Chapter Three
Arthur walked along the corridor towards Professor Gaius's office, with his assignment folder, thinking of how he can try to get out of having to do the assignment, before knocking on his door.
Professor Gaius was standing by his window, watering his plants.
"Professor Gaius?" said Arthur, uncertainly.
The professor looked up. "Yes, Mr Pendragon?"
"About this special assignment …" he said, looking down at his folder before sighing.
"You're persistent, I'll give you that."
"I'm going into corporate law. Most of my clients won't be from this, er …" he said, looking slightly awkward.
"Class?" said Professor Gaius. "Mr Pendragon, do you understand the concept of being an advocate, interceding for the needs of clients?"
"It's not my fault this Merlin Emrys screwed up his life," he replied, heatedly.
"So, poverty is a character flaw?" asked Gaius, politely as he walked behind his desk and sat down.
"He needs to take responsibility for where he's at," Arthur said, with frustration.
"Just as you can take credit for having been born into wealth and privilege?" Gaius said, with slight sarcasm, before he continued in a serious tone. "Why do you want to be a lawyer, Mr Pendragon?"
Arthur looked at Professor Gaius with a smirk. "I don't see why my motives are relevant here, Professor?"
"Here's what's relevant, Mr Pendragon. I expect my students to think about who they want to be as human beings, as well as lawyers. Contrary to popular opinion, the two do not have to be mutually exclusive," he said with a smile. "Was there anything else?"
"I guess not," Arthur answered, before turning and walking out.
Professor Gaius smiled slightly with an incredulous look on her face as he watches Arthur leave.
Merlin is pacing in the office of his support worker, Morgana Le Fay. Morgana sat behind her desk with Merlin's file watching him.
"Well, this is a new record, Merlin," she said, throwing the file onto her desk. "You made it three weeks."
"I had to take Mordred to the doctor, so I had to leave work, and I wasn't on the job long enough to get sick leave, so …" Merlin said in frustration.
"So, did you try to reason with your boss," asked Morgana, "or did you just storm out?" Merlin stopped pacing and looked at her. "Merlin …" she continued, whilst indicating to a chair in front of her desk. Merlin sat, looking defeated. "You can't expect your employer to care as much about your son as you do. I understand your frustration, but you've got to find a less confrontational way to deal with it. What did your doctor say?"
"You mean doctors," Merlin replied, fiercely. "Because every time I take him to the Emergency Room or clinic it's a different one. Oh, but always a first year resident doing on the job training. They just want to get rid of Mordred so they can just move on to the next patient that they don't know and they don't care about."
"I know it's hard, Merlin," said Morgana calmly, "but something's just come up that I think's gonna help. There's a new programme at Avalon College. Professor Gaius in the law school has a mentor programme and one of her students is gonna work with you."
Merlin looked at her with a sceptical look on his face. "Morgan, what on earth is a college students gonna do for me?" he asked in a defeated tone.
"Well, hopefully, help you find a better job than one of the ones you've had so far," she said, handing over a card with a number on it. "Now here's his phone number. Call him, Merlin. He'll arrange to introduce you to her student."
Merlin took the card, and quietly said, "Thank you," with a slight weary but grateful look.