A/N:
Sorry for the delay in updating.
I hope people are still reading this.
If you are, please enjoy.
Gruagach was chaos. Wonderful, perfect, impossibly orchestrated chaos. There was mischief and mayhem around every corner, more so when Sarah visited the warehouses that Gruagach shipped from. And yet, it worked in ways Sarah couldn't even fathom. The employees (every bit as childlike as she had been warned) held such pride in performing their duties. They eagerly showed Sarah around the warehouse, each wanting to be the one given attention to.
She watched as trucks were loaded and sent to the docks and airport, carefully watching for any wrongdoing. But there was nothing. Gruagach's employees seemed to love and fear Jareth too much to even dare set even a toe out of line. They loved his care and his attention, and feared his anger and bitter disappointment. Sarah couldn't blame them; she'd just spent three hours with Jareth and hated the thought of disappointing him. It was something in the way that he held himself, in his bearing and in his success; you couldn't help but want him to think well of you. That was simply the man that Jareth was.
Sarah shook the introspection from her mind, refocusing on her job. Several of the lower tier employees came by, happily updating Sarah on what exactly went on behind the scenes at Gruagach, the delicate balance that Jareth had so painstakingly cultivated here - his home away from home. In fact, she was beginning to see why he loved it so much, all this chaos. There was magic in the air, childlike and free, the kind that dreams were made of. It was infectious and wonderful, rejuvenating after the stresses of everyday life in mundane, boring, ordinary normality. Of course, there were worrying amounts of chickens around the place, and Sarah never knew exactly what was going on, but that too suited Gruagach; as if nobody could truly understand it but the man who ruled over it, and the employees who populated it. Truly nothing was as it seemed, and that was a lesson Sarah would do well to remember. Sadly, Sarah had always learned lessons the hard way, and this lesson would be no different.
About two hours into her inspection of Gruagach's dockside warehouse, Sarah felt eyes heavy upon her back. Flossy and Yurtz were in the middle of telling her all about the day-to-day management and operation of Gruagach's Warehouse #5, explaining the kinds of things that they were asked to source, and the difficulties that they had to go through to get some of the more unique pieces. Flossy, a young woman with bright pink hair and overly wide green eyes, suddenly looked down at her feet, mumbling the rest of the story. Yurtz, on the other hand, puffed his stick-like chest out and proudly picked up where shy Flossy had left off. Gone was the bragging and gleeful one-upsmanship, replaced with an even quieter sense of pride in their jobs. A vague sense of amusement filled the atmosphere, the heavy gaze on Sarah's back lightening somewhat. Common sense said that she should turn around and see who was staring at her so intently, but Sarah got the distinct impression that that would only be playing into the watchers hands. It was as if whoever it was merely wanted to watch over them, to make sure no boundaries were being crossed in their excitement.
As the duo were about to launch into what doubtlessly would have been an outrageous scenario, someone coughed pointedly from behind Sarah. Flossy and Yurtz all but slammed their mouths shut. "Kingy!" Only Sarah's professionalism stopped her from bursting into laughter at the sigh of utter exasperation that followed. It was the sigh of a man who had reached the end of his tether and knew that nothing could ever change the form of address. She could easily imagine him counting to ten slowly, as he confided that he often did around his employees. Biting back a grin, Sarah turned slowly to face him, catching him again off guard. Jareth leaned against a steel shelving unit in the same suit he had been wearing before, but the circles under his eyes were darker, and his mouth was pinched in fatigue. In short, he looked like he was carrying the weight of an empire on his shoulders. But, there was the faintest flicker of a smile as he regarded Flossy and Yurtz, as if he was grudgingly fond of the people he referred to as his 'cretins'.
"We are remembering our client confidentiality, aren't we, chaps?"
"Yes, Kingy" Yurtz replied devotedly. "We no talk about the no-no subjects."
"No send us Oubliette" Flossy added hopefully. Sarah raised an eyebrow, curious as to what was going on, but also content to watch Jareth interact with his employees.
"Not yet" Jareth agreed smoothly. "You've both been doing very well. No more blackouts in your buildings?"
Flossy shook her head shyly. "Generators work good, Kingy" she murmured, Yurtz nodding excitedly.
"Excellent" Jareth praised, nodding to himself. "And has the transport for Ireland gone out yet?"
"Yes, Kingy" Yurtz reported immediately. "Just as yous said. Fives o'clock out on the dot. Borgis supervised whole thing."
"Very good" Jareth smiled sharply. "I see I can finally rest easy where this warehouse is concerned. Well done."
Flossy looked floored. "Kingy happy?"
Jareth's gloved hand raised as if to pinch the bridge of his nose. "King approves, let's not get ahead of ourselves."
"Kingy goes homes tonight?" Yurtz asked worriedly, concern etched into every feature.
Jareth sighed again, this time Sarah could've sworn it was guiltily. "I'll try" he promised reluctantly, refusing to so much as glance at Sarah.
Yurtz blinked unhappily up as Jareth. "Kingy looks after us, we's looks after Kingy?"
"Yes, and you all do a very good job" Jareth replied hurriedly. "But if I don't do my job, how can I look after you?"
"Kingy sick, Kingy no do job" Doåb (a young worker Sarah had seen playing with the forklift) pointed out solemnly.
Jareth rubbed his forehead, looking harangued. "All excellent points, fellows" Jareth admitted, glancing at Sarah as if hoping she might interrupt and save him from the onslaught. Sarah shook her head, knowing better than to interfere in business that was not hers. Jareth shot her a dark look, running his hand through his hair.
