That Stupid Ring

Part 2

********* Spring, 7 years ago, Buckingham Palace *********

PARIS POV

"This right here what we call the Tea Room. You know that us British people are very keen of drinking tea. It's a culture in itself. Queen Victoria decided to name this the Tea Room, probably because this is also the only room that directly faces the Palace's main garden..."

I yawn. Oh my God, this is so boring. Who would have thought that a visit to Buckingham Palace would be as dull as a ditchwater? Even worse, they didn't allow us to bring our cellphones inside so we have no other things to do but listen to this tour lady spilling the history of British royals. Yes, we already know they love to drink tea. Yes, we already how much they love horses. And by now, we've noticed how most rooms are designed in a way like Marie Antoinette threw up in them.

"Oh my God, are you bored?" Beth asks me, "This is so boring, isn't it? We should have went on the White House tour instead."

"I know," letting out another yawn, "At least in the White House there are hot Secret Service men for us to look at."

"I know!" she shrieks, "Don't they also have Secret Service here at the Palace?"

"I guess they should," I shrug, "But it's impossible to know how they look like underneath that gigantic bearskin."

"Oh God," Beth sighs, "How much longer is this tour? I miss my phone."

About five minutes later, we move toward another room with a grand piano placed right in the middle, with another victorian sofa in front of another massive fireplace. The tour guide begins to talk about the importance of piano in British culture, especially at dinner parties.

"Some of them will start dancing after dinner, thus this empty space right beside the piano," she tells us, "Now, who can tell me Queen Elizabeth's favourite song? The one with the right answer will get an exclusive Buckingham Palace pin!"

"I bet it's Adele," I say to Beth and we giggle again.

"Is it Gary Barlow? I think I've read that somewhere," Lisa Brie, the smartest of all, throws her hand up on the air.

"Correct!" the guide lady says, "Hurrah, you've got yourself a pin!"

Lisa's face glows as she receives the pin. The guide then tells us the next activity, which is watching a 20-minutes movie about the British Royal family tree.

"Some of the clips you'll see in the movie are exclusives, you can only watch them here," she says with high excitement, "