Arthur spent most of the weekend not thinking about Merlin. Definitely not wondering if he would even turn up for work on Monday morning. Merlin had said he needed the money, so surely he would return. Then Arthur would talk him out of his absurd rule of not dating co-workers.
He hadn't imagined what he could do to those ridiculously large ears and that expanse of pale neck. He didn't admire Merlin's seemingly infallible capability of saving Arthur from his office disasters. And he had to admit, it was pretty brave of Merlin to stand up to the owner's son and challenge him like that. No, he hadn't thought about Merlin at all.
He felt a rush of relief when he arrived at his office and found an efficient, professional-looking Merlin (except for the hair) seated outside his office. He was greeted with a formal 'Good Morning, Arthur' and a printed copy of his day's agenda.
However, Merlin wasn't making eye contact when he asked, "Would you like a cup of coffee this morning?"
"Only if you put a lid on it so you can't spill it. And even then, be extra careful not to trip, you klutzy fool." Now why did he do that-criticize Merlin and call him names? Because he was nervous, he supposed. He really didn't want to antagonize Merlin.
Merlin glared at Arthur and said, "I'm sure I can manage to deliver it without an incident today."
The rest of the morning passed by uneventfully; Merlin answered Arthur's phone calls efficiently and sorted through the stack of unopened mail that was part of Sophia's legacy. Arthur had to meet with his father to review the meeting with Cranfield and its lack of results. That wasn't a pleasant discussion, or rather; it was a one-sided tongue-lashing as Uther berated his son for not closing the deal.
"You know how important signing that account is to the quarter's bottom line. We were counting on it."
"Yes, I know, sir." Arthur knew at times like these it was best just to acquiesce and go along with whatever his father said.
"I'll call Cranfield myself and see if I can convince him to change his mind," Uther declared.
Arthur's face was burning with the humiliation of having his father intercede with his client. What Merlin had said on Friday came to mind, so he chanced stating, "Cranfield really hasn't turned the proposal down yet, he just said he needed more time to decide. Let's give him that time before you call him."
Uther stared at his son, wondering about his sudden assertiveness. Maybe he was developing a backbone after all. "Very well. I'll give you three days."
At noon, Arthur called Merlin into his office. "Go get sandwiches from the deli downstairs. Turkey and Swiss on rye for me."
Merlin put on a stubborn face. "Oh no, I'm not doing that again. I told you no dating and that means in the office or otherwise."
Arthur spoke slowly. "I'm well aware of your ridiculous rule, but this isn't an invitation. As my P.A., one of your responsibilities is to get me lunch when I'm too busy to do so myself." Arthur haughtily added, "You do recall that I am your boss?"
Merlin muttered quietly, "How could I forget?"
"Pay for your own lunch or go hungry, I don't care." Arthur tossed Merlin some cash.
"I brought my own lunch today."
"Well bring it in here when you get back with my sandwich. We need to prepare for the expense audit that starts tomorrow. And don't worry, it'll be a working lunch, not a date, alright?"
Merlin regarded Arthur with some suspicion, but turned and left the office, heading to the deli.
"So we spent all lunch hour trying to make some sense out of the expense folders Sophia had left. It's a mess. The audit covers the past three years and it looks like all of Arthur's P.A.s had the same lack of filing skills," Merlin explained to Gwen as they took a break. "It'll take me hours, if not days to sort it out."
"I must admit, none of Arthur's P.A.s I've known had much organizational talent," Gwen mused.
"Gwen, do you know much about Arthur's personal life?" Merlin asked cautiously as he chewed on a hangnail.
"I haven't heard much since he broke up with his girlfriend a couple of months ago."
"Girlfriend, eh?" Merlin frowned.
"Do you have a particular reason for asking?" Gwen asked curiously.
"Well, Arthur wants to date me," Merlin said with his face screwed up into a frown.
Gwen looked at Merlin with disbelief. "And you have a problem with that?"
"Yes, he's my boss-I can't date him. But if he weren't, I just don't know. Is he a straight guy just experimenting?"
"You'd best ask Arthur that question, but even though I don't follow the office gossip, I did hear that the reason he broke up with his girlfriend was because he'd come out. They had a terrific row here in his office, so it was pretty hard to ignore the shouting."
"Hmm… But why is he interested in me?"
"That's another question for Arthur. You really need to have a talk with him."
"Right now, I need to tackle that mountain of expense filing."