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Gwen jogs lightly as she hurries towards Gaius’s room. He paged for her because she was out on her routine rounds on the selling floor and could not be contacted sa pamamagitan ng telephone. She heard the page and immediately proceeded to his room, knowing Gaius wouldn’t page for her if it wasn’t important. As she nears Gaius’s room, she hears voices. One she recognises to be Gaius’s but the other seems new, one she has never heard before. Who could it be, she wonders and knocks the door.
“Come in,” Gaius instructs from inside.
Gwen turns the knob and enters. As she steps in, she can’t help but notice there was a man seated opposite Gaius, at his table. His back was facing Gwen. She closes the door, clears her throat and waits to be acknowledged. Gaius looks up from his conversation with the man, his lip twitching into a smile the moment he catches Gwen’s eye.
“Ahh… Gwen. I want you to meet my nephew, Lancelot. Lancelot, this is Guinevere, Gwen for short. The girl I’ve been telling you about.” Gaius introduces them.
The man turns around and meets Gwen for the first time. The moment their eyes meet, Gwen’s mouth falls open. Lancelot is a handsome man, no tanong about it. His dark short hair complements his lightly tanned complexion well while his sturdily built figure was extremely delectable to gaze upon. He seems tall, but since he is sitting down she can’t be certain. She guesses him to be around six feet or so. He smiles at her and she remains fixated sa pamamagitan ng him, or his looks, to be madami precise. His eyes, warm and dark, were both intriguing and sexy. She is drawn to him and can’t bring herself to tear her eyes from his gaze.
“Gwen?” Gaius calls her. Gwen shudders from the gaze and feels her cheeks colour. How long had she been staring at him? God, it must’ve been embarrassing. What must he have thought?
“Yeah… oh sorry. Hello,” she says, feeling her cheeks flush. The man still smiles at her and after her introduction, he nods and turns back to face Gaius.
‘What? No hello back? That was rude, my friend!’ Gwen thinks to herself in annoyance and walks towards them. She pulls the chair back and sits down.
“Sorry to interrupt your rounds, Gwen, but Lancelot here feels he better get some things straightened out before he leaves for the hotel,” Gaius informs.
“He’s staying in a hotel?” the words came out unexpectedly, catching all three, Gwen included sa pamamagitan ng surprise. Lancelot exchanges quick look with his uncle and Gwen bites her lips in embarrassment. ‘Well done, girl’ she tells herself in silence.
“I mean… why is he not staying with you?” she quickly corrects herself.
“He prefers privacy, Gwen. And he hates my house. He feels it doesn’t suit his taste,” Gaius teases Lancelot. Gwen smiles.
“That’s not true, Uncle,” Lancelot spoke for the first time, his voice silky smooth. “I thought it was better for me to stay nearby so I’m available anytime. And you can locate me quicker too; I’m just around the block.” he adds, looking at Gwen and then Gaius.
“Oh… get it.” Gwen tells him and plays with the hem of her shirt.
“Gwen, is it?” Lancelot asks. Gwen looks at him, her lips all puckered.
“Hmmm.”
“Right Gwen, listen… I haven’t got much time and I hate wasting any. So, while I’m here, best use my experience and knowledge wisely, hmm?” he says. Gwen listens on. “I understand you handle the system here and Gaius speaks very proudly of you and your achievements. I can’t say much without knowing you, but one thing is certain, you wouldn’t have risen to the tuktok if you’re not dedicated, so, I’ll give you that,” he adds, his voice laced with arrogance.
‘What the hell is with the arrogance, mate?’ Gwen thinks to herself.
“But, I’m expecting you to impress me and I hope you will,” he completes, pursing his lips and turning to look at Gaius. Gwen seizes that moment to make a quick face at Gaius, indicating she was being riled up. Lancelot turns back at her.
“The system I have worked before, sorry to say, Uncle, is much madami advanced than what we have here… this is mga mani compared to those, so I can assure you, it will not take ages to get everything properly set up. But I expect full cooperation from all parties involved.”
“I am sure you won’t be disappointed, Lancelot, right Gwen?” Gaius asks, eyeing her. She smiles forcefully at Gaius and nods.
“Of course, Gaius… we know how to be courteous to our guest, don’t we? We will not forget our place,” she tells him and eyes Lancelot sideways. But the latter is not bothered. He continues.
“I will go through the architecture of your client servers, here and in the new store. I need to check on the operating systems platform, the networking frames, the hardware and the software available and required for the servers, the backup designs and finally the programs themselves. Since the languages vary from the one I am accustomed with, it might be a little difficult on that part, but there’s nothing I can’t resolve. Is that understood?” Lancelot informs proudly.
“Sure.” Gwen sagot him shortly.
“I also need to see the racks before I head back to the hotels. The migration of the servers may take longer than we expect and I don’t wish to leave anything out. We can get the migration done sa pamamagitan ng the end of the week, depending on how fast we can get all the programs sorted and coded. One word of caution, I work fast, so I expect those working with me to be equal or better than me. Because I hate falling back on deadlines. For me time is cost so I don’t waste any and no one wastes mine. Any questions?”
‘Any questions? Like… are you understanding what I’m saying? Or Oi you twit, get what I mean?’ Gwen was in her own thoughts.
Lancelot snaps his fingers in her face, waking her up from the daydream. “You have the knack to drift off elsewhere while we talk, don’t you?” he asks. The words were spicy and it left a distasteful scar in her heart. Her eye widens and she straightens up.
“What?” she is brassed off.
“Were you listening to me?” he asks, looking at her calmly.
“You thought I wasn’t?” now she is really pissed.
“It seemed like you weren’t, that’s why I asked?” he says calmly.
“Is that your way of saying that you think that you’ve been conversing with a twit?” Gwen is gutted.
“What?”
“Come on, Mr. Lancelot… you think I’m daft and been treating me like an idiot ever since I walked in here.” Gwen starts off in irritant.
“Gwen?” Gaius tries to stop her but she cuts him off first.
“Let me get something straight here: I am a programmer in this store and been doing fine, just fine, before you came along and will continue to excel in what I do because I have confidence in myself. I don’t need to be told what to do or how to do my work. I appreciate your help and will be privileged to work alongside someone as genius and experienced as you are, but it’s your automatic underestimation of me which irks me, Mr. Lancelot. You have talent and knowledge, I agree, but that does not authorize you to degrade others. If you wish to reap what you sow, sa pamamagitan ng all means go ahead and gloat, but do not degrade the skills of others. You need cooperation. You ask, and we will give it to you! sa pamamagitan ng hook or sa pamamagitan ng crook, we will strive to learn as much we can from you and give all our best. But we will never let you down. That is a promise and I can personally assure you of that! But this…” Gwen twirls her finger in front of Lancelot. “Underestimating everyone here as if we are nothing but a bunch of school kids learning to survive in the real world for the first time, has to go! Because with or without your help, Mr. Lancelot, we can still get the bloody store launched and operated!” Gwen finishes, her breath coming in gasp as she spoke fast.
There was a silence between them as Gaius cups one side of his cheek and waits to see who will make the first move. Gwen’s eyes are firmly on Lancelot and he cannot look away. She was angry, that much is certain, and Lancelot has somehow been the instigator. He didn’t mean for things to turn this way but unfortunately his choice of words have played a vital part in turning the situation hostile. Gaius sighs and looks at the clock on the wall.
