Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There was nothing glorious about the life of a maid.

Anne dreamed of bigger things, getting away from the Beresford Hotel and doing something she truly loved; but there were bills to be paid and she couldn’t leave W.D. to raise his son alone.

So she took her job seriously and tried to make the most out of it. She took pride in remembering what the guests liked, adding small touches like a lavender flower or making sure the windows were open when someone came in.

They wanted her to be invisible and so she was, sticking to the corners and going in only when asked; but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to put a smile on people’s faces, didn’t it?

Pressed to the wall in the hallway, hands full with dirty laundry she was bringing to her cart, Anne was trying to get out of the way of the delegation of people walking by.

Intrusive questions, cameras, phones and audio recorders were all thrust in the direction of one specific person and Anne Wheeler wasn’t easily distracted, really just wanted to get back to work, but her eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to him.

Teeth digging into her bottom lip, she watched him move past, an easy smile on his face, a bounce to his step that showed he was clearly in a good mood and he didn’t even see her. Which wasn’t anything new, certainly wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but usually, Anne was fine with it. Fine with being invisible, part of the furniture; whenever guests spoke to her they got her name wrong, sometimes even assumed she couldn’t speak English and needless to say, the interactions tended to be far from nice.

In this instance though, she found herself wishing he would see her, found herself hoping his eyes would be drawn to her like hers were to him; but then a reporter asked another question and he laughed and Anne simply watched as the group rounded a corner, disappeared out of sight.

“See something you like?”

She jumped at the sudden voice, hadn’t even realised she was staring until Lettie cleared her throat and when she turned towards her friend she was met with a knowing smirk.

“What?”

Her voice (about two octaves higher than usual) sounded forced and she cleared her throat, reaching up to brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Which, of course she did, but there was nothing to it. They talked amongst themselves, the maids, the other staff; talked about the guests and the strange things they got up to, whatever weird things they were known for and, of course, as shameless as it was, they talked about how attractive some of them were.

That man - whoever he was - was certainly attractive and could she really be blamed for staring a little?

Attempting to compose herself, she smoothed down the sheets against her chest, pushing herself away from the wall and moving over to her cart, putting the dirty sheets away. Moving towards the room they were meant to be cleaning, she let herself in with the key, unlocked the door and pushed it open by pressing her back up against it, moving backwards into the room.

“So..” she started after dropping the clean sheets onto the bed, turning around so she could face Lettie, who still had that knowing smile seemingly permanently etched onto her face. Anne sighed, hands finding her hips as she raised an eyebrow at Lettie, almost considering not finishing her question, but she couldn’t help herself.

“Who was that?”

Chapter Text

“When are you or I ever gonna get to try on a five thousand dollar anything?”

The Park Suite was technically the honeymoon suite. Technically, because the guest staying there right now certainly wasn’t a honeymooner, but she had insisted on this specific room and when renowned opera singer Jenny Lind insisted on something, she got exactly what she wanted.

Just like she’d somehow talked Anne and Lettie into clearing away her luggage, which really wasn’t something that the maids usually did, but she’d gotten both their names wrong and stuffed some dollars in their hands and then she was off and they didn’t feel like they had much of a choice but to do as was asked.

Lettie had found her way into the walk-in closet, putting away the clothes and then she was marveling at the expensive brands in there, pulling things off the rack and Anne somehow let herself get dragged into Lettie’s little game as the other woman held out clothes in front of her as if they were in a shop, and not a guest’s closet.

“I can’t, it’s not right, they’re not mine, it’s --”

“They’re not hers either, she said she’s sending them back, technically they’re not anyone’s right now.”

The logic was flawed at best, but this one dress was all but staring at Anne, drawing her in and she chewed on her bottom lip, hesitating before slowly nodding her head, pulling a face at Lettie’s excited squeal.

“It’s your size too! Let’s just see how this looks, I’m sure it’ll be amazing..”

And then Lettie was rambling away a little bit, holding out some different dresses and shirts to Anne, finding shoes to match the outfit too and it wasn’t five minutes later that Anne was staring at herself in the mirror, completely transformed.

The maid outfit replaced by a tight fitting dress, fabric hugging her in all the right places and she brushed it down, glancing from the mirror over to Lettie, who was all but beaming at her. She smiled back, only to have her smile drop almost instantly when there was a knock at the door and she and Lettie exchanged wide-eyed looks.

“Get in the closet, I’ll see who it is..”

Lettie pushed past her, clearing her throat and smoothing down her apron before she pulled open the door and she visibly relaxed then, stepping to the side to let in Anne’s 10-year-old nephew.

“Ty, what’re you doing --”

He didn’t even let her finish before he interrupted her, words coming out in a rush; clearly he was excited.

“Hey auntie Anne, this is Phillip and he’s got a giant grey dog called Rufus and if you say yes can I go walk him with him?”

And then Phillip Carlyle walked in, Phillip Carlyle who’d caught her eye earlier, Phillip Carlyle the international celebrity who was staying in their hotel and who was now seeing her in a dress that was decidedly not hers and Anne felt herself get flustered, glancing from her nephew to Phillip and back and --

“Hello.”

She swallowed, felt Lettie jab her lightly in the side and she cleared her throat, attempted to compose herself.

“Hi.”

And as her panicked mind worked overtime trying to think of some sort of excuse of why she was here, why she was wearing someone else’s clothes, she slowly realised that he had no idea. How could he? To him, she was just a guest at the hotel, and right now, Anne didn’t know what else to do other than go along with it.

At the very least it would mean he wouldn’t report her for trying on Jenny Lind’s clothes.

“Let’s not forget, I’m a kid and I need fresh air. Please, can I go?”

