Part 57: link


ONE WEEK BEFORE THE WEDDING, FRIDAY

    Guinevere had to close up the library, so she was utama a little later than usual. She walks to the door of their flat and as soon as she enters, she smells something. Food. Is Arthur cooking?
    She puts her things down and listens. Holy hell, he is. “Arthur?”
    He jogs out into the living room to greet her. “Oh good, you’re home. Perfect timing,” he says, Ciuman her thoroughly before striding back to the kitchen.
    She follows, wary. “What are anda doing?”
    “I am making makan malam, majlis makan malam for us,” he announces grandly. “Well, food. I don’t know how much of a dinner it will be,” he concludes, grinning sheepishly.
    Gwen sits at the meja, jadual and watches, interested. “Oh?”
    “Yes. I wanted to make dinner, and it came down to a choice between making things I know how to make, for an interesting dinner, atau trying to make something that I really don’t know how to do, and risking having no makan malam, majlis makan malam at all.”
    “So anda decided that interesting is better than nonexistent.”
    “Yes,” he nods, turning back to the stove.
    “And what are we having, then?”
    “One second…” he says, and she hears him turn the burner off and come to the table.
    “We have…” he opens a covered dish, “scrambled eggs,” he pauses and before Gwen can even open her mouth, he forges ahead, “made with very fresh eggs carefully purchased sejak me this afternoon.” Gwen has been skittish about both eggs and mayonnaise since the Makanan poisoning, and has become fanatical about their freshness.
    When she smiles, he continues. “Bacon,” he announces, revealing a plate of mildly charred bacon. He frowns and says, “Sorry.”
    “No, I like it… crispy. Honest,” Gwen says, trying not to laugh. He’s trying so hard and it is so cute.
    “Toasted cheese sandwiches,” he places one on her plate, fresh from the pan. It is not burned, and actually looks appetizing.
    “Very nice,” Gwen praises his efforts. I won’t mention the lack of fruits atau vegetables at this point, she thinks.
    But then he surprises her, turning to the refrigerator. “And, lest anda think I’ve forgotten, Buah compote, which I freely admit buying this afternoon when I went for the eggs.” He brings the bowl to the table. “I figured Buah would go better with these particular items, and I didn’t want to attempt to cut these things up myself. So call it sarapan lewat pagi, sarapan tengah hari for dinner, I guess.”
    Gwen grins at him, amused and touched sejak his efforts. He brings them drinks, then with an, “Oh, almost forgot,” he lights some candles on the meja, jadual and dims the lights.
    “Ooo, candlelight sarapan lewat pagi, sarapan tengah hari for dinner,” Gwen coos at him.
    He leans down and kisses her once lebih before sitting beside her.
    Gwen fills her plate, then looks at it for a moment, hesitating. She stands and goes to the refrigerator and returns with a bottle of ketchup.
    Arthur stares at her. “Ketchup?” What on earth could she want ketchup for?
    She smiles, a little embarrassed. “I like ketchup on scrambled eggs.”
    Arthur makes a face.
    “You can blame the Yank that works for me for this. She was the one that introduced me to it.”
    “Autumn?”
    “Yes. We met for breakfast once, around two years ago, and she had scrambled eggs with her meal. When she asked for some ketchup, the waitress looked at her like she was a crazy American who had just asked for a pair of the Queen’s knickers.”
    Arthur laughs at this, saying, “Go on.”
    “I mentioned that I actually wasn’t really fond of scrambled eggs, and she had me try them with the ketchup. Voila: I’m a heretic.”
    He laughs again as she pours a dollop of the thick red sauce on her plate, stabs a chunk of egg with her fork and delicately dips it in the ketchup before bringing it to her lips.
    “Okay, I gotta try it now,” he says, poking a chunk of egg from his own plate and dipping it in her ketchup. He studies it skeptically for a moment before shoveling it in. “Blech. No,” he says, reaching for his glass.
    Gwen laughs, “Each to his own.”
    They eat quietly for a minute, then Arthur speaks.
    “Guinevere.”
    “Hmm?”
    “I have a confession to make.”
    “Oh?”
    “There is an ulterior motive behind this romantic candlelit feast.”
    She puts her fork down. “Okay.”
    “I need your ring back. Temporarily.”
    “You do? Why? When will I get it back?”
    “I do, and I’m not telling why. You’ll get it back at the wedding. Sorry, love, but it is necessary.”
    Gwen looks down at the ring. Her ring that she loves so much. It’s only a week. And I’ll get it back. She sighs and takes it off her finger, handing it to him.
    “Oh – I don’t need it right now. Tomorrow morning.”
    “Okay. Remind me. I’m working tomorrow, anda know.” She frowns. But they have both taken vacation for the entire week before the wedding, so the least she could do was take Saturday, even if Arthur is off.
    “I know. I’m bringing anda lunch, remember?” he smiles, reaching out to take her hand. “I’ll pick something up, I promise not to cook again.”
    She laughs, and leans over to Ciuman him. “You did a fine job tonight. This is the best meal of eggs, bacon, toasted cheese and Buah I’ve ever had.”
    He smiles broadly at first, then stops. “Wait…” he starts to protest, but she kisses him again, stopping his words.
    Leaning back in her chair, she reaches down and picks up a strawberry, then pops it into his mouth, feeding him.
    “Thank you,” he says, mouth full of strawberry.

