So I've never written a Merlin fanfiction before. I've only ever written a LOTR one and never published it. This is the first time I'm publishing anything on here, so please be kind! Criticism is welcome though! A bit of a heads up: There's graphic sex scenes later one. Secondly, I have a hard time writing in a linear order, so a lot of the time, I've written just scenes and have had to go back and tie them together. Sorry if I skip too far into the future at times.

Chapter One

"Arthur, finally!" Uther Pendragon said, his voice tight with annoyance as his son walked through his office doors, ten minutes late.

"Sorry Father, but I had to pick up this stupid dry cleaning and they mucked it up," Arthur started to explain, holding up a suit covered with a plastic bag, the white spots of damage clearly visible. "If I had an assistant none of this would have been a problem." He reminded his father. He had been in need of an assistant ever since he last one had suddenly realized her dream of becoming a writer and quit to write full time.

"About that, HR has interviewed candidates and narrowed it down to one who looks promising. He'll be at your office at 10 for a final interview with you," Uther said as he gestured for his son to sit down, "now onto business. There is the matter of the Shaw estate that needs to be dealt with; I can trust you to take care of everything?"

"Yes," Arthur nodded, mentally trying to keep track of all the things he needed to do.

"And there's the meeting with the contractor at noon to discuss the demolish. Oh and accounting called, they wanted to see some receipts for a dinner you went to."

"Is that everything?"He asked, eyebrow rising slightly. He felt like it was impossible to keep track of everything he already needed to know, let alone what his father continuously added on.

"Yes, yes, you can go now." His father dismissed him with a wave of his hand. Arthur stood up, relieved to be out of his father's presence and to finally get on with his day. He walked out of his office and headed to the elevator to go down to the eighth floor where his own office was. He took a glance at his watched as he waited and sucked a breath in through his teeth. It was already 9:30 and he hadn't even made it to his office. No doubt, there would be dozens of messages in his mailbox, a stack of mail on his desk and memos spitting across the room from the fax. God I really need an assistant! He thought to himself as he stepped into the elevator. His cell phone vibrated angrily in his pocket and he pulled it out just as the elevator stopped at his floor.

"Good morning Mr. Pendragon!" Erin, the front desk receptionist for his department greeted him. He barely acknowledged her greeting with a nod as he brushed passed his employees, bumping shoulders with them as he gazed through his emails on his phone, ignoring the many glares he was given and the few employees that he brushed passed to fast that he knocked everything out of their hands.

The next half hour went by so fast that Arthur hadn't even realized it was 10 when Erin knocked on his door.

"Sir, there's a Merlin Emrys to see you," she said gently and Arthur nodded distractedly.

"Send him in." Arthur gathered up his mail, the memos, tablet, and the dozens of other papers he was just too busy at the moment to look at.

"Hello," came a quiet voice from across the desk. Without looking up, Arthur held up the stack of papers.

"I don't have time to ask you ridiculous questions about your greatest and weakest abilities, so consider this a trial run." Arthur spoke quickly, gathering up everything he could think of that he wanted to get rid of. He had made a list somewhere, if he could just find it... there! He snatched up the list and finally looked up at the boy in front of him. The boy, Merlin, was looking at him with a mixture of shock, horror and excitement, stark black hair dishevelled and sticking out everywhere, black square framed glasses sat crookedly on his nose as he shifted his arms. He reached out his hand, taking the slip of paper from Arthur and sticking it between his teeth before he nearly fell over trying to catch a stray receipt from falling out of the pile. He was dressed in a blue dress shirt that was just slightly too big and a tad wrinkled where it tucked into his black dress pants that hung loosely over his hips. Arthur noticed that he had a small backpack strapped to his back where a helmet dangled which explained the wrinkles if he was riding a bike. "I need all of that sorted, emails responded to, appointments made and synced to my phone," he stood up, grabbing Merlin's elbow and directing him out of the office to a small desk just outside where a computer and phone sat on his glass surface. "This is your desk, keep it organized and hold the rest of my calls for the morning!" He ordered and stalked back into the office, slamming his door behind him.

Merlin stood rooted in place, papers and tablet precariously balanced in his arms staring after the crazed blonde. What was he thinking?! How was he supposed to know what to do with everything? He opened his mouth to call out to him but the list was stuck to his lips and he spat it out with annoyance.

"Don't worry dear; he's like that with everyone." The receptionist said gently as Merlin sat his burden down on the desk.