Ty, oblivious to the situation, was clearly adament about going out with this man and his dog, clearly thought he still needed to convince her, might be taking her hesitation as doubt of whether or not she should say yes, but the truth was, Anne simply found herself a little thrown by the situation.

“I’m Phillip Carlyle.”

She stared, looking from Ty back over to Phillip, opening her mouth to speak before --

“Jenny, you want your coat?”

A frown crossed Anne’s face and she turned towards Lettie, who was beaming at her, holding one of Jenny Lind’s coats out for her and Anne’s eyes went wide as she tried to subtly shake her head, not sure what the hell Lettie was doing here.

“Weren’t you just saying what a beautiful day it was?”

It took her a few moments to catch on, to see what Lettie was getting at and she shook her head even more then, only stopping when Phillip spoke up again. She couldn’t do this, couldn’t wear someone else’s clothes, couldn’t pretend to be someone else, couldn’t --

“Oh, you’re going out?”

And was that disappointment she heard in his voice? It threw her for a moment, the frown still on her face as she opened her mouth to speak, but Lettie beat her to it (again), wide smile on her face as she lied through her teeth when she said Jenny - and that was her, that was Anne - had just been talking about getting some fresh air.

Anne didn’t know what to do other than play along; at this point, scrambling back and telling the truth would just make things worse, wouldn’t it?

“Well if your husband wouldn’t mind ..”

Because this was the honeymoon suite and he assumed, but before Anne could even open her mouth to correct him, Ty already piped up.

“She doesn’t have a husband.”

The 10-year-old shared a smile with Lettie and Anne refrained from scowling at them both, instead putting on a smile as she looked over at Phillip. “I don’t have a husband.”

“Well I insist then. Come with us, if you’re free.”

“Yeah, c’mon auntie Jenny.”

Then Lettie was slipping her coat on for her and Ty’s hand found hers, all but tugging her along with him, Phillip trailing after them and Anne was left no choice but to go along with it.

And maybe she didn’t mind as much as the look she shot Lettie suggested.

--------------------------------------------

She hadn’t expected it to be easy to talk to Phillip Carlyle.

Phillip Carlyle the international movie star, who was known as a womanizer and a terror to the press, yet out here, as they walked through Central Park, he just seemed .. normal. She couldn’t think of a better word, couldn’t think of something more fitting than that and she supposed it was silly that it was surprising to her that he was just another human being.

A human being who spoke freely about his fear of public speaking when she told him of Ty’s mishap during his school presentation, who joked about what the tabloids said about him, because how else was one meant to react to lies printed about them and spread all across the world?

She found she liked hearing what he thought, liked getting to know him; she felt special for getting to see a side of him that seemed so unlike what everyone else thought. With everything that got printed about him though, everything she’d read online, in the tabloids, she couldn’t help but ask …

“Any of it true?”

They’d settled on a bench, Ty running off with some other kids and whilst she made sure to keep an eye on her nephew, she couldn’t help but glance over at Phillip, gaze still so easily drawn to him. The underlying nerves of keeping up some sort of pretense made her fidgety, fingers playing with one of the buttons on her coat (Jenny Lind’s coat) as she fought to keep a smile on her face, not wanting Phillip to realise anything was off.

“Well, I was seeing a supermodel and now we’re seeing … less of each other.” He shrugged his shoulders as if it was the most normal thing in the world and she supposed it was. People dated and people broke up. Most people didn’t have to deal with it being splashed across the internet and front pages of tabloids though.

Lingering on the thought for a while, she chewed on her bottom lip as she realised the paparazzi had definitely snapped pictures of them together. They'd been there when they walked out, they'd been there, lingering in the park. Chances were, it would be her on those front pages the next day, but she tried not to think about it.

She could feel his eyes on her, watching her as she tore her own gaze away, checking up on Ty and hoping he didn’t catch that her cheeks turned three shades darker under his gaze.

Phillip cleared his throat.

“There’s a gala this monday.”

Turning to look at him, she watched as he leant forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he tried to catch her gaze. “Opening night for my new movie..” he continued, trailing off, shifting, sitting up straighter as he cleared his throat.

If she hadn’t known better, she would’ve thought maybe he was just as nervous as she was - and he wasn’t even pretending to be someone he wasn’t.

“My manager said I shouldn’t show up alone.”

She swallowed, glancing down, taking a breath as she studied her shoes as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. He was asking her out, wasn’t he?

“Monday?” He hummed his confirmation and she could feel his gaze on her still, refused to meet it. “I can’t monday.”

“What? You got other plans?” She didn’t, but she nodded her head anyway. “Can you change them?” And she shook her head, pursing her lips, finally turning to look at him, meeting his gaze, an apologetic smile on her face.

“I can’t, sorry.” A pause. “It’s complicated.”

She was grateful that Ty chose then to come running back over, cheeks red and slightly out of breath and Anne pushed herself to her feet, smoothing down her jacket. “Which reminds me, I gotta get out of here.” She held out her hand for Ty, taking it in her own before turning back to Phillip. “C’mon Ty, we gotta go.”

And with that, she offered Phillip one more smile before turning away.

Chapter Text

Afraid that management might find out something was off, Anne made it a point to avoid Phillip from then on out. If he recognised her, she wouldn’t know what to say, wouldn’t know how to even begin to explain herself and so she stayed out his way, somehow managed to hide her face whenever she was anywhere near him.

She’d been right to think that this would get out of hand.

Lettie told her not to worry, told her that there was no way that anyone was going to find out, but Lettie was Lettie and Anne was Anne, and Anne worried. Worried that someone would find out, that the truth would come out and she would suffer the consequences and she couldn’t lose this job. Not when she and her brother had worked so hard to get these jobs, to finally have a steady income, to provide a stable home for Ty; she couldn’t risk it.

