mythandmagic (mythandmagic) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-09-10 18:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, merlin, michael glass |
Who: Michael and Merlin
When: Last week
Where: Baxter Bakery
What: An encounter
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete
Michael enjoyed his job at the Bakery more than he’d thought he would when he first took the job. Audrey was an amazing boss and his coworkers were a lot of fun. And it was actually nice being the only guy on the staff now that everybody had gotten past the awkward stage and relaxed around each other.
He heard the sound that let them know that someone had come into the bakery and turned towards the door to see who it was. He wasn’t technically on shift yet but Audrey and the girls were all busy so he stepped up to the counter to see what the young man who’d just walked through the door wanted to order. “Welcome to Baxter Bakery, I’m Michael let me know when you’re ready to order.”
Merlin was a little early to walk Audrey home from work and as he entered he noticed as she disappeared into the back to show one of the girls something. Heading to the counter to ask them to let her know he'd be waiting at the corner table he realised this must be the new guy he'd been told about. .
"Oh hi, umm you're Michael right?" he smiled, "I'm Merlin, Audrey's fiance"
“Michael Glass. The only guy who’s lucky enough to be working here,” he said returning the smile as he held out his hand towards Merlin. He’d heard that Audrey was engaged and that her fiance came in pretty regularly from some of the girls so he thought it was nice to finally have a face to put with the name. “Nice to meet you Merlin. I’ve heard some of the girls mention you. Can I get you something while you wait for Audrey to finish up with whatever it is they’re doing?”
Audrey had said the new guy was getting on pretty well with everybody which was good. Merlin was impressed that this guy could handle himself in amongst the women, a lot of guys would be intimidated or arrogant.
"All good things I hope" Merlin said with a smile and a nod, "Tea would be great, thanks"
“Definitely all good,” Michael told him with a grin. “Anything special you want in it?” he asked, running through the instructions Audrey had given him on how she wanted it done. They weren’t hard, he just didn’t want to make any mistakes on people’s orders. Or at least not any more mistakes.
“Well that’s a relief” Merlin grinned, “Sparkling milk can never be wrong” he replied. It really was some sort of addiction, there must be something in it but it tasted so good that he wasn’t going to question it. “So how are you getting on? Holding your own with all the women?”
Michael busied himself making Merlin’s drink, falling into the easy routine of it as he added the milk and turned around to hand it to Audrey’s fiance. “That sparkling milk is addicting,” he said. “I’m doing alright Merlin. Audrey put me on nights so I’ve got my days to go to meetings with record executives and she’s been great about if I’m running late or need to switch off shifts. And the girls, it’s fun working with all girls. A little weird at first but we’ve all pretty much figured out where everybody’s boundaries are when it comes to talking. The giggling got old fast but that’s pretty much died off,” he said, turning to shoot a mock glare at one of the girls as she walked past giggling. “Like I said pretty much died off. And it really only seems to affect the girls who work days.”
“It is, I agree completely” Merlin agreed taking the drink with a thank you. “My fiance is obviously a shrewd businesswoman getting everybody addicted to it” he winked. Laughing softly as the girl walked by, “Don’t worry, I still get giggling sometimes too. Mostly if I kiss Audrey in front of them. Although depending who is on shift that leads to teasing too”
“It’s just a little aggravating. I thought I was done with giggling girls when I graduated,” Michael said, with a fake sigh before laughing quietly along with Merlin. “It just got old after the first day when it happened constantly. If it gets too uncomfortable with anybody I just ask them to lay off,” he told him. Or he’d tell Audrey and she’d get the girls to backoff, he hadn’t had to tell her about anybody yet but it was an option he kept in the back of his mind. “Let me guess - when Izzy’s working? She’s probably my favorite person to work with just because she makes it fun.”
“I’m sure they’d be mortified if they thought it was really a problem for you. Audrey can have a word with them if you need her to” he added, knowing the love of his life would do all she could to ensure all her employees were happy in their working environment.
Merlin laughed, “She’s definitely a character, I like her. She’s a lot of fun, and kind with it. You could do a lot worse than have her on your side. You know she’d take care of that giggling for you too if you needed her to”
“They would be. Audrey’s really hired some awesome people. I like working with all of them. And I give as good as I get from them. I just can’t pull off the giggle so I have to come up with other ways to bug them,” Michael told him shrugging. “And it’s kind of nice not having to deal with a job where everybody’s serious all the time. I don’t think I could take it if it wasn’t so relaxed around each other here.”
“Oh I know she would. But it really doesn’t bother me. I can deal with aggravations and like I said - I give as good as I get with the girls.”
