Persuasion in the Pantry [Maid for More #1]

Chapter 31- Inception

[There are at least four movie/book references that I snuck in here. You have been so good at spotting all the other ones so far, so I wish you luck on your Easter egg hunt through this chapter too! Be sure to comment when you find them ;)  ]

"Sooo," Verushka began. "I hear that you have taken a liking to a certain maid that I know."

Geoffrey stopped shovelling shit mid-scoop. "Wha' was that Ver? Who told you that?!"

Verushka smiled as she leaned over the sty fence, with one leg bent at the knee. Geoffrey might have thought that it was just a pleasant conversation, but she knew better. She was sculpting a masterpiece that was as intricate and beautiful as Mina's art. "Come on now, Geoffrey. We all know you like Cynthia."

"Well, all of us except Cynthia," Liara confirmed, commiserating as she sat on the top plank of the fence dangling her feet dangerously close to the pit. Some people would have been concerned about the smell but, Liara had spent far too long amongst the stables to notice anything untoward.

"So, why haven't you asked her out yet?" Verushka needled the pig sty keeper. Some people were delicate dancers or masterful musicians, but Verushka's gift was that she could read people just as well as the written word. A little push here, a nudge of encouragement there and all of a sudden she could help her friends down lusher paths. Of course, sometimes she didn't just do it for the greater good. Sometimes she did it for biscuits, but as far as sins went, it wasn't a terrible one to have.

"Ask her out?!" Geoffrey dropped his shovel into the mud, or at least what was forty percent mud.

Brown muck splattered across the pen and onto Verushka's new chamber's maid uniform. She wiped at it hastily causing dark streaks to stain the clean white linen before giving up with a sigh. "What is the problem Geoff?"

"Yeah, what's the problem Geoff?" Liara piped up.

"Urgh, why are you here again, Li?" Verushka turned towards her friend with an enduring smile.

"What?" Liara attempted to look innocent and failed. "I had nothing better to do... besides work, and I'd rather not be doing that."

"Look girls," Geoffrey picked up the soiled handle again, causing mud to squelch through his fingers. "I like Cynthia but she doesn't even know I exist. She is a fancy house maid and I am just a dirty pig keeper. I could no sooner talk to God!"

"True." Liara arched an amused eyebrow.

Verushka frowned severely. "Not true! You may be a bit rough around the edges but no one is asking you to marry the girl. Just try to say hello to her occasionally. Trust me, you only have to start talking to her a little bit every day and you are in. Then she'll see what we see in you and she is bound to love you!"

To Geoffrey's credit, he was at least aware of his attraction to Cynthia. Verushka had seen the other maid watching Geoffrey working in the yards on hot days as his lean muscles flexed back and forth and marvelled at how clueless Cynthia still was. He wasn't Verushka's type, but somehow prim Miss Cynthia was attracted to the boy beneath the dirt, or perhaps she liked the dirt. Verushka wasn't sure. Whatever it was, she had definitely seen a hint of chemistry and that was all it took to create romance. Given enough time and the right situation, which she was happy to provide, her two friends could find love.

Geoffrey flung a heap of dung on the already mountainous pile. "What makes you so sure?"

"Have I ever been wrong, Geoff? Who got Mel and Dan together?" she prompted.

"You."

"And who brokered the upstairs maids deal with the pantry girls so they stopped fighting?"