DISCLAIMER - I don't own Sarah or Jareth or the Labyrinth (unfortunately) they belong to Jim Henson & Co, and I'm definitely not making a profit from this.
All other NPC's are a figment of my own imagination.
She met Anita at the main entrance of the gallery carrying a box of cookies and half a dozen coffees in a take away bag. Taking the coffees from her friends hand Sarah smiled at Martin who opened the door for them and dropping her bag off her shoulder to the floor placed the coffees on the main reception desk. Winter had well and truly set in weeks after the rather underwhelming reception and launch of Cassandra's art. In 4 weeks things had gone steadily worse for Sarah. She had suffered a bout of flu and had twice more been back to the doctors trying to find some way of fixing what was broken inside her, and depressingly Ollie seemed to be still dividing his time between Cassandra and her, which she had to admit to herself was her own fault for not caring more.
"Cookies for all!" Anita chimed as Chris and Toby clattered down the stairs.
"Yum I'm starving!" Toby said immediately heading for the box of a coffee and backing out of his way Sarah added milk to the cup and stirred it in with a plastic spoon that seemed to be mournfully lopsided.
"You had a call from the luscious Ambrose. He wants you to go sit for him again. 'E say you haf inspeered eem' ." Chris said around a mouthful of chocolate devil cookie, putting on a terrible Italian accent.
"I wouldn't mind being 'inspeered' by him." Anita muttered making Chris snort into his coffee.
"What does inspeered mean?" Toby asked innocently.
"Nothing you need to know about young man." Sarah replied glaring at Anita who had rushed over to Chris to pat him on the back as he inhaled coffee.
"OK I have a ton of paperwork to go through but I'm going to take it and this monster of a child home with me." Sarah said turning and making her way up the glass staircase to her office.
"How is school going Toby?" Martin asked casually as he savoured his coffee.
"Oh you know. Better than it used to be, but it will be even better when the holidays are here!" Toby grinned.
"You still getting stick from those other boys?"
"Nope. I did what you said and they stopped bothering. That and some of them had odd unfortunate accidents in the boys bathroom." The grin widened.
"Oh really?" Anita laughed ruffling his hair across the desk.
"Nothing to do with me!" Toby protested. "I was in class." His grin broke as he laughed. Behind him on the stairs Gob danced a jig of delight at the fun he had caused, catching Sarahs eye as she headed back down with a pile of paperwork making her frown at the goblin until he scuttled off smirking.
"Here, take these to the car for me, I'll be there in a sec." She said herding Toby towards the back door against his protests. Picking up her coffee again from the desk she sighed and turned back to her staff. Friends. The few people she truly trusted.
"Dr Blake has given me another course of antibiotics." She said flashing the palm of her hand at them by way of explanation. "And a lecture on taking care of myself. I'll go sit for Ambrose later in the week and in the mean time I'm officially taking a couple of days off work." She watched as they all nodded sagely. "I hate to do this to you all as you work so hard already..."
"Oh pish posh. You pay us to work and that's what we do. Go get better!" Chris said with some asperity.
"The doc is right Sarah, you've been over doing things for a while now. Take some time off and get a bit of R&R." Martin said. "Don't you be worrying about the gallery, we can cope."
"Without Ollie." Anita muttered. Sarah frowned again.
"I really don't know what hes up to, or why he is being such a pain in the ass right now. I know you guys are as sick of his attitude as I am. Another reason I'm taking a few days off to consider my options."
"Do more art." Chris insisted as Martin turned away to speak to a couple who had just come in through the main doors. "Art heals all things." He smiled.
"I'll try. Just ring me if Ollie starts something." Sarah hugged them both and waved to Martin across the room before letting herself out the back door, taking the staircase down to the basement car park.
"Can we get takeout for lunch?" Toby asked as she got into the car, throwing her bag into the back seat and hearing a muffled grunt. Turning she found Gob climbing out from under her bag messing up the stack of paperwork.
"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" She growled.
"Nope." Gob replied climbing over the seat into Toby's lap making him laugh.
"Takeout Sarah?" Toby pleaded.
"Are you paying?" She grinned as she pulled the car out into the mid morning traffic. Toby pouted and sat watching the cars go past in imitation of Gob who as usual had his nose pressed against the window.
Turning into the fast food dive a few blocks from the apartment she grinned as Toby squeed in glee before trying to work out what to order.
Sarah nearly choked in horror when the girl who handed their food over to them casually said "nice dog" nodding to Gob. The Goblin grinned toothily at her as she stared at him whilst Sarah pulled away feeling traumatised.
Toby in his usual nonstop chatter preceded her up the stairs and into the apartment already digging into his box of chips.
"Don't tell Karen we had takeout for lunch." Sarah grinned as she unwrapped her burger, for once not caring that it might be filled with evil calories that might ruin her diet, or lack of. Spreading out on the sofa Toby smirked in a very "I'm a Goblin King" manner making her once again nearly choke. Toby didn't notice and carried on trying to turn the TV on at the same time as cramming chips into his mouth.
