On Better Terms

Chapter 7


Commentary from the Hetalia Gallery

Arthur: Ha. You're anxious all because of me.

Alfred: I'm just anxious because I'm hungry. Galythia never said that it was because of you!

Berwald: Br'k 'it 'p...

Francis: I lost? Ah well, that means that I still have... Romano!

Romano: Get away from me! You and I were enemies for both wars and it's going to stay that way.

Kiku: Romano. Just say something vague, like, "I'll annihilate you," or "I'll consider it," and of course, it has to mean no. Then Francis will stay away, I'm sure.

Francis: Kiku-kun~ At least, I think that's how you Japanese say it. Anyways, I now know your secret! Come with me tonight?

Kiku: *clears his throat, glancing at Romano emphatically* I'll consider it.


Arthur had woken up late. He scrambled around the house trying to get ready, turning into a master of multitasking for the hour he had before his first job.

Arthur didn't even have time to check Peter's watch. He hoped that the kid had remembered to do it last night as he rushed out the door.

Arthur barely made it in time to the taxi company. He was going to do this job and a couple of other jobs before calling in sick for the rest, as much as he hated to do that. Now that he had decided on that, if Alfred pulled his end of the deal out, then Arthur would be angrier than he had been in years.

Alfred sighed as he got to the office that morning. He plopped himself down on his large black swivel chair. He ran his hand absentmindedly up and down the relatively new leather as he held the schedule of the day with his other hand.

Today, he had that case with Bernese Ox or something, and he had to defend that woman. This was troubling, since he could barely even focus on the sheet. His mind was still wrapped around last night.

Throughout the day, Arthur rushed from job to job, bringing him from one end of the city to the other. He hadn't eaten at all last night or this morning, so needless to say, he was hungry.

He found himself spacing off quite a bit during the day, saving himself just in time before getting into trouble. Though he didn't want to think much of it, he was looking forward quite a bit to seeing Alfred and accepting that job proposal. He really could find nothing wrong with it save the fact that Alfred was a sketchy persona in general. What type of person shows up at the house of their taxi driver on false pretenses of some lawsuit and ends up hiring him as a chauffeur. The whole situation seemed quite suspicious.

Nonetheless, Arthur knew that he needed the break that Alfred was offering. He knew that it would lead to a better income for him, thereby getting Peter a better education and a better life in general.

Just because of that, he had squared his mind on acceptance.


"Mr. Francis Bonnefoy. My client says that you touched her improperly and refused to stop when she said to do so. Is that true?"

Francis smiled and murmured, "She kept saying 'No,' and I thought zat I was just touching ze wrong places, and so naturally, I changed my approach."

Alfred's eyes sparkled in triumph when he saw the judge—a woman—look alarmed at Francis's reply.

He turned to the judge and addressed the people. "Your Honor, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, I rest my case." He then retreated back to the table, but remained standing.

Berwald had seen that it was a losing battle from the beginning, but this Francis guy paid a lot, so who was he to complain? And yet, it was frustrating that his client was so one-track minded. All that Francis could seem to think about were people—not always women—and sexual harassment. Berwald shivered. He had almost become a victim himself.

The judge made the decision that a restraining order be put on Francis immediately. Francis didn't even pout. He just nodded and smiled flirtatiously at the judge, raising his eyebrows suggestively. The judge looked very taken aback and exited to the judge's quarters immediately after the court was dismissed.

Francis wasn't put off by the rejection. It just made the chase more fun for him.

Alfred was just glad to be out of the place. He now had nothing else to do but paperwork. He had told Arthur that Arthur could think it over, but he hoped that Arthur would think it over fast.

When Alfred walked back into his office, he plopped himself down on the large chair with an exasperated sigh. He ran a hand through his hair and sat idly for a while before forcing himself to get to work, as little as he actually wanted to. Seeing Arthur's hard work had inspired him to do just a tad bit more. A tad bit.


