Merlinfic: The Bus Stop 22/23
Author: destiny_chicken
Title Teamwork
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: Arthur/Merlin
Character/s: Arthur, Merlin
Summary: Arthur and Merlin present to the plant executives and then are surprised at the hotel with a change in their reservations.
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1721 this chapter
Author's Notes Thank you to inspired_being for beta'ing my story. So sorry for the delay in posting this, but real life interfered.
Cranfield explained the main person they needed to obtain support from was Martin Alined. As the plant's head of Finance, he was the key to gaining the acceptance from the rest of the plant executives. While Cranfield and their board had approved Arthur's proposal in general, each plant had a fair amount of autonomy in the actual execution of projects. The implementation would be much smoother if Arthur was able to get the plant executives on-board as well, which meant getting Alined's approval.
As they were introduced to all the executives, Arthur sized up Alined. He was a lean man, his hair greying at the temples dressed in a classic blue suit.. He had a piercing gaze and a shrewd expression. He shook Arthur's hand and gave a small smile in greeting, but it never reached his eyes and quickly left his face as he turned to take his seat. He looked like a hard, intimidating man who would be difficult to persuade. Once everyone in the conference room settled down, Arthur began the presentation on how to revitalize the plant instead of shutting it down.
The audience seemed open to the idea, but Arthur could see their furtive glances towards Alined, trying to gauge his reaction. So far, he had remained impassive. When Arthur got to the first financial chart, Alined leaned forward and asked pointedly, "What wild-arse assumptions did you make in your business case?"
Arthur cleared his throat. "You will find all of our assumptions are quite conservative. For example, we sized the costs based on less employees selecting the work-at-option home than would be expected," Arthur answered.
Merlin could see Alined had picked up on the uncertainty in Arthur’s voice. He pushed his chair out softly and stood to interrupt Arthur before Alined got the better of him. It was time to show Arthur that he was worth trusting to do this job, even if he didn’t trust Merlin in a romantic relationship.
"Arthur, may I explain in more detail?" Merlin interjected politely.
Arthur was slightly taken back by Merlin’s interruption before he remembered why Merlin had come along on this trip in the first place. "Of course, Merlin," Arthur said and gratefully handed the remote for the presentation to Merlin.
"As Arthur said, we made sure to put together a conservative cost and revenue picture. We started out with an assumption that a third of the indirect workforce would opt for the work-at-home option, while in reality, it is more likely to be half of the workforce by the end of the first year."
Merlin confidently conveyed the details of the financials, answering Alined's additional questions with ease each time he interrupted. Arthur watched Merlin carefully, but could not detect any signs of nervousness. Arthur wondered how often Merlin had given presentations before. How had he learnt all the financials so quickly? It seemed like Merlin had many skills Arthur didn’t know about. It reminded Arthur of the first few days with Merlin filling in as his P.A., when he seemed to have every skill Arthur needed. It had only been a few weeks, but so much had happened since then, it seemed like a lot longer since he had made the decision to ask his bus stop bloke if he needed a lift home. Maybe he needed to give Merlin break. He looked over to Alined and with relief, Arthur noticed him finally settled back in his chair, relaxed. "Now that I understand the financial picture, what is your implementation timeline?" Alined asked.
Arthur turned to Alined and explained, "Once we have the final agreements from Personnel and Marketing, it should require about three months." From there, Arthur continued with the rest of the presentation, which concluded with his request for the plant executives' approval to proceed.
Arthur watched Alined, who was deep in thought, his fingers steepled. Then, he placed his hands palms down on the table and stood. "Well done. It's clear to me that we should support this initiative wholeheartedly." He reached out a hand to Arthur, who shook it with a big grin. Arthur felt tension ease from his shoulders he hadn't even realized was there. He looked towards Merlin with the grin still plastered on his face and Merlin couldn’t help but grin back.
"Excellent work, Arthur,” Cranfield chimed in brightly. “And Merlin of course," he added as an afterthought. "We can meet with the head of Personnel after lunch today and I have you scheduled for a meeting with our V.P. of Marketing tomorrow morning.”
~~~
After finishing with Cranfield, Arthur and Merlin drove the hire car back to the Great John Street Hotel. Arthur felt weary after the long, stress-filled day and thought fondly about a long soak in a tub. He approached the hotel desk and stated, "Reservation for two rooms under Pendragon."
The hotel clerk, a fresh-faced college kid, immediately stammered, "M-Mr P-Pendragon, we're very sorry, but there is a problem with your reservation."
