Author's note: OH MY GOD. I AM SO SORRY FOR MAKING YOU GUYS WAIT SO LONG. I kept putting off posting this chapter because for some reason I kept seeing problems with it but I can't keep you guys waiting in suspense forever so here it is! Chapter 5! It's pathetically short...I'm sorry. OTL I hope you like it anyway?
My Maid's A Man
Chapter 5
Nearly four days later, Arthur still hadn't left his room. The other maids were beginning to seriously worry for him. Eventually, he stumbled down the stairs, looking worse than any of them had ever seen him. His eyes were bloodshot, his shirt was a mess, and he wasn't wearing any pants.
"Sir?" one of the maids mumbled. "Sir, are you all right?"
He turned to look at her, squinting. "I'm fine, don't I look it?" he replied.
"U-Um…"
"Oh for heaven's sake, young master," Martha snarled. "You've been like this ever since you ordered Francine to leave! If you miss her so much, go get her back!"
"Name's Francis," he groaned, sitting down at the table. "And I don't even know where he is now…"
"Well then ask around! There's no good in just moping about the house, is there?"
Arthur blinked his tired eyes at her. "And what'll I say if I find him?"
"What you planned to say four nights ago, of course!"
"But that's when I thought he was a girl," he whined.
"So? Have your feelings changed because you suddenly realized Francine wasn't the gender you thought?" Martha forced him to stand up. "Now clean yourself up, sir, and go out there and bring Francine back."
Arthur wobbled on his feet for a moment. "I must be utterly mad to listen to you," he muttered, turning on his heel to walk back up the stairs towards his bathroom. He showered and dressed, making a face at himself in the mirror. "I feel foolish," he said once he was back in the kitchen with the other maids.
"You look handsome," Martha said with a smile. "Now don't say anything stupid when you find him."
"Right, right." Arthur walked out of the mansion only to stop a few steps and groan loudly. Where the fuck do I even start looking?
Francis wanted to say he was lucky to be able to get a job as a waiter/bartender at the local pub but he didn't feel very lucky. The pay was mediocre compared to what he'd been making at the Kirkland household and the patrons were horribly crude men who tried to hit on him repeatedly. He was starting to miss Arthur already.
"Francis, table seven needs their drinks!" his boss shouted.
"Coming right up, monsieur," he mumbled. The door flung open suddenly and a figure stood in the doorway in regal clothes and Francis stared at him a few moments before feeling his jaw drop.
"Excuse me," Arthur said loudly. "I'm looking for someone."
"Are you, my lord?" Francis' boss asked with a grin. "In this part of town?"
"It's the last place I haven't checked. I'm looking for a man who is as pretty as a woman who goes by the name of Francis. Have you seen him, my good man?"
Francis wanted to murder his boss as soon as the crooked old man pointed in his direction. Arthur's face brightened up immediately. "Francis!" he called. Francis scowled.
"Yes?" he sneered.
"It's me, Arthur!"
"I know who you are."
"Good! So come back with me!"
"In case you have not realized, my lord, I am now employed here."
"So quit and come back to work for me!"
"Non."
Arthur furrowed his eyebrows. "Now wait just one moment. I search all over the bloody city for you and when I finally find you, you refuse to come back with me?"
"Yes, that is about right. Would you leave now, sir? You are bothering the customers." Which was a lie. He was mostly just bothering Francis.
"Francis, I order you to come back this instant!" He smirked, thinking that with a simple order, Francis would oblige.
"I'm sorry, I believe you fired me, if memory serves me right." Francis smiled cruelly as Arthur sputtered to think of something else to say.
"W-Well then I want a drink!" he cried, pounding the bar table. "I won't leave until you give me a drink."
Francis rolled his eyes. "Still drinking I see."
Arthur sat himself down at the bar, glaring angrily at the Frenchman currently preparing his beverage. "I have to say, I liked you better in the dress," the Brit sneered suddenly.
Francis whirled around, hating him in an instant. "Hold your tongue, sir, if you wish to keep it."
"Is that a threat? Are you threatening me?" Arthur was taunting him, trying to make him do something that would make his boss fire him. Oh how he despised the spoiled Englishman right then and there.
He shoved the drink towards Arthur, watching as he chugged it down greedily. "Mm, not bad," he said. "I want another."
"But you said—"
"I'll tip nicely," he chuckled. An hour later, Arthur was falling over the table, completely drunk. Francis' boss, while laughing, told him to take the man home. Despite his protests, he ended up dragging Arthur back towards the mansion.
"Just once I would like to live life without you around," he hissed. "I am sick of your attitude and—"
"Oi," Arthur grumbled.
"What?" he snapped.
A lazy smile spread across Arthur's face. "You're carrying me home. Does that mean you're coming back?"
"No. It means you are too drunk to return home yourself and that I am not so horrible as to leave you for the dogs. Now shut up."
As soon as they entered the mansion, the maids surrounded them but Francis pushed past them and dragged the other man up the stairs towards his bedroom. He tossed Arthur onto the bed and turned to leave, when he heard, "Wait."
He sighed and turned around. Arthur smiled up at him weakly. "What do you want now?" he growled.
"I'm sorry," Arthur mumbled. "I was a right bastard, I know."
"I am not coming back just because you said sorry."
"I know that." Arthur turned on his side. "The mansion's been so lonely without you."
"You have the other maids."
"It's not the same."
Francis frowned and sat on the edge of the bed. "You are the one who told me to leave and never come back."
Arthur was silent, then he whispered, "I know."
"What made you change your mind?"
"I love you," he said and Francis felt his eyes widen. "I know that means nothing to you now, so I hoped I could change myself so that you could love me back someday."
"I'm not a woman."
"I know you're not. I don't care what you are, I'd love you anyway."
Francis' heart was pounding in his chest. "W-Well are you going to sleep or not?"
"Will you be here when I wake up?"
"No."
"Then I won't go to sleep."
"Arthur," he hissed and Arthur laughed. "What is so funny?"
"That's the first time you've ever called me by my name," he said smiling.
"Yes, well…good night." He stood up and was almost out the door again when Arthur called him back.
"I swear to you, Francis. I will become a man you can love."
Francis raised his eyebrows. "What confidence you have."
"I'll see you tomorrow."
Francis was out the door, leaving Arthur alone. Again.