"Thanks," he mumbled and pulled his bag off. He drew in a deep breath and rubbed his hands together, well this was it, his moment to prove himself. If he wanted this job, he had to figure things out fast and there was no time to waste. He knew it would be crazy to work as a personal assistant to the CEO of one of the country's largest corporate businesses, he knew that whoever he worked for would most likely turn out to be a jerk, but whatever hopes he had had of the perfect interview quickly vanished. He sent a quick text to Will, his best friend and roommate, letting him know he wouldn't make lunch and that he was going to be working the full day and would be home tonight. After he hit send, he sat down and turned on the computer. While he waited, he went through the stack of papers. The first slip appeared to be a list of tasks that needed to be completed including: make a reservation at The Garden for 8 pm Thursday September 8, pick up suit from Louis', call Sandra and cancel lunch this afternoon, meeting at noon with contractor, get receipts to accounting, and the list of demands went on. Taking a deep breath, Merlin looked at the now loaded computer and groaned-employee log in required. He decided instead of logging on immediately, he would continue to sort through the papers. He found the dozen receipts that were mentioned on the To Do list and stapled them together with a stapler he found in the desk drawer and set them aside. He pulled out his sticky notes and pen from his bag and wrote "Accounting?" in big letters across it and stuck it to the receipts. Next he moved onto a thick stack of papers that were held together with a large black clip. He looked through them and recognized them as a contract for a recent accusation for a small family owned store that dealt with custom designed clothing. He read through it easily, his degree from Oxford was in business law and he had done exceeding well and much to his benefit, he was gifted with a photographic memory. There was a small sticky note on the back page that had "fax to legal" scribbled across it in nearly unintelligible writing. Merlin clucked his tongue and re-wrote the note, stuck it to the top of the papers and set them beside the receipts. He continued going through the papers, tisking as he found things that needed to be sent out yesterday and organizing them into neat piles, keeping them all sectioned to the appropriate departments. As he read he got a better understanding of exactly what it was that Arthur dealt with. All the papers were related to smaller businesses that were either for sale, going out of business or in need of some business advice. Arthur's department handled all small accounts meaning business with less than 300 employees and that earned less than 1 million in profits. They seemed to buy and sell several businesses a month, flipping them like houses and selling them for three times the value they purchased them at. Arthur was responsible for investigating these businesses, overseeing what needed to be done and managing the transfer of titles. He was also responsible for creating new business plans, restructuring the management, and creating marketing plans for each business. Twenty minutes later, he had a neat little stack on his desk with his own To-Do list on top. First things first; find out where to get his employee log in information.

"Excuse me, Erin?" Merlin said, adjusting his glasses and smiling a goofy grin at the woman.

"Yes dear?"

"So... where do I get my log in information and all that stuff?" He asked, biting his lip nervously and she laughed gently.

"Third floor, to the left sweetie, ask for Gaius, he'll get you everything you need." She said sweetly and Merlin grinned.

"Thanks beautiful!" He shouted as he ran to the elevator, clutching his stack of papers to his chest, barely catching the elevator before the doors closed. He bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited for the elevator to get to the third floor. He wanted to get everything sent out to the correct departments by 11 so that he had time to get situated before the meeting at noon. He wasn't sure if he would be required to sit in on the meeting or not, but he figured he should be ready just in case. The elevator chimed as it reached the desired floor and Merlin jumped out, nearly tripping over his own feet. To the left was a door with a gold plate reading Human Resources on it and he pushed it open, walking into another office where cubicles sat in rows behind a front desk.

"Please hold," the receptionist said and held up a finger to Merlin when he approached, she pressed several buttons on the phone and then lifted the mouth piece of the headset. "What can I do for you?" She asked busily.

"I need to speak with Gaius... I was told he'd set me up with an employee number and everything?" Merlin explained although she had stopped listening at the mention of Gaius and was already dialing numbers in the phone.

"Gaius, a new hire for you." She paused, "yes, I'm sure. He says he was told to come see you." She frowned and looked up at him, "who sent you?"

"Uh, Erin... the girl on the sixth floor... I'm Arthur Pendragon's new assistant."

"Yes, he says he's Arthur's new assistant... ok... I'll let him know." She disconnected the call and folded her hands in front of her. "Gaius wasn't expecting you but says to come in anyway. His office is just across the hall to the right of the elevators." She pointed to the door he had just come through.

"Thanks," he smiled and went back through the hall, knocking on the dark door.

"Come in!"