    Arthur is putting the dishes away after dinner. He turns and sees Gwen wiping down the table, her back to him, the chair he had been sitting in still off to one side where he left it.
    She leans ke hadapan over the table, reaching far. He studies her nicely-rounded backside inside the figure-hugging grey skirt that reaches just to her knees, with a slight flare in the back.
    Almost unconsciously he finds himself walking towards her, reaching his arms around her from behind, pressing his body to hers.
    “Arthur…” Gwen says, smiling and straightening up as his hands slide up over the silk of her baju, blaus to caress her breasts. Her hair is in a single braid, and he noses it out of the way to Ciuman her neck.
    She leans her head back, eyes drifting closed as he drags his tongue lightly along the skin of her neck, up to her ear, nipping the earlobe lightly. He presses against her again, allowing her to feel his hardness against her backside.
    His hands are now opening the buttons on her blouse, pulling it untucked, sliding inside to touch her skin. He catches her lips with his, reaching his head ke hadapan while she arches hers back, tongues meeting and sliding against each other eagerly.
    One of his hands leaves her chest and moves down over her rear, down, reaching for the hem of her skirt. She drops the cloth that was still clutched in her hands and it lands on the floor. He breaks the Ciuman to slip his hands up under her skirt, raising it up so he can remove her panties.
    What is he – oh, I think I know, Gwen thinks when she tries to turn around to face him and he stops her from doing so. And he calls me naughty?
    He opens his trousers and yanks them and his underwear down, and Gwen reaches back to touch him while he returns his hands to her, reaching up under her baju, blaus to unfasten her bra so he can lebih easily touch her breasts. His lips return to her neck, biting gently, Ciuman her tender skin there with wet, open-mouthed kisses, and Gwen moans just slightly.
    Arthur slips a hand beneath her skirt once again, reaching up to touch the wetness he has created there, teasing her with his fingers until she is gasping and pushing back against him.
    His lips leave her neck and the hand at her breast moves around to her back, where he gently slides it upward, guiding her torso ke hadapan over the table, bending her over. Gwen’s hand releases him and rests on the meja, jadual as she feels him slide into her from behind with a groan.
    “Guinevere,” he whispers reverently, leaning ke hadapan over her to Ciuman her neck, her cheek, before he starts moving behind her. Gwen rests on her elbows on the hard surface of the table, eyes closed, not even noticing the hard wooden surface beneath her.
    As he thrusts, crouching slightly, he again leans ke hadapan slightly and his hand finds her in the front, pleasuring her with the fingers of one hand while the other grasps at a breast, squeezing carefully, thumb rubbing against her hardened nipple.
    “Oh… oh…” Gwen is starting to cry out with desire, which always seems to drive Arthur beyond all thought. His thrusts increase, as does the motion of his fingers, and saat later she is gasping, her hands grabbing the edges of the meja, jadual and he feels the muscles contract around him as she climaxes beneath him on the makan malam, majlis makan malam table.
    Arthur’s hands alih to her hips, holding her, lifting her off her feet so he can stand up straighter.
    “Whoa!” Gwen exclaims as her feet leave the floor, and she giggles. Arthur smiles in response before he feels his own wave it, and he pushes in as far as he can with a groan, on tiptoe, before letting her feet touch the floor again and leaning over her again to Ciuman her wherever he can reach.
    He withdraws from her, and finally turns her around to face him so he can Ciuman her properly.
    “I’m going to have to clean the meja, jadual again,” Gwen says against his lips, and he laughs.
    “I’ll never look at this meja, jadual the same way again, anda know,” he says.
    Gwen just smiles slyly at him, attempting to right her clothes, only to realize it is futile. She kisses him again and leaves him, bending to pick up her knickers before walking back to change clothes.
    Wait a minute, Arthur thinks, following her back.
    “You did that on purpose!” he calls, catching her up.
    “Did what?” she says innocently, changing her clothes.
    “Waving your little backside at me,” he swats it playfully, “while pretending to wipe the table.”
    She turns and looks at him. “First, I was not pretending to wipe the table. I actually was. Second, I was not waving my backside at you. I merely pointed it in your direction.” She bites back a smile.
    “Aha! So anda admit it!”
    “The only thing to which I will admit is surprise that anda bent me over the table. I fully expected anda to pounce, but not in that manner,” she says, finally grinning at him.
    “Um, yes, well. That… was an impulse,” he smirks.
    She kisses him, saying, “Well, I have lauded anda on your creativity in the past…”