"Kingy look tired" Doåb said sadly, the trio of workers looking upset.
Jareth cursed under his breath, narrowing his eyes at Sarah as if asking her not to ever mention this again. With an audible whoosh of breath, Jareth capitulated. "King is tired, yes, very perceptive chaps." He smiled thinly. "Which is why I'll be going home tonight. To the nearby one." For some reason, that statement made the trio grin widely, bouncing eagerly in place.
"Kingy no worries" Yurtz grinned happily. "We spreads word. Safe."
Sarah had to blink, Jareth looked almost absurdly touched.
"Yes" he agreed slowly, clearing his throat. "But before you do that, back to work, chaps; there's still things to be done." Grinning wider than Sarah had ever seen before, they scurried back to their jobs, leaving her alone with Jareth.
"They love you" Sarah stated, stunned.
"Why, you sound surprised" Jareth smiled pointily. He waved off the backtracking Sarah attempted, smirking in the way that was entirely infuriating and utterly Jareth. "Yes, some do hold some affection for me" he admitted. "Others, by necessity, fear me. It's all about balance, my dear."
"Yes" Sarah agreed, ignoring the endearment. "But you seemed surprised that they cared." Jareth glanced away, his jaw tightening just as it had at lunchtime. "Same category as the not lunchtime suitable conversation?"
Jareth laughed bitterly, his mismatched gaze dark. "Same topic, I'm afraid."
She nodded her understanding, unwilling to press when he was so obviously exhausted. "Did you manage to sort out your Irish conundrum?"
"It'll be taken care of shortly" Jareth smiled dangerously. Sarah got the immediate and distinct impression that this man was somebody that you never wanted to cross. Jareth saw her expression and smiled wanly. "I'm a businessman, Sarah. I can be generous, but I can also be cruel. That is the nature of business." That Sarah knew already from bitter experience, but she didn't want to think about how cruel Jareth could be forced to be. A man with his resources and upbringing could be a very formidable opponent indeed. The slight smirk at the corner of his mouth let Sarah know that Jareth had some idea of what she was thinking, and that she was completely right. It made a shiver run down her spine. Jareth made an effort to look less intimidating. "I hope none of my cretins tried to tempt you into supporting their organic chicken ranch?"
Sarah blinked again, amazed at how quickly she could be wrong footed around here. "Not yet" she replied, her tone betraying her confusion.
"They have a new scheme every year" Jareth heaved that sigh from before. "Last time it was a chicken zoo. I shudder to think what they'll come up with next year."
"KFC boycott?" Sarah suggested innocently, Jareth quickly making motions with his hands for her to lower her voice.
"For pity's sake, Sarah, keep your voice down" Jareth hissed, glancing furtively around. "Colonel Sanders is public enemy number one around here." Sarah couldn't help it, she took one look at Jareth's horrified face and burst into laughter; her active imagination supplied images of his workers storming the nearest KFC restaurant and liberating the chickens. Jareth glowered as she shared the source of her amusement. "Don't give them ideas."
Sarah hid another smile and adopted an appropriately solemn expression. "Perish the thought."
Jareth narrowed his eyes, but whatever effect he was going for was ruined by the jaw-cracking yawn that took him by surprise. He looked embarrassed in a dignified way. "My apologies-"
"Jareth" Sarah cut him off swiftly. "It's been, what a week since you got a decent night's sleep?" He inclined his head grudgingly. "I think you're entitled to a little slack. Even from yourself." His eyebrow involuntarily raised; Sarah had caught him by surprise again. As a workaholic herself, she knew all too well that they didn't cut themselves any slack, and CEO's? They had unreasonable expectations of themselves. That's why Sarah couldn't cut it as one. Again, Jareth chuckled when she told him.
"I do believe that you are underestimating yourself, Sarah" he chided softly. "If it makes any difference, I think you certainly have what it takes. Your approach to the whole process thus far has demonstrated that." His eyes twinkled mischievously at her. "More likely, you feel no need to be a CEO; your life is fulfilling enough without burdening yourself with all the troubles that come with running a business. My manager says I've always had the need to be at the top of a hierarchy. Apparently I don't take orders well."
Sarah couldn't help but laugh at the faked innocence in Jareth's final statement. She widened her eyes in exaggerated surprise. "No?!"
Jareth threw back his head and laughed, loud and long. It highlighted the long line of his throat, not that Sarah paid any attention to that sort of thing. Several of the workers stopped and stared, each looking as if they couldn't believe their eyes.
Through his exhaustion, Sarah could see a light enter his eyes, as if Jareth - despite his workload and troubles - was actually happy. For some reason, that made Sarah happy as well. Once again, a barrage of pager bleeping interrupted their time together, this time Sarah the one called away. Her brother had come to see her. She smiled apologetically at Jareth. "I'm sorry, it's my brother. Do you mind-?"
"Not at all, Sarah" he smiled, small but true. "I would not dream of keeping you from your brother. He means much to you."
"Yes" Sarah agreed quietly, remembering a time when that hadn't been so. Then it changed literally overnight, only she couldn't remember what had caused her to go from bratty teenager to caring sister. She shrugged internally; she supposed that it didn't matter anymore, fact was that she loved Toby madly, and that was all that mattered. "I'm needed at Midsummer next week, so I'll finish the inspection here afterwards." Jareth inclined his head, silent gratitude in his eyes.
"Until we meet again, Sarah."
"Goodbye, Jareth" Sarah smiled, retracing her path back to her car. Toby was coming to New York, and she couldn't be happier.
Thank you for reading!