Merlin pushed open the door and smiled at the older gentleman who was standing by a small table, pouring tea from a kettle.

"Would you like any tea?" He asked, glancing briefly at Merlin who shook his head.

"No thanks. I'm here because I need my employee log in for the computer." He explained and Gaius waved his hand.

"Yes, I know why you're here Merlin. I take it Arthur is making you do a trail run for the day?"

"Yes he is. Does he do that a lot?" He asked, sitting down in the chair Gaius gestured for him to sit in.

"Almost always to his new employees. He isn't one for one to one interviews; he prefers to see what someone has to offer in action."

"You sound like you know him quite well," Merlin observed.

"Oh I should say so! I've known him since he was still wetting himself and giggling at his own farts!" Gaius chuckled and Merlin looked at him thoroughly confused. "I've been a friend of Uther Pendragon for nearly 25 years and have known Arthur his whole life," he explained with a smile on his face.

"Oh," Merlin nodded, that made a lot more sense. He was suddenly having horrifying images of his new boss standing around in a diaper giggling as he pooped himself. Well, he was a bit of a prat come to think of it Merlin thought.

"I was the one who thought you would be a good fit for the job," Gaius went on, "I recognized your name at once. I think I knew your mother in college..." he trailed off, lost in old memories.

"Well, I appreciate the recommendation. I really need this job, I mean, between rent in London and my student loans; I'm going to end up on the street soon!" He joked and Gaius smiled gently.

"How is your mother?" Gaius asked, "I haven't spoken to her since she fell ill."

"Ah," Merlin nodded, four years ago, his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, "better now. She's in remission they say, so knock on wood."

"I hope she stays in good health," Gaius said gently and Merlin smiled.

"Thanks, still have a lot of medical bills to pay though," he said, wanting to get back on track. He had a feeling that Gaius was that kind of person he could lose hours talking to if he let him.

"Yes well, let us get you situated with a temporary username and password."

"That'd be great thanks!" Merlin sighed with relief.

Twenty minutes later, Merlin was walking out of Gaius' office not only with his temporary employee information but Gaius had uploaded all the new contact information to what he had discovered, was his new employee tablet, provided him with a map of the building and also a list of all Arthur's favorite restaurants, shops, foods, and numbers for all said places. He was eternally grateful for Gaius' help and knew he needed to repay him somehow, perhaps when he had enough money he'd get him a muffin basket, he seemed like someone who would enjoy that. Stepping into the elevator, Merlin hit the button for the fifth floor to take him up to accounting. While he waited, he called The Garden and booked the reservation, adding it into Arthur's calendar expertly just as he stepped out onto the fifth floor. He looked around, slightly lost for a moment and then headed over to the closest desk where a man was typing away at his computer.

"Excuse me, I'm here to drop off some receipts from Arthur Pendragon, they were requested from an, um," he looked at his notes again, "an Errol." He smiled down at the gentleman who snatched them from his hand.

"Hey Errol! The Lordship finally sent down the receipts you requested two weeks ago!" He shouted and another man looked up from his desk with a scowl.

"About bloody time!" He growled and got up, taking the receipts from the first man. "I can't believe I had to call Uther just to get these receipts! Arthur's a spoiled rich boy who has no business being in the business world." Merlin observed them for a little bit, taking notice of their strong dislike for "the Lordship" before he turned around and headed back up to the eighth floor. It was nearing close to eleven by the time he finally located the fax machine where he promptly sent off the five faxes that needed to be sent. Hands finally clear of all the paper work, he sighed happily and stood in front of his desk, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything. All that was left was to pick up the suit from Louis by three but he figured he could get that when he ran out for lunch. He sat down and pulled up the accounts that he had sent contracts to legal for and spent the next half hour going through them and familiarizing himself with the projects. Sighing, he decided that there was nothing left to be done immediately; he knocked on Arthur's door.

"What?!" Arthur shouted from inside and Merlin timidly stepped inside.

"I just wanted to come speak with you Sir."

"What is it Merlin? Can't find your way to the fax machine?" He smirked and Merlin glared at him.

"No I found it just fine. I just wanted to inform you that I've dealt with all those papers you gave me earlier and I wanted to come in and see if you needed anything." He replied rather sharply.

"You're done with everything? You read through three contracts in what," Arthur looked down at the clock, "in an hour? Don't fuck with me Merlin; I have no patience for people who don't do a proper job!" He spat and Merlin felt his checks flush with anger.

