On Sunday evening when Arthur pulled into the long, curving driveway in front of his parents' mansion, he saw a dark green Range Rover already parked. His parents had invited the Nemeths for this 'family' dinner which meant Mithian would be here. That explained why his mother had been so anxious for him to come and yet had ensured he would be unaccompanied. She rarely missed an opportunity to show Arthur potential marriage partners more suitable than Gwen. With a grimace, he parked his MG in front of the five-car garage.
For a moment, he leaned his forehead on the steering wheel. His father had frowned on his relationship with Gwen from the start, but his mother had been more welcoming. Ygraine sincerely tried to befriend her son's girlfriend by shopping with her for clothes Gwen could not afford and trying to convince the younger woman not to work if she married Arthur. Gwen's polite but firm resistance to remake her into a copy of the socialites his parents approved of had not endeared her to them. Arthur steeled himself for a long night.
He found everyone on the patio having before-dinner drinks. The patio faced west to capture the sunshine which lasted well into the evening at this time of year. The afternoon's warmth lingered but a breeze kept the mosquitoes and flies at bay.
"Arthur."
His mother stood and came forward to usher him into the group. At her nod, the butler mixed him a drink which he gratefully accepted as Ygraine drew him toward the guests seated on comfortable white chairs. Morgana sat with Mithian at the opposite side of the patio from her husband, Urien, who was intent on his mobile phone and did not return Arthur's greeting.
"Arthur, you remember Rodor and Diane?" Ygraine said.
He nodded at the middle-aged couple who occupied the chairs beside his father. They both smiled and nodded in return.
Ygraine steered Arthur toward the bench the couple's daughter was seated on. "And of course you know Mithian."
The striking brunette broke off her conversation with Morgana to greet him.
He returned the salutation, then gave his mother a small smile as he leaned against a large planter rather than take the empty seat on the bench with Mithian.
Ygraine nodded politely at the three of them and returned to her chair beside Uther.
"Mithian and I were discussing the joys of marriage," Morgana said with an exaggerated wink. "You're just about the age I was when I married; the perfect age to tie the knot."
Arthur glanced over at Urien who seemed far more interested in his phone than his wife or her family. "You would be well able to advise her on wedded bliss."
Morgana narrowed her eyes at his jibe. Arthur wondered when they had slipped into needling each other incessantly. As children they spent a lot of time in each other's company during most of which they got along well. When he first joined their father's company, Morgana, more than Uther, had been his mentor.
Trips to her department brought him into frequent contact with Gwen. Morgana had noticed the growing attraction between him and Gwen and had seemed to resent it, though he was not certain why since she spoke highly of her subordinate's job skills and work ethic. But his relationship with his sister had deteriorated and as her marriage broke down she became even more caustic.
Morgana tilted up her chin while her tone remained falsely cheerful. "You should discover wedded bliss for yourself. Too bad you and your girlfriend broke up."
Arthur frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Oh," Morgana said. "I assumed since Gwen was back with Lancelot you two must have broken up. Why, you look as shocked as I was. I'm sorry. If nothing else I expected Merlin would have told you after that incident on Friday."
She did not sound sorry.
"I don't know what you mean," he said.
Mithian politely turned her head away and Arthur was suddenly conscious of the listening ears surrounding them. He caught his mother's eye before she returned her attention to the conversation with Mithian's parents.
With a glare for Morgana, Arthur turned to Mithian. She had a voice that was pleasant to listen to and maintained close ties with several people they had gone to school with.
By the time they all sat down to supper, Arthur realized how out of touch he had been with many of his school mates. Between work and socializing with Gwaine, Lancelot, Percival, and Merlin he neglected the young men he had grown up around, other sons of wealthy families, most of whom were married now to young women of their set like Mithian.
His mother seated the pretty brunette beside him for the meal. Despite the not-so-subtle matchmaking, Mithian was more pleasant company than Arthur's sister and her husband who were trading barbed comments and cutting glares on the other side of the table.
