Well, now you're the recipient of a big old bunch of Merlin fic cliches. Sorry for this one too, this is pretty silly.
Arthur sipped his coffee and winced. Nobody made coffee like Merlin. Why did he give him the day off, today of all days? Obviously that was temporary insanity. On the day he had the meeting with Castle Keep, his biggest client. Holy crap, what was he thinking?
He sighed and pushed the button on the intercom. “Bridget, do you have the Castle Keep file? I think Merlin keeps it in the top drawer. Under ‘C’.” Obviously, but Bridget hadn’t shown herself to be the sharpest tool in the box. She arrived at 10:00, having forgotten to adjust her clock to Daylight Savings Time.
Merlin. Arthur mused for a moment on his personal secretary. He’d been working for him for a year and had surprisingly proved himself indispensable. Things hadn’t started out that well, with Merlin pushing a file cart into Arthur, causing his coffee to spill all over the Castle Keep files. Merlin had spent a month recreating them, after Arthur decided to promote him to his personal secretary. It had nothing to do with the dimples in his cheeks or the deep blue of his eyes. Nothing whatsoever. He kept telling Morgana that, but she refused to believe him. Merlin’s résumé was impressive, despite his difficulty in manoeuvring down an office hallway.
He wondered what Merlin was doing today. Merlin had only given him hints of his personal life. That one time Arthur had taken him to lunch when he gave him a raise, and that other time Morgana had invited them both for drinks. She’d made strange faces at him the whole time, with little mysterious gestures toward Merlin. He still couldn’t figure out what she was on about.
Merlin had said he was just going to relax today, maybe do a few errands, and have lunch with a friend. Friend. Arthur tried not to wonder too much who the friend was. It was really none of his business. He remembered hearing Merlin on the phone a few times to someone who sounded like a friend. Merlin had been laughing and his colour was high. His eyes were sparkly too. Not that Arthur ever noticed that kind of thing. He was too busy with his important clients.
Arthur tried to concentrate on some of the files he needed to go through for the Castle Keep meeting. But his mind kept wandering to Merlin. What kind of friends did he have anyway? Merlin had invited to a party at his flat, once. And he’d mentioned a roommate. Bill, was that his name? Arthur couldn’t quite remember, but apparently he was overly fond of Guinness and never cleaned the bathroom. Arthur had been busy with a client dinner that night and couldn’t go.
Somehow the scent of Merlin’s soap seemed so much more interesting to think about than Castle Keep’s profit and loss statement. Arthur sighed and had another sip of weak, watery coffee. He bet anything that Merlin liked those fruity soaps instead of something manly and bracing.
The meeting was interminable and god-awful boring. He made his presentation at the beginning and after that he could relax. Uther’s voice droned on and on and the numbers soon swam before Arthur’s eyes. It wasn’t long before he was discreetly texting Merlin. After five texts, he gave up. Why didn’t Merlin text him back? OK, he was supposed to be having a day off, but really, how did he know Arthur wasn’t having an emergency? “What are you wearing right now?” and “What kind of coffee beans do you use?” didn’t exactly exude an air of urgency, but still. Arthur needed him. To, um, be there for general support, yeah, that was it. Bridget just didn’t know where things were.
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Date: 2011-02-25 03:01 am (UTC)Arthur sipped his coffee and winced. Nobody made coffee like Merlin. Why did he give him the day off, today of all days? Obviously that was temporary insanity. On the day he had the meeting with Castle Keep, his biggest client. Holy crap, what was he thinking?
He sighed and pushed the button on the intercom. “Bridget, do you have the Castle Keep file? I think Merlin keeps it in the top drawer. Under ‘C’.” Obviously, but Bridget hadn’t shown herself to be the sharpest tool in the box. She arrived at 10:00, having forgotten to adjust her clock to Daylight Savings Time.
Merlin. Arthur mused for a moment on his personal secretary. He’d been working for him for a year and had surprisingly proved himself indispensable. Things hadn’t started out that well, with Merlin pushing a file cart into Arthur, causing his coffee to spill all over the Castle Keep files. Merlin had spent a month recreating them, after Arthur decided to promote him to his personal secretary. It had nothing to do with the dimples in his cheeks or the deep blue of his eyes. Nothing whatsoever. He kept telling Morgana that, but she refused to believe him. Merlin’s résumé was impressive, despite his difficulty in manoeuvring down an office hallway.
He wondered what Merlin was doing today. Merlin had only given him hints of his personal life. That one time Arthur had taken him to lunch when he gave him a raise, and that other time Morgana had invited them both for drinks. She’d made strange faces at him the whole time, with little mysterious gestures toward Merlin. He still couldn’t figure out what she was on about.
Merlin had said he was just going to relax today, maybe do a few errands, and have lunch with a friend. Friend. Arthur tried not to wonder too much who the friend was. It was really none of his business. He remembered hearing Merlin on the phone a few times to someone who sounded like a friend. Merlin had been laughing and his colour was high. His eyes were sparkly too. Not that Arthur ever noticed that kind of thing. He was too busy with his important clients.
Arthur tried to concentrate on some of the files he needed to go through for the Castle Keep meeting. But his mind kept wandering to Merlin. What kind of friends did he have anyway? Merlin had invited to a party at his flat, once. And he’d mentioned a roommate. Bill, was that his name? Arthur couldn’t quite remember, but apparently he was overly fond of Guinness and never cleaned the bathroom. Arthur had been busy with a client dinner that night and couldn’t go.
Somehow the scent of Merlin’s soap seemed so much more interesting to think about than Castle Keep’s profit and loss statement. Arthur sighed and had another sip of weak, watery coffee. He bet anything that Merlin liked those fruity soaps instead of something manly and bracing.
The meeting was interminable and god-awful boring. He made his presentation at the beginning and after that he could relax. Uther’s voice droned on and on and the numbers soon swam before Arthur’s eyes. It wasn’t long before he was discreetly texting Merlin. After five texts, he gave up. Why didn’t Merlin text him back? OK, he was supposed to be having a day off, but really, how did he know Arthur wasn’t having an emergency? “What are you wearing right now?” and “What kind of coffee beans do you use?” didn’t exactly exude an air of urgency, but still. Arthur needed him. To, um, be there for general support, yeah, that was it. Bridget just didn’t know where things were.