Annie, hearing this let out a long sigh which matched her brothers with an uncanny resemblance. “Look, Freya… James and I have… been through a lot. If he’s even mentioned even the slightest about him not being a good person than I’m sure you’ve received a long lecture with information that didn’t quite make sense. James is not really good at sharing his feelings so bear with him please.” Crossing her legs on her bed she tapped her fingers against the fabric as she listened to Freya and took everything in that she had to say.

“Okay first off, James won’t be mad at you so I wouldn’t call it a ‘fight’, it’s more like a misunderstanding. And going there wasn’t a mistake; you’re not the only one benefiting from this but…” She bit her lower lip before continuing. “I’m not supposed to tell you this but your dad agreed to pay for James to study culinary while he’s working under you. So don’t be surprised if James starts putting more ingredients in your house; things you’ve never heard of or don’t even know what to do with. Because, if I know my brother…” She lets out a giggle, “He’ll be feeding you all the foods he’s learning how to make and your pallet will go insane with delight. Especially when he hits desserts! Honestly, kinda jealous right now.”

“Freya listen, take a couple deep breathes and listen to me. James can’t be your friend… while he’s working. However, he does take days off; when he’s not with you it will be me. So we can girl out and paint our toenails and blah blah blah. However, his job is done at Midnight, from midnight until the time he re-enters your apartment he is no longer a butler and more importantly he is no longer [i]your[/i] butler.” A smile moved across Annie’s lips as she continued to speak. “When you get home just take a couple deep breathes before going inside. James will be back to his butler-self and will most likely have dinner ready and a bath drawn for you. Eat your food, take your bath and know that when his pocket watch goes off he’s officially off work. Then bring up the topic of a friendship and tell him you [i]understand the separation between personal and professional life[/i], word it like that and he will understand where you’re coming from. I know you Freya, you’ll think too hard on this, stress yourself out then blurt out things you don’t mean and feel horrible about it later. When you and I decided to become friends, it was important that we didn’t let the other staff members see how close we got. It’s the same thing except James feels like he has a lot more to lose. Respect his time when he’s being a butler but I feel confident in saying that you will be met with a positive response at Midnight.” She took a deep breath and spoke softly, “Freya… honey, do you feel better?”