Looking at Mithian, Arthur wondered why she had not yet married. She had an innate beauty that most of their contemporaries paid good money to acquire.
"What do you do when you're not designing window displays for your father's store?" Arthur asked.
She smiled as she glanced sideways at him. "I like to cook, actually."
His eyebrow raised. "Why would you be embarrassed about that? I think it's a great hobby."
Cooking was the one thing that caused tension between him and Gwen, neither of them enjoyed preparing food, or at least neither of them wanted to cook after a long day at the office. Usually they went out to eat or ordered in.
"Do you like to cook?" Mithian asked.
"No," Arthur said. "I like to eat."
She had a lovely laugh.
When they had finished after-dinner drinks and Uther and Ygraine were saying farewell to their guests, Arthur realized how much he had enjoyed himself that evening.
He was sitting on his parents' sofa, sipping a glass of water and waiting for the lingering effects of alcohol to wear off before he drove home, when his mother returned to the room and sat across from him. His gaze darted around the room but Morgana and Urien had left long ago with scowls on their faces from a fight they had had. His mother had cornered him alone.
"I hope you had a nice time," Ygraine said.
"Yes, I did." Arthur set down his glass. "I should get going."
"Before you do," Ygraine gestured him to sit when he made to get up, "I want to take this opportunity to have a talk. We rarely see you these days."
Arthur swallowed a groan.
"You spend too much time with your co-workers and not enough with your family and friends."
"My co-workers are my friends," Arthur said. "And I work with my father and both my sisters."
Ygraine waved a hand dismissively. "That's fine but it's not good to completely lose touch with everyone else."
A trace of guilt poked him.
"You weren't at either Bertrand's or Ranulf's weddings."
"I didn't know either of them was getting married."
His mother shook her head. "That's even worse. The three of you spent nearly all of your University years together."
Arthur tried to remember when he had last seen his old friends. There had been no falling out, other people had simply become a bigger part of his life.
Uther returned to the room but rather than join his wife and son he quietly went to the bar and poured himself another drink.
"Arthur." Ygraine leaned forward to ensure she captured his full attention. "It's high time for you to be married and settled down with a wife who will support you in your career."
"Like Mithian?"
His mother ignored the sarcasm. "Yes, like Mithian or Elena. A woman dedicated to you and not her own career."
Arthur did not mistake the reference to Gwen.
"Your daughter has a career," Arthur said.
Ygraine shook her head. "And you can see what a shambles her marriage is, but Morgana is not going to listen to me about anything."
The problems between his sister and her husband were more complex than her career. "I don't think –"
"Listen to your mother."
Arthur's gaze jumped to Uther who had apparently been following their conversation from where he stood.
"Vivienne insisted she could simultaneously be a designer, Morgause's mother, and my wife," Uther said. "But she could not, no one can. You have to make choices."
"Thank you both for a lovely supper." Arthur got to his feet. "I'll see you soon." He tried not to let them see how anxious he was to get out of their house, but the tires of his MG squealed as he dropped the clutch and pulled out of their driveway.
Merlin sent a quick message to Arthur to confirm that the executive vice president was free, then gathered up George's report, the contracts marketing had provided, and a few sample consulting invoices. He took the elevator up to the executive floor.
Morgause was waiting to get onto the elevator when he stepped off. The stunning blonde with her elaborately styled hair, flawless makeup, and expensive suit gave him a brief nod which he returned as he moved out of her way. There was little resemblance between her and Morgana despite the fact that both of them were strikingly beautiful, so Merlin assumed that each took after her mother rather than Uther.
Arthur waved him in to his office and then turned back to his computer.
Merlin closed the door to shut out the hum of office conversations and took a seat at the small conference table in the corner. From the wide, rain-splattered window Merlin could glimpse the river between nestled buildings.
A gust of wind splashed raindrops against the glass. Water pooled on the flat rooftops and wiper blades snapped back and forth on vehicles below.
