Gwen refreshed her email, scowling when one from Catrina appeared. A glance at the bottom right corner of her screen told her that it was 10am in the morning. She picked up her phone and turned on the screen.

No messages.

It wasn't like she cared that much, Gwen told herself firmly. Plus, returning to the office after those few days away meant that her to-do list was overflowing, and that was before reading the email from Catrina.

Still.

Gwen reached for a folder which contained the details of another job Viv had carelessly tossed to her that morning. It wasn't anything exciting - just the coordination of various household chores for a family that had recently moved into the city. Scanning the list of their needs, Gwen started to make notes.

"Hey Elena," she called, her eyes still on her notebook as she scribbled more things down. "Do you have that contact for that babysitter you said was very good? Think he could deal with triplets?"

"Triplets! He dealt with the terror twins pretty well, and by that, I mean he didn't run away screaming like the previous babysitter. I'll - oh. Gwen."

Gwen looked up from her notebook to see Arthur standing, slightly awkwardly, at the entrance to their office. His eyes darted around the office but with the cubicles, Gwen doubted that he would be able to spot her. Kate, their receptionist, was not helping matters by blatantly gaping at him.

"Uh, hi. I'm Arthur and I'm looking for -"

Gwen stood, wiping suddenly damp palms on her skirt. "Prince Arthur!"

Immediately, Arthur's eyes landed on her and his lips tilted into the beginnings of a smile. "Gwen."

He took a few steps towards her when Catrina, from nowhere, deftly inserted herself into Arthur's path. Even though Gwen could see only Catrina's back, she could imagine the too large smile on Catrina's face and the ambitious glint in her eyes. Thank goodness Viv was out

"Prince Arthur. You should have told us that you were dropping by." Catrina's curtsey was several times more graceful than anything Gwen could have pulled off, and in a fit of childishness, Gwen rolled her eyes.

Arthur must have seen it, because he flashed her a grin over Catrina's head, before he brought his attention back to Catrina.

"It was an impulsive decision. I actually wanted to discuss some important details about Ealdor House with Gwen. Is there somewhere private where Gwen and I could talk?"

"Of course. Gwen, why don't you and the prince use Conference Room 1?"

Aware that there were several pairs of eyes on her, Gwen nodded. "This way, Prince Arthur."

Gwen could feel the amusement coming off Arthur in waves as they walked to the conference room in silence. Ushering him into the large room, Gwen shut the door firmly behind them, sighing in relief. When she turned, Arthur was leaning against the mahogany table, his half-lidded eyes on her. For a moment, Gwen allowed herself the chance to look at him, at his hair which was getting a little long, curling over his ears, at his shirt with stretched appealingly across his chest and the jeans which more than showed off his butt. When her eyes returned to his face, he was smiling.

"How was your date with Lady Laura?" Then, even though she knew she sounded jealous, she said, "I thought you would have called me after the date yesterday."

His smile widened. "Did you miss me?"

"I was just wondering about how your date went. For feedback so that I can make any changes to the next one you have with Trina."

And now, she'd moved from jealousy to defensiveness.

Arthur crossed his arms and Gwen could see the twinkle of amusement and pleasure in his eyes. Of course he would be pleased she was acting this way. "It went pretty well. The go-karting was fun and the private dinner at Bistro Olivier was wonderful. I think Laura enjoyed herself very much."

"Huh," said Gwen as she tried to ignore the slightly sick feeling she was getting in her stomach. She looked away and played with the plastic flower that sat in a vase at the side of the room. It was only when Arthur laughed, then with gentle hands on her shoulders, turned her around that she looked at him again.

"Two days ago, when I told you about how the date with Rose was a bit of a disaster, you were upset." He slipped his arms around her waist.

"Of course I was. It meant that I hadn't planned the date well!"

"Then you should be pleased to know that you planned last night's date very well. It was fun with a tinge of romance, but nothing too overwhelming.