“Audrey would hate it if you were all serious all the time. She’s fun and friendly and that’s how she likes her staff to be too” Merlin smiled as he spoke about her, the love he felt all too obvious. “Fair enough, you obviously fit in well and I’ve heard you're pretty talented when you take to the stage too”
Michael couldn’t help but smile at the love he heard in Merlin’s voice when he spoke about Audrey. “Yeah I know she is. She’s also really sweet to the people who work for her. You’re a lucky guy Merlin,” he told him, simply stating what to him was an obvious fact. “I try to fit in with them. Butt out when it’s something that really doesn’t need a guy involved. I live with two girls so, I’m pretty good at knowing when those moments come up. And I know that I want nothing to do with them if I can keep out of it,” he told him. “I’ve gotten some good reviews back home. Eve and I came out here so I could talk to a record company about signing a contract but that’s been going pretty slow and I’m working on building up some contacts here. I’m hoping to get a regular night here to play. And one of the other musicians that plays here is helping put me in touch with people that can help me out too so that’s good. Maybe you could come down and hear me one night. I could play something for you and Audrey.”
“Oh I know it” Merlin nodded in agreement, “Pretty sure I’m the luckiest guy on the planet” he smiled.
“Ah you have experience then and insider knowledge” he joked, “Eve your girlfriend?” he asked, “Pretty sure Audrey will give you a regular night if you ask her. It is a good way to build up support. I’d love to come and hear you play. Let me know when your next day is and we’ll come watch” He was sure he could convince Audrey to finish early one day so she could get some sleep before heading back to the bakery.
“And I’m not ashamed to use it,” he told him with a grin. “She was. Things changed between us after we got here and we decided it was probably for the best that we stop dating. At least for awhile. It’s a weird situation right now,” he told him trying to sound more casual about it all than he really felt. He still cared about Eve, a lot, and he was trying to move on but also keep things good with her. She’d been one of his best friends his whole life.
“You’re probably right, and she would. I just have to ask her. It’d give me one day off a week that was set which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. And I’ll let you know Merlin. That’s a promise.”
“Oh, I’m sorry” Merlin said, he hadn’t meant to pry and bring up an uncomfortable or sad subject, “I do hope it gets over being weird soon” and it was obvious it was a heartfelt sentiment from Merlin.
“Always nice to have a routine, I’ve always worked Monday to Friday though I’ve taken to going in earlier these days so I can finish in time to walk Audrey home” he didn’t mind either. Getting in so early allowed him a good hour or two in a quieter office environment and he got a surprisingly large amount of work done. “I’ll hold you to that” he warned with a smile.
“It’s okay Merlin. You didn’t know,” Michael told him with an awkward sort of forced smile. “I appreciate that, and I think it will. Or I hope it will anyway,” he added a few seconds later. He could tell that the other man meant what he said about hoping it got to be less weird and he honestly seconded it. Otherwise his house would get to be a lot more uncomfortable.
“Where do you work?” he asked his curiosity getting the better of him.
Merlin nodded, it wouldn’t be nice to live in an uncomfortable situation so he really did hope things improved. Michael seemed nice and Merlin hated seeing nice people sad or in bad situations.
“I’m an IT Team Leader at Stark Industries” Merlin replied, “Basically I’m a big computer geek. It’s how I first met Audrey actually, I helped her sort out the wifi when she was having issues”
“Stark Industries? I think my friend Claire mentioned having an internship there. And I think a girl I met through her works there too. Gwen Stacey? Seems like a big employer around here,” Michael told him. “Nothing wrong with knowing about computers. I’m pretty useless with them once it gets past turning them on and using them but I know enough to find a repair shop if I need one. Sounds like Audrey was lucky to meet up with somebody who knew about computers as often as I see people using the wifi here.”
“It really is a small world” Merlin commented, “I work with Gwen, she’s in my department” he chuckled, “I guess my skills do come in handy. And at least now you’ll know where to come instead of a repair shop” he added with a grin.
“She seems nice,” Michael told him. In fact Gwen had seemed so nice that he’d asked her out for lunch to get to talk to her more and get to know each other better but he didn’t tell Merlin that. Some people might look at it as odd that in the aftermath of a bad breakup he was developing friendships with pretty girls.
“You wouldn’t mind?” he asked him. He did kind of like the idea that he might not have to try to find a repair shop out here that wouldn’t empty his bank account to fix his computer if it ever needed it, but he didn’t want to take advantage of Merlin either.
“She’s lovely. A really good friend” in fact he was going to ask her to be his best man. Merlin wouldn’t have thought it looked odd but then he had more female friends than male, he just found them easier to get along with.
“Not at all” Merlin said, “I’d be happy to take a look whenever you need me to” Merlin liked working with computers and if he could help out his friends and save them a bit of money then he’d do it.
“Yeah. So I’ve heard from Claire. I’m hoping she and I can become friends too,” he told him with a smile.
“Thanks Merlin. That’ll come in handy next time something goes wrong with it. Which knowing me will be in the next couple weeks. I’m half expecting to be told the next time that the computer’s just about dead. I tend to use them up until there’s nothing left,” he said deciding to just lay it out there. Merlin would see quickly that his computer wasn’t the newest if and when he ever ended up working on it.
Merlin chuckled, “No worries. I’ll do what I can” he promised, before he noticed Audrey emerge from the back room. “Now I’m afraid you’ll have to excuse me because I have a fiance to escort home” he smiled, “It was good to meet you Michael, see you again soon”