Downton Abbey Imagines and One Shots

Ethel Parks- Tears (c)

You'd finished making the beds of the three daughters of Lord Grantham, making your way back down to the servant's quarters where you called home. Work today had been harder than it should have. It was the duty of you and your fellow maid Ethel, however you couldn't find her this morning, and when you went to ask Mrs Hughes about it she insisted that the job had to be done, so you were to do it by yourself. You weren't impressed as you knew it was a job for two, but there wasn't really another option if you couldn't find Ethel.

Once your work had been done, you wanted to change and take a short break until you had your next duties. As you opened your bedroom door, you heard soft sniffling, but they were quickly cut as the door creaked.

The room was small and held two beds. One was yours, the other was Ethel's. On the further bed was the redheaded maid that you were friends with, and had disappeared for the morning.

"Where have you been Ethel?" You questioned. "I had to make all the beds myself, it took me like three times as long as it should have."

She rubbed one of her eyes with the back of her hand as she looked at you, trying to take away the remnants of her tears.

"Are you crying?" You asked.

"No," she stated gruffly.

You gave her a sympathetic smile, taking a seat on the edge of her bed, trying to seem welcoming, but you weren't sure how to do that.

"What's wrong Ethel?"

Although you were a little annoyed that she abandoned her duties this morning, making work a lot harder for you, but you didn't want her to be upset and help her in any way that you possibly could.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she frowned wiping away more tears that had fallen down her cheeks.

"People don't cry when they are fine," you stated.

She looked down at her hands for a moment, before locking her tearful eyes with yours.

"Just Miss O'Brien," she sighed.

"What has she done now?" You frowned.

You had worked at Downton a lot longer than Ethel, and you knew that Miss O'Brien wasn't a pleasant woman. She was cruel and mean woman, that only looked out for herself, letting anyone else fall into the cracks to keep herself safe.

"Just keeping me as the butt of her jokes," she whispered.

Since Ethel had been here, Miss O'Brien was trying her best to ruin Ethel's spirit and get her out of here, but although Ethel needed to work on fitting in a little, she was a nice person and didn't deserve the treatment that Miss O'Brien gave her.

"Ignore her Ethel. Miss O'Brien is a cruel old woman. She doesn't understand how to get along with anyone and gets a kick out of being harsh and mean," you said reassuringly hoping that it would help her somewhat.

"I've gathered."

"Don't worry Ethel. You will get used to it. We all have. You learn to just ignore her and wait for her to retire," you chuckled.

She couldn't help but smile at your comments of your colleague. Even if you didn't have too much in common your hatred of Miss O'Brien would help you bond as friends.

~*~

Written by Charlotte.