Of course, just because she stayed away, didn’t mean the situation had been resolved.

She’d be lying if she said she didn’t want more time with Phillip, but that was wishful thinking and foolish hopefulness and she couldn’t give in to that. Not even when she overheard Phillip asking about her, not even after she watched him turn to her boss, Mr Barnum, during a disastrous lunch date with the real Jenny Lind. A lunch she of course was asked to help serve and she'd spend the whole time in the kitchen, hiding behind trays and bushes and by some miracle, Phillip hadn't seen her yet.

“This isn’t the Jenny I meant … She's about five-ten, dark hair, really beautiful, has a nephew named Ty. What the hell happened?”

Pressing closer to the wall behind her, Anne made sure to stay hidden, heart racing as Barnum caught her eye from across the room, somehow managing to shoot her a look whilst at the same time keeping a straight face as he looked at Phillip.

“I’m sorry, sir” she heard Barnum offer, every inch the perfect butler as he apologised for something that wasn’t anywhere near his fault.

“Don’t be sorry. Just find her, please.”

Anne rushed down the hallway then, away from Phillip’s suite, cursing under her breath as uneasiness settled under her skin. Barnum wasn’t stupid, he was one of the smartest of the hotel staff and he would connect the dots. He would realise that she’d been pretending to be someone else and he would go to management, he would get her fired and --

“Miss Wheeler?”

Torn away from her thoughts, Anne looked up when Barnum spoke her name, clearly having followed her out of the hotel room and her breath hitched in her throat, eyes going a little wide.

“Yes Mr Barnum,” she offered, voice surprisingly steady as she turned to face him, smoothing down her shirt and apron. She’d always respected Phineas Barnum, always thought of him as a wonderful person to work with, but as he approached her, she couldn’t gauge what his reaction to all this might be.

Still scared she might be in trouble, Anne opened her mouth to speak, apologies ready to tumble from her lips, but Barnum held up his hand, offered her a light smile. Under any other circumstances, the smile might’ve put her at ease, but as it were, she was still scared.

“I’m assuming you’re truly interested in keeping your job here, Miss Wheeler,” Barnum said, the smile still on his face and there was nothing unsettling about it, yet at the same time, Anne didn’t know what to make of it. Nor of his statement, though she nodded her head instantly.

“Very much so, Mr Barnum.”

She fidgeted, toying with her apron, biting down lightly on her bottom lip as she kept her gaze fixed upon him.

“Then I suggest you go to this gala tonight,” Barnum started, and Anne frowned, opening her mouth as if to object, but he held up his hand and continued. “And end all association with Phillip Carlyle.”

Her face fell a little, unlike Barnum’s smile, which still seemed etched onto his face, some sort of permanent fixture.

“At least, until he’s checked out of the hotel and is no longer a guest here.”

--------------------------------------------

“You're from two different worlds. Do you hear me?”

She still had her doubts about going to the gala. Barnum had been right though; if the truth came out about what had been going on between her and Phillip, chances were she would lose her job. Not only weren’t they meant to interact with the guests like that, she’d technically stolen a guests’ clothes and pretended to be her; which, on top of the lies, was surely going to cost her her job.

So she had to end things with Carlyle. End things that, admittedly, might just all be in her head; or at least, that was what Lettie was trying to convince her of right now.

“Break what off? No offense, sweetheart. What planet are you on?”

“You don’t get it. None of you do; there was something different about him.”

It wasn’t even a minute ago that she was convincing herself that she was being silly, that there was nothing there between her and Phillip. They spent one afternoon together, not even a few hours and whilst they’d gotten on well, that was it, wasn’t it?

He was Phillip Carlyle, he had the whole world at his feet and she was nobody. Anne Wheeler, maid at the Beresford Hotel, who had spend a life time trying to make ends meet and would never amount to more than being a good sister, a good aunt.

And that had always been enough.

There had been something about him from the start though. The way he listened to what she had to say, the way he hung on to every word; maybe it was all just because he thought she was someone of higher standing. Someone like him.

Maybe if he knew who she really was, he wouldn’t give a damn about anything she said, but she wanted to believe that wasn’t be true.

“You are not in love with this man. He is not in love with you,” Lettie said firmly, tearing her away from her thoughts and Anne offered her a smile, sighing softly.

“I hear you,” she stated, even though part of her wasn’t quite convinced; but it was better this way, wasn’t it? It was better if she listened to what Lettie was saying, because that way, no one would get hurt. She wouldn’t get hurt.

There was a slight lull in the conversation then, Anne fiddling with her maid’s dress, glancing down at her apron as a realisation dawned on her.

“I don't have anything to wear to this thing.”

Chapter Text

This time, the dress wasn’t stolen.

Lettie and the other maids had come together, found ways to dress her up as every inch of the person she would never be and Anne had never felt more like a princess.

The dress, silver and shimmery, inches short of dragging over the floor, left her shoulders exposed; the earrings, bracelets and rings cost more than she earned in six months but somehow, she’d been trusted with them.

Anne couldn’t stop reaching up and tucking her hair behind her ears, loose curls falling into her face on the side the hair wasn’t pinned back and she didn’t think she’d ever looked this sophisticated before.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she’d almost decided against going, almost changed her mind, but Lettie reminded her that, if anything, she deserved one night like this. One night of feeling like a princess before life would go back to normal.

When did someone like them ever get to do something like this?

“What am I doing here, Lettie? This is all a lie.”

Anne sighed, looking over at Lettie, fighting the urge to bite her lip, not wanting to ruin her lipstick with a nervous habit.

“No, honey. It's more like a dream, you know?” Lettie paused, reaching for Anne’s hands, taking them in her own as she leant closer, slight smile on her face. “For one night, you're living it for all of us. Don't think about tomorrow. Just think about tonight. Tonight, the maid is a lie. And this, this is who you really are.”