‘How long is this going to go on?’ he mutters silently to himself.
“So…” Lancelot begins. Gwen waits patiently. “I suppose I was wrong about you after all,” he says. Gwen’s brow arches.
‘What the hell is he talking about!’ she thinks to herself, annoyed he didn’t apologise.
“Gaius told me you’re a fighter but I think you’re madami than that… you’re feisty and spirited. Good!!” Lancelot compliments Gwen. “We need that sort of attitude in this kind of world, to survive and to challenge. I think you’d do just fine… you’ll survive,” he adds.
‘Yeah right! Tell me something I don’t know!’ she thinks again.
“Well, now that we got ourselves sorted out, I suppose we can expect to be working together quite well,” Lancelot says and looks back at Gaius. Gwen’s mouth drops open. “I need to head to the hotel to check in, Gaius… I’ll come back in the afternoon. Need at least an hour’s nap,” Lancelot says and gets to his feet. Gaius rises as well. Gwen hesitates and gets up along with them.
“Take all the time you need, Lancelot, and come back when you feel you want to. Let me know when you do so that we’d be prepared,” Gaius tells him. Lancelot nods and steps away from the table. But he stops and turns back, looking at Gwen.
“Good day, Gwen. See you this afternoon,” he says, winks at her and leaves with Gaius who walks him to the door. After a minute’s conversation sa pamamagitan ng the door, Lancelot leaves and Gaius closes the door behind him.
‘Anytime now… anytime…’ Gwen thinks.
“What in the world was that Gwen?” Gaius demands, his voice rising and echoing in the room.
“Didn’t you hear the way he spoke, Gaius? You agree with everything he sinabi about us?”
“Of course I didn’t, but that’s Lancelot! That’s his attitude, Gwen… he likes to be in control, regardless where he is!”
“I don’t mind him being in control, Gaius but… I’m not foolish! Neither am I stupid!! He’d been repeating his instructions, gloating how advanced he is and how well he works and how inferior we all are… this is ridiculous Gaius! I am sorry, he is your nephew and maybe you rank him better than any of us here, but not us!! No, we are never inferior to anyone except God and he needed to be reminded of that. That’s why I gave him back.”
“But you could have at least ibingiay me some respect, Gwen!” Gaius was cross.
“I did, Gaius, which is why I kept my hands firmly sa pamamagitan ng my side! You have no idea what sort of patterns would have been on his face if it wasn’t for you.”
“Gwen!!”
“Look, Gaius… we all respect you. You screw the living daylights of any of us, we are fine sa pamamagitan ng that. You’re our boss and come end of the day, we will still respect you. But don’t ask us to take the same stick from some stranger, even if they are family. He can do that to us when we screw up the tasks, but not now,” Gwen makes her point clear. Gaius knows when Gwen stands sa pamamagitan ng hers decision, nothing can make her change her mind. Gaius opens his mouth to argue, thinks better not and keeps quiet. Gwen nears him and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Look, Gaius… I’m sorry. Truly sorry, and I didn’t expect the situation to turn hostile. But if it makes you happy to see me apologise, then I’d do it, for your sake.”
“No Gwen… it’s all right.”
“But you’re glum about it…”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve known Lancelot since he was a baby. He might be temperamental but he strives to be a leader. That’s why he enjoys giving out orders. But he is a lovely person, Gwen, once you know him.”
“Fine, Gaius, I will work with him and will try to know him, but please, just please, do ask him not to look down on any of us. I can try to be reasonable but I can’t guarantee the others.”
“I’ll make sure he understands that, Gwen, I promise.”
“Thank you, Gaius, and I’m sorry for my outburst. I can tolerate anything but when someone tells me I’m daft, directly or indirectly, I tend to lose my cool. And I have been losing my temper quite frequently now… I am sure you’re aware of that.”
“It’s all right, child, I understand. I was just worried where the altercation was going to lead you both.”
“Don’t worry, Gaius. It definitely won’t end up in bust up, I can assure you that,” Gwen says with a laugh. Gaius joins her. “I’m sorry, I wish I didn’t burst like that. It was such a disrespectful thing to do, especially to you. Promise I’ll keep my temper at check from now on.”
“Thank you, Gwen. Well, you better get your team briefed about Lancelot and his way of working. I am sure he’ll expect you to be ready for him when he arrives later in the afternoon.”
“Yeah… sure, Gaius. Good araw then.”
“Gwen?” Gaius calls as Gwen nears the door. She turns around to meet him.
“Just be nice to him will ya’? Just get along until this task is over, and then you can argue or bicker to your heart’s content.”
“All right, Gaius,” Gwen laughs, waves her hand and leaves the room.
Arthur bumps onto the coffee mesa for the fifth time that afternoon. He clutches his knee and sits down sa pamamagitan ng the table, grimacing in pain. It was excruciatingly painful; no other words can come closer to describe how he feels at the moment. It was the same knee, the same spot and probably the same table. Where else could he knock himself if not the mesa he purchased at one of the bargains last Christmas. The mesa is made from solid wood and one has to think twice before knocking onto it. Arthur understood the risk of setting the mesa in the middle of the room and had it moved to the side to avoid any injuries but unfortunately he had his own share of injuries today, almost five times. He is surprised his knee takip is still intact after that constant banging. Rubbing his knee, he leans against the pader and sighs. He was all alone in the apartment, trying to adapt to his new life and without help, too. Actually, Gwaine was with him all morning but after receiving a distress call from one of his friends, Gwaine excused himself. Merlin and Leon meanwhile left for work. Though reluctant, the lads had their own careers to take care of and Arthur assured them he will be fine. After all, Gwaine was to be with Arthur. They don’t know about Gwaine’s departure yet and if they knew, they would try to find his way back to the apartment. Especially Merlin. So Arthur decides not to reveal about Gwaine’s departure until after the lads are back home. Unless of course if Gwaine himself had called to inform them personally then perhaps, if they choose to come over, Arthur can’t stop them. But he really wishes they’d allow him the puwang to be on his own, at his leisure. He has to learn, adapt and get a grip of his condition. He can’t be depending on his mga kaibigan anymore. They have their lives to carry on and he wishes not to be their burden. Though they’d stay loyal to him, there’d be a araw where they will have to let him be his own man. So he better be prepared for that day. The phone rings somewhere in the room and Arthur shudders from his daydream.
“Oh, hell!” he grunts and struggles to get to his feet. As he did, the pain shoots up his spine. He grumbles and sits back, clutching his knee. The phone was still ringing and as far as Arthur could remember, the phone was on tuktok of the mesa in the middle of the room. Slowly, he gets up, ignoring the pain and feels the puwang with his hand and wanders to the centre of the room. He comes into contact with the couch, runs his hand along the tuktok and sidles sideways to get to the centre. He feels the air again, nothing and continues with his step.
“Oooff!” another knock on his knee and Arthur know he has reached the table. But how come the ringing seems to be in a distance? Arthur bents down and touch the table, feeling for the telephone but it wasn’t there, yet the phone is still ringing!
“Where is it?” he grumbles and feels all around the table. The ringing looks to be coming from his left. But there aren’t any tables on his left. There is nothing on his left, except for a statue of an elepante and an antique lamp from Brunei. The phone can’t be there? If not, then where is it? Suddenly the ringing stops. Arthur sighs and straightens up, shaking his head.