"Its the weekend and I'm freeeeeee from school for 3 whole days! Hurray for teacher training days!" He said joyously for the third time.
"Has Karen got anything planned?"
"Dunno. Don't care." He shrugged paying more attention to the TV before passing Gob a chip.
"Don't beg Gob its bad manners." Sarah chided the goblin who turned his large liquid eyes on her. "I'm not as gullible as Toby." She stuck her tongue out at him then sighed, watching a goblin with puppy eyes and a quivering lip was too much for the hardest of hearts to ignore. Finally she reached over to her bag and pulled out several mini pots of all types of flavours of jam. "You can have one now, and take the others back with you for later." She told him placing all the pots next to the goblin on the coffee table. Gobs eyes lit up and immediately he began rummaging through the pots trying to decide which colour to eat. The tear off lid of a strawberry jam was soon stuck to the table as Gob stuck his paw straight in.
Sarah returned her attention to her bag and after a few seconds rooting around finally found her cellphone. Taking the postit note from her pocket she reluctantly dialed the number.
"Allo?"
"Ambrose?"
"Ci eet is Ambrose." His Italian drawl was unmistakable.
"Hey Ambrose its Sarah. You spoke to Anita earlier about your sculptures?"
"AAAH Cara Mia of course! You will come pose for me again no?"
"If you insist. Anita gave the impression it was urgent."
"Naturalmente รจ urgente! Ahh sorry Cara I forget my Eeengleesh when I am exciteeed! Yes urgent! Say you weel come tomorrow? I weel be ere first thing. I haf to show you my new sculpture. You weel love it!"
"Ok, about 10am then in your workshop."
"Perfetto! I see you then!"
Ambrose disconnected and Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. His natural excitement was overwhelming but she couldn't blame him if he'd managed to start work on another sculpture. All the better for the exhibition, but not entirely how she planned to spend her day. Mentally shrugging to herself she stole the remote from Toby and changed over to a more interesting channel and tried to relax whilst eating her own food.
An hour later the carbs had made her feel languid and fat, and it was a conscious effort on her part to make a move from the sofa.
"Ok Tobe I'm heading for a bath." She climbed over her brother and made her way into her room debating if she should do her legs at the same time. Sticking the plug into her roll top luxury bath she turned the hot water on and left the tub to fill. Coming back a few minutes later to add some self indulgent bubble bath to the slowly rising water level. Humming distractedly she smothered her legs in cream and took her time with the razor. The last thing she wanted was razor cuts. Once they were done she sank gratefully into the bath and turned the hot water off sighing deeply as the hot water eased her muscles. She lay suspended in the dimly lit bathroom trying to let her mind unwind along with her muscles. Avoiding any stray thought that took her back to one goblin king. She had almost succeeded, thinking of anything but, then for no explanation whatsoever she was suddenly stood on the balcony of his study in the main tower of the castle looking out over the sunlit yellow stone labyrinth in all its glory. In shock she yelped and then realised she was stark naked and dripping wet standing on his balcony. Trying to cover herself up she wished herself back into her bathroom, pressing herself against the sun warmed stone and squeezing her eyes shut. In the distance she could hear a babble of voices getting closer and mortified she wished harder to be back in her own bathroom, safe.
With a sploosh she was once more calf deep in her own bathtub, trembling. Her scar throbbed angrily and she scrambled out of the now tepid water horrified by what had happened.
The goblin councilors trailed after their king muttering and complaining about having their meeting abruptly cut short, blissfully unaware that said king was controlling onto his temper by hair. Stalking through his castle like a bristling cat he threw the door of his study open expecting to find the interloper within. In astonishment he searched the room, and found only a small puddle of already drying water and a curious blob of what smelt and looked like bubblebath on his balcony along with a few footprints. The flowery soap smell tickled his memory, which tried desperately to remember something. The smell smirked gleefully at his brain before fading, and the memory with it which only added to the kings ire. Dismissing the councilors he stepped without a pause through the veils and into one rather steamy and damp but empty bathroom, the bathwater sans bubbles gurgling merrily down the plughole. His scowl deepened.
She sat breathing deeply trying to calm her nerves on her bed, her soaking wet hair dripping slowly down her back making the towel and the bedcovers wet as she examined her hand.
"Have you never heard that its rude to drop in uninvited and leave again without so much as a by your leave?" His voice sent shivers down her spine.
"I was having a bath. I didn't intend to drop in uninvited." She didn't turn around to look at him but closed her hand to hide her palm and clutched the towel around her more tightly.
"I do not expect you to do so again am I clear? Naked or otherwise." With that he was gone, leaving behind a scorched electric feeling in the air.
"Yes Your grand Pain In The Ass." Sarah muttered flopping backwards onto her bed and rolling herself up in her duvet to hide, the scar on her hand throbbing in time with her head.