Entangled

Byron stayed quiet and out of the way in the aftermath of his dinner party, but Nellie didn't think he was doing it for his public image. He'd been so focused on his nearly completed invention that he seemed to have completely forgotten that he was a human being that needed food and water to survive. Nellie usually tried to stay out of his lab, but seeing as there was no way she was going to get him out, she took trays of food to him. When she returned to clean up his lunch, she was disappointed to find that he had hardly even touched his plate.

She frowned, walking over to the bowl of soup and feeling the sides, which were ice cold. The cup of tea was still full, and when Nellie tasted it, it had been sitting for so long that it had gotten bitter. Byron had a cloth draped over a machine beside him, and was hunched over a smaller mechanical piece, trying to get tiny gears in place.

“You’re going to pass out again,” Nellie sighed. “Remember? Like last time, when you completely blacked out.”

Byron didn’t look up at her, mumbling his response. “That had nothing to do with eating. I was ill. Briefly.”

“Another name for that is starvation,” Nellie huffed. “Please? Just the bread roll, if not the soup.”

He still didn’t look at her, but reached out and took the bread roll, stuffing it in his mouth and just holding it between his teeth. She would have been more at ease if he chewed and swallowed rather than just continue his work with the roll in his mouth, but she knew better than to continue insisting and causing him to lose track of his thoughts.

She just pursed her lips and picked up the tray with the rest of the cold food, taking it back. She was never offended when Byron didn’t eat her food, knowing that he really did enjoy and appreciate it, but she did worry about his health sometimes. She was cleaning up at the kitchen when there was a knock at the door, which she hurried to answer. It was a little difficult at times to be the only maid in the household, but she did the best she could. She prepared herself to turn whoever it was away, knowing that Byron didn’t want to be bothered. Thankfully, it was Cedric at the door, which made things much easier for her.

Cedric was Byron’s closest friend and colleague, but he’d come to be a good friend to Nellie, too. In fact, he had been the one to set Nellie up with the job in the first place. She thought she’d been so lucky when she found a job that not only paid well, but gave her a place to sleep within the residence. Not to mention how quickly they hired her, with hardly even an interview. What she didn’t know until later was that Byron’s last five maids had quit on him within the course of one week, and the reason Cedric was so quick to snag Nellie before someone else got her because she was the only one in town who didn’t know Byron and was dumb enough to take the job so quickly. Luckily for all of them, Byron seemed to like Nellie, and she was patient enough to deal with his antics.

“Cedric, how lovely to see you,” Nellie smiled, letting him in.

“It’s always a pleasure to see you, Nellie,” he said. “Lovely party last night. It was wonderful, really.”

“Oh, it wasn’t my party,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “All I did was a little bit of cooking.”

“Not only did you prepare a fantastic four-course meal,” he said, “But you were able to keep that dinner party running smoothly for an impressively long time. It seemed too good to be true, at first. As far as I can see, it was absolutely your party, and I thank you.”

“Always the charmer,” Nellie laughed. “Well you’re welcome to come inside, but I’m afraid that I don’t think I can drag Byron out right now.”

“That’s what I thought,” he shrugged. “Has he forgotten about the party yet?”

“He was never thinking about it in the first place,” Nellie sighed, offering him a seat before going into the kitchen to bring back some tea and leftover cakes. “How much damage was done?”

“Well, they’re certainly not pleased,” he admitted. “Then again, I suppose no one expected much more from him. Don’t be too upset over it, Nellie.”

“I know,” she muttered, sitting down and glancing over her shoulder to make sure the door to Byron’s lab was still closed before speaking again in a quieter voice. “He just cares so much about what he does, and I don’t want him to lose any kind of credibility or something just because people are petty.”

“People will never stop being petty,” Cedric shrugged. “You just have to trust that he knows what he’s getting himself into. You’re already doing more than enough. It’s a shame he has yet to acknowledge it.”

“He does acknowledge it,” Nellie frowned. “He thanked me for the food and the help with the party and-”

“You know I wasn’t talking about the party,” Cedric said casually, giving her a knowing look.

Nellie pursed her lips, slumping back in her seat. It was starting to feel like everyone knew about her admiration for Byron, and they all blew it out of proportion. Cedric had seen through Nellie since the start.

“You’re worse than Elena, because you never leave room to argue,” Nellie grumbled.

“Good, because at this point, your feelings aren’t negotiable,” he smirked.

Nellie was about to argue anyways when there was another knock at the door, and she instinctively excused herself and hurried to answer it. A short and stout man greeted her with a slight nod. He looked to be a butler, but the most posh butler Nellie had ever seen.

“Good evening, Miss,” he said. “I come from the manor of Sir and Madame Tremaine, with a message for Master Byron Goulding. May I speak to the master of the house?”

“I’m afraid he’s not home,” Nellie lied. “I can pass the message to him when he returns.”

The butler didn’t seem impressed, handing Nellie an envelope while trying not to touch her, as if her hands were dirty.

“Please give this note to Master Goulding as soon as possible,” he said. “Good day, Miss.”

Nellie just nodded, looking the envelope over as she closed the door and returned to where Cedric was sitting.

“Do you know the ‘Tremaine’ family?” Nellie asked him. “I think they sent him some kind of invitation, but they’re not part of the society, as far as I know.”

“Old money,” Cedric told her. “Very, very old money. I can’t imagine why they’d invite Byron anywhere. I don’t think they’ve ever so much as spoken to him.”

Nellie glanced back down at the letter, placing it on the table outside of Byron’s lab for whenever he decided to come out. She wasn’t sure how excited he would be about it, but she wasn’t about to keep any kind of opportunity from him.