And so Anne got into the taxi, let herself be driven to the gala and once she got there, she spent a good couple of minutes looking up at the building, at the red carpet winding up the stairs and despite knowing that her clothes suggested otherwise, she felt utterly out of place.

Remembering Lettie’s words, she pushed forward, lifted up her dress so she could climb the stairs and when she got to the entrance, she almost expected to be turned away. Almost expected her name not to be on the list, for the man at the door to recognise her somehow and send her away, but she gave her name, or the name Phillip knew her as, and she was let inside.

The atmosphere was radiant.

Everywhere she turned there were people she vaguely recognised, famous people, none of whom had any clue whatsoever who she was and as she looked around the room, she felt overwhelmed all over again.

Then, she spotted Phillip from across the room and he turned towards here and for a moment, it felt like time stood still. His eyes on her made everyone else in the room feel irrelevant and she descended the stairs into the room, and the only eyes on her that mattered in that moment were Phillip’s.

“You’re beautiful.”

His hand took hers and she smiled, cheeks flushing at his compliment but as she looked him over, returning it was the easiest thing in the world. “So are you.”

“Thank you for being here.” And he sounded so genuine that she was almost ready to forget why she was here. She’d promised Barnum that this would be it, that she would go to the gala only to tell Phillip that they had to end this - whatever this was - but she struggled to find the words in that moment.

She had to tell him though. Couldn’t let this go any further; she was already living a lie and it had to stop. She couldn’t keep pretending.

“I only came to tell you that this… you and me, can't go anywhere beyond this evening.” Anne tried to hold his gaze, tried to tell him with and without words that there was just no way they could do this, but suddenly she wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince. Him, or herself?

“It just can't” she assured him, but his hand held on to hers and he was smiling, seemingly unwilling to let her get away that easily.

“Well, then, you should've worn a different dress.”

Her cheeks turned three shades redder at his comment and she looked down at the dress, finding herself very conscious of her appearance, even if he seemed to like it very much. She supposed it didn’t make sense, for her to dress up and come to this gala just to end things with him, but then how else would she have gotten into the gala in the first place?

“Want to dance?” Phillip then asked and Anne opened her mouth to object, yet when he tugged lighty on her hand she didn’t put up a fight, pressed up close to him as they made their way onto the dance floor.

“You have to listen. I know you're used to getting your way.” She was still trying to convince him that they had to end things, or maybe she was trying to convince herself, because being this close to him, getting to look up into his eyes, take in his scent; there was a large part of her that didn’t want to go anywhere.

This attraction between them had been there from the start and Anne couldn’t just deny that, no matter how much breaking things off would be for the best.

“Yeah, until l met you” Phillip said, stepping back so he could spin her to the music, pulling her back in and Anne scoffed at his words, shaking her head a little. “There's millions of women who are dying for you to look their way.”

Yet he had eyes only for her. And why was she complaining about that again?

“Yeah?” he questioned, a grin on his face that showed his amusement and he leant in a little closer, words whispered in her ear. “Then why are you making me work so hard?”

Anne found herself wishing she could just come clean, wishing she could just explain what was going on here, but whilst he’d seemed nothing but pleasant so far, she was sure Phillip wouldn’t be able to understand. An honest mistake was one thing, but she’d let it get so far out of hand, let it get to this, to them dancing at a gala, her still keeping him convinced she was someone else and --

Her thoughts as well as their dance were interrupted by Phillip’s manager, who all but pulled Phillip from her grasp and he apologised, promised he’d be right back, begged her to stay right where she was and Anne found herself alone on the dance floor, left with nothing but her own thoughts.

Within seconds, said panicked thoughts convinced her that she had to leave and then she was picking up her dress, hurried footsteps rushing up the stairs and down the hallway and it wasn’t long before she was welcomed by the cool night air of New York City.

She had to leave. She had to go home, had to forget this fantasy, because it would never work out, Phillip would never understand if she told him the truth and --

“Jenny!”

And he’d chased after her.

“Do you have somewhere else to be?” He sounded a little out of breath as he caught her arm and turned her around and she spun towards him reluctantly, opening her mouth to speak, then closing it again, mind searching for what to tell him. “I have to leave.”

She didn’t owe him an explanation, didn’t owe him anything; he didn’t even know who she really was, yet Anne couldn’t help but feel bad about this anyway. She’d been lying to him, leading him on, convincing him she was someone who she could never be and even though she tried to end it, he wasn’t letting her.

“You're not leaving. You're running” Phillip said, releasing her arm and he looked so confused as he stared at her, a light frown on his face. “What l can't figure out is, are you running towards something you want? Or are you running away from something you’re afraid to want?”

He was clearly trying to make sense of this somehow, trying to get to the bottom of a situation he would never truly understand until she explained it to him, but she couldn’t. She’d wanted a clean break, wanted to leave all of this behind so she could just go back to work tomorrow, so things could go back to normal, yet at the same part there was another part of her that couldn’t help but want more of this.

More of him. But she couldn’t ...

“Look, l've made so many mistakes already” she started, sounding as lost as she felt, because she felt so conflicted, was so unsure of what to do next. She wanted to keep walking, wanted to put distance between them so her mind would be clear, so her thoughts wouldn’t be corrupted by seeing him right there, by his hand searching for hers again and she just didn’t want to make it worse.

She was already lying to him, already digging a deeper and deeper hole for herself and she didn’t know how to get out.

“There's something you don't know, okay?”

The only way out was to tell the truth, wasn’t it? The only way out of the hole that kept getting deeper and deeper was to tell him what was going on, was to tell him who she really was and maybe he’d never want to see her again, but at least the truth would be out.