"Excuse me sire!" He spat, temper rising quickly, "but I happen to be very capable of doing more than a proper job! I read through all the contracts and sent them to legal with the notes you provided."

"Bull shit! Those contracts where a hundred pages each, no one can read that much that fast."

"Oh yea? Why don't you ask me something then, hmm?" Merlin challenged and Arthur stood up, his chest puffing out in annoyance and authority.

"Fine! When was the deed of 392 Beverly St transferred to Charles Pearce?"

"December 12, 1998." Merlin answered without hesitation.

"Lucky guess," Arthur glared and thought for a moment, "the current profits of The Little Custom Shoe?"

"Trick question, The Little Custom Shoe has not produced a profit in over six months with a current debt of twelve thousand, three hundred and ninety nine dollars and eighty two cents. Camelot Inc first approached the owner, Guinevere Smith six months after her father, Tom Smith died during a mugging in June 2012. You spent two months trying to convince her to sell over the business to you with no success. Her business was still pulling a profit and I assume she wanted to see it through. Eight months later you personally approached her again and this time she acquiesced and you began working out the details. The contract I just sent to legal was the final draft of a yearlong battle with her about the property and what would happen to the business once purchased by Camelot." Merlin summarized his voice having slowly risen in volume as he went on and he now found himself slightly panting as he stared at Arthur in slight horror. Had he really just him off like that?

Arthur set down the pen he was holding and placed his hands on his hips as he surveyed Merlin again. This gangly boy who was wearing converse shoes, he noticed for the first time with slight disgust, had taken on a new light.

"Well perhaps you're not as useless as I thought you would turn out to be, Merlin." He said, making sure not to smile or show any indication that he was at all impressed when the truth was, he was very impressed. Not only had this twenty something year old managed to find his way around the offices without once bothering Arthur about how he was supposed to do anything but he had managed to read up on the current projects he was working on.

"Thank you sir," Merlin nodded his head a little and gripped his tablet tightly in the one hand, "it's almost noon now, Clinton will be here shortly, should I get some coffee ready? Or would you like me to call and get a table ready at Michelle's for lunch?" Arthur narrowed his eyes at him, how did he know he preferred to have his lunch meetings at Michelle's?

"No, call down to that sub place and order a tray of sandwiches and make a pot of coffee. We need to go over blueprints and it's easier to do that here than in a restaurant." Arthur explained, sitting back down in his chair.

"Ok, oh do you want me in the meeting with you? To take notes or anything?" Merlin asked and Arthur thought for a moment.

"Yes please, oh and for Christ's sake, have Erin route all my calls to you from now on. I can't take another bloody interrupting phone call." He ordered and Merlin nodded, sneaking out the door.

"Hey Erin," he said again with a giant grin on his face that immediately made her smile right back at him. "Would you be able to wire all of Mr. Pendragon's phone calls to me from now on?"

"Sure thing!" She nodded and reached into her drawer, "you'll need this" she said as he handed him a cordless headset. "They don't use cell phones much in this office for assistants, they route all phone calls first to the desk and if you're away then they route them to your tablet. I don't know if Gaius told you this or not, but you must always have your tablet with you! Always, Merlin, sleep with it, eat with it, it can never leave your side." She urged him and Merlin's eyes widened at her seriousness.

"I will," he assured her and placed the headset on his ear, "thanks for the advice." He smiled and went back to his desk. No sooner had he sat down when the phone began to ring. "Arthur Pendragon's office, how can I assist you?" Merlin said at once, stumbling awkwardly over the words as he wasn't sure exactly what he was supposed to say.

"What? Who is this?" The agitated voice asked.

"This is Merlin, Mr. Pendragon's personal assistant and who is this?" He asked, fumbling for his pen and pad of paper to take a message.

"This is Clinton, let Arthur know I'll be a few minutes late would you?"

"Absolutely! I'll let him know right away." Merlin smiled and then realized Clinton couldn't see him and immediately scolded himself for being so stupid.

"Alright," Clinton said and hung up before Merlin could get out a goodbye. Merlin pulled up his tablet and sent a message to Arthur on the inner office chat site: Clinton just called, said he'll be a few minutes late. Then he googled the sub shop that Arthur had mentioned, hoping it was the correct one and located their phone number which he promptly stored in his contacts.

"Hi, I need to place an order for delivery if that's possible," Merlin said once the person on the other end had stopped rambling on about the specials.

"Where to?"