"You wanted to speak with me?" Arthur asked as he joined Merlin at the table.
"Yes, it's about the consultants we hired last year to assist in the Latin America negotiations."
When Merlin flipped open the file of documents he had brought, Arthur looked at them with a puzzled frown. Merlin launched into an explanation of what George had found and why it was a concern that large sums had been paid to consultants for poorly-specified services which put the company at risk of a charge of foreign bribery.
Arthur nodded a few times, but did not ask any questions until Merlin finished his account.
"Internal audit looked at the payments and all was good?" Arthur asked.
"Yes."
"The only issue is that marketing took a few shortcuts on vetting these consultants and drawing up the agreements?"
"Yes," Merlin said. "But –"
"My father and the marketing directors are familiar with our procedures on dealing with foreign officials, I am sure they covered all the bases even if they did not document every step."
"They probably have." Most likely it was a simple matter of executives neglecting to document their agreements; marketing personnel were impatient with rules they believed interfered with their ability to do business. Uther had a marketing background himself and he would have put making sales ahead of ensuring agreements were in writing or running background checks. Still, not following procedure set a bad precedent. Even if all was good this time, the risk remained of an employee taking advantage of lax controls to funnel money to the wrong pockets.
"Make note of the purchasing policy violations and put it in the quarterly summary. Is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?"
Merlin shook his head. Uther would not appreciate having the risks of bypassing corporate procedures pointed out to him even though it was his own company at risk, so unless Arthur thought it was important enough to discuss with the Chief Executive Officer the issue would go no further.
"Nothing happened on Friday?"
Arthur was staring at him with his brows drawn together.
Merlin sat back and sighed. "Did Morgana say something to you?"
"We had a little chat before our Sunday family meal," Arthur said. "Were you planning on telling me that Guinevere and Lancelot were back together and that is why she has been avoiding me for a week?"
"I don't know that they are together and you should be having this conversation with her."
"You are supposed to be my friend."
"I am, and I'm Gwen's friend, and Lancelot's so leave me out of it and ignore Morgana. Talk to Gwen."
Arthur sat back and drummed his fingers on the tabletop.
"Talk to her," Merlin said. He waited in silence until Arthur dropped his gaze and sighed.
"Maybe it's for the best, anyway. Gwen and I have no future together."
"I think you were made for each other."
"My family does not agree with you."
"Are you going to let your parents dictate who you fall in love with?"
"Of course not. But there is no sense leading Gwen on if we are not suited for marriage."
"I agree. If you don't want to pursue a serious relationship you should step aside and let her find someone who does."
"She already has."
"Whatever Morgana told you was exaggerated."
"Maybe."
"You should know, too, that Gwen saw that girl in the club kiss you."
Arthur's brows rose. "Ah." Then he ran a hand through his hair. "Lancelot would make her happy and Gwen deserves that."
Merlin searched his friend's face but Arthur and Gwen were grownups and there was nothing he could say they did not already know. He gathered up his papers and stood.
Arthur glanced at the folder. "Merlin, don't worry about those consultants. I'm sure everything is fine." He stared at the raindrops on the window pane.
Merlin gave him a nod he did not see and stepped out of Arthur's office. Morgana stood in the hall, arms crossed.
"What do you think of Miss Perfect cheating on my brother?"
Her voice had been cutting but not loud enough for Arthur to hear.
Merlin glanced over, relieved that Arthur's assistant's desk was empty and no one else had been in earshot. "Gwen is not perfect, nor was she cheating, not that it is any of my business or yours," he said.
"Gwen can do no wrong, can she?" Morgana's eyes narrowed. "Unlike me." She turned and marched down the hall.
Merlin sighed. It had not been wise to snap at her the way he had; she was, after all, the CEO's daughter. For some reason he over-reacted when he was in her presence. Normally he was good at reading people, but around Morgana he felt like a self-conscious teenager, uncertain whether he could trust his instincts.
He wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers and returned to his office.
Elaine was waiting in the bar when Gwen rushed in.
"Sorry I'm late," Gwen said. "I stopped to get something to eat and it took forever, then there was no parking anywhere close by. Thanks for saving us a table."
She laid her purse on the round surface as she took a seat on the tall bar stool and looked around. The other booths and tables were all taken and few seats were available even on the bar stools lined up around the stage area. Most of the patrons, she noticed, were female.
"It's not usually this busy on a Wednesday, is it?" Gwen asked.
Elaine nodded toward a poster on the wall. "I guess people got a look at the band that's playing tonight and showed up to watch them."
"You mean listen to them."
"Nope, I mean watch." Elaine's eyes went back to the poster. "Who would have thought there were other men as good-looking as Lancelot? Besides your Arthur, I mean."
Gwen looked at the colour picture announcing the entertainment for Wednesday; it was not a high-quality picture but it did showcase the four band members. She glanced back at her friend who winked in response.
Elaine's hair was streaked purple this month which looked good with her dark eyebrows. Her blue dress was made of a material that glittered in the subdued lighting, the bodice tight and low-cut, and the skirt hugged her hips with a short slit on the side.
Gwen had just gotten her drink order when the band tuned up. She and Elaine were sitting off to the side, but Lancelot scanned the crowd and smiled when he spotted her. She waved.
"They're not too bad," Elaine said over the music during the group's fifth song.
Gwen raised an eyebrow as she turned from the band to face her friend. "Does that mean you are listening as well as watching?"
"I can do both," Elaine said.
When the group took a break, Lancelot and the other guitarist made their way to where Gwen and Elaine were sitting.
"This is Galahad," Lancelot said.
Gwen returned Galahad's polite greeting. Lancelot's companion with the neatly trimmed mustache and beard outlining his lips reminded her of Gwaine although Galahad's dark hair was much shorter.
"You remember Elaine?" Gwen said.
"Yes, I do."
Elaine sat straighter when Lancelot smiled at her as his glance ran down the short length of the blue dress.
"You sounded really good," she said.
In the little time that the two guitarists chatted with them, Gwen noticed several of the female patrons openly staring at the two handsome men. Most gave her and Elaine scathing looks. Elaine's only reaction was to throw her shoulders back and toss her purple hair to the side, dividing her animated chatter between both men.
Later, after the band had finished their second set and packed up, Lancelot returned to Gwen and Elaine's table. He offered polite responses to his admirers as he made his way through the crowd gathered around him.
"I'm glad you came," he said when he reached their table.
"Thanks for inviting us," Gwen said.
"Can we buy you a drink?" Elaine asked.
Lancelot glanced around but there were no unoccupied stools.
"You can have my seat. I should go." Gwen picked up her purse as she stood and sent Lancelot a friendly smile. "It was nice to hear you play."
"Thanks." He returned the smile. "I hope I'll get to hear the rest of that poem some time."
She nodded and said goodbye to Elaine. As Gwen weaved her way through the crowd around the door, she looked back to see Lancelot and Elaine talking together, heads bent close and knees almost touching.
Merlin leaned against the doorframe of Arthur's office, arms crossed, until finally his boss looked up and met his eyes.
"What are you doing here so late?" Arthur asked.
"Trying to impress the boss."
"Try harder."
Merlin chuckled and came in to sit down in the chair opposite his friend's desk.
Arthur raised a brow. "You would impress me more if you were actually working."
"It's past quitting time," Merlin said. "Everyone else has gone home."
"Are you here to tell me to go home?"
"No, I'm here to tell you that Gwen is as miserable as you are and you should talk to her. Two weeks is long enough for the two of you to mope around making the rest of us crazy."
Arthur frowned and drummed his fingers on the desktop. "If you have nothing better to do than monitor my love life I can find more work for you."
"Well, there are questionable payments to consultants in certain countries I could investigate further."