The truth will set you free. Wasn’t that what people said?

“Oh, God. How do l tell you this?” Her mind was searching for words and she took a deep breath, turning towards Phillip properly, Phillip who was watching her expectently, who squeezed her hands after he grabbed hold of them and she was so scared in that moment.

What if she told him and he’d turn her away? What if he got mad? What if he’d never want to see her again?

She had to though.

“The first time you saw me, l was--”

“You were mesmerizing.”

He didn’t let her finish, cut of her sentence with his own words and then, a kiss, his lips finding hers after he leant in, palms crading her face and Anne felt like she’d been lit on fire. The heat spread through her, her hands fisting in his jacket as he stole her breath away, her heart seizing in her chest.

What was it she’d been trying to say again?

--------------------------------------------

For the briefest of moments, being back at the hotel made her fears of being caught resurface.

The familiar faces at the front desk didn’t seem to recognise her though, and as soon as they got to the elevator Phillip was pushing her back up against the wall, his lips finding her jaw, trailing lower to her neck and whatever fears and worries she had were easily pushed to the back of her mind.

Before long, they’d made it back to Phillip’s suite and she pressed close to him as he dug through his pocket, finally managed to find his key, the door unlocking and the both of them all but falling into the room.

Phillip kissed her as soon as the door fell shut behind them, palms cradling her face and she still had to get used to this, it still took her a couple of seconds before she responded, hands reaching up, fingers fisting into his jacket so she could pull him close.

“Hi,” he said, pulling back an inch or two, lips moving against hers as he spoke and his hands travelling down to her neck, thumbs carressing her skin.

“Hi,” she returned, a little breathless already and for a split second, she wanted to repeat her earlier words. That this was a bad idea, that she’d come here to end things, that it had already gotten so out of hand and this, this would just make it so much worse, but she couldn’t.

She wanted to lean in and kiss him again, wanted to push his jacket off and away from his shoulders, wanted to press her hands to his chest and so she did, her heart skipping at the moan that escaped him.

This wasn’t her, really; she wasn’t the girl who went home with someone on the first real date, wasn’t that person who let someone in so easily, but there was something about Phillip that she just couldn’t shake. He’d invaded her mind and her body in ways that she couldn’t begin to mind and despite everything, there was nowhere else she’d rather be right now.

“If tonight is all we have…” Phillip muttered, interrupting himself by leaning down, stealing another kiss (her breath, with it) and maybe he spoke because he sensed her hesitation, maybe he felt something was still off. “...stay. Please.”

And there was a pleading tone to his voice that made her heart swell and Anne found herself nodding before he could even really finish his sentence, leaning in to press her lips against his, arms reaching up so she could wrap them around his neck, deepening the kiss almost instantly.

Having spent the majority of the night stuck on convincing both herself and Phillip that this was a bad idea, that this should end tonight, Anne needed a moment to adjust to clearly having changed her mind. She wanted this more than anything, consequences be damned, but there was still a part of her that hesitated.

Phillip, needing less of a moment, made quick work of shrugging his jacket off the rest of the way, tossing it aside, never once breaking the kiss, moaning into it as he reached down to lift her up.

“Staying,” she mumbled against his lips, words a little unsteady but not uncertain and a breathless chuckle escaped her then as he moved them to the bed, sitting down and Anne shifted, hitching up her dress so she could sit in his lap, straddling him. “Of course I’m staying.”

Without a warning, Phillip flipped them over, Anne landing on her back, a surprised sound escaping her as he climbed over her, settled between her legs as he leant up to kiss her again.

His hand was warm against her skin as he inched up her dress, teasing fingertips trailing up her thigh and her breath hitched in her throat, her heart skipping a beat before she leant up, nipping at his bottom lip with her teeth in retaliation.

“You’re so beautiful,” he muttered, his lips trailing from her own down her jaw, lower to her neck and collarbone, nipping at her skin, leaving marks she couldn’t bring herself to worry about right now. “Phillip,” she breathed, a whine escaping her as he leant back, taking his shirt off the rest of the way and she reached up then, nimble hands finding the belt and buttons of his pants, making quick work of undoing them.

For a moment, their hands scrambled as they took of their clothes, fingers grasping at fabric and Anne chuckled a little breathlessly at their rushed movements, leaning forward to take off her shoes, tossing them aside before helping Phillip with her dress, dismissing any thoughts about how she should treat it with care as she tossed it on the pile with the rest of their clothes.

“Now where were we..” Phillip trailed off, leaning in to kiss her again as his hand slid inside her underwear, slowly, and a gasp escaped Anne, hips arching into his touch as he carefully circled his finger over and around her clit.

It was the slightest of touches, but it was overwhelming already - her breath caught in her throat, her fingers grasped at his skin and she couldn’t bring herself to care about the needy whine that spilled from her lips, as long as he didn’t stop.

Her heart raced in her chest, hands reaching out blindly so she could push down his boxers, movements halting as he teased a finger at her entrance and she fisted a hand in the fabric of his underwear, then pulled it further down, as far as she could reach.

“Phillip,” she gasped, arching off the bed and into his touch as he slid a finger inside, another moan escaping her, muffled by his lips on hers as he kissed her again. She moved her hand down, fingers wrapping around him and she could feel his breath hitch in his throat, swallowed his groan with their kiss.

Just as she flicked her wrist, started moving her hand, Phillip leant back and for a moment, Anne was confused, opening her yes to look down at him. “What --“ He grinned up at her, then leant in to trail kisses down her skin, from her collarbone to her breasts, nipping down the curves and then trailing lower, making Anne’s heart race with anticipation.

“Oh.”

He made quick work of pulling down her underwear, tossing it carelessly aside as his fingers trailed from her sides down to her thighs, hands pushing lightly to spread her legs and she let them fall open almost instantly, biting down hard on her bottom lip.

