#2
Hero
Disclaimer: See #1 for it.
It was an hour before the work day ended.
Jervis sighed as he looked at the clock once more. "'He won't do a thing I ask.'" He drained what was left in his teacup and placed it to the side.
Outside the door to his office came a light 'oomph' that caught his attention.
Jervis opened his door to find Alice and Ari carefully arranging boxes near Alice's desk.
Ari put her hands at the small of her back and bent backwards, so far that Jervis was sure it wasn't healthy for someone's spine. "Great Dam above, Alice. How ever did you get caught up in this mess of Dr. Cates's? You should know by now that when she says anything is 'a little project' it's really not."
Alice flushed slightly as she fanned herself. "She said it was just a few boxes of papers to go through."
Ari fixed her with a look. "Alice, her definition of few and your definition of few are two utterly different things." She sighed. "I should call Zeek. We've brought up six boxes already, but there's still about eight more boxes to be lugged up here. You're lucky, Alice, that things are extremely slow in my department, or I wouldn't be here to help you bring these up or go through them."
Alice stood up straight. "And I'm grateful, Ari, really I am. We should probably go get those other boxes. We've only an hour before it's time to go home."
Jervis stepped out into Alice's working space. "Do the two of you need any help, my dear?"
Alice smiled at him. "Help would be wonderful, Jervis. But only if you've nothing to do."
He smiled back timidly. "Of course. I'm finished for today."
Alice beamed at him. "You're a real prince, Jervis. Now Ari and I will get the boxes up here sooner and won't have to spend time getting the rest of them tomorrow." She led the way from the office.
Jervis was fairly certain that he wasn't a prince of any caliber, but princes were brutes anyway…if it pleased Alice, he would assume the role of Rumpelstiltskin, if he could only have her love in return for his services.
Ari sent him a sympathetic look. "She knows not what kind of damage she wroughts. Come along you White Knight. Fair maiden will begin to wonder if you haven't rode off into the sunset or not."
Jervis couldn't help but chuckle at the Lewis Carroll reference. He followed Ari after Alice, ready to face pretty much anything his lovely Alice asked him to, even if it was just a few boxes of papers.