Arthur looked up at the sparkling building, wide-eyed. He glanced to his left and right, just to make sure that he was in the right place. The place that he was in was the dead center of the city. He had rarely ever stopped here, though he had passed the area many times when getting from one job to another.

He couldn't help but just gape in awe at the skyscraper. There was a cobblestone drive up area, complete with an ornate water fountain. The doors were so clean that he would have probably walked right into them had there not been a handle in front of him.

When he got inside, he noticed how his own manner of dress seemed so out of place. He had tried to dress in his best clothing, but that was nowhere close to what the people around him wore. There was only black and white around him. Arthur was wearing a dark green jacket that was a little too big for him. He wore dark jeans and very worn out sneakers. He had on the stereotypical cabdriver hat and a white t-shirt. He blushed, highly embarrassed as to how he was dressed.

He walked up to the front desk. The woman sitting there glanced over him as if he was followed by a troupe of unicorns. That just made Arthur fidget more as he asked, "I'm here to see Mr. Jones. Is… Is he available?"

The woman obviously didn't believe him.

Arthur waited for a bit, but the woman didn't do anything; she just stared at him, almost as if saying, oh really. Arthur sighed and showed her the business card, hoping that it helped his chances of getting in. He still wasn't even sure that he was in the right building.

The woman glanced over the card and reluctantly picked up the phone. Arthur waited.

"Yes, Mr. Jones? There's umm… a man here to see you. His name is…"

"Ah! Arthur. Arthur Kirkland," Arthur filled in for her.

"A man named Arthur Kirkland is here to see you." The woman immediately was overcome with an expression of surprise. She hung up. Apparently, the reaction that she had gotten was not only what she didn't expect, but also quite out of the ordinary in general.

She motioned behind her to the elevators and spoke in a well-rehearsed tone, "Use the elevators to the left. He's on floor seventeen, in room seventy-six."

Arthur nodded and swiftly made his way over to the elevator, earning many stares from the passersby as he waited for the elevator to arrive.

That idiot better not back out…


Alfred glared at the phone when he heard it ring. He had half a mind to not even pick it up. Why should he? It was mostly just another business call. Maybe if he let it ring through, they would think that he was out of his office.

But in the end, he picked it up anyways and answered in a slightly annoyed voice, "Hello?"

"Yes, Mr. Jones? There's umm… a man here to see you. His name is… A man named Arthur Kirkland is here to see you."

Alfred's eyes widened in surprise. This was a lot faster than he had expected. "Yes! Hurrah! Allow him up! Please!" Alfred then slammed the phone down overzealously and almost knocked over his cup of coffee. He was just too gleeful knowing that Arthur was coming to see him.

He had been thinking about Arthur the whole day, even if he didn't want to. He didn't quite understand why himself, and occasionally he found it a little annoying, but most of the time, it was just plain distracting.

He hoped that this visit—and possibly an acceptance of his job offer—would get his mind off of Arthur and back to work.


Arthur stood outside the door, his hand resting just above the knob. This is it. This was the final frontier. If he entered now, there really was no return. He had to make sure that his decision was final, and that it was the correct one.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Let's get this over with… He opened the door cautiously and entered, finding Alfred standing behind his desk, smiling as brightly as always at the door. Alfred was exuding pure excitement, his eyes shining.

Arthur considered backing back out of the door and just walking away.

Arthur stayed nonetheless and closed the door slowly behind him. He walked cautiously forward. Alfred's smile never faltered.

"Are you here to accept?" Alfred was very obviously animated about Arthur's arrival. It was almost too much for Arthur.

Arthur smiled uneasily and pointed to a chair. "Can I… sit down?" He had been running around all day and was quite tired, as he usually was, but someone especially had cut into his sleeping time last night, and so he only saw it right that he could rest a little now.

Alfred blushed slightly, but nodded. "Sorry. Sure! Forgot my manners for a second."

Arthur took a seat and leaned back, letting out a long sigh. The cushioning of the chair threatened to envelop him and he felt himself sinking down ever so slowly. He was going to get the most out of this experience.