"_"

"This for Camelot?" The gentleman asked.

"Yes, it is. Can I get a large tray of assorted sandwiches delivered here in... twenty minutes?" Merlin asked, realizing how tight he was for time.

"Ha! Twenty minutes at this hour? You're kidding right?"

"No... I'm not... I would come down and pick it up myself but I have to be in the meeting and well... half an hour?"

"Look-"

"Please? It's my first day and I really don't want to screw this up and he only just now told me to make the order and I think he already hates me so I really can't mess this up" Merlin begged, slightly praying that the other guy would have mercy and rush the order. He sighed so heavily Merlin felt he had just breathed in his ear.

"Look kid, I'll do what I can. Forty five minutes tops."

"Oh my god, you're amazing! Thank you thank you thank you!" Merlin grinned, wanting to reach through the phone and hug the man.

"Don't go thanking me just yet. You're working for a soulless machine you know that? I should let you get fired just to save you. They'll destroy you before you know what's happened." The man warned and Merlin gulped, he had heard a lot of bad things about P&S and he was all too familiar with the 'soul sucking, destroying' monster that was the corporate world.

"Thanks for the warning, I'll make sure to keep my eye out for the Soul Stealing Machines." Merlin said and then quickly provided the billing information and hung up. There was one more phone call he wanted to make quickly before another call came in.

"Louis Vuitton's, Beth speaking."

"Hi Beth, I'm calling regarding a suit that was supposed to be ready."

"What's the order number?" She asked, sighing with boredom or annoyance, Merlin couldn't tell.

"Uh, I don't have it but it's for Arthur Pendragon, you should have all his-"

"Ohmygod! It's for Mr. Pendragon?" She asked, suddenly becoming animated.

"Yea, I guess he ordered it last week?" Merlin chewed his lip nervously; he really had no idea when Arthur had ordered the suit.

"Yea, it's in, ready for pick up." She said and Merlin sighed with relief.

"Ok, what time do you close?" He asked, typing another message to Arthur, what time do you need your suit picked up at?

"Uh five duh," and suddenly she was back to the bored snob who realized she was only talking to the assistant and not the gorgeous blonde she had met on several occasions.

"Great, I'll be there between 3 and 4 to pick it up." Merlin said and quickly disconnected the call.

Ten minutes later, Merlin was walking Clinton into Arthur's office and pouring them coffee.

"Blimey!" Arthur spat when he took a sip of coffee, "what the devil is that?" He glared at Merlin who flushed a horrible shade of red.

"Uh, coffee," Merlin stammered, "is it no good?"

"No good? It tastes like rat piss!" Arthur roared.

"Tasted much of that have you?" Merlin asked with an impish grin and Arthur quickly narrowed his eyes.

"Are you being smart?"

"No sir," Merlin quickly shook his head, "wouldn't dream of it." Clinton chuckled quietly to himself at Merlin's sarcastic remark. Annoyed, Arthur tossed the cup of 'swill' into Merlin's hand, making it spill all down the front of his shirt.

"Go clean up and when you come back, bring me a cup of coffee from the staff room." Arthur ordered and Merlin quickly ducked out.

That asshole! That stupid, arrogant, dollophead! Merlin thought angrily as he stormed into the bathroom and ripped off his shirt. He stood over the sink shirtless, trying to scrub out the coffee and when it became clear he couldn't get it out he threw it against the mirror. If he could just give that prick his honest opinion. Merlin had heard about Camelot Inc long before he applied for the job. In fact, he was incredibly reluctant to even apply because he knew of the reputation it had for mistreating its employees but he was too desperate for a job to let it pass him by. It was actually Camelot Inc, Arthur himself, who had bought out the plant in the village Merlin had grown up that resulted in the loss of over 200 employees and ended up turning his town into a ghost town. He hated everything that Uther Pendragon stood for and here he was, working for the devil's son himself.

Merlin stared at himself in the mirror and swore he wouldn't lose himself to this job, that he wouldn't sell his soul just to make a few pounds. He gathered up his shirt and walked out of the bathroom quickly, ignoring the strange looks he was given as he walked through the corridor half naked. He grabbed his backpack and pulled out the t-shirt he had brought with him. He and Will had planned to go out after his interview to either drink in celebration or to soothe his ego and Merlin despised collared shirts so he'd brought a t-shirt along with him. He pulled it on and made his way to the staff lunch room where he poured Arthur a cup of coffee. He had half the mind to spit in it but was concerned he might be seen so instead resorted to just cursing it.