Arthur narrowed his eyes. "What?"
Merlin stepped up to the counter and asked, "What's the issue here? I made that reservation myself last week."
When confronted by irate expressions from both Merlin and Arthur, the nervous clerk offered, "I'll get the manager."
The manager came out, stood in front of the two men and calmly explained, "There's been a mix-up about your rooms. I'm afraid we only have one room available. You see, the dog show at the convention centre has led to all our other rooms being occupied."
"A dog show?" Arthur asked incredulously. All he wanted was to relax and soak his knee. He didn't want to deal with this mess. He sighed heavily.
"Yes, it's one of the biggest shows of the year at the convention centre."
"You did say you have one room for us though?" Merlin enquired. He could sense Arthur's frustration, so he stepped in to try and bring the conversation to a quick conclusion.
"Yes and I'm afraid it is one of our smaller rooms,” the manager replied apologetically. "We may have a second room available for tomorrow night, if you check back with us tomorrow afternoon."
"We'll take the one room for tonight," Merlin concluded. To Arthur he said, "We can manage for one night, right?"
"Hmmph," Arthur replied without much conviction.
~~~
The hotel manager wasn't kidding when he said the room was small. It contained only one double bed, a four-poster with a red jacquard duvet, and little room to spare for an armoire. No desk, no chairs, no other furniture.
"Good Lord! Just a one bed." Arthur breathed loudly, thinking how he and Merlin could possibly share this room, much less the lone bed. At least there was an old-fashioned, claw-footed, cast iron tub in the adjoining bathroom.
Merlin rubbed the back of his neck. "I know he said the room was small, but I never imagined it didn't have two beds." This was going to be more intimate than Merlin had really wanted, considering the state of their relationship.. How would he get through the night being so close to Arthur? How was Arthur going to deal with the sleeping arrangements.
Arthur tossed his briefcase and overnight bag on the bed then tugged at his tie. "Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to soak in the bathtub for a while. I'm feeling pretty stiff."
"Sure, go ahead," Merlin responded. Without his permission, Merlin’s imagination started wandering to thoughts of Arthur naked in the tub, Arthur rising out of the tub with rivulets of water pouring down his chest, Arthur wearing only a towel, hair wet and mussed. Merlin was glad Arthur was too busy getting his toiletries out of his bag to notice him staring. Merlin tore his gaze away from his boss, making himself concentrate on putting his change of clothes in the armoire and hoped Arthur wouldn't notice his trousers were tighter than usual.
Merlin shook his head at his own thoughts. It was only a few weeks ago he’d met Arthur and accepted a ride home from him. Even though the romance had developed quickly, his emotions ran deep. He was attracted to Arthur physically, no doubt, but it was more than that. He felt Arthur was his complement, his other half. He needed Arthur in his life to feel complete. He admitted to himself, that without Arthur, he was miserable. Nothing felt right in his life, it was all dull and grey without Arthur by his side.
~~~
"Merlin!" Arthur shouted from the tub. "Order some dinner from room service, would you?"
A muffled 'what?' came through the closed door. Arthur yelled, "Open the door!"
Merlin opened the door slowly and asked, "What did you say? I couldn't hear you through the door." Merlin couldn't help but look at Arthur's glistening torso above the waterline. His muscular chest had a smattering of fine blond hair, dewy with moisture. Merlin forcibly shifted his gaze so he met Arthur's eyes. Without realizing it, he licked his lips.
"Call room service and order us some dinner."
Merlin noted the commanding voice, but was too distracted by Arthur’s chest to let it get to him. Besides, this trip was supposed to be strictly business. Holding in a sigh, he asked, "What do you want?"
"Get me a steak, medium rare. Order whatever you want." Like Merlin wasn’t going to do that anyway.
Within 30 minutes, there was a knock on the door.
The waiter brought the food in on a cart, wedging it between the armoire and the bed. With no other place to sit, Merlin realised they'd have to use the bed. He signed for the food and dismissed the waiter. Merlin shouted at Arthur through the closed bathroom door, "Dinner's here! Come out before you turn into a prune!"
It wasn’t long before Arthur came out from the bathroom wearing the hotel-supplied robe and using a towel to tousle his hair dry. Merlin's heart clenched as he thought about them sharing all these private moments for the first time without Arthur being his boyfriend. Everything would be so perfect if they were reconciled. Even though he knew it wouldn’t be easy for Arthur to work out his trust issues, Merlin’s heart ached to bridge the gulf between he and Arthur. No matter what more it took.
~~~