“Great. Who was it, I wonder?” he asks himself. Stepping back, he uses his leg to feel for the couch, bents low enough to feel the sopa and slowly sits down. But he almost slips off as he sat down close to the edge. Gripping the sides of the couch, Arthur pushes himself back and sits down comfortably. His knee is still agonizingly painful and he wishes he could find out if it had turned bluish black. He felt the swell a while nakaraan and prays he hasn’t injured his knee severely. It was bad enough his left arm is still in cast and he will not tolerate to have his leg in cast as well. For a split second, he wishes he had his eyesight back. If only he was able to see. All these problems could be resolved. Arthur sighs and recalls back to the conversation he had with Merlin last night.
“So, that’s your decision, Arthur? You’re not even considering it?” Merlin asked, helping Arthur to his bed.
“Yes.” Arthur says shortly.
“And you think that’s the best option for your life? That it is your future?”
“Merlin, I told you…”
“I know what you told me, Arthur, but is that what your future will be? That is my question?”
“Yes. If that’s the way it should be, yes.”
“And you’re satisfied with it?”
“Merlin… I am satisfied with anything which will allow me to get back at my father. I am in this condition because of him and he should pay! I want him to learn a lesson and if I have to sacrifice in order for my father to turn over a new leaf, so be it!!”
“I think you’re stupid!” Merlin remarks. Arthur didn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re stupid, Arthur, because sa pamamagitan ng thinking you’re hurting your father, you’re just hurting yourself. Your father might learn to accept you as you want to be, and maybe he might turn over a new leaf, I don’t know, but at the end of the day, it’s not him but you who will lose everything,” Merlin says. “You have to remember, Arthur; it’s you who Nawawala the sight. You don’t want to have it operated on and are adamant in teaching your father a lesson. It’s your decision and though it sounds good, I’m still skeptical about you rejecting the operation. But if you think it’ll pave the way to your father’s heart, I’ll stand sa pamamagitan ng whatever decision you make. But remember one thing, my friend: when all this is over, when your father does turn over a new leaf and when you finally give thought to the operation, it might be too late!” Merlin replies. “And then you will wonder why you didn’t listen to us. Regardless how desperate you are, it’s not guaranteed that you’ll get your wish. Think about it, Arthur”
“Merlin…”
“Forget it, Arthur! No matter what I say, you’re still sticking to your game plan and I know you will shut me up! So why should I even care? This is your life, your eyesight and you’re a grown man. You run your life, Arthur; just as you wanted, but let me tell you this… there are many other ways to teach your father a lesson, not just this. Don’t ruin your life for the sake of others, because at the end of the day, all that matters is you and not them. You will still end up paying the bloody price, Arthur. Not your father, us, or anyone else but… YOU!!” Merlin finished and left the room.
Arthur knows Merlin was still upset after the conversation but he will come around. He knows Merlin inside out and he will not be upset with him long. But Merlin had been right. Arthur is destroying his own life for the sake of his father’s, yet there is no other way to solve the problem. The thing is, Arthur still loves his father, despite all the heated arguments and constant bickering and rows he has with him; come end of the araw his old man is the only family he has. Being deprived of a mother’s pag-ibig since birth, Arthur has no one but his father to look up to. pag-ibig from his father was hard to come by, the reason why, Arthur still doesn’t know, but he had been very generous instead. He provided Arthur with everything money can buy, ensuring his son received the best of everything. Arthur, of course, was blinded sa pamamagitan ng this generous offers, thinking his father’s pag-ibig was behind it all, but in truth, his father was making sure his son was put on a leash and one araw he will be reminded of it all to reap the gratitude. Such was his father’s generosity. Arthur is still upset for what happened the night before he met with this nasty accident. Those words, the piercing hurtful words his father sinabi before Arthur stormed out are still swirling in his head like a sea. Arthur will never forget those words, but will he forgive his father? He doesn’t know that yet. Only time will tell. But should his father be ibingiay a segundo chance? Maybe, maybe not. But in Arthur’s mind, he wants to. Yes, he told Leon that he wants revenge and make sure his father is hurt and broken sa pamamagitan ng his decisions but blood is thicker than water. Uther Pendragon is still his father and nothing makes him happier than to see a slight change in his father’s attitude. And for that to happen, certain sacrifices are needed. The untimely arrival of his blindness and his stubbornness in refusing the operation will in some way play a part. Of course, the loss is madami obvious on his part than his father’s, but it will serve his plans well. sa pamamagitan ng refusing the operation, Arthur is indirectly rejecting his father’s generosity and it will hurt and anger Uther. But it will also buy Arthur his long desired freedom, thus enabling Uther to look at his son in a different angle, one he has misjudged so often. It will also allow Arthur to remind his father of his own capabilities, teaching Uther that he is a grown man and can take care of himself. Perhaps this will change Uther’s perception of his son and finally acknowledge that Arthur doesn’t needed babysitting after all. If nothing of this works, then perhaps Arthur can still use this method to teach his father one final lesson in life; money can’t always buy happiness but pag-ibig will. Whether all these plans will materialise or not, Arthur can only hope. Sometimes there’s no predicting Uther Pendragon. Only time will tell if his father has truly changed or not.
The phone rings again. “What the…” Arthur curses under his breath and gets up. It seems the ringing is indeed coming from his left. He touches the couch, holds on to it and walks alongside it until he reaches the end of the couch. He releases the couch, feels the air again and takes his steps cautiously as he wants to avoid knocking over any madami tables. The ringing gets on his nerves but it doesn’t stop. Arthur wanders until he feels the wall, presses his left hand on it and uses the pader as his mean to ilipat along. His uses his right hand to feel the air as he walks, to avoid obstructions. Just as he reaches the elepante statue, the ringing stops.
“Arghhhhhh!!! Shit! Shit!! Bloody shit!!” Arthur grunts loudly and kicks his leg as hard as he could. Something crashes nearby and he knows what it is without looking. It has to be the elepante statue as it’s the only statue nearby. There is no other logical explanation for the crash.
“Damn!!!” Arthur shouts again and turns around. He is gutted. He hates living like this and wishes he was dead instead. He feels helpless and weak and hates feeling like that. He can’t be in the apartment anymore. He feels like he’s trapped in a cage, broken and weak. He has to get out. Now! He couldn’t be bothered feeling the air or for any obstructions anymore. He walks straight, bumps onto the same mesa again, hurts his knee, stands up, ignores the pain and keeps walking until he falls over the sopa and picks himself up again. He ignores the pain circling around his knee and keeps walking, straight and hopefully heading to the door. But he ends up knocking himself into the iron rack near the window instead. The iron rack had a protruding bar with a designs like a horn in the middle and it bangs Arthur on the same knee he’s been receiving his blows all day. The agonizing pain sends him reeling in anger. He clutches his knee, swears under his breath and limps to the door. He pulls it open and steps out, without bothering to close it behind him.
He wanders towards the elevator, feels for the button, presses it and waits for it to open. He was very angry with his life and he can’t think clearly. His mind is all muddled up. All he could think of was getting the hell out of his apartment. He couldn’t bring himself to think properly. Nothing is making any sense except walking out of the apartment. Where will he go? How will he do it? What will he do? tanong flood his mind but he doesn’t want to answer anything yet. Let him get out to the open first and than he will think what’s next. The elevator rings as it opens in front of him. Arthur wanders inside and feels for the buttons, and presses the last button at the end of the row as he knows it to be the ground floor. The elevator closes and shifts him down.