"I've read the quarterly summary." Arthur stopped drumming his fingers. "Is Gwen really miserable?"
Merlin rolled his eyes. "Ask her."
"You're right, Merlin, I need to talk to her." Arthur got to his feet and moved around his desk to the door but he paused before he strode away down the corridor. "I'll ask my father about those consultants."
"Thanks, Arthur," Merlin said.
When Merlin left Arthur's office, his assistant's chair was empty as were the other desks outside the offices on the quiet floor. There were only a half dozen executive offices along with the large boardroom, small meeting room, and reception area, all of which were dark. Uther was out of town all week and Morgause's office was empty. There was a light on in Morgana's office but Merlin did not see anyone in it when he passed by and turned the corner on his way to the elevators. He did, however, hear raised voices coming from the semi-dark meeting room.
Before Merlin could slip quietly past, Accolon slammed out of the room and stomped toward the elevator. Then a loud crash came from inside the meeting room followed by an exclamation of pain.
Merlin rushed into the room to see Morgana standing above the remnants of a smashed vase nursing a cut finger. She glared at him but her eyes were bright with moisture.
He went to the side table and collected a few paper napkins which he dipped in the water pitcher circled by glasses etched with the company logo. Briefly, he thought she was not going to take the makeshift bandage from him but she snatched the wet napkins and pressed them against her cut.
Still without speaking, he collected a small garbage can and knelt to carefully gather the biggest pieces of broken glass from the floor under the meeting room table.
"The cleaners can get that," she said.
They could but it was hardly fair to leave them a mess of glass shards. He slid aside one of the chairs and continued to collect the pieces big enough to pick up by hand.
After a moment, Morgana bent down with the napkins wrapped tight around her right hand and picked up glass pieces with her left to throw in the garbage can.
Once they had cleaned up what they could, Merlin swept the smaller bits off the chair with his hand and then flinched. Chagrined, he saw a line of red well up along the edge of his palm.
When Morgana handed him back one of the napkins, he looked at her in surprise. "Thank you."
She looked away. "I'll leave a note for the cleaners so they know there are bits of glass here."
They had done the best they could without a vacuum cleaner or a broom. He picked a last shard from one of the chairs, then brushed off his hands over the garbage can. He straightened to find himself face to face with Morgana.
"How is your finger?" he asked, glancing down at her hands.
She pulled the napkins away and examined the cut. "It's stopped bleeding. What about yours?"
Before he could respond she took his right hand in hers and brushed a finger along the red mark.
"It's fine," he said, embarrassed at the squeaky tone, and cleared his throat.
She nodded and dropped his hand without looking at him.
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, unwilling to leave her alone and upset but without any reason to stay. "Well," he said.
She raised her eyes then to meet his gaze. "Thank you for your help, Merlin."
"It's okay."
She had beautiful green eyes outlined by the longest, darkest lashes he had ever seen. She must have left her blazer in her office because she was wearing a sleeveless green lacy top which showed a fair amount of cleavage. Her hair was down today, long dark locks that curled at the ends above her breasts.
"I better go," he said without moving.
"You don't think much of me, do you, Merlin?" she asked. "You are more angry at me for what I told Arthur than at Gwen for kissing another man."
"Gwen has a good heart."
"It's easy to be good and sweet when you have a loving family and a father who dotes on you."
Merlin caught his breath; despite his years of friendship with Arthur he did not know a lot about their family although he could imagine Uther was anything but loving. When Arthur spoke of his father it was usually with respect but never with affection.
"Did you know," Morgana said, "that my mother was diagnosed with cancer two years ago and my father never missed one day of work? Never cancelled a single business trip?"
"No."
"Would your father have done that?" She stood stiffly, hands clenched at her sides.
"I don't have a father," Merlin said.
Morgana blinked. "That's biologically impossible."
The corners of Merlin's mouth twitched. "I mean I don't know anything about him."
"Not even his name?"
He shook his head. "My mother raised me on her own."