Alfred stared at Arthur until he felt quite uncomfortable under the unchanging gaze. Arthur cleared his throat.

"Yeah… So what would my salary be? You said that you could beat my six ninety a week payment, which, by the way, is around $2,990 a month. But I need a number…" That's right… Play hard to get. In actuality, Arthur felt very compelled to accept the job. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. All he would have to do was drive around, right? He would be getting better wages, possibly a better home, better clothing, and most important of all, generally better living conditions for both himself and Peter. How could the offer get any better?

Alfred ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. "Umm… Well, you see… I haven't really thought about that…" An awkward silence ensued, in which Arthur stared blankly at Alfred, waiting for him to continue. "How about… you name an amount?"

Arthur raised one caterpillar-like eyebrow disbelievingly.

Alfred smiled widely. "No! I'm serious!"

Arthur had never had this offer before, though he had gotten questions like, "What do you think your salary should be?" and all that, and the manager would always decrease it by half before agreeing. It happened to him all too often. And that's why Arthur was going to answer this question with twice the amount that he would be happy with.

He looked disinterestedly at his fingernails and mused, "Hm. I don't know. Say… $6,000 a month?"

Alfred looked at Arthur as if he had two heads. "What was that?" Alfred wasn't sure that he had heard that right. That was a lower wage than a lower-middle class person made! How could Arthur be requesting so little?

Arthur, on the other hand, thought that Alfred's reaction was like the usual reaction he got from all his previous managers. They had all stared at him as if he was insane, then they lowered the number and asked him if it was okay. And that wasn't even a question, since it was implied that if he didn't accept, they had plenty of other people who wanted the job.

Arthur sighed. "I said $6,000 a month…" He was resigned, ready for Alfred to lower the number any moment.

But Arthur was very annoyed when Alfred laughed. Was Alfred making fun of him? That ticked Arthur off more than anything else could have at the moment.

Alfred had to wipe away the tears in his eyes before replying, "Hmm…" Arthur tensed. Here it comes. "That seems a bit little, don't you think? How about $7,000 a month?"

Arthur was at a loss for words. His eyes widened and just openly stared at Alfred. "Pardon?"

Alfred nodded, glad with his decision. "Yep! $7,000 a month. I like it." But he looked at Arthur's expression and added, "But if that's too much, I'll lower it… Though I've never heard of something being too much before…" His eyebrows creased in slight confusion.

Arthur took a while to respond. He shook himself out of it and, for the first time in a while, actually smiled a little. "No! That's great! I was expecting…" Arthur stopped himself. He had too much pride to admit to Alfred what had been going through his mind. "That's very well, Mr. Jones," he said in his business voice.

Alfred smiled, a little irked by the sudden change in demeanor. He was involuntarily pulled into being more formal himself. He sat up straighter and placed his hands, neatly folded, on the table. "Then it's decided. Your job starts tomorrow. Show up at this address," Alfred handed Arthur a pre-written slip, "At eight. I'm sure that that isn't a hard time for you to manage."

Arthur stood up, sensing that the meeting was over. He was a little put off by Alfred's sudden change in character, not realizing that he had caused it himself. "Well, then… I take my leave." He bowed respectfully and turned.

Alfred reached his hand out, about to say one last thing, but dropped it last second. Arthur walked out the door without a word or even one small turn back.

Alfred ran a hand through his hair. He was glad about the job acceptance, but for some reason, he found himself thinking even more about Arthur now that the job started the next day. He felt even more anxious about it all. And it all confused him very much.


Author's Comments:

I feel so tired right now... I just want to sleep... But too bad I have so much homework to do... *sigh*

I'm sorry that it took longer for this update than my updates before, but school's been an *ss. But it's the weekend, so I hope that at least something can be accomplished. Maybe I'll get one or two other chapters up.

On a side note, the story's finally moving along! We get a couple of days with Arthur as a driver, then... well, you'll just have to wait. ;P

- Galythia