"Are you sure that you want to go all the way to London?" Hailey asked looking at me.
"For the millionth time…YES!" I laughed as I stood outside security.
She sighed, "Alright fine but I expect you to call and write as much as you can understand?"
I nodded, "Of course but remember the fact that there is a time difference okay?"
"Okay. I'm going to miss you!' she said throwing her arms around me.
"Me too." I smiled and hugged her back.
"Love you girly." she smiled as she pulled away.
"Love you too. Take care of my baby." I said handing her the keys to my Bug.
"Will do. Have fun!" she said and headed out.
I sighed as I watch her disappear into the crowd before heading through security.
After being thoroughly searched I found the terminal my plane would leave from and settled down.
It seemed nearly surreal that in nine hours I would be in London, England. My Great-Grandmother Abigail had been born in London and raised there until she was 16. After that she moved to the States where she met my Great-Grandfather Albert. I had never been but my Father had always talked about the two of us going one day. When he died though I'd given up on going.
The phone call to Sebastian Michaelis had been short. He had gone through a list of questions which I'd apparently answered with satisfaction because a week later I'd gotten a letter made of some sort of heavy paper with a hand written letter inside and a wax seal on the outside saying that I had been hired.
Two weeks later I had a first class plane ticket waiting at the airport with my name on it. Now here I sat waiting for my plane to board.
I was eager to get going. I knew this job wasn't going to be easy but on my days off I would be able to research my family and see if I could figure anything out about what had happened. I needed answers and in my gut I knew that London would be where I would find them.
"Flight #146 to London is now boarding." a cool voice said and I grabbed my carry on and ticket and headed for the breezeway.
The flight to London was long. I slept a good part of the way and when I wasn't sleeping I was thumbing through the 7th Harry Potter book. Finally though we landed.
A nervous chill went up my spine as I grabbed my carry-on and shuffled off with the rest of the people on the flight. When I walked off the breezeway I looked around. I had been told in the letter that someone would be waiting for me.
After a few minutes of scanning the crowd I saw a guy about my age holding a sign with my name written on the front. He had short strawberry blonde hair and large blue green eyes. Smiling I adjusted my bag and headed over.
"Hi, I'm Charlotte." I smiled.
"I'm Alfie, welcome to London." he smiled.
"Thanks." I smiled back.
"Alright lets go get your bags and then we'll head up to the Estate." he said.
Together Alfie and I collected the trunk that contained a few choice belongings that I hadn't left in Hailey's care before grabbing the 2 large suitcases that contained my clothes. Once we had them on the luggage cart we headed out to the drop off section of the terminal. It was mostly empty save for a shiny black car.
Leaning against the black car was a guy with blonde hair and blue eyes, a cigarette hanging from his lips.
"Is this her then?" he asked pulling the cigarette from his lips and stubbing it out under the toe of his boot.
"Yes I'm Charlotte." I said putting my hand out.
He took it and smiled at me, "My name's Cade. I'm the cook up at Phantomhive Manor."
"How big is this place?" I asked.
"You don't know?" Alfie asked as he and Cade hauled my trunk into the back.
"Know what?" I asked as I adjusted the strap of my backpack on my shoulder.
"You really mean that Sebastian didn't tell you? Master Ciel is an Earl!" Cade replied.
"An Earl? As in Nobility?" I asked looking at them.
They both nodded and I ran my hands through my hair. I was working for a freaking Earl! How did I get myself into this?
"Don't worry Charlotte, you'll do just fine." Alfie said putting his hand on my shoulder, obviously realizing my distress.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Of course he is! The two of us and Millie mess up all the time and Master Ciel has yet to fire us!" Cade replied.
"Who's Millie?" I asked.
"She's the other maid. She's really nice." Alfie replied.
"You'll meet her when we get to the Estate. C'mon then in the car now both of you. Sebastian won't appreciate it if we're late." Cade said glancing at his watch.
I climbed into the back while Alfie got up front with Cade behind the wheel. We left the airport behind and I watched out the window as we drove through the city. Everything was lit up and I recognized a lot of the landmarks from things we'd studied in school; Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace…it was all so amazing.
"This is your first time in London right?" Cade asked glancing at me in the rearview mirror.
"First time out of the States period." I replied with a smile.
"So what are Master Phantomhive and Sebastian like?" I asked.
"Master Phantomhive is a pretty okay boss. He's not too strict on things as long as we don't completely destroy the house. As for Sebastian he's the one that keeps everything running smooth. He's Master Phantomhive's butler and attends to his needs." Alfie said.
"He's a little stiff but he's not a bad guy." Cade added.
"What do you do at the Manor?" I asked leaning forward to talk to Alfie.
"I take care of the grounds. It's a big task but it's nothing I'm not up for." Alfie smiled.
"And Millie is the other maid right?" I asked and Cade nodded.
"You two will probably get on well. Like I said earlier she's a sweet girl and you don't seem so bad yourself." Cade replied.
"So Charlotte why did you decide to come all the way to London?" Alfie asked.
"Just needed a change." I said sitting back.