"I would still trade places with you. I would have preferred never to know Uther."
"Don't be too sure," Merlin said quietly.
She stared down at her hands, her voice lowered. "My mother was already pregnant with me by Uther when she left her first husband. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like – what I would have been like – if Gorlois had been my father instead."
Merlin hid his shock; he didn't want to offend her. Besides, she had not had any more control over her parentage than he had had.
"You can imagine the gossip when I was born so soon after they married, but since I have Uther's dark hair and green eyes instead of resembling Gorlois …" She shrugged. "It's a good thing I'm not blonde and blue-eyed like my mother."
Merlin had met Ygraine at company Christmas parties and thought Morgana did resemble her mother even with dark hair and green eyes. "You're as beautiful as she is."
He had not intended to voice that thought and when her eyes fastened on his face he felt his cheeks grow warm.
She leaned toward him, searching his face with a puzzled frown. He would have stepped away from her scrutiny except that the table was beside him and he could feel a chair against the backs of his knees.
Morgana put one hand on the chair back, pinning him against the table. He had a good view of her breasts under the green lacy top despite the dimness of the room with only the perimeter track lights on, not the bright overhead.
The darkness reminded him there was no one else on the entire floor. He pulled his gaze up from her cleavage but got only as far as her lips. They were red and slightly parted and he was unable to stop himself from bending slightly, wondering when she would stop him from kissing her. Then he felt her lips on his and all coherent thought left him.
He felt her hands slide up his arms, across his shoulders, and into his hair as her tongue slid across his lips and into his mouth causing him to gasp. Her breasts pressed against his chest.
One of his hands moved to her hip, the other stroked her hair. His palm slid from her waist to her back and pressed her closer while his heart sped up to send blood coursing through his body.
She broke off the kiss and smiled at him. "We can find someplace more comfortable to continue this." Her fingertips brushed across his face and down his chest before she turned and led the way to the door.
His hands dropped to his sides and he clenched them tightly.
"How close is your place? Or should we get a hotel room?" She paused in the doorway and saw he was standing immobile next to the table. She tipped her head to the side.
"No," he said.
Her face hardened. "What?"
"You're married." And if her husband stepped aside Accolon would be waiting to step in. Regardless of how superficial those relationships might be, people were going to be hurt if he gave into temptation, not to mention the heartbreak he was in for by getting involved in such a complicated situation. Merlin deliberately slowed his breathing, willing his heart to slacken its rapid pounding.
"Right, I forgot that I'm not good enough for you," Morgana said. "The compliance officer who never puts a foot wrong, how foolish of me to think you might unbend enough to screw your boss's slutty sister."
Embarrassment heated his face.
Morgana narrowed her gaze on him. "Maybe if I was Gwen? You'd break the rules for her, I bet."
"Leave her out of this." Merlin straightened where he stood, his jaw clenched.
"Fine," Morgana said. "But remember my father owns this company and you are expendable." She spun on her high heels and marched toward her office.
After her exit, Merlin slumped where he stood and grasped the back of a chair. If that was not the stupidest thing he had ever done, it had to be in the top two. Both kissing her and refusing her. Especially refusing her. The most gorgeous woman in the world had invited herself to his apartment and he turned her down.
Plus he had made his boss's sister, the CEO's daughter, very angry with him. She looked beautiful when she was angry, her green eyes even more green. And she had the silkiest long hair he had ever run his hands through. Unquestionably turning her down was the stupidest thing he had ever done. He was never going to breathe a single word of this to Arthur, or Gwaine, or anyone who would tell him repeatedly how much of an idiot he was. Even if he was fired.
Her threat was real. Uther resented being forced to have a compliance department which he saw as an unnecessary administrative burden that interfered with business. He would not closely examine any excuse she gave him to dismiss the compliance officer. Arthur might stand up for him, although Merlin had no wish to see Arthur at odds with his father.
Merlin resolved to stay out of Morgana's way for a while until her anger at him cooled.
