It's us {Dani and Jamie}

Blue Green

1

The gardener did not even introduce herself to the new au pair. She barely even acknowledged her at all. Simply treated her as if she'd always been there. The others in the room just assumed they'd already met. Which, if she was honest, was exactly how the au pair felt when she first saw the young woman.

An odd one, she was. Walking with such certainty, gazing across the kitchen as if she owned the place. And yet... her eyes.

Her eyes were uncertain.

The six members of Bly Manor sat around the kitchen table. They ate their supper with easy smiles, letting the kind of silly, unmeaningful conversation that often comes when there's children present float idly between them.

The au pair, known to most as Dani, studied the strangers' eyes.

Focused on her food. Glancing up at something Flora said. Darting up at Dani then back down again, then up once more. Blue. No - green.

No...

Blue, definitely blue.

Before the au pair knew it, the evening had stretched into night and the blue-green eyes were rising with the rest of the gardener's body, seeking out a jacket hung on a hook.

"Owen what am I going to do with you?" She asked through a sigh, pulling said jacket over her overalls, "You can't keep making food this delicious, I'm gonna bust through my trousers one of these days."

The cook stood, gathering the plates, "Don't be so quick to wish me away, Jamie, or this one is gonna be cooking your meals," He tilted his chin towards Dani, "If her food is anything like her tea, we've got bigger problems than busted trousers."

Miles grinned mischievously from his chair, "Yeah, like food poisoning!"

Flora joined in his giggling.

Dani glared at them playfully, "I wouldn't make fun of me, if I were you two, remember - I'm the one in charge of your bedtime."

"Yeah, it's getting late," Jamie said, shoving her hands in her pockets, looking at the kids suspiciously, "Time for bed, you little gremlins."

Flora gasped, "We're not gremlins!"

When Jamie grinned, Dani couldn't help but stare, "Well I think you are! But maybe if you head up real quick now, I'll reconsider."

Flora's mouth dropped and she grasped her brother's hand with sudden urgency, "Come on Miles!"

As he allowed himself to be whisked away round the corner, he turned to stick his tongue out one last time at the gardener.

"Gremlin!" She cried after him.

"Gremlin lover!" He retorted, his little voice disappearing down the hall.

She shook her head, a grin still plastered to her face, "Well he's got me there." She murmured, staring at the spot they left.

"Alright, gang, I've got to be heading home." She said finally, pushing her chair in, "Owen-" She stuck out her hand jokingly for him to shake, "Thank You for your hospitality, good sir."

He grasped it warmly and kissed her on the cheek, "Pleasure, my lady."

"Goodnight, Jamie. See you tomorrow." Said Hannah, the housekeeper.

"'Night." Before turning towards the door to leave, the gardener caught the au pair's eye. Held for a moment. Nodded. Perhaps there was a sliver of a wink. Or maybe that was imagined.

***

Developing attraction is a curious thing if you analyze it bit by bit. It starts slow, at first. Quietly. Barely a whisper of a thought at all.

Thinking slightly too long about a moment of eye contact. A brushing of hands that seemed to produce friction from your fingertips. Getting a little too excited when she picks you to be her teammate for charades.

At this point, you might not even realize it's an attraction at all. But it's there, it's always there, burrowing beneath the surface. And in that case, once you do realize, it hits you like a train.

This realization can be brought about by a multitude of things. All depends on the person. For Dani, it was a single word. A name.

A nickname.

"Chin up, Poppins." The gardener had told her.

It was in a moment of vulnerability when Jamie approached. Dani had been crying. An occurrence she found herself in more and more, lately. Bad memories, you know how they can be.

Persistent. Relentless. Haunting.

But the gardener, without realizing it, had brushed away Dani's inescapable demons like they were nothing more than pesky flies.

She had told a few jokes, like she always did, but then the haughty, laid back sarcasm dripped away.

"Look, you're doin' great," She paused, waiting for the au pair to stop facing backwards and look straight at her. The blue green eyes were serious, "You're doing great."

"Thank you." Dani managed.

"Anytime," Said Jamie, composing herself to lift her buckets of weeds from the ground, "Right, well. Back to it then. Chin up, Poppins."

It was then, right then, that Dani was hit with the train of realization. The first thought crossing her mind (perhaps she had been spending too much time with Flora) was how perfectly splendid it all was. After all, that's the natural reaction. How could it be anything but good? Feeling something for someone?

But the demons in her mind came swarming back like the flies they were. And there was something else there - a faint prickle at the back of her mind. This was something new. Something that brought about ominous feelings, not just stale guilt. No, it wasn't good, none of it.

Some might say it was perfectly dreadful.

•  •  •

Hi! I hope you liked it, this is just a first draft so it's probably not too pretty round the edges, but it's alright.

** NOTE - dani's ex is not a ghost in this story, she just feels guilty about how their relationship ended. The ghost stuff is simpler and comes later on ;)