait of Ciel's parents that Sebastian had been ordered to take down. "Is something wrong, Mr. Damiano?"
"Impossible," he muttered to himself, ignoring the black-haired woman. "I'm seeing things."
Bo raised an eyebrow and called a little louder, "Mr. Damiano?" The brown-haired man jumped guiltily and looked at her. "Are you alright?"
The Italian swallowed thickly and nodded as he made his way up the stairs. "Quite alright," he replied, but Bo could tell he was lying. "Merely feeling a bit tired. I'm not used to traveling such long distances, I'm afraid." Bo narrowed her eyes but remained silent as Mr. Damiano continued, "May I use the restroom?"
Bo nodded. "It's right upstairs, shall I accompany you?"
"No!" Mr. Damiano's outburst earned a raised eyebrow from the woman. Realizing his mistake, Damiano quickly collected himself and added, "I mean, I wouldn't want to put you out of your way. I shall go myself." Bo nodded and gave him directions to the bathroom, smirking as the brown-haired man rushed upstairs.
Suddenly, a familiar voice squealed from behind Bo. "Ugh! How embarrassing!" Bo turned to see Mey-Rin's familiar red hair at the bottom of the stairs holding a pail of water.
"Hello, Mey-Rin," Bo greeted as she moved down the stairs to meet her friend. "How did dinner go?"
Apparently, this was the wrong question to ask, because Mey-Rin clutched the handle of her pail even tighter. "Oh, I really messed up this time!" she exclaimed. Suddenly, Mey-Rin's eyes widened and her expression grew excited. "But at least I was able to get close to Sebastian!"
Bo giggled. "Mey-Rin, I'm astonished by you," she joked. "You've never been so forward before."
"Oh, what a shameful day!" Mey-Rin declared, suddenly ashamed by her own reaction. "What kind of lecherous maid am I?!" Bo chuckled at her friend's change in mood. Mey-Rin often acted this way after making a mistake in front of guest: first embarrassment at her foolishness, then adoration for Sebastian, then shame at her own attraction to the butler.
Bo never understood why Mey-Rin was enamored with him, but before she could ask, a loud crash erupted behind the two women. Both Bo and Mey-Rin turned to see Mr. Damiano lying on the staircase, his leg bent at an unnatural angle.
"A-Are you all right?!" Mey-Rin exclaimed. She tried to rush over to the Italian, but Bo held her back. "But his... His leg is twisted the wrong way, yes!" The redhead tried to protest, but a warning look and a shake of the brunette's head immediately silenced the other maid.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Baldroy's voice questioned as he and Finny entered carrying the Phantomhive family portrait.
"O-Our guest...!" Mey-Rin trailed off and looked at Bo, uncertain of what to say.
But the dark-haired maid was no longer listening. She was watching Mr. Damiano, who had begun crawling towards the servants' quarters. Without glancing back at the other servants, she said, "Sebastian and I shall handle Mr. Damiano's injury. You three continue with your tasks." Suddenly, it was as though a flip had switched in the servants; Bo only called Sebastian by his first name when matters of the Queen's Guard Dog were involved. None of them dared to question Bo as she followed Mr. Damiano down the hallway.
Mr. Damiano crawled through the halls as Bo followed him, her stride leisurely. "Surely you aren't leaving the manor yet, sir?" she called out almost mockingly. "We haven't given you the full Phantomhive treatment yet." Damiano turned to look at the dark-haired women, his expression frantic. The maid watched in unison as he bumped into the leg of an all-too familiar butler.
"Quite right, Miss Isabo," agreed Sebastian with a smirk. He looked down at Damiano with amusement in his burgundy eyes. "We still have to serve dessert." Damiano's blue eyes widened in horror. He turned and fled, crawling past Bo as quickly as he could.
Bo smirked as Sebastian joined her in giving chase. "You've lost a leg, remember?" she called out teasingly. "Now you can only move half the number of spaces, so why not just relax a bit and make yourself at home?" Mr. Damiano ignored her and turned into one of the rooms, the only one left unlocked.