"Finally, hurry up Merlin," Arthur growled with annoyance, snatching the cup of coffee and sitting back down. "Sit down and take notes, don't speak, don't move and please, don't breathe too loudly, I'm getting a headache." He ordered and Merlin sat down obediently, mentally imagining dumping the hot liquid over Arthur's head and beating him senseless.
Clinton snickered, having known Arthur for several years now he knew how he seemed to thoroughly enjoy tormenting his staff, especially new staff. It was the jock in him, he knew, he too did the same thing with his crew.

The meeting was painfully boring and went on past an hour. Merlin's stomach rumbled with hunger, he had been too nervous to eat breakfast and was now seriously regretting that decision. He took notes but he wasn't really sure what to take note of. He ended up doodling on the page, drawing sketches of Arthur choking on coffee and looking like an idiot with a little word bubble that said 'Der, I'm a dollophead'. When the meeting finally did end, Arthur dismissed Merlin and Merlin decided it was a good time to go for lunch and pick up the suit.

He grabbed a sandwich from the sandwich tray that had been delivered and headed out of the office. He rode his bike for several blocks before he hit the shopping district where all the big name designer shops were. He located Louis Vuitton and locked his bike up outside. Walking into the store, he immediately felt out of place as everyone in the store stopped to stare at him. He cleared his throat and smiled awkwardly, smoothing out his VNV Nation t-shirt.

"Hello," he said as he came up to the girl behind the counter. She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Uh, I think you have the wrong store," she said annoyed and Merlin recognized the snarky voice as Beth.

"Nope, I called earlier about a suit for Arthur Pendragon, here to pick it up." Merlin said and her eyes widened.

"You're the personal assistant to Mr. Pendragon?" She asked, looking him up and down with renewed disgust.

"Yup, at least I am unless you don't give me the suit and then I'm pretty sure I'm going to be fired."

It took some convincing and Merlin had to show his staff ID before Beth would release the suit to him. He waited until he was outside before folding the large black garment bag, afraid that if Beth saw she would scream and take it away. He strapped it to his back and got back on the bike and rode back to the office. As he was taking the elevator back up, he got a text from Will asking about his day.

It's a nightmare so far, I don't think it could get much worse.

He had been very, very wrong. When he got back to his office, Arthur was standing at his desk looking at the notepad that Merlin had used during the meeting.

"Oh shit..." he said and Arthur looked up.

"Oh shit indeed, just what exactly is this supposed to be?" Arthur asked, holding up the sketch of Arthur wearing a crown and a ridiculously dumb look on his face with the caption 'Prince of Prats' underneath it.

"Um," Merlin pinched his lips together, "just a little sketch I was working on for a graphic novel," he lied.

"Uh huh and is there a reason your sketch looks suspiciously like me?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Does it?" Merlin asked, voice innocent as he looked at the sketch, "nah, I don't see it." He shook his head, "you're much taller."

"Merlin, you were supposed to be paying attention in the meeting! Not doodling on a piece of paper! This isn't acceptable!"

"I was paying attention, I swear to you," Merlin said quickly, hoping he wouldn't get fired, that would really not be good. "I remember everything, I heard it all, I could repeat it back to you if you'd like."

"No, its fine," Arthur said with a heavy sigh, "just... don't let me catch you doing it again." He disappeared into his office and Merlin stood there feeling like an ass. For a moment, he thought he had caught a glimpse of hurt in Arthur's eyes and he felt his stomach knot with guilt.

Bugger Merlin thought and knocked on Arthur's door. "Sir?"

"What is it Merlin?" Arthur asked, not looking up from his computer.

"I have your suit," he said holding up the garment bag.

"Put it on the couch," he instructed and Merlin laid it over the back of the black leather couch.

"What else can I do for you sir?" Merlin asked, making an effort to be extra considerate.

"Send out these memos, book board room three for Friday at 10 am for the staff meeting and be sure to invite everyone in our department." Arthur ordered and Merlin took the memos from him, ducking out of the office with an almost bow.

The rest of the day went by without anymore major issues and Merlin was surprised Arthur hadn't taken out his revenge for the sketches. At six, Arthur sent him home, telling him to stop in at Gaius' office in the morning to get a permanent employee ID. He was confused but relieved to have gotten the job. Merlin unlocked his bike and peddled down the street, thinking about the next day while he grinned his goofy grin. He survived his first day, he hoped he'd survive the next.