Across the Years ( Camren )

One day down

Lauren's pov

Fortunately I had gotten away with my little transgression. I just need to remember that servants need to serve and not be jealous smart ass.

After lunch was finished, Camila, Austin and her father retired to the parlor to talk. I and the other kitchen staff, cleaned up and ate our lunch, which consisted of beef sandwiches.

After lunch I was allowed to go to the dry goods store that Mr. Cabello operated. It was down the street a small ways from the inn. I had told Mrs. Bailey that since I was new in town I needed to get some things, such as some candles, coffee, soap, etc.

I found the store and purchased some items I thought I would need. Some basic foodstuffs for the few days I'll have off. Normally I eat with the staff, on days off I am on my own for food. I bought some candles, some oil for one of the lamps, coffee beans, some canned food, rice, beans and some other things. I found a blank journal similar to the one that Camila writes in, so I purchased that, along with some ink and a pen. I found myself wanting to document my time here and keep my thoughts straight.

After dropping those items off at my home, I returned to the Cabello home and arrived back by 2:00. By this time Austin had left and Camila had gone to pay a social call on some neighbour. Mrs. Bailey told me that I would be spending the rest of the afternoon at the inn/tavern and would work there until supper.

Arriving at the inn, I reported to Mr. Cabello who was in his office. He would spend most afternoons in his office going over his accounts and other business. Though he made no mention of the incident at lunch, he looked mildly annoyed. He told me clean the 2 vacant rooms and then report back to Colin, who runs the place day to day.

I found the cleaning materials and cleaned the rooms as instructed. For the next couple of hours I got to play waitress as a number of people had come in to have a good time. There is some army barracks a little ways out of town and usually there's a few soldiers lingering about at any given time.

I quickly found out that the men of this period are quite , as my ass was pinched more than once. Many of them were also very fascinated by the pretty, raven haired American who was the new barmaid. But much to my credit, I stayed in character and laughed it off each time. A few of the men and othertowns people were nice.

Colin, the man who ran the inn from day to day, was a friendly but rather simple guy. I learned from him, that Camila came in several days a week, to act as sort of a hostess. Her mother did that when they first opened the inn. She would chat with people and made them feel welcome. After a while, Camila would do it along with her mother when she was a little girl. When Camila's mother died, Camila kept up the tradition. While it may seem something unworthy of a person from the upper class, I learned that Camila's mother was considered very beautiful, charming and was very well liked by everyone she met. So out of respect for Camila's mother, no one ever dare said a word about Camila's working in essentially a bar. The most she ever does is bring a glass of beer to someone on occasion, anyway.

Around 4:00 O'clock in the afternoon I felt my spirits lift as I could hear Camila coming in from the back.

"Hello Colin, How are you today." She said in a cheerful tone.

"I'm fine Miss Camila, Thank you. How are you on this fine day?" I could hear Colin reply as I returned to the bar with some empty glasses.

"I'm good thanks."

Camila then looked at me with a smile, that warmed my heart. "And how are you doing so far?"

"I'm doing fine, thank you Miss Camila."

Colin then spoke up. "She's done a fine Job, Miss Camila.

Camila nodded. "Very good. " She then noticed an elderly man enter the bar. "Oooh...There's Sir Ian McCulloch. He was decorated for bravery by King George the III for bravery at the battle of Waterloo. He's one of our regulars. Lauren get him a pint of our best ale. I'll greet him."