"Offices?" Rob said.
Julian showed him the office that adjoined the library on one side and on the other side adjoined the bigger office his grandfather had used.
Going in from the library, Rob crossed the small office and stopped in the discreet doorway in the corner. That was the door to his grandfather's office that his assistant used. There was another set of double doors across from his grandfather's desk. Those led out into the hall.
Julian didn't go over to look in. It was one of his least favorite rooms in this house. The only times he had gone in there was to be lectured or punished.
"That one is my grandfather's old office. But I'll be using this one. My grandfather's assistants used to use it," Julian said as he opened the shutters, and the office brightened around him. It was a nice office, simply decorated and not too big.
"You want to set up your office in here?" Rob said, not understanding his choice to use the smaller office. "But there is that big one."
"You can use it if you like," Julian told him. His grandfather's wood paneled office didn't appeal to him, and he knew the memories would weigh on him in there. He wanted to be able to concentrate.
"That seems the wrong way around," Rob said as he went into the big office with that massive desk and all those built in shelves full of binders that Julian had never cleared out.
"Let's set up a few things in here," Julian decided and they unpacked some of the boxes that had been delivered to the house then Rob got some more from the car.
With his jacket off, lifting boxes, bending and stretching, Rob looked so good. It was a struggle for Julian not to notice and admire him. But it wasn't like Julian didn't have enough to occupy him. There was the office to put in order and Danny to look after.
Since the assistant's office was connected to the library, they could see Danny in there. Lying on the library floor and flipping through the nature book, Danny would look up and crane his neck to catch sight of them through the office door. Once he assured himself that they were still there, he would go back to 'reading'. A few minutes later he would do the same thing again.
Working on setting up the office kept Rob and Julian busy until Danny came to the door and poked his head in.
"You found us," Rob said to him.
"We should take a break and look upstairs. Then we'll have dinner," Julian said.
"We're not done with downstairs," Rob pointed out.
"There's only the kitchen," Julian said.
"We won't need that," Rob joked.
"I won't make much use of it. I can't cook. And you?" Julian asked.
"Not really," Rob said then he turned to Danny. "Can you cook?"
"No. I'm a kid," Danny told him reasonably, and Rob gave him that bright, beautiful smile.
