This was not right! Somehow, Jane's dress fitting had been rescheduled into the morning! Calliope started to beat herself mentally, how could she have only just known! It was her job, as maid to the Princess, to keep her schedule on track, yet, this was so unexpected that not even Calliope knew how to address it as there, scrawled in little red letters, with, a 'convenient' arrow directed towards it, was the rescheduling of Jane's dress fitting. Calliope started to panic a bit, it wasn't just the mistress' schedule that had been put at risk, but her own, all the chores she was getting done in the morning, now had to be postponed until after the fitting, oh! What more could go wrong that day? And it wasn't even 11am!
Calliope dusted her dress and fiddled with the lace on her maid's outfit. Currently, she was standing outside Jane's room, about to tell her the unexpected news. She knocked quietly and politely, "Who is it?" Jane responded in her sweet voice. Calliope loved it, she knew that Jane was known for her sweet cakes and smiles, but her voice was the sweetest of all of them, it filled Calliope with determination.
"It's Calliope, ma' lady, your maid?" Calliope replied, hoping that she would take the news in a relatively good manner. After no reply sounded, she entered quietly and Jane beckoned her in.
Jane was already dressed for the day; she had chosen one of her longer dresses, although it still had a certain weightlessness to it, just as all her dresses seemed to have. Her hair was neatly parted and she had long, elegant tights with golden heels. Usually, Jane was slightly shorter than Calliope, but with the heels on, it made her a few inches taller. "I'm awfully sorry to be of bother, ma' lady, but it seems that your dress fitting has been rescheduled," Calliope waited briefly for the information to sink in, walking over to rearrange the closet; she loved the furniture in Jane's room, it was so tasteful. "The rescheduled appointment is in half an hours' time," Calliope continued, worried about the lack of communication between them. This didn't normally happen, usually Jane was a bubbly, talkative person.
In actual fact, Jane didn't feel like taking to anyone at that precise moment, she was uncomfortable, the dress she was wearing was tight and restraining, and not something she was used to in dresses she picked herself. As much as she liked Calliope, and her optimistic voice made her feel better, Jane still couldn't shake the unease she had, especially as winter had arrived.
Calliope shifted uncomfortably, "We should head off now," She announced, closing the cupboards that she had only rifled through to make herself look busy. Jane stood and followed Calliope out the door and into the corridor. She felt bad for Jane, she seemed really uncomfortable, Calliope believed this to be partly because of the dress but not all of it was to do with that, "Sleep well, Miss Crocker?" She asked as they walked. No response, instead, they just walked silently along the corridors together. Now, she didn't mind really, any time in Jane's company made her smile, despite the rather awkward circumstances.
As they reached the seamstress', Calliope knocked on the door, to which there was no answer. "What's with everyone today?" She pondered, Calliope knew that today was the first day of a long winter, but it didn't mean that everyone needed to ignore her. She knocked again; it seemed very peculiar that after going to the trouble of rescheduling, the seamstress would still be asleep. She pushed open the door apologetically, she didn't like storming in on people, but here was an impatient royal who had a schedule to keep. Calliope peeked in, the whole room was deserted.
Jane tapped her foot impatiently. What was taking everyone so long? It was a dress! She was very sure that in the last month, her measurements hadn't changed. They could've just used the same ones from then. "Look Calliope, thank you for trying to keep me on track but, I think it would be best if you leave my own schedule to me, just for today," Jane huffed to herself. Calliope curtsied at her and nodded. "Thank you, and now, you are dismissed," with that, Jane turned on her heels and headed off in the direction of her room.
Calliope couldn't help but feel like she'd disappointed Jane.
Jane felt bad about turning around and leaving Calliope but she'd really had enough of the waiting around. She was always waiting around! She also trusted Calliope to deal with the seamstress appropriately when she did turn up. The heel s she wore were starting to blister her feel, and as she walked, her feet began to ache. Halfway to her room, Jane kicked off the shoes in disgust. She would get them back eventually, continuing on in only her tights.