Not long after we pulled through a large gate and made our way down a road surrounded by trees. Soon from the end of the street Phantomhive Manor rose. It was huge.
Cade pulled up in the front and I got out.
"Pretty massive eh?" Cade smirked as he and Alfie began to pull my things out of the back.
"Massive seems to fit it." I nodded.
The front doors opened suddenly and from inside a man in a black suit appeared. He walked out of the door and approached us.
"You two take those things to the Help's Quarters." he instructed before turning towards me.
"You must be Charlotte Chancely. My name is Sebastian Michaelis, Butler of Phantomhive Manor." Sebastian said with a small bow.
"Nice to meet you." I smiled.
"Follow me and I'll give you a brief tour of the estate. Tomorrow we'll go over everything and you will meet Master Phantomhive." Sebastian said.
I nodded and he motioned me to follow him. He led me into the house and for the first time I got a proper look at him. The moment I did my breath caught in my throat.
The hair, the small smile on his face, the height he reminded me so much of my Dad. I was stunned.
"Something wrong Charlotte?" Sebastian asked.
I shook myself, "No…sorry…it was a long flight." I replied.
He smiled, "Of course. Perhaps we'll postpone the tour until tomorrow then. I'll show you to your room. You'll be sharing with Millie."
He lead me through the house past beautiful works of art and all sorts of beautiful things I'd never seen the likes of. There were also twists and turns of all sorts. I didn't know how I'd follow it all.
Finally he stopped in front of a door.
"This will be your room. You will find three sets of uniforms waiting for you. Millie will fill you in on your duties. Tomorrow I will collect you and give you the full tour as well as introducing you to My Lord. I bid you goodnight." Sebastian said and with another small bow he left.
I waited until he disappeared before turning the door knob. On the other side was fairly large with two full beds and matching dressers against opposite walls. At the foot of one bed was my trunk and bags with a neat stack of uniforms resting beside a pair flats. On the other bed sat a girl with red hair and glasses. When I opened the door she looked up.
"You must be Charlotte! Welcome to Phantomhive Manor!" she smiled jumping up.
"Thank you." I smiled back.
"My name is Millicent but everyone calls me Millie so you can too!" she smiled.
"Nice to meet you." I smiled.
"You must be tired after your long flight. Here let met take that bag from you." she said and took my book bag from my shoulder and sat it down on a chair in the corner of the room.
"Thank you. That flight was tiring as strange as it sounds." I sighed as I sat down.
"Wow. Good thing you're tired you'll get used to the time difference quicker yes you will." she said as she sat back down on her bed.
"I hope so. My friend Hailey was asking me about the difference on the drive to the airport. I like my sleep." I replied as I discarded my coat.
"In that case I'll remember to keep it down on your days off." Millie said.
"Thank you." I smiled and opened my trunk and began to pull things out.
"Oh! Is that your friend Hailey?" Millie asked as I put a few photos onto the top of my dresser.
"Yeah. We've known each other since we were in Elementary school." I replied looking at the photo of Hailey and I taken at the Disney Grad Night trip.
"You two look like the best of mates. And who are they? Your mother and father?" Millie asked pointing to the next photo.
I nodded, "Mhmm. Cleo and Grant Chancely."
"Your Father…he looks…" Millie said looking at the photo.
I looked at her. Had she seen how much he resembled Sebastian?
"…he looks a lot like you." she said.
So she hadn't?
"Yeah. I used to want to be just like him when I was little." I replied.
"Are they still back in the States?" she asked.
I shook my head, "No. My Dad died when I was 6 and my Mom…well…she passed a few weeks ago."
"Oh I'm so sorry! I knew I shouldn't have said anything! I just had to open my big old mouth though." she said.
"It's okay. You didn't know." I replied.
"Well we should probably get to bed. It's getting awful late and we both have to be up early." Millie said.
"Right. It is pretty late." I said looking at the clock next to Millie's bed.
"The bathroom is just through that door." Millie replied.
"Thanks." I replied and fished a pair of pajamas from one of my suitcases along with my bag of toiletries before heading to the bathroom.
I changed out of my regular clothes and into a pair of black pajama pants and a pink t-shirt and went through my nightly routine before heading back into the bedroom. Millie was already under her covers with the lamp that sat on the beside table off.
I turned back the simple blue covers before crawling underneath. The mattress was actually quite soft and comfortable which was nice. I switched off the light and pulled the covers up over me.
"Goodnight Charlotte." Millie said from the other side of the room.
"Night Millie." I replied and a few moments later I heard her soft breathing.
I had slept on the plane and since it was midnight here it would've been somewhere around 7 back home. However something about this place relaxed me and before I knew it I slipped into sleep.
And Sebastian has made his first appearance!
I know that some of you were probably expecting a little more from Sebastian and a chance to see Ciel but that is in the next chapter my wonderful readers. I'm going to keep this author's note short and sweet because I'm writing like a madwoman right now on this story so expect a new chapter up very soon ;)
Now for the customary thank yous:
-SebastianStalker
-Light Umbreon
-Paxloria
-irgroomer
-Lolita Duluth
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Thanks for reading!