Kitchen Gossip

"No, I've never seen him. Nor do I want to. I would much rather just do my job and then go home." Alice looked at her fellow maid disapprovingly. "Why do you ask?"

Heather had a dreamy look on her face and she twirled round, her skirts spinning out around her. She hugged herself as she did so and sighed. Once she had stopped she grabbed Alice's shoulders and looked her straight in her emerald green eyes. "I saw him last week," she said in a hushed tone.

Alice sighed. She had only been working here a month but she knew what this would mean. "Well? When are you to do it?"

Heather giggled. "To-mo-rrow!" she said, gleefully. "So don't be lonely without me!" she added in a sing-song voice as an afterthought.

Alice nodded, not really caring. She really hated working here with these people. They were such gossips. And they never stopped talking about their precious "Young Master".

She glanced at the giggling girls around her. Some of them were in charge of taking his meals to him. Others would be serving him wine. She hated all of their reactions. They always came back down to the kitchen, swooning.

Exactly a month ago, Alice had come to Bonneville Manor without a clue how to do any of the jobs necessary for a maid. She was lucky she was such a fast learner. Her duties were mainly cleaning but, she had been told, if there was a party, her duties would extend to serving the guests. One thing she had been quick to learn was that the Young Master was – supposedly – devilishly handsome, flawlessly charming and quite the womaniser.

In other words, the sort of man she hated.

His parents, on the other hand, were clever and skilled, unlike him who had been handed everything on a plate. Again, this irked her. But what irked her more was that his parents' business required them to be away travelling. And so, the Young Master was left in charge of the house and the servants. Which basically meant he could fire people for not going along with his whims.

And it pissed her off.

Luckily, she was a hard worker and took on the worst jobs to deliberately stay out of his way. For the rumours were awful, too.

It was said that, if he spotted any maid he hadn't seen before, he would flirt with them. Then, after a couple of days doing so, he would request her to be his "personal maid". This would turn into any number of heinous acts, all while he told them he loved them.

And so, Heather was his next victim. And Alice had nothing she could do to stop it. Even if she did, she was sure to be painted as the bad guy in all of it. She sighed and gathered her things for the day's work.

The next day, Alice had just finished cleaning a sitting room that the Young Master was going to be using later that night when she heard the door open. She turned to see an ecstatic Heather standing in the doorway.

"Heather?" she said, puzzled. "Aren't you supposed to be with-?"

"Alice!" exclaimed Heather. "You will not believe what's going to be happening on Saturday!"

"Um, it's a full moon?" asked Alice, very confused.

"The Young Master is having a ball! We'll all have to serve the guests so you'll finally get to see him! His golden locks! His blue eyes which make you feel as though you're floating! His charming personality! His accent!" Heather shuddered with pleasure. Alice resisted the urge to gag.

"That's… That's great!" said Alice, trying to feign enthusiasm.

Bonneville Manor woke the next day to a thin layer of snow covering the entire estate. The fir trees lining the drive looked ready for Christmas. The fountain at the centre of the driveway had frozen in time, water hanging in icicles from the statue. Little clouds of fog drifted from the stables, the horses cowering inside for what little warmth they could get. The many flowers and bushes emerging from the snow appeared triumphant, bright against the snow with their reds and blues.

The mansion itself looked like something from a fairy tale with its turrets and the dashing of snow. It was reminiscent of a gingerbread house. Vines of roses climbed the walls, their bright buds giving the appearance of sweets stuck in the wall.

In short, it looked quite magical. Or it would if Alice hadn't been woken earlier than normal by her roommate.

Alice had woken in their dark room before her alarm had rung. Rolling over, she had checked the time to find it was 5am. The clockwork alarm would ring at 6am. Annoyed, she wondered what had awoken her until she heard the sound which had filtered through to her sleeping brain. A sigh.

Glancing over, Alice had seen Heather, brushing her long brown locks, using a candle to stare into the mirror and sighing. Sensing movement, Heather had turned around. "Ah, you're awake, Alice!" she had exclaimed. "Come help me, please – I need to look my best today!" Alice had groaned in response.

After much cajoling, Alice had finally risen to help Heather tease her hair into a complicated bun before helping with her make-up and her dress. Heather had picked out a "pretty" pale pink dress and was intent on wearing that instead of her uniform. Alice had sighed and tried to point out the frivolity of her actions but her friend had not listened.

After that, Alice had seen no point in trying to catch up on sleep and so had gotten herself ready as well. She wore her uniform – a traditional maid's uniform; thick, long and black with a white apron over it. Her black shoes were sensible, unlike Heather's fancy pink shoes. She wore no make-up – she wouldn't need it. As for her long, blonde hair, she tied it in her usual style: a pair of bunches. Or pigtails as she had heard them referred to. Her green eyes reflected the candlelight flickering in the mirror as she finally smoothed her dress down, ready for work.

It would also look magical, thought Alice, if one had not been forced to work at the party.

Upon arriving at the kitchen to be told her workload, she had discovered all the other maids in various fancy dresses and hairstyles chattering, the cook staring at them in disbelief. The main butler, Antonio, was also there, as was the head gardener, Gilbert. Gilbert was leaning back on the table, grinning at all the girls, winking at a few of them. The girls ignored him. Antonio, meanwhile, was looking at his watch before he looked up at them as they entered.

"¡Muy bien!" exclaimed Antonio. "Now that we are all here, I will allocate the duties of everyone for today. Several of you will have special duties due to the party and I will read out the names of those who will be attending it – in their uniforms, sí?" He glanced up at the girls wearing different dresses and flashed them an apologetic smile. A few of the girls giggled, turning to each other and whispering. "The following people will be serving the guests tonight," Antonio continued.

Alice zoned out, wondering exactly how much more work she would have to undertake because of the redistribution of her workmates. She tried to work out how many rooms she would have to clean while the guests were frolicking if there were only half of the usual amount of maids. Probably around…

"Alice!" exclaimed Heather. Alice blinked and glanced at her friend. "Didn't you hear Mr. Carriedo?"

"Ah, sorry?" said Alice, glancing at the butler.

"He said your name, silly! You and I are going to be serving guests at the party! It's going to be super fun!"

Alice nodded and tried to smile, a grimace appearing on her face instead. She would really rather not be a "chosen one"…

Ah, I forgot to add in an Author's Note. Whoops.

Anyway, not sure if I mentioned this anyway but this is set in a slightly alternate Victorian England. Kinda like Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler. Mainly for convenience sake, like with the alarm clock and what not.

The first thing Antonio says is "Alright!"

I don't think there's anything else I need to point except that the rating is so high because I wasn't sure if some of the things that happen later would be considered that, etc.