SATURDAY

    “See, I told anda I wouldn’t cook again,” Arthur announces, setting a bag containing boxes of Chinese Makanan down on the counter of the lobby.
    “Did anda bring egg rolls?”
    “Of course. Oh, here,” he hands her a book.
    “Ah, Frankenstein.” She sets it on a pile of other returns, picks up the bag and leads him back to her office. “How did anda like it?”
    “It wasn’t what I expected. I was thinking it was a thriller.”
    She smiles. “Go on.”
    “And it was… sad.”
    “Yes. It is.” She sits, and he opens the bag brings out containers.
    “Oh, the bakery called this morning,” Gwen says between bites of sesame chicken.
    “They did?” he looks at her suspiciously.
    “Yes, they need a final decision on the design.”
    I don’t think I like where this is going. “And?”
    “Would anda stop on your way home?”
    “Me?”
    “Arthur, it’s not difficult. Just go, pick the one anda like, sign the form and go home. Piece of cake.”
    “Oh, ha ha.”
    “I trust you.”
    “I don’t. What if I pick the wrong one?”
    “You won’t.”
    “How many options am I going to have to pick from?”
    “Two. It’s not exactly rocket science.”
    “How ’bout I take pictures of the choices and message them to anda and then anda can tell me which one to pick?”
    “Arthur, it’s not like I’m asking anda to pick out my dress.”
    Arthur sighs. “You’re sure?”
    “Yes.”
    “Okay. But if anda don’t like them, remember your words.”
    She laughs, and resumes eating.
    “I need a new book,” Arthur says after they finish.
    She stands, and takes his hand, pulling him back out to the lobby.
    “I have the perfect follow-up to Frankenstein for you.”
    “Do you?”
    “It just came back in, and if anda take it, I won’t have to re-shelve it.”
    She picks through a line of buku on a cart, troli until she finds what she’s looking for. “Aha.”
    Arthur takes the book. “The Stranger? This is the perfect follow-up?”
    “Yes. Just read it, you’ll underst—“
    “Excuse me, miss?” a woman has come to the counter needed Gwen’s assistance, so she leaves Arthur to help her.
    “Yes, how may I help you?” Gwen gives Arthur a gentle shove towards the computers behind the desk. He strolls over, pulls his perpustakaan card from his wallet, and checks out his own book.
    He opens the book, leaning against the counter casually, Membaca while he waits for Gwen.
    “Arthur, go to the bakery,” she comes back to him, leaning against him for a goodbye kiss. “I’ll see anda at home.”