Glancing up at her every few seconds, Anne swallowed as Phillip pressed kisses to her inner thighs, nipping lightly at the skin and then, without warning, leant to the side, mouthing at her cunt.

His movements were slow, deliberate, tongue twisting against her clit before he pressed inside her, leaving Anne breathless, writhing on the bed, hips bucking up against him in erratic movements she couldn’t control. Curses spilled from her lips as her hands found the sheets on the bed, Phillip’s hair, fingers tangling and tugging as she needed to hold on to something.

“You --“ she started, words stolen from her by a twist of his tongue, replaced by a loud moan as two fingers joined his tongue, pressing inside her. He thrusted and curled his fingers, stealing her breath away, and she tugged hard on his hair, the sound he made as she did so almost sending her over the edge.

Anne dared to glance down then, opening her eyes to see her slick on his lips, his face and he glanced up, not stopping his ministrations and he sucked hard on her clit and that was it.

She cried out, muscles contracted, a shiver coursing through her whole body as she tipped over the edge, his fingers still moving inside her as she rode out the orgasm.

Slowly, she came back to herself, managed to catch her breath despite the kisses he was still pressing to her thighs, to her hips, trailing higher until he was level with her and she could taste herself on his lips as he kissed her, a moan escaping her as she wrapped her arms around him.

She could feel his length pressed up against her thigh, chasing her taste on his lips as she brought one of her hands down, fingers wrapping around his erection and he groaned into the kiss. Anne could feel him moving, his hand reached out to the side, digging into his discarded pants and she smirked into the kiss, nipping at his bottom lip as she stole the condom from his hand after he dug it up from his pants pocket.

“I see you came prepared,” she muttered, teasing note to her voice as she smirked up at Phillip, who grinned right back at her. Leaning in to steal a kiss, he mumbled his response against her lips. “One can be hopeful, right?”

Anne nodded, making quick work of the wrapper, tearing it open before sliding the condom onto him, biting her lip at Phillip’s shaky breath, the soft whimper that spilled from his lips as she moved her fingers up and down his shaft.

“Jenny..” Phillip breathed and for a moment, Anne’s movements halted, a frown crossing her face as the name served as a reminder that he still thought she was someone else, but in the heat of the moment it was easy enough to dismiss.

His hands sprung back into action then, finding her hips and pulling her closer and Anne leant up to kiss him, needing to distract herself from that name, needing to --

And his grip on her hips tightened as he slowly pushed inside and Anne’s breath hitched in her throat, mouth falling open as he filled her up and there was something so careful about his movements, slow and steady, as if he didn’t want to overwhelm her.

“Phillip..” she breathed, appreciating how slow he was going, appreciating the gesture, but her hands scrambled at his back, nails digging lightly into his skin as she tried to pull him closer. “Move.” A gasped breath escaped him as she clenched around him, looking up to meet his gaze. “Please.”

He didn’t reply with words, his lips pressed together and he huffed out a breath before he started moving, slowly at first before he picked up his pace, fingers digging deeper into her hips, just on this side of painful, something Anne never knew she enjoyed.

Writhing against him, her legs wrapped around Phillip to pull him in close, keep him there as he moved and Anne couldn’t help but cry out, every muscle in her body trembling as sweat dripped down her back.

Phillip moved, pulling her back with him so he was sitting back on the bed, her in his lap and the changed angle allowed him to push up into her, even deeper, a gasped moan escaping Anne as she pressed herself closer to him.

She could feel his moves turn more erratic, leaning up to kiss him, clenching around him to try and push him over the edge and it wasn’t long before curses and moans were spilling from Phillip’s lips, one hand still painfully digging into her hip as the other tugged at her hair, bursts of pain enough to bring Anne close to a second orgasm.

“C’mon Phillip,” she breathed against his lips, his thrusts turned shallow and fast and then he called out, movements halting for a moment as he went rigid, breath coming out in gasps.

For a moment, he stayed still, catching his breath, his forehead resting against hers and Anne could feel her heart racing in her chest still, could feel how close she was and slowly, she rocked her hips into his, biting down hard on her bottom lip as Phillip glanced up at her, moved his hand between their bodies, his thumb finding her clit.

“Phillip..” she gasped, letting her head fall forward, against his shoulder as she arched into his touch, a loud moan escaping her as all she’d needed was that little push, tipping over the edge then, shuddering against him.

They stayed like that for a moment, both their chests heaving with heavy breaths as Anne attempted to come back to herself. Her skin was sticky with sweat, her hair a little wet and she kept her eyes closed, a whine escaping her as Phillip pulled back, moving carefully and Anne let herself fall back on the bed, lying flat on her back for a moment before she curled up against Phillip, pressing close to him.

“That was ...”

“Yeah.”

She smiled against his skin, pressing a kiss to his arm and then let her eyes fall shut again, truly spent.

Chapter Text

She’d woken up that morning, curled up in a bed that was decidedly not hers, arms wrapped around her that held her tight, even as Phillip slept and for the briefest of moments, she’d allowed herself to linger.

Linger in the bed, linger in his scent, linger in last night’s activities; for the briefest of moments, she let herself think that this could be her life.

Then, reality kicked in and she’d pushed herself up out of the bed, tiptoed out of the room and, after borrowing one of Phillip’s sweaters and shorts, snuck out of the room, thinking that maybe, just maybe, this situation might not get out of hand after all.

She’d returned the dress and the jewellery her co-workers had acquired for her, had gotten to work on time and changed in the locker room, taken a moment to look at herself in the mirror. Back in her maid’s uniform, back to the real world and she thought she might actually get the chance to figure this out.

“Excuse me, sir. Mr. Bennett wants to see both of you in the Park Suite.”