“Morgana? Slow down… why the rush?” Gwen asks as Morgana cuts another car and accelerates forward.
“Do you know that we are late for lunch? If you didn’t lock yourself in with Lancelot a while ago, we could have gotten in time to enjoy the chef’s lunch special. Now we have to eat just the regular meal... urghh!” Morgana says disappointedly.
“I’m sorry, Morgana… wasn’t my fault, you know. He came late and started issuing his own set of instructions… he had his meal and couldn’t care if any of us had ours or not. I am so sorry, darling. Is there anyway I can make it up to you?”
“Well, since you asked, what about treating me to a special lunch?”
“Got it… lunch is on me but I’d really appreciate if you could slow down,” Gwen says worriedly as Morgana honks at the nearby car to give her way.
“I’m famished, Gwen! I skipped breakfast to have my lunch here and thanks to that asshole, I’m going to miss my lunch as well!”
“Right about the asshole part.”
“How is he? You promised you’ll tell me all about him on the way… what’s he like?”
“Like you said: an ass.” Gwen sagot without looking at Morgana. Another car passes sa pamamagitan ng and Morgana honks again.
“Come on, can’t be that bad.”
“He is!! Well, our first meeting didn’t really start on a good note. He is an arrogant bastard, that’s for sure. He gloats about himself, speaks highly of his skills and profession, looks down on everyone else and constantly repeats how he prefers to work. But the best part is, he teaches me my job.”
“No way!”
“Yeah, he did! He also mentioned how inferior our system is and that he could get all sorted out in a jiffy. Oh, Morgana… he is such an asshole! I felt like chewing his head off!!!” Gwen says angrily, slamming her hand on the dashboard.
“Oh dear, are you telling me we are stuck with this control freak for at least a couple of weeks?”
“I’m afraid so… but…” Gwen slows down. Morgana looks at her quickly.
“What?”
“He gorgeous, Morgana!” Gwen replies, pounding her fist onto her palm.
“Huh?” Morgana doesn’t understand. She swerves into a right turn and drives past a bus.
“Care to repeat that statement?” Morgana asks.
“Yeah… he’s gorgeous, Morgana. He looks like a Latino mixed with an English breed and I was besotted with him the moment I laid my eyes on him… he’s dishy! There’s no tanong about it!”
“But I wouldn’t say the same for his attitude,” Morgana reminds Gwen.
“Yup. His attitude completely switches me off… if it wasn’t for Gaius; he’d be having marks on his cheek sa pamamagitan ng now.” Gwen leans back against the upuan and plays with her curls.
“You would have hit him? Gwen?”
“Believe me, that thought did tumawid my mind.” Gwen replies.
“That bad, huh?”
“He sinabi I was dreaming, Morgana!! Dreaming!!! Can you believe that and when I argued, there were no apologies… he feels he had been right! I mean, come on… who is he to tell me what to do? And I wasn’t dreaming! I was just occupied, that’s all! Dreaming? He’s got to be kidding me!” Gwen slams her fist on her thigh in anger. Morgana chuckles.
“Is that funny, Morgana?”
“No… I mean, this man really riled you up, didn’t he?”
“You have no idea. He’s impossible, you know?” Gwen says, shaking her head. She turns to her left and looks out the window.
“Agree… I have no idea how on earth we are going to be working with him,” Morgana agrees with Gwen.
“Tell me about it…”
“But you’re going to be working closely with him, Gwen… better be careful.”
Gwen turns to look at Morgana in confusion. “Why would I need to be careful?” she asks.
“You might end up falling in pag-ibig with him!” Morgana tells Gwen and laughs.
“I will not!”
“You may, you never know…” Morgana laughs again. Gwen reaches out and pinches Morgana on her arm, resulting to high pitch scream from her friend.
“I’d rather marry the blind guy in that hospital than Lancelot!!” Gwen laughs and pinches Morgana’s arm again.
“Oh really?” Morgana laughs and turns to look at Gwen. But what they didn’t notice is that a man was actually crossing the road in front of them. Gwen turns to the road and her eyes widens in horror, her smile dying on her lips. She grabs Morgana’s arms and screams, “Morgana look out!” pointing to the man in front of them.
Morgana follows Gwen’s direction and gasps in horror. She steps on her brakes immediately, bringing the car to a halt in a screech. But it seems to be a little too late as the car still ends up knocking the man over, sending him flying to the road.
“Oh…my… God!” Morgana says to herself as she holds the steering wheel tightly; her eyes bloodshot and her face pale. She can hardly move. Beside her Gwen sat petrified. Her puso thumps quickly, like a beating drum. Her legs are frozen, and despite her brain telling her that she should get out of the car and check on the victim, she can hardly lift her legs out.
“Gwen… get out and see if he’s dead?”
“Why me?”
“Because I cannot ilipat my legs.”
“Neither can I,” Gwen says.
“Please…”
“Let’s do it together” Gwen suggests. Morgana nods and slowly releases the steering wheel. Gwen clicks the door open and both of them step out together. Morgana noticed the man was still lying on the road, face down. Some passersby have gathered around him and some were seen rushing towards them. As Morgana and Gwen walk towards the man, they heard murmurs from those who gathered around. Gwen ignored them and crouched beside the man.
“Is he dead?” someone from the crowd asks.
“No… look, he’s breathing,” another says. Gwen ignores them and rolls him over. The moment he rolls over, Gwen gasps and falls back. Morgana catches her and looks at the man and Gwen in confusion. The man is still breathing and alive but he has passed out. Blood trickles down his temple, seeping out from the cut he suffers near his temple. His head was bandaged and his left arm is in cast and there were bruises near his forehead, neck and arms but they looked old, as if the man had met with an accident prior to this.
“He’s breathing… take him to the hospital” an elderly man says from the crowd.
“Gwen… who is he?” Morgana asks as Gwen is still mum.
“Call the ambulance…” another says and someone dials their mobile.
“Gwen?”
“Morgana… this is the man!”
“Which man? What are you talking about?”
“This is the driver… the blind driver who killed my father!” Gwen says and turns around to look at Morgana. She was horrified.
“Oh, God!” now it’s Morgana’s turn to be horrified. In a distance, an ambulansya seems to be on the way.
“What have we done?” Morgana asks as they stare at Arthur in horror.
Gwen jogs lightly as she hurries towards Gaius’s room. He paged for her because she was out on her routine rounds on the selling floor and could not be contacted sa pamamagitan ng telephone. She heard the page and immediately proceeded to his room, knowing Gaius wouldn’t page for her if it wasn’t important. As she nears Gaius’s room, she hears voices. One she recognises to be Gaius’s but the other seems new, one she has never heard before. Who could it be, she wonders and knocks the door.
“Come in,” Gaius instructs from inside.
Gwen turns the knob and enters. As she steps in, she can’t help but notice there was a man seated opposite Gaius, at his table. His back was facing Gwen. She closes the door, clears her throat and waits to be acknowledged. Gaius looks up from his conversation with the man, his lip twitching into a smile the moment he catches Gwen’s eye.
“Ahh… Gwen. I want you to meet my nephew, Lancelot. Lancelot, this is Guinevere, Gwen for short. The girl I’ve been telling you about.” Gaius introduces them.