THURSDAY, TWO DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING

    “I don’t like this. It’s not… manly,” Elliot protests from the back kerusi, tempat duduk of Merlin’s car.
    “Morgana promised we’d be the only ones there,” Arthur says.
    “Besides, anda don’t have a choice. Unless anda want to argue with Morgana and Gwen,” Merlin chimes in.
    Elliot remains silent, sulking in the back.
    “Thought not,” Merlin says.
    “Look, mate, I’m not entirely thrilled about it either, but if Guinevere wants us looking our best for the wedding, then that’s what we’ll do.”
    “You are so whipped, man,” Elliot says.
    “Yes. And I’m happier than I’ve ever been, so shut it.”
    Arthur parks the car and the three of them walk into Morgana’s salon, where Morgana and two other stylists greet them.
    “Dibs on Gwen’s brother,” Elizabeth, a tall redhead and Morgana’s roommate since Gwen moved out, mutters to them.
    “Which one is brother?” Irene, a short blonde with soft features, asks.
    “The bald one.”
    “Hello, darlings,” Morgana walks to them, and locks the door behind them.
    “See?” Merlin says to Elliot, pointing at the locked door.
    Morgana kisses each of them hello in turn, then she is down to business. “Okay. Arthur, you’re with me, of course,” she bats her eyelashes coquettishly at him. “Elliot, Elizabeth has requested the honor, and Merlin, this is Irene,” she indicates the blonde, pronouncing her name Ee-RAY-nah.
    Elizabeth strides up to Elliot. He is not overly tall, and Elizabeth is nearly as tall as he is. She reaches up and places her hand on bahagian, atas of his head, rubbing it a little. “Yes, we need a touch-up, don’t we?” He stares at her, her boldness intriguing him.
    “Come on, honey,” she says, and leads him to her chair using the hand still on the bahagian, atas of his head.
    They sit beside Merlin and Irene, and Arthur and Morgana are on the other end. The three men sit there, looking at themselves and each other in the mirrors, each feeling slightly silly.
    “Okay, boys, loosen up,” Morgana laughs. “We’re not going to make anda up atau put merah jambu polish on your toes.”
    “Unless you’re into that kind of thing,” Elizabeth chimes in, wrapping a hot towel around Elliot’s head.
    Irene is studying Merlin’s dark hair, but she keeps sneaking glances at Elliot. Finally, she turns to him and says, “I know you. anda are rugby player, no?” She has a distinct Eastern European accent.
    “Yes,” he says, looking up at her from under the towel.
    “You look like a sultan,” Arthur says, laughing.
    “Thank you, Sahib,” Elliot says, then turns his attention back to Irene. “You like rugby?”
    “Very much. I am liking the men in their short pants. And the running and… tackling is very exciting to be watching. And the New Zealand team with the doing of the Haka. Very, um, hot?”
    Elizabeth glares at her over the bahagian, atas of Elliot’s head. Irene rolls her eyes back at her.
    Elliot laughs. “Well, not the word I would choose for it, but it is interesting to watch, yes.”
    Irene opens a drawer and pulls out a topi, cap with the name of Elliot’s team on it. “Please, would anda sign for brother?”
    “Of course,” Elliot says, taking it. Elizabeth, now understanding Irene’s interest, hands him a marker. “What is his name?”
    “Piotr,” she says, and spells it for him. “I bought today and will be posting him for his birthday.”
    He writes a message on it and hands it back to her.
    She looks at it, reading. “‘Happy birthday, Piotr. Be strong, be good. Best wishes, Elliot Thomas.’ Thank anda so much! He will love!” She bends down and kisses him on both cheeks before returning the hat to the drawer.
    “Sorry, Merlin. I am all yours now,” she says, returning to him.
    “Quite all right. Where are anda from?” he asks.
    “Poland. Just outside Warsaw,” she says.
    “Warszawa to piękne miasto,” Merlin says to her. Warsaw is a beautiful city.
    “Mówisz Polskiej?” Irene answers, surprised. You speak Polish?
    “Mało.” A little.
    “Merlin?” Arthur asks.
    “Yeah?”
    “Stop menunjukkan off. Besides, how do we know you’re not talking about us?”
    Merlin grins, and resumes conversing with Irene in Polish.

    Once the men have all been neatly trimmed (or in Elliot’s case, freshly shaved), they are escorted to seats at small tables bearing towels, lotions, and assorted stainless steel implements of supposed torture.
    Arthur looks at Morgana quizzically.
    “Manicures,” she tells him.
    “No,” Elliot protests. “Just, no.”
    Morgana marches over to him, grabs him sejak the elbow and pulls him to a chair. “Sit,” she commands, pushing him into the seat. Then she leans over him and says, “Your sister is getting married in two days. She is the bride and therefore she shall get what she wants. And what she wants is for anda to look gorgeous. You’re also getting this very expensive attention for free. So quit your bitching and be a good boy atau we will tie anda down and give anda a bikini wax. Brazilian.”
    Elliot turns in his chair and faces the table, placing his hands obediently on the towel. Morgana kisses his cheek and flounces back over to Arthur. He and Merlin are both splitting with laughter.
    “You have very nice hands, Arthur,” Morgana says as she works on him.
    “Guinevere berkata the same thing,” he comments.
    “Did she?”
    “Yes. She berkata that I have remarkably beautiful hands for a man, especially telah diberi my line of work.”
    “Well, she’s right.” She turns the hand she has between hers around, inspecting it. “Nicely shaped, no scars, and your fingernails were clean even before we started.” She looks up at Arthur. “She hates dirty fingernails.”
    Arthur chuckles. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
    Suddenly there is a pounding at the front window. They all turn to look, and are treated to the sight of Wayne’s backside pressed to the glass. The men and Elizabeth laugh, Irene gasps, and Morgana merely sighs and rolls her eyes before standing up to unlock the door.
    Wayne, Leon, and Paul come tumbling noisily in, wielding bottles of champagne. Wayne has already popped one open and has been drinking straight from the bottle.
    “Arthur!” he shouts in a celebratory fashion. “Getting all pretty for the big day?”
    “Wayne, nice to see you, too,” he laughs. Wayne grabs Morgana as she passes and pulls her to him for a passionate kiss.
    “Hello,” she says when they come up for air.
    “My lady,” he releases her and bows.
    “We’re almost done, and then anda hooligans can go about your business,” she tells him.
    “What business?” Arthur asks.
    “Your bachelor party, of course!” Wayne announces, hoisting his bottle in a roti bakar before taking a long pull from it.
    Arthur turns to see Merlin and Elliot both grinning at him. “You wankers. anda knew.”
    “Hell, we planned it,” Merlin laughs. “Why do anda think I insisted on driving?”

Part 59: link