The Indentured Mistress of a 'Human'

Escape

            “…-k…..-ook…..BROOK!”

            Brook jumped and looked up from her scallops to see Nathan glaring at her across the table.

            “Stop spacing out if there’s ‘nothing wrong’,” he said sarcastically.

            “There is nothing wrong,” Brook said defensively.

            The light on the candle flared up and a shower of wax fell on the tablecloth as Nathan’s scowl grew deeper. Wordlessly, he got up and left, slamming the door behind him.

            Lily tugged on Brook’s sleeve. “Are you really okay?”

            Brook faked a smile and ruffled her hair. “Of course. Is there anything to be worried about?”

            As time passed, the rift between them began to grow. When four days had passed, the two of them were practically strangers. What with Nathan refusing to cooperate until she told him what was bothering her and Brook too confused about her own troubles to know how to deal with it, ended up avoiding each other whenever possible.

            As for Will, Brook hardly knew what to do other than to pretend nothing happened. The awkwardly kind boy that she met that horrible auction night so long ago was now ignoring her, and loneliness drove her to seek Will’s comfort.

            And her mature teacher gave it to her willingly, patiently hearing out her ranting and actively responding to her comments. Soon, they were spending time outside of class together, too.

            So when the fifth day was coming to a close, Will deemed it safe to make his move.

            “I was wondering,” he said as they walked down the hall, “you want to go on a date with me tomorrow?”

            Brook froze for a brief second, and then laughed. “You shouldn’t joke about that kind of stuff. You might be executed.”

            “Brook,” Will said quietly, grabbing her arm and pulling her close. “I’m serious.”

            “Do you want us to be killed?” she hissed after looking left and right, as if expecting someone with a video recorder to pop up.

            “It’s normal really,” Will smirked somewhat bitterly. “My parents have affairs all the time. Nobody in the royal family takes this marriage stuff seriously. And the paparazzi won’t expose us either; they’d all be killed if they did.”

            “You can’t be serious!” Brook said while trying to pull away.

            “Of course I am,” Will said, his grip on her tightening. “Besides, if you feel bad about going behind Nathan’s back, don’t bother. He’s cheating on you, too.”

            Brook simply stared with a blank expression.

            “Look,” Will said impatiently. “I’m not saying that he’s got a secret lover; I’m saying he can’t keep his pants zipped. Ask anyone in the media. We all know that the only reason why he got a commoner for a wife was so she couldn’t wrest power from him if she caught him cheating. If a royal for a wife told the media to expose the information, they’d have no choice, whereas a commoner could never do a thing about it.”

            Brook quickly looked at her feet to hide the hot tears of anger slowly welling up in her eyes.

            She shouldn’t have been surprised by this. After all, Nathan had all the right in the world to cheat on her. They never met under normal circumstances; they never once spent time together for any other reason than the need to survive in this world of politics.

            And yet… her chest clenched as if she was suffocating. He could have at least told her, right? Let her know; clarify their relationship so she didn’t get all these delusions about being friends and whatnot. She felt like a complete idiot! Why didn’t he tell her?

            “Brook,” Will said, tilting up her face and wiping away her tears. “Go out with me.”

            “But I don’t,” Brook stammered, “I don’t love you. I won’t love anyone for as long as I live!”

            “You don’t have to; at least, not right now. I’ll get you to fall in love with me.”

            “But-”

            “Is it really that bad?” he said quietly. “To just forget about it all for a day? To escape the pressure and the drama, and just have fun?”