The man turns around and meets Gwen for the first time. The moment their eyes meet, Gwen’s mouth falls open. Lancelot is a handsome man, no tanong about it. His dark short hair complements his lightly tanned complexion well while his sturdily built figure was extremely delectable to gaze upon. He seems tall, but since he is sitting down she can’t be certain. She guesses him to be around six feet or so. He smiles at her and she remains fixated sa pamamagitan ng him, or his looks, to be madami precise. His eyes, warm and dark, were both intriguing and sexy. She is drawn to him and can’t bring herself to tear her eyes from his gaze.
“Gwen?” Gaius calls her. Gwen shudders from the gaze and feels her cheeks colour. How long had she been staring at him? God, it must’ve been embarrassing. What must he have thought?
“Yeah… oh sorry. Hello,” she says, feeling her cheeks flush. The man still smiles at her and after her introduction, he nods and turns back to face Gaius.
‘What? No hello back? That was rude, my friend!’ Gwen thinks to herself in annoyance and walks towards them. She pulls the chair back and sits down.
“Sorry to interrupt your rounds, Gwen, but Lancelot here feels he better get some things straightened out before he leaves for the hotel,” Gaius informs.
“He’s staying in a hotel?” the words came out unexpectedly, catching all three, Gwen included sa pamamagitan ng surprise. Lancelot exchanges quick look with his uncle and Gwen bites her lips in embarrassment. ‘Well done, girl’ she tells herself in silence.
“I mean… why is he not staying with you?” she quickly corrects herself.
“He prefers privacy, Gwen. And he hates my house. He feels it doesn’t suit his taste,” Gaius teases Lancelot. Gwen smiles.
“That’s not true, Uncle,” Lancelot spoke for the first time, his voice silky smooth. “I thought it was better for me to stay nearby so I’m available anytime. And you can locate me quicker too; I’m just around the block.” he adds, looking at Gwen and then Gaius.
“Oh… get it.” Gwen tells him and plays with the hem of her shirt.
“Gwen, is it?” Lancelot asks. Gwen looks at him, her lips all puckered.
“Hmmm.”
“Right Gwen, listen… I haven’t got much time and I hate wasting any. So, while I’m here, best use my experience and knowledge wisely, hmm?” he says. Gwen listens on. “I understand you handle the system here and Gaius speaks very proudly of you and your achievements. I can’t say much without knowing you, but one thing is certain, you wouldn’t have risen to the tuktok if you’re not dedicated, so, I’ll give you that,” he adds, his voice laced with arrogance.
‘What the hell is with the arrogance, mate?’ Gwen thinks to herself.
“But, I’m expecting you to impress me and I hope you will,” he completes, pursing his lips and turning to look at Gaius. Gwen seizes that moment to make a quick face at Gaius, indicating she was being riled up. Lancelot turns back at her.
“The system I have worked before, sorry to say, Uncle, is much madami advanced than what we have here… this is mga mani compared to those, so I can assure you, it will not take ages to get everything properly set up. But I expect full cooperation from all parties involved.”
“I am sure you won’t be disappointed, Lancelot, right Gwen?” Gaius asks, eyeing her. She smiles forcefully at Gaius and nods.
“Of course, Gaius… we know how to be courteous to our guest, don’t we? We will not forget our place,” she tells him and eyes Lancelot sideways. But the latter is not bothered. He continues.
“I will go through the architecture of your client servers, here and in the new store. I need to check on the operating systems platform, the networking frames, the hardware and the software available and required for the servers, the backup designs and finally the programs themselves. Since the languages vary from the one I am accustomed with, it might be a little difficult on that part, but there’s nothing I can’t resolve. Is that understood?” Lancelot informs proudly.
“Sure.” Gwen sagot him shortly.
“I also need to see the racks before I head back to the hotels. The migration of the servers may take longer than we expect and I don’t wish to leave anything out. We can get the migration done sa pamamagitan ng the end of the week, depending on how fast we can get all the programs sorted and coded. One word of caution, I work fast, so I expect those working with me to be equal or better than me. Because I hate falling back on deadlines. For me time is cost so I don’t waste any and no one wastes mine. Any questions?”
‘Any questions? Like… are you understanding what I’m saying? Or Oi you twit, get what I mean?’ Gwen was in her own thoughts.
Lancelot snaps his fingers in her face, waking her up from the daydream. “You have the knack to drift off elsewhere while we talk, don’t you?” he asks. The words were spicy and it left a distasteful scar in her heart. Her eye widens and she straightens up.
“What?” she is brassed off.
“Were you listening to me?” he asks, looking at her calmly.
“You thought I wasn’t?” now she is really pissed.
“It seemed like you weren’t, that’s why I asked?” he says calmly.
“Is that your way of saying that you think that you’ve been conversing with a twit?” Gwen is gutted.
“What?”
“Come on, Mr. Lancelot… you think I’m daft and been treating me like an idiot ever since I walked in here.” Gwen starts off in irritant.
“Gwen?” Gaius tries to stop her but she cuts him off first.
“Let me get something straight here: I am a programmer in this store and been doing fine, just fine, before you came along and will continue to excel in what I do because I have confidence in myself. I don’t need to be told what to do or how to do my work. I appreciate your help and will be privileged to work alongside someone as genius and experienced as you are, but it’s your automatic underestimation of me which irks me, Mr. Lancelot. You have talent and knowledge, I agree, but that does not authorize you to degrade others. If you wish to reap what you sow, sa pamamagitan ng all means go ahead and gloat, but do not degrade the skills of others. You need cooperation. You ask, and we will give it to you! sa pamamagitan ng hook or sa pamamagitan ng crook, we will strive to learn as much we can from you and give all our best. But we will never let you down. That is a promise and I can personally assure you of that! But this…” Gwen twirls her finger in front of Lancelot. “Underestimating everyone here as if we are nothing but a bunch of school kids learning to survive in the real world for the first time, has to go! Because with or without your help, Mr. Lancelot, we can still get the bloody store launched and operated!” Gwen finishes, her breath coming in gasp as she spoke fast.
There was a silence between them as Gaius cups one side of his cheek and waits to see who will make the first move. Gwen’s eyes are firmly on Lancelot and he cannot look away. She was angry, that much is certain, and Lancelot has somehow been the instigator. He didn’t mean for things to turn this way but unfortunately his choice of words have played a vital part in turning the situation hostile. Gaius sighs and looks at the clock on the wall.
‘How long is this going to go on?’ he mutters silently to himself.
“So…” Lancelot begins. Gwen waits patiently. “I suppose I was wrong about you after all,” he says. Gwen’s brow arches.
‘What the hell is he talking about!’ she thinks to herself, annoyed he didn’t apologise.
“Gaius told me you’re a fighter but I think you’re madami than that… you’re feisty and spirited. Good!!” Lancelot compliments Gwen. “We need that sort of attitude in this kind of world, to survive and to challenge. I think you’d do just fine… you’ll survive,” he adds.
‘Yeah right! Tell me something I don’t know!’ she thinks again.
“Well, now that we got ourselves sorted out, I suppose we can expect to be working together quite well,” Lancelot says and looks back at Gaius. Gwen’s mouth drops open. “I need to head to the hotel to check in, Gaius… I’ll come back in the afternoon. Need at least an hour’s nap,” Lancelot says and gets to his feet. Gaius rises as well. Gwen hesitates and gets up along with them.