"Good," muttered Gwen, casting her gaze to the floor, wondering if her desire to walk away and bury herself in work or her desire to kick Arthur was stronger.

"You're jealous." Arthur's face lowered and he brushed his nose against hers.

"I am not." It was a lie, of course, although it was hard to continue being jealous when Arthur was peppering kisses across her temple. "If you decide to be in a relationship with Lady Laura, I'll earn a hefty bonus. It's a win-win -"

With another chuckle, Arthur moved slightly and their lips met, cutting off her words. "The only win-win situation is you having dinner with me tonight."

"Arthur -"

He nuzzled her cheek. "Guinevere. Not for pleasure. We'll be all professional and you can help me decide how to organise and schedule the various workmen I need to hire to work on Ealdor House."

"You do remember that me working on the Ealdor House was a cover, not my actual job," said Gwen with a smile.

His arms tightened around her waist, bringing her flush against him. "Please? I'll pay for dinner. You can brief me on my date with Brianne tomorrow as well."

Gwen rolled her eyes at him and pushed at his chest, resisting the urge to caress him instead. "Your date with Lady Brianne has been the easiest to organise. Attend the fancy fundraiser with her. I didn't even need to do anything."

Arthur let her go, but not before pressing another kiss to her lips. "See you tonight? I'll send a car to pick you up."

"Fine," Gwen grumbled. Arthur saw through her immediately and laughed.

Pushing open the door, Arthur called out for the benefit of all the gawkers, "thank you for getting that sorted for me." Then, he was gone and Gwen was left with Elena's curious gaze and Catrina's assessing one.

Merlin put his legs on the very expensive table - something Arthur knew only because he had done the same thing before and Morgana had coolly told him that it was expensive, before taking a rolled-up magazine and smacking him with more force than he thought his transgression deserved. Arthur had half a mind to warn Merlin, then decided that the prospect of seeing Morgana smack Merlin was one that was too delicious to deny himself.

"I cannot believe my father decided that he needed a break from the royal duties, hauled me back from Ealdor so I can attend some fundraiser for homeless children."

"I hope that you think more before you open your mouth to the press and sound like you don't care for homeless children," said Merlin, shifting his legs to make himself more comfortable. "Why are we meeting in Morgana's apartment?"

"Surprisingly, Morgana has some contacts in the sustainable architecture field. I want to restore Ealdor House but I also want it to be more sustainable. And I haven't seen my sister in a while, so I thought that we could have lunch together."

Merlin shrugged. "You lost me at the word architecture. Can a pair of royal siblings be more boring?"

"No one thinks Morgana is boring. That's why she has a million followers on her instagram, all dying to find out what her outfit of the day is."

"You say it like it's a bad thing," said Morgana, her entrance to the living room announced by her heels clicking on the tiles. "Good of you to bring me to lunch, dear brother. I see we have company? Company with no manners apparently."

Her pointed glare was enough to get Merlin's legs off her table and Arthur bemoaned the lack of violence.

"Merlin here wants to ensure that I don't back out of the fundraiser tonight."

Morgana straightened his tie, then dusted his shoulders. "I hear that Lady Brianne will be accompanying you tonight."

"You heard right," said Arthur. "I understand that she is an upstanding citizen with a generous heart."

"You sound like you're reciting a catalogue. Come, I am starving."

The restaurant was one of Morgana's favourite, and Arthur wondered if Gwen would enjoy it too. He made a mental note to bring her there for a meal one of these days.

"So, Merlin. How is Arthur's love life coming along?" Morgana took a sip of her wine.

"I am right here," said Arthur.

"Oh, I want Merlin's perspective on things."

"He's been on dates with 4 of the 8 women Uther shortlisted -"

"Nine."

"I distinctly remember 8," said Merlin.

"I added one more to the list."

Morgana put her glass down and leaned forward. "Really? And who is number nine?"

"No one you know," muttered Arthur, regret that he opened his mouth quickly settling in.