The servants shared a knowing smirk before following Damiano. Everything had gone according to plan, as usual. The room was dark, but Bo knew it well enough to not need light. Damiano seemed to have disappeared but a thud from the nearby wall alerted her to his presence. Bo smirked once more. "What an impatient guest we have," she said, bending down to peek into the small window inside. "You couldn't even restrain yourself until dessert was out of the oven."
Damiano's eyes widened in realization as Sebastian lit the oven, the flames now illuminating the servants' faces in a wicked way. "The oven?!" Open up! Please, open the door!" He tried to push at the door but it was futile; Sebastian had already locked it.
"Perhaps the Italians aren't familiar with our customs," commented Sebastian nonchalantly. He began ticking off the list with his fingers as Damiano struggled inside. "There's plum pudding, mincemeat pie. There are many traditional desserts here in England that make use of meat."
Bo straightened and nodded playfully at the butler ignoring Damiano's screams. "I find them all quite tasty." She glanced down at the oven once more before turning back to Sebastian, her expression serious again. "I trust you can handle Mr. Damiano's return home on your own?" Sebastian nodded, his burgundy eyes amused – at what, though, Bo had no idea. Deciding to ignore it, she continued, "I'll go check on the young master then." Another silent nod signaled Bo's cue to leave, which is exactly what she did.
As she made her way out the service entrance, Bo grabbed two slices of pie and plated them. Just as Bo expected, Finny and Baldroy were standing in the furnace room, burning the old portrait. "What was that?" asked the blond man when he saw the black-haired woman walk upstairs. "Someone screamed."
The maid shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't know," she replied. Baldroy narrowed his eyes but didn't dare question her further. Of all the Phantomhive servants, Baldroy was the one she was least close to. Bo suspected that was because he had a difficult time trusting people, and she wasn't very easy to trust either way.
Even so, his distrust made him one of the easiest people in the manor to read. "By the way," she added with a smile. "Thank you for your hard work today. As a reward, how would you like some lemon meringue pie? The sugar will give you energy."
"Pie for us, Miss Isabo?!" exclaimed both men as if on cue. They raced over to the young woman and hugged her happily, all prior concerns forgotten. "You're such a nice person!"
Bo sighed and smiled at the men. "Alright, alright... That's enough. And I told you both to call me Bo!" she scolded playfully as she pushed them off. Both men thanked her once more and sat down to eat their treats. Just as Bo was about to leave she paused and added, "Oh yes... and Bard?" When he looked up, she continued, "A workman will be coming by in the morning. When he arrives, kindly let him know we'll be needing our oven thoroughly cleaned."
"Huh?" Baldroy looked confused. "The oven?" The maid merely shot him a conspiratorial wink and descended the stairs. Mr. Damiano... I hope you enjoyed your stay and the Phantomhive family hospitality... all the way down to your bones...
Bo made her way back through the servants quarters with a wide smirk. Just as she passed through the main foyer, she noticed Sebastian standing in the center smiling to himself. "Mr. Michaelis?" she called out. The butler turned around as if he'd been expecting her.
"Yes, Miss Isabo?" he asked, his usual amused grin in place.
The maid fought back her usual irritated glare and forced herself to smile at him. "I just wanted to thank you... for warning me about Mr. Damiano, I mean," she added in a rush.
Sebastian seemed to be surprised by her words for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "It was nothing, really," he replied, his smile genuine this time. "I doubt you would have needed the warning in any case."
"Even so," Bo continued, gritting her teeth. Here came the hard part. "You were looking out for me and I... I treated you harshly. I apologize for my rudeness. Again."
Sebastian nodded. "Think nothing of it," he said simply. The pair stood there for a long, awkward moment. Finally, Bo could no longer take the situation and excused herself, rushing back to her room. "Miss Isabo?" called out the butler, causing her to pause and turn questioningly. "That's two favors you owe me now." Bo fought back a cringe and nodded before turning back down the hall. Sebastian Michaelis continued to remain an enigma in Bo's eyes, but little did she know just how much of a puzzle Isabo Stuart was in his.