“Take all the time you need, Lancelot, and come back when you feel you want to. Let me know when you do so that we’d be prepared,” Gaius tells him. Lancelot nods and steps away from the table. But he stops and turns back, looking at Gwen.
“Good day, Gwen. See you this afternoon,” he says, winks at her and leaves with Gaius who walks him to the door. After a minute’s conversation sa pamamagitan ng the door, Lancelot leaves and Gaius closes the door behind him.
‘Anytime now… anytime…’ Gwen thinks.
“What in the world was that Gwen?” Gaius demands, his voice rising and echoing in the room.
“Didn’t you hear the way he spoke, Gaius? You agree with everything he sinabi about us?”
“Of course I didn’t, but that’s Lancelot! That’s his attitude, Gwen… he likes to be in control, regardless where he is!”
“I don’t mind him being in control, Gaius but… I’m not foolish! Neither am I stupid!! He’d been repeating his instructions, gloating how advanced he is and how well he works and how inferior we all are… this is ridiculous Gaius! I am sorry, he is your nephew and maybe you rank him better than any of us here, but not us!! No, we are never inferior to anyone except God and he needed to be reminded of that. That’s why I gave him back.”
“But you could have at least ibingiay me some respect, Gwen!” Gaius was cross.
“I did, Gaius, which is why I kept my hands firmly sa pamamagitan ng my side! You have no idea what sort of patterns would have been on his face if it wasn’t for you.”
“Gwen!!”
“Look, Gaius… we all respect you. You screw the living daylights of any of us, we are fine sa pamamagitan ng that. You’re our boss and come end of the day, we will still respect you. But don’t ask us to take the same stick from some stranger, even if they are family. He can do that to us when we screw up the tasks, but not now,” Gwen makes her point clear. Gaius knows when Gwen stands sa pamamagitan ng hers decision, nothing can make her change her mind. Gaius opens his mouth to argue, thinks better not and keeps quiet. Gwen nears him and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Look, Gaius… I’m sorry. Truly sorry, and I didn’t expect the situation to turn hostile. But if it makes you happy to see me apologise, then I’d do it, for your sake.”
“No Gwen… it’s all right.”
“But you’re glum about it…”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve known Lancelot since he was a baby. He might be temperamental but he strives to be a leader. That’s why he enjoys giving out orders. But he is a lovely person, Gwen, once you know him.”
“Fine, Gaius, I will work with him and will try to know him, but please, just please, do ask him not to look down on any of us. I can try to be reasonable but I can’t guarantee the others.”
“I’ll make sure he understands that, Gwen, I promise.”
“Thank you, Gaius, and I’m sorry for my outburst. I can tolerate anything but when someone tells me I’m daft, directly or indirectly, I tend to lose my cool. And I have been losing my temper quite frequently now… I am sure you’re aware of that.”
“It’s all right, child, I understand. I was just worried where the altercation was going to lead you both.”
“Don’t worry, Gaius. It definitely won’t end up in bust up, I can assure you that,” Gwen says with a laugh. Gaius joins her. “I’m sorry, I wish I didn’t burst like that. It was such a disrespectful thing to do, especially to you. Promise I’ll keep my temper at check from now on.”
“Thank you, Gwen. Well, you better get your team briefed about Lancelot and his way of working. I am sure he’ll expect you to be ready for him when he arrives later in the afternoon.”
“Yeah… sure, Gaius. Good araw then.”
“Gwen?” Gaius calls as Gwen nears the door. She turns around to meet him.
“Just be nice to him will ya’? Just get along until this task is over, and then you can argue or bicker to your heart’s content.”
“All right, Gaius,” Gwen laughs, waves her hand and leaves the room.
Arthur bumps onto the coffee mesa for the fifth time that afternoon. He clutches his knee and sits down sa pamamagitan ng the table, grimacing in pain. It was excruciatingly painful; no other words can come closer to describe how he feels at the moment. It was the same knee, the same spot and probably the same table. Where else could he knock himself if not the mesa he purchased at one of the bargains last Christmas. The mesa is made from solid wood and one has to think twice before knocking onto it. Arthur understood the risk of setting the mesa in the middle of the room and had it moved to the side to avoid any injuries but unfortunately he had his own share of injuries today, almost five times. He is surprised his knee takip is still intact after that constant banging. Rubbing his knee, he leans against the pader and sighs. He was all alone in the apartment, trying to adapt to his new life and without help, too. Actually, Gwaine was with him all morning but after receiving a distress call from one of his friends, Gwaine excused himself. Merlin and Leon meanwhile left for work. Though reluctant, the lads had their own careers to take care of and Arthur assured them he will be fine. After all, Gwaine was to be with Arthur. They don’t know about Gwaine’s departure yet and if they knew, they would try to find his way back to the apartment. Especially Merlin. So Arthur decides not to reveal about Gwaine’s departure until after the lads are back home. Unless of course if Gwaine himself had called to inform them personally then perhaps, if they choose to come over, Arthur can’t stop them. But he really wishes they’d allow him the puwang to be on his own, at his leisure. He has to learn, adapt and get a grip of his condition. He can’t be depending on his mga kaibigan anymore. They have their lives to carry on and he wishes not to be their burden. Though they’d stay loyal to him, there’d be a araw where they will have to let him be his own man. So he better be prepared for that day. The phone rings somewhere in the room and Arthur shudders from his daydream.
“Oh, hell!” he grunts and struggles to get to his feet. As he did, the pain shoots up his spine. He grumbles and sits back, clutching his knee. The phone was still ringing and as far as Arthur could remember, the phone was on tuktok of the mesa in the middle of the room. Slowly, he gets up, ignoring the pain and feels the puwang with his hand and wanders to the centre of the room. He comes into contact with the couch, runs his hand along the tuktok and sidles sideways to get to the centre. He feels the air again, nothing and continues with his step.
“Oooff!” another knock on his knee and Arthur know he has reached the table. But how come the ringing seems to be in a distance? Arthur bents down and touch the table, feeling for the telephone but it wasn’t there, yet the phone is still ringing!
“Where is it?” he grumbles and feels all around the table. The ringing looks to be coming from his left. But there aren’t any tables on his left. There is nothing on his left, except for a statue of an elepante and an antique lamp from Brunei. The phone can’t be there? If not, then where is it? Suddenly the ringing stops. Arthur sighs and straightens up, shaking his head.
“Great. Who was it, I wonder?” he asks himself. Stepping back, he uses his leg to feel for the couch, bents low enough to feel the sopa and slowly sits down. But he almost slips off as he sat down close to the edge. Gripping the sides of the couch, Arthur pushes himself back and sits down comfortably. His knee is still agonizingly painful and he wishes he could find out if it had turned bluish black. He felt the swell a while nakaraan and prays he hasn’t injured his knee severely. It was bad enough his left arm is still in cast and he will not tolerate to have his leg in cast as well. For a split second, he wishes he had his eyesight back. If only he was able to see. All these problems could be resolved. Arthur sighs and recalls back to the conversation he had with Merlin last night.
“So, that’s your decision, Arthur? You’re not even considering it?” Merlin asked, helping Arthur to his bed.
“Yes.” Arthur says shortly.