Maybe, she’d thought wrong.

She exchanged a look with Barnum, who’s face gave nothing away and so it was with lead in her shoes and a heavy heart that Anne followed her boss up to the Park Suite, hoping, no, praying, that this wasn’t about what she thought it might be about.

“Phineas. Anne.”

Mr Bennett, impeccable as always, was sat at the desk in the Park Suit, accompanied by none other than Jenny Lind and two additional hotel staff members.

“Oh. Well, that's interesting. She told me her name was Anita,” Lind piped up, a sneer on her face that made Anne tremble and she had to swallow, take a breath to collect herself before she answered.

“I thought it would be impolite to correct you.”

“And l suppose you think it's polite to steal people's clothes?”

Her breath hitched in her throat as her eyes went a little wide and it wasn’t like she hadn’t assumed they’d caught on to what had been going on, wasn’t like she hadn’t assumed this was it for her, but to hear the words, to be accused so outright ..

“I didn't steal--“

And she didn’t even get to finish her sentence before Mr Bennett interrupted her.

“Miss Wheeler, I have spent the last thirty minutes trying to persuade Miss Lind not to press charges. I suggest you say as little as possible.”

Anne nodded, cheeks bright red and she knew she wasn’t going to talk her way out of this. Not with the vindictive look on Jenny Lind’s face, the stern look on Mr Bennett’s; she was going to get fired.

“Was everything returned?” Mr Bennett asked, raising an eyebrow at her and Anne nodded instantly. “Yes, sir.”

She wanted to continue, wanted to explain more, how it was something innocent that had gotten completely out of hand, but her words died in her throat as the door to the suite opened and Phillip Carlyle walked in.

“Oh, Phillip, l'm terribly sorry to interrupt your day. We thought you should know what was going on.”

Jenny all but rushed to his side, her hands grabbing hold of his arm and Anne took a breath, turned away to look down at the floor. She couldn’t bear to see the confusion so clearly displayed on Phillip’s face and maybe if he did’t look at her, he wouldn’t recognise her, maybe if --

“What is going on?”

“The woman you thought was a guest on this floor is the maid on this floor. Aren't you, Anne?”

She closed her eyes for a moment, then forced herself to look up, her eyes meeting Phillip’s and she wished she could take him aside, wished she could explain on her own terms; but maybe that wasn’t something she deserved.

“No. Wait, her name is Jenny.”

“No, Phillip, darling, that's my name. She steals clothes, identities--“

“What the hell's happening here? Why are you dressed that way? Jenny? Is this true?”

His confusion turned to anger as he pulled himself from Jenny’s grasp, stepping up to her and Anne wavered under his gaze, swallowed as she fought not to look away.

If anything, Phillip deserved the truth.

“Yeah, it is.”

She stared at him and he looked back, the bright blue of his eyes clouded with anger, confusion, something else that Anne couldn’t place and she opened her mouth again, wanted to explain more, but Mr Bennett interrupted her once again and she snapped her jaw shut, reluctantly turned away from Phillip.

“Miss Wheeler, you no longer work here. Go to security, hand in your passes and you'll be escorted from the building.”

“Yes, sir.”

Her response was meek and she realised full well there was nothing more she could do, nothing more she could say. She’d feared she might lose her job over this and her fear had come true, but if anything, Anne realised it was all her fault.

She shouldn’t have let herself get dragged away with this, should’ve put an end to it when she still could and then none of it would’ve gotten this out of hand.

It was all her own damned fault and that was that.

------------------------

“Anne! Jenny! Anne! l don't know which name to use.”

She’d done as she was told. She’d gone down to security, she’d handed in her passes and as promised, security has escorted her out of the building. Which left her out on the street, the small amount of personal affects she’d had in her locker stuffed down her bag and she was ready to head home.

Ready to get away from the hotel, to take a long bath, and forget about everything that had happened so she could move on with her life, but Phillip Carlyle was having none of it.

Reluctantly, she spun around, facing him, because no matter how much she wanted to move past this, part of her realised he was owed more of an explanation than he was given.

“Anne,” she offered, figuring the least she could offer was her real name and the anger from before seemed to have disappeared from his face, replaced by the initial confusion.

“I don't get it. What just happened?”

“What don't you get? l'm the maid.”

It was that simple, wasn’t it? She was the maid and she wasn’t Jenny Lind, she wasn’t Jenny Wheeler either, she wasn’t someone who he would be caught dead with under normal circumstances.

“What was all this, some kind of bet? A little game of what, get-the-guests?”

Anne shook her head, hated to think that he would assume that, that it was some sort of game to her. Maybe he didn’t know her at all, but just because she’d given him a different name didn’t mean she’d acted different around him. Maybe it had only been a couple of days, but didn’t he know her better than to think she would do something like that?

“I was trying on her clothes, and you were there and you invited me out, and everything--“

“And you thought you had to lie to keep me interested?”

“Who's kidding who here? Think you would've looked at me if you knew l was the maid?”

Her jaw set, she glared at him. He came from a world of privilege, raised with money from the moment he was born, moved on to become a successful actor and he’d never wanted for anything. He moved in different circles than she did, interacted with different people and that was fine, that was his prerogative, but she couldn’t let him get away with suggesting he would’ve given her the same attention if he’d known who she really was.

“Well....”

“I don’t think so.”

And he seemed affronted by that, brows furrowing as he shook his head, stepped up closer to her.

“You didn't give me a chance. You stand on your soapbox, judging everyone, so sure they're judging you.”

She stopped then, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she turned towards him. She was vaguely aware that they’d attracted a following, a gaggle of press and paparazzi had flocked towards them, taking pictures, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“And you think they're not? Come on. Half the time, l'm a stereotype they make fun of. The other half of the time, l'm invisible. Maybe that's the point.”