Merlin shot him a look. "I believe he's told all four of them various versions of how it's not them, it's him and that unfortunately, there will be no more future dates."

"And number nine is different? After all, you chose her." Even in the dim lighting of the restaurant, Arthur could see her eyes gleaming. "Frankly, if she is the one you are interested in, then I don't know why you are bothering with all these other women. It's not like father put in a lot of thought into his selection. His criteria was probably something along the lines of breathing, young enough to bear children, some connection to royalty and no weird past relationships. I know that is exactly why Lady Sabrina didn't make the list."

This time, it was Merlin's eyes that were shining. "Lady Sabrina had weird past relationships?"

"Oh the stories I could tell," said Morgana, flashing her teeth at Merlin.

Arthur leaned back into his chair. This was a familiar scene. Morgana was full of lascivious stories and in Merlin, she had an eager audience. As Morgana began, with much false reluctance, her tale of Lady Sabrina, Arthur let his mind drift to Gwen. Despite her agreeing to put herself on the shortlist, he was well aware that she hadn't passed him a folder on herself. He hadn't bothered to read any of the other women's folders but he was very eager to read Gwen's.

While kissing was very much on the table now, especially when they were alone, the both of them had agreed that sleeping together was very much inappropriate, especially when he was still going on dates with all these other women. Morgana's question popped in his head again. Why was he even bothering with the other 4 women on the list? He knew the answer - because Gwen wanted him to, and later, as he lay in bed alone one night, he realised that by giving these women a chance, it would go a long way to convincing his father that wanting to be with Gwen was more than just a rebellious, kneejerk reaction to his father's meddling in his personal life. Gwen did meet at least three of his father's criteria at any rate - she was young enough to bear children, didn't appear to have any weird past relationships and breathed.

The thought of having children with Gwen made Arthur smile. He wondered if their children would be dark haired like her or have blonde curls.

Morgana kicked his shin. "Dreaming of number nine? I was asking you a question about Ealdor House."

"Oh, right. What did you want to know?"

Arthur was bored. He took another long sip of the wine and glanced at his watch.

"You are not as subtle as you think," murmured Morgana. "There will be dancing later. Ask Lady Brianne to dance. Maybe you two can work up some chemistry. Right now, she has more chemistry with that young boy than she does with you."

Arthur looked at Lady Brianne. She was mingling with a group of children and clearly having a lot more fun with them than when she had been with him. Although his ego stung a little, he was rather pleased because it was more likely than not that Brianne would decide that they were not a good fit and he wouldn't have to have yet another awkward conversation with her.

"You should have brought number nine," said Morgana. Clearly, she had decided that her role today would be to make life difficult for him.

"Don't you have some suitors' hearts to break?"

"Oh, I'm far more interested in yours. All these dates don't seem to be going too well. Perhaps I should meet with your matchmaker and give her some suggestions."

"Don't you dare, Morgana. It's bad enough that father is messing in my life. I don't need you to either."

"Right. Right," laughed Morgana. "I'll let you brood in the corner alone then."

Arthur's brooding only lasted for a few more minutes before he was joined by Merlin and Gwaine, both of whom seemed to have imbibed more than their fair share of the free flow alcohol. They were giggly and flirty and appeared to have come over to remind him of how much he missed Gwen.

Gwen was in her most comfortable pajamas - the one emblazoned with bananas - when the doorbell rang. She peered through the peephole, then opened the door slowly as a mix of happiness and pleasure swept through her.

"I missed you."

Arthur's stomach rumbled.

"I'm also pretty hungry," he said with a sheepish smile. "I had to do so much socialising, I didn't get to eat much."

"You're in the wrong place if you're looking for food."

"I was looking for friendly company and a phone to call for takeout."

Gwen smiled and stepped aside, ushering Arthur in. "Friendly company, I can provide. I also have a phone." Lifting herself up on tiptoes, Gwen kissed his cheek. "I missed you too."

AN: And we're back to the fluff. Haha. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for commenting. I love reading them. :)