“And you think that’s the best option for your life? That it is your future?”
“Merlin, I told you…”
“I know what you told me, Arthur, but is that what your future will be? That is my question?”
“Yes. If that’s the way it should be, yes.”
“And you’re satisfied with it?”
“Merlin… I am satisfied with anything which will allow me to get back at my father. I am in this condition because of him and he should pay! I want him to learn a lesson and if I have to sacrifice in order for my father to turn over a new leaf, so be it!!”
“I think you’re stupid!” Merlin remarks. Arthur didn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re stupid, Arthur, because sa pamamagitan ng thinking you’re hurting your father, you’re just hurting yourself. Your father might learn to accept you as you want to be, and maybe he might turn over a new leaf, I don’t know, but at the end of the day, it’s not him but you who will lose everything,” Merlin says. “You have to remember, Arthur; it’s you who Nawawala the sight. You don’t want to have it operated on and are adamant in teaching your father a lesson. It’s your decision and though it sounds good, I’m still skeptical about you rejecting the operation. But if you think it’ll pave the way to your father’s heart, I’ll stand sa pamamagitan ng whatever decision you make. But remember one thing, my friend: when all this is over, when your father does turn over a new leaf and when you finally give thought to the operation, it might be too late!” Merlin replies. “And then you will wonder why you didn’t listen to us. Regardless how desperate you are, it’s not guaranteed that you’ll get your wish. Think about it, Arthur”
“Merlin…”
“Forget it, Arthur! No matter what I say, you’re still sticking to your game plan and I know you will shut me up! So why should I even care? This is your life, your eyesight and you’re a grown man. You run your life, Arthur; just as you wanted, but let me tell you this… there are many other ways to teach your father a lesson, not just this. Don’t ruin your life for the sake of others, because at the end of the day, all that matters is you and not them. You will still end up paying the bloody price, Arthur. Not your father, us, or anyone else but… YOU!!” Merlin finished and left the room.
Arthur knows Merlin was still upset after the conversation but he will come around. He knows Merlin inside out and he will not be upset with him long. But Merlin had been right. Arthur is destroying his own life for the sake of his father’s, yet there is no other way to solve the problem. The thing is, Arthur still loves his father, despite all the heated arguments and constant bickering and rows he has with him; come end of the araw his old man is the only family he has. Being deprived of a mother’s pag-ibig since birth, Arthur has no one but his father to look up to. pag-ibig from his father was hard to come by, the reason why, Arthur still doesn’t know, but he had been very generous instead. He provided Arthur with everything money can buy, ensuring his son received the best of everything. Arthur, of course, was blinded sa pamamagitan ng this generous offers, thinking his father’s pag-ibig was behind it all, but in truth, his father was making sure his son was put on a leash and one araw he will be reminded of it all to reap the gratitude. Such was his father’s generosity. Arthur is still upset for what happened the night before he met with this nasty accident. Those words, the piercing hurtful words his father sinabi before Arthur stormed out are still swirling in his head like a sea. Arthur will never forget those words, but will he forgive his father? He doesn’t know that yet. Only time will tell. But should his father be ibingiay a segundo chance? Maybe, maybe not. But in Arthur’s mind, he wants to. Yes, he told Leon that he wants revenge and make sure his father is hurt and broken sa pamamagitan ng his decisions but blood is thicker than water. Uther Pendragon is still his father and nothing makes him happier than to see a slight change in his father’s attitude. And for that to happen, certain sacrifices are needed. The untimely arrival of his blindness and his stubbornness in refusing the operation will in some way play a part. Of course, the loss is madami obvious on his part than his father’s, but it will serve his plans well. sa pamamagitan ng refusing the operation, Arthur is indirectly rejecting his father’s generosity and it will hurt and anger Uther. But it will also buy Arthur his long desired freedom, thus enabling Uther to look at his son in a different angle, one he has misjudged so often. It will also allow Arthur to remind his father of his own capabilities, teaching Uther that he is a grown man and can take care of himself. Perhaps this will change Uther’s perception of his son and finally acknowledge that Arthur doesn’t needed babysitting after all. If nothing of this works, then perhaps Arthur can still use this method to teach his father one final lesson in life; money can’t always buy happiness but pag-ibig will. Whether all these plans will materialise or not, Arthur can only hope. Sometimes there’s no predicting Uther Pendragon. Only time will tell if his father has truly changed or not.
The phone rings again. “What the…” Arthur curses under his breath and gets up. It seems the ringing is indeed coming from his left. He touches the couch, holds on to it and walks alongside it until he reaches the end of the couch. He releases the couch, feels the air again and takes his steps cautiously as he wants to avoid knocking over any madami tables. The ringing gets on his nerves but it doesn’t stop. Arthur wanders until he feels the wall, presses his left hand on it and uses the pader as his mean to ilipat along. His uses his right hand to feel the air as he walks, to avoid obstructions. Just as he reaches the elepante statue, the ringing stops.
“Arghhhhhh!!! Shit! Shit!! Bloody shit!!” Arthur grunts loudly and kicks his leg as hard as he could. Something crashes nearby and he knows what it is without looking. It has to be the elepante statue as it’s the only statue nearby. There is no other logical explanation for the crash.
“Damn!!!” Arthur shouts again and turns around. He is gutted. He hates living like this and wishes he was dead instead. He feels helpless and weak and hates feeling like that. He can’t be in the apartment anymore. He feels like he’s trapped in a cage, broken and weak. He has to get out. Now! He couldn’t be bothered feeling the air or for any obstructions anymore. He walks straight, bumps onto the same mesa again, hurts his knee, stands up, ignores the pain and keeps walking until he falls over the sopa and picks himself up again. He ignores the pain circling around his knee and keeps walking, straight and hopefully heading to the door. But he ends up knocking himself into the iron rack near the window instead. The iron rack had a protruding bar with a designs like a horn in the middle and it bangs Arthur on the same knee he’s been receiving his blows all day. The agonizing pain sends him reeling in anger. He clutches his knee, swears under his breath and limps to the door. He pulls it open and steps out, without bothering to close it behind him.
He wanders towards the elevator, feels for the button, presses it and waits for it to open. He was very angry with his life and he can’t think clearly. His mind is all muddled up. All he could think of was getting the hell out of his apartment. He couldn’t bring himself to think properly. Nothing is making any sense except walking out of the apartment. Where will he go? How will he do it? What will he do? tanong flood his mind but he doesn’t want to answer anything yet. Let him get out to the open first and than he will think what’s next. The elevator rings as it opens in front of him. Arthur wanders inside and feels for the buttons, and presses the last button at the end of the row as he knows it to be the ground floor. The elevator closes and shifts him down.
“Morgana? Slow down… why the rush?” Gwen asks as Morgana cuts another car and accelerates forward.
“Do you know that we are late for lunch? If you didn’t lock yourself in with Lancelot a while ago, we could have gotten in time to enjoy the chef’s lunch special. Now we have to eat just the regular meal... urghh!” Morgana says disappointedly.
“I’m sorry, Morgana… wasn’t my fault, you know. He came late and started issuing his own set of instructions… he had his meal and couldn’t care if any of us had ours or not. I am so sorry, darling. Is there anyway I can make it up to you?”
“Well, since you asked, what about treating me to a special lunch?”
“Got it… lunch is on me but I’d really appreciate if you could slow down,” Gwen says worriedly as Morgana honks at the nearby car to give her way.