She paused, taking a deep breath before uncrossing her arms, stepping closer so she could prod him in the chest.

“The first time you saw me, l was cleaning your bathroom, only you didn't see me,” she stated, snapped at him, because it was true. It was after she’d spotted him in the hallway, that same day, and she’d been doing her job and he walked in, didn’t even see her as he went on with business.

And it was nothing new, nothing that any other guest hadn’t done before, but he couldn’t get away with claiming he would’ve given her the same attention he had now if he’d known she was a maid.

“Was l supposed to introduce myself while taking a leak? You can't nail me for that.”

And he was still argueing, yet at the same time he seemed to deflate a little, huffing out a breath. He glanced around, seemingly only then aware of the following of press they’d amassed, but Anne’s gaze was fixed on him and soon he was looking right back at her.

“Anne. I just want the truth.”

There was a pleading to his voice that made her falter, brows furrowing as she looked at him, then at the press surrounding them and then back at him, so easily drawn in by him that she could tune out the rest of the world as she spoke.

“All right, you want the truth?” she started, clearing her throat, hesitating for a moment before she continued. “There was a part of me that wanted to see what it felt like… to have someone like you look at me the way you did, just once.”

It felt almost silly to admit, almost silly to tell him this, because she felt childish for it. For wanting something that she couldn’t have, for knowing that it would never work out well, yet going for it anyway; it was foolish. Foolish and stupid and now it cost her her job too.

“And l'm sorry. Truly. If l could rewind the past week, l would.”

And she was ready to turn away then, ready to walk away from him and to leave him in the past, but Phillip wasn’t done yet.

“Was any of it real?”

His voice was quiet, a vulnerability to it that made her heart skip a beat and part of her was mad that he had to ask, but could she really blame him? She’d been lying to him from the start and maybe it was just about her name, maybe it was just something small and innocent, but one lie had lead to another and he had every right to doubt her right now.

She wanted him to believe her though, when she said that it was real. Didn’t want him to think that any of this had been a game to her, because it hadn’t.

“Yeah, it was real.”

And even the press surrounding them was quiet now, no longer asking their questions and she was grateful for it, grateful for not having to raise her voice as she looked up at him, eyes pleading with him to believe her.

“It was so real it made me wonder how l was ever gonna give you up. But l had to give you up. That was the plan. And then last night… I couldn’t.”

The cameras lit up again, flashes blinding her a little and she stepped back, clutching her bag to her chest as if she needed something to hold on to.

“I’m sorry,” she mouthed, moving backwards then, and it almost pained her to turn away from him, doing so slowly, sparing one more glance back at him before disappearing in the crowd of people that was still gathered around them.

“Good-bye.”

Chapter Text

Life went on. Unsurprisingly, really, yet in the same breath she would’ve thought things might be different somehow. They were, the first few days. Anne found herself hounded by the press, people asking questions left and right, about her and Phillip, about what had happened, and she’d ignored them all.

At some point, they’d given up.

And that was when life had truly gone back to normal. She’d applied for a new job at another hotel, did her work quietly and efficiently, made sure to be invisible, just like she’d always been taught and slowly but surely, life simply went back to normal.

Ty’s school started again, meaning no rushing back and forth between work and home to fix up his lunches and so Anne found herself sitting alone in the hotel cafeteria one day, enjoying her lunch.

There was some sort of event going on outside, commotion that had brought a lot of press and a lot of important people and she’d chosen to stay away from it all. She’d had enough of excitement and events to last her a life time and she was more than happy to just sit here and --

“Hey auntie Anne.”

Ty’s face pulled her away from her thoughts and she spun around in her chair, eyes going a little wide when she realised he wasn’t alone.

“Ty? What are you both doing down here? What's--?”

“Hello.”

Phillip Carlyle was with him, Phillip Carlyle who Anne hadn’t seen in months, Phillip Carlyle who she assumed had gone on with his life, who she assumed she meant nothing to, but the smile on his face suggested otherwise and she couldn’t help but return it, a little hesitant.

“Hi.”

She didn’t know what she was supposed to say to him, didn’t know what he was doing here, and Ty was giving her a hopeful look and it wasn’t until Anne turned to the side that she realised a number of people had gathered behind the door, camera flashes going off and she was transported right back to the last time she’d seen Phillip.

Things hadn’t worked out so well then.

“Hi,” Phillip repeated, stepping closer to her, seemingly a little hesitant and Anne pushed herself up from her seat, smoothed down her maid’s uniform as she kept her gaze fixed upon him.

“Look.... Can we start over? Second chance, second date? You as you, me as me. No secrets. What do you think?”

It seemed too good to be true, like some sort of crazy dream and Anne would be lying if she hadn’t thought about him, hadn’t had rare hopeful moments where she thought maybe, just maybe, they would get a second chance.

She’d just never expected it was something Phillip wanted as well.

Phillip who she’d lied to, Phillip who came from a world so very different from her own, Phillip who she’d honestly thought was glad to be rid of her once the truth had come out.

Apparently though, she’d been wrong about him.

She hesitated, then slowly nodded her head, stepping up closer to him, holding out her hand for him to shake.

“Anne Wheeler. Housekeeping,” she introduced herself, watching as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips and he cleared his throat, taking her outstretched hand, shaking it.

“Phillip Carlyle. Actor. I'd appreciate if you went to see my new movie…”

Anne smirked, shrugging her shoulders lightly. “We'll see.”

And then he used his grip on her hand to pull her in closer, leaning in to kiss her and Anne let her eyes fell shut, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck as she returned the kiss, oblivious to the cameras flashing as the press found their way inside, easily losing herself in a second chance with Phillip Carlyle.