"Charlotte I would like a word with you if you please?"
I turned from where I was replacing Master Phantomhive's breakfast dishes to see Sebastian standing in the kitchen door.
"More questions?" I asked looking at him.
"No nothing like that. I require a favor of you." he replied.
"A favor? What kind?" I said as I put the last plate away and turned towards him.
"I have some very important errands to run for the Master and I'm afraid that they will take the full day. I am asking you to attend to the Master in my stead." Sebastian said.
"You want me to wait on Master Phantomhive? Why me? The others have been here longer. Wouldn't they be more suited?" I asked.
"In your time here you have proved to be far more capable than the rest." Sebastian replied.
I knew his comment was little harsh but I couldn't deny it. I couldn't count the number of times I'd had to pitch in to fix something one of the other three messed up and I had only worked here for 2 weeks!
"I'd be happy to attend to Master Phantomhive." I replied.
"Very well. The Young Master rises in an hour. You will need to bring him tea. I believe I have everything here that you will need to make a suitable lunch and a snack if he should get hungry. I should be back in time to prepare dinner. Also this is his schedule for the day. Please see that he keeps to it." Sebastian replied and handed me a sheet of paper which I took.
"Yes Sebastian." I nodded.
"And Charlotte there is no need for me to go over the responsibilities you have as a Phantomhive House Maid am I right?" he asked.
"No Sebastian." I said.
"Very good. I'll be off then." he said and with a nod he was gone.
"Guess I should get started." I muttered to myself as I began to gather everything ready for Master Phantomhive's breakfast.
By the time I finished up the chores that I had to do and prepared Master Phantomhive's tea it was time to bring it to him. I loaded the tea tray and began my way upstairs.
"Master Phantomhive?" I asked knocking carefully on his door.
"Come in." Master Phantomhive called from behind the door.
I opened it and pushed the tea cart into the room. Master Phantomhive sat on the edge of his bed and it slightly shocked me. Ever time I had ever seen him he was in a crisp suit and tie looking perfect. Now he sat in front of me with rumpled hair, dressed in a pair of black silk pajamas.
"Good morning Master Phantomhive. This morning I've prepared a classic Earl Gray tea for you." I smiled.
"Very well." he replied.
I nodded and poured him a cup before passing it to him. He picked up the cup and took a sip.
"Hmm…it appears that Sebastian is no longer the only one in this house capable cup of tea." Master Phantomhive said looking at the tea.
"Thank you Master Phantomhive." I replied.
"What is on the schedule today?" he asked.
"Most of the morning is free. You have a conference call with a Mr. Edgar Winters from New York at 11 followed by lunch. Your decision on the wrapping for the newest sweets is due by 2 and then the rest of your day is free." I said.
"Very well. Leave me to get dressed." Master Phantomhive said and I made my way out of his room, closing the door behind me.
Master Phantomhive had papers to attend to so while he was working so did I. With Millie off I was on my own so I did everything I needed to as fast as I could while keeping an eye on the clock.
For lunch I made a Steak and Kidney pie which he seemed to enjoy before ducking into the library where Millie was working.
"Oh Charlotte I was hoping you'd stop by! Alfie and I may have found something." Millie said when I walked in.
"What did you find?" I asked.
"We managed to trace back your family to the Victorian age!" Alfie grinned.
"Really? That far? Wow you two work fast." I said.
He nodded, "Your Great-Great-Great Grandmother was named Ester Alcorn."
"Ester huh?" I asked.
"And she was adopted." Millie added.
I looked at her, "Adopted? How did you find that?"
"We found the adoption records. There aren't any names for her birth parents though." Millie replied.
"Damn." I cursed.
"We'll keep working though. This is fun! It makes me feel like a regular Sherlock Holmes!" Alfie grinned.
"Alright. Thanks guys. I should get back to Master Phantomhive. I'll see you later." I replied and headed for the study.
"Master Phantomhive?" I asked poking my head into the study.
"What is it Charlotte?" he asked not looking up from where he was frowning at a set of papers.
"I was wondering if there was anything you need?" I asked.
"Not at the moment." he said.
"Very well." I nodded and turned to leave.
"Wait! Charlotte!" he called.
"Yes sir?" I asked.
"I would like your opinion on this. It's due in a matter of a minutes and I cannot choose." he replied.
I walked over to the table and saw two papers with drawings of candies. One was plain white with the Funtom logo in the center of a ribbon that ran around the candy. The second was bright blue with white swirls and the Funtom logo in the center.
"Which do you like better?" he asked.
I looked that them for a few moments before frowning.
"Honestly? I don't like either." I replied.
"Neither?" he asked.
"Yeah." I nodded.
He sighed, "I was afraid of that."
"Well…" I said looking at them again.
"What?" he asked.
"Well what if you combined them? I mean this one is too plain and the other…well I don't like the white swirls. What if you made the white ones black and added the black band from this one?" I said.
"That could work." he nodded looking at them.
"It was just a suggestion. You don't have to take it." I replied.
"No…I think that would look better. Thank you Charlotte." he said.
"Well if I couldn't be of help what kind of maid would I be?" I smiled.
Master Phantomhive looked at me for a moment before turning back to his work.
"Would you like a snack?" I asked.
"Yes." he replied.
"Right. I'll be back momentarily." I replied.
I returned a short time later with a couple of small berry tarts that Sebastian had left in the fridge and that I had topped with a small dab of whipped cream on each. I had also prepared anise tea to go with it.
"Here you go Master Phantomhive." I said and placed the cup and plate in front of him before leaving.
"Charlotte?" Master Phantomhive asked as I turned.
"Yes sir?" I asked.
"Do you play chess?"
"Chess?" I asked.
"Yes do you play or not?"
I nodded, "Yes. Not well but I know what I'm doing."
"Very well. Take this and set up the chess set in the games room. I'm bored." he said.
"Yes sir." I nodded.
A few minutes later Master Phantomhive walked in and took a seat.
"Are you going to sit down or not?" he asked gesturing to the other side of the games table.
"You want to play with me?" I asked.
"If I didn't I wouldn't have asked if you play would I?" he said.
"Oh. I guess not." I replied and sat down across from him.
"Would you like a tart?" he asked.
"No thank you." I replied.
"Very well. It's your move." he said.
The two of us began to play chess. I was decent at chess but Master Phantomhive was better. In no time he had won.
"You're very good Master Phantomhive." I said.
"You're quite good yourself Charlotte." Master Phantomhive replied.
"Thank you." I smiled, my face heating up.
Suddenly the door of the Games Room opened and Sebastian came walking in.
"Ah here you are Young Master." he said.
"Did you complete everything that needed to be done?" Master Phantomhive asked.
"My apologies Young Master but there were a few things that could not be accomplished." Sebastian replied, his eyes cutting to me.
Master Phantomhive sighed, "Very well. Charlotte you are dismissed to the rest of you duties."
"Yes Master Phantomhive." I said and gathered the dishes before I headed out of the Games Room.
As I walked out thought I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The tones the two of them had used had seemed a little odd and there was the fact that Sebastian had looked at me. They were talking about me in that room I just knew it. I was tempted to listen in but I wasn't the best at sneaking. I'd be caught before I could hear anything at all.
With a sigh I headed for the kitchen to start on the dishes from Master Phantomhive's snack.
Kind of a filler chapter...
Kinda not...
Charlotte did get a little closer to Ciel though...
Hmm...