“I’m famished, Gwen! I skipped breakfast to have my lunch here and thanks to that asshole, I’m going to miss my lunch as well!”
“Right about the asshole part.”
“How is he? You promised you’ll tell me all about him on the way… what’s he like?”
“Like you said: an ass.” Gwen sagot without looking at Morgana. Another car passes sa pamamagitan ng and Morgana honks again.
“Come on, can’t be that bad.”
“He is!! Well, our first meeting didn’t really start on a good note. He is an arrogant bastard, that’s for sure. He gloats about himself, speaks highly of his skills and profession, looks down on everyone else and constantly repeats how he prefers to work. But the best part is, he teaches me my job.”
“No way!”
“Yeah, he did! He also mentioned how inferior our system is and that he could get all sorted out in a jiffy. Oh, Morgana… he is such an asshole! I felt like chewing his head off!!!” Gwen says angrily, slamming her hand on the dashboard.
“Oh dear, are you telling me we are stuck with this control freak for at least a couple of weeks?”
“I’m afraid so… but…” Gwen slows down. Morgana looks at her quickly.
“What?”
“He gorgeous, Morgana!” Gwen replies, pounding her fist onto her palm.
“Huh?” Morgana doesn’t understand. She swerves into a right turn and drives past a bus.
“Care to repeat that statement?” Morgana asks.
“Yeah… he’s gorgeous, Morgana. He looks like a Latino mixed with an English breed and I was besotted with him the moment I laid my eyes on him… he’s dishy! There’s no tanong about it!”
“But I wouldn’t say the same for his attitude,” Morgana reminds Gwen.
“Yup. His attitude completely switches me off… if it wasn’t for Gaius; he’d be having marks on his cheek sa pamamagitan ng now.” Gwen leans back against the upuan and plays with her curls.
“You would have hit him? Gwen?”
“Believe me, that thought did tumawid my mind.” Gwen replies.
“That bad, huh?”
“He sinabi I was dreaming, Morgana!! Dreaming!!! Can you believe that and when I argued, there were no apologies… he feels he had been right! I mean, come on… who is he to tell me what to do? And I wasn’t dreaming! I was just occupied, that’s all! Dreaming? He’s got to be kidding me!” Gwen slams her fist on her thigh in anger. Morgana chuckles.
“Is that funny, Morgana?”
“No… I mean, this man really riled you up, didn’t he?”
“You have no idea. He’s impossible, you know?” Gwen says, shaking her head. She turns to her left and looks out the window.
“Agree… I have no idea how on earth we are going to be working with him,” Morgana agrees with Gwen.
“Tell me about it…”
“But you’re going to be working closely with him, Gwen… better be careful.”
Gwen turns to look at Morgana in confusion. “Why would I need to be careful?” she asks.
“You might end up falling in pag-ibig with him!” Morgana tells Gwen and laughs.
“I will not!”
“You may, you never know…” Morgana laughs again. Gwen reaches out and pinches Morgana on her arm, resulting to high pitch scream from her friend.
“I’d rather marry the blind guy in that hospital than Lancelot!!” Gwen laughs and pinches Morgana’s arm again.
“Oh really?” Morgana laughs and turns to look at Gwen. But what they didn’t notice is that a man was actually crossing the road in front of them. Gwen turns to the road and her eyes widens in horror, her smile dying on her lips. She grabs Morgana’s arms and screams, “Morgana look out!” pointing to the man in front of them.
Morgana follows Gwen’s direction and gasps in horror. She steps on her brakes immediately, bringing the car to a halt in a screech. But it seems to be a little too late as the car still ends up knocking the man over, sending him flying to the road.
“Oh…my… God!” Morgana says to herself as she holds the steering wheel tightly; her eyes bloodshot and her face pale. She can hardly move. Beside her Gwen sat petrified. Her puso thumps quickly, like a beating drum. Her legs are frozen, and despite her brain telling her that she should get out of the car and check on the victim, she can hardly lift her legs out.
“Gwen… get out and see if he’s dead?”
“Why me?”
“Because I cannot ilipat my legs.”
“Neither can I,” Gwen says.
“Please…”
“Let’s do it together” Gwen suggests. Morgana nods and slowly releases the steering wheel. Gwen clicks the door open and both of them step out together. Morgana noticed the man was still lying on the road, face down. Some passersby have gathered around him and some were seen rushing towards them. As Morgana and Gwen walk towards the man, they heard murmurs from those who gathered around. Gwen ignored them and crouched beside the man.
“Is he dead?” someone from the crowd asks.
“No… look, he’s breathing,” another says. Gwen ignores them and rolls him over. The moment he rolls over, Gwen gasps and falls back. Morgana catches her and looks at the man and Gwen in confusion. The man is still breathing and alive but he has passed out. Blood trickles down his temple, seeping out from the cut he suffers near his temple. His head was bandaged and his left arm is in cast and there were bruises near his forehead, neck and arms but they looked old, as if the man had met with an accident prior to this.
“He’s breathing… take him to the hospital” an elderly man says from the crowd.
“Gwen… who is he?” Morgana asks as Gwen is still mum.
“Call the ambulance…” another says and someone dials their mobile.
“Gwen?”
“Morgana… this is the man!”
“Which man? What are you talking about?”
“This is the driver… the blind driver who killed my father!” Gwen says and turns around to look at Morgana. She was horrified.
“Oh, God!” now it’s Morgana’s turn to be horrified. In a distance, an ambulansya seems to be on the way.
“What have we done?” Morgana asks as they stare at Arthur in horror.
Check out Digital Spy's ten teasers for this week's Merlin below:
1. "I've been playing a dangerous game since the first time I set foot in Camelot."
2. The prince is not too happy with the "entertainment" at his birthday feast.
3. "I think that a lot of sorcerers are in the charcoal business."
4. The elderly Merlin returns and confronts Arthur once more!
5. "You've got *******, ******** and ******** to entertain you!"
6. At one point, Arthur forgets to put on his trousers.
7. "I take it you didn't come all this way just to smash my favourite pot!"
8. Arthur begins to suspect that there is something wrong with Merlin's bladder.
9. "Finally you will get all that you deserve, old friend."
10. Arthur gives Merlin a piggyback ride.
1. "I've been playing a dangerous game since the first time I set foot in Camelot."
2. The prince is not too happy with the "entertainment" at his birthday feast.
3. "I think that a lot of sorcerers are in the charcoal business."
4. The elderly Merlin returns and confronts Arthur once more!
5. "You've got *******, ******** and ******** to entertain you!"
6. At one point, Arthur forgets to put on his trousers.
7. "I take it you didn't come all this way just to smash my favourite pot!"
8. Arthur begins to suspect that there is something wrong with Merlin's bladder.
9. "Finally you will get all that you deserve, old friend."
10. Arthur gives Merlin a piggyback ride.
"im bound to you sa pamamagitan ng a chain of iron unbendable , unbreakable , even death shall not free my soul from yours"
"my pag-ibig for you is like the the full moon ,sailing high and clear and bright , only occasionally a ulap drifts across hiding her from sigh.We cannot see her , all light has gone yet we know for certain she is still there , waiting for the wind to blow the ulap away
My pag-ibig for you is like that...ALWAYS THERE BUT SOMETIMES HIDDEN "