"Scribble. Scribble. Scribble. Scribble." sounded the pen as Arthur continued to look over and sign papers.
He turned in his chair to look out the window. The sky was dark and cloudy. A storm was approaching. A lighting rod fell and struck a pole that was quite a far distance from him.
Arthur giggled to himself as the first drops of water crashed against his window. He remembered how scared Alfred used to get when a thunder storm came. How he would slowly creep into Arthur's room. And how he would quietly tip toe over to the bed where Arthur slept. And then he would crawl into bed next to him. Then Arthur would place his hand on top of Alfred's head and gently stroke his blonde locks until-
"Arthur!" called out Ms. Henderson, breaking Arthur away from his daydream. He looked up to see his middle aged secretary. Her light brown hair was wrapped in a tight bun as usual and her honey colored eyes were hiding behind bottle glasses. Her arms were crossed and there was a stern look on her face.
"Hello, Ms. Henderson," replied the nervous Englishman. "What brings you here?"
She pointed to something behind him. Arthur turned and saw a mountain of unfinished paperwork on his desk, remembering what he had been doing before Alfred had entered his thoughts.
"Mr. Kirkland, you promised parliment you would have all the paperwork done by tomorrow morning. You've been back for two weeks now and everytime I come in to check up on you you're either sleeping, daydreaming, or talking to your imaginary friends about someone named Albert, or Alfonse, or-"
"Alfred," he said correcting her.
"Yes, well, that's not important at the moment. What IS important is keeping your word and finishing this paperwork. Now as your secretary it is my duty to make sure you do your job correctly."
Arthur sighed as Ms. Henderson continued to ramble on about responsibilities and consequences. How he wished he were back in America with Alfred. Around this time they would be playing outside with Alfred's bunny. And when they would tire, they would go inside for some tea.
"Not to mention what would happen if the Queen were to find out."
This last sentence caught Arthur's attention.
"I'm sorry I'm bossing you around and being rather tough on you but those bloody Frenchman have been troubling the Queen. They've angered her and kept everyone else on edge," explained the secretary with a slight hint of worry in her voice.
Arthur placed his hand on top of her cheek bringing out a small strip of pink across her face.
"Everything's going to alright," he said trying to reassure her. "For right now we have to keep faith in God and our Queen." This made the woman smile.
"Now," said Arthur changing the subject," let's get back to work." He cracked his knuckles and began to tackle the monstrocity residing upon his desk.
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The door slowly creeked as Ms. Henderson enter the office. As usual, she had arrived early to prepare the office for her boss. She placed her purse on her seat and walked into Mr. Kirkland's office. She gasped as she saw that he was asleep on his desk. Next to man was the giant stack of paperwork. She looked it over wide eyed as she noticed that it had all been completed. She smiled to herself as she covered him with her jacket.
"You always come through in the end don't you, sir?"
"Good job, Alfred," he mumbled in his sleep. "You're doing a good job taking care of your rabbit. I'm proud of you."
Ms. Henderson had never heard Arthur talk like this. Yes, he was a gentleman, but he almost never praised others. He always expected the best. Even though he was asleep she could tell that the words he spoke were sincere. This made her wonder what kind of person this Alfred was. She hoped to someday meet the man that seemed to bring out this surprising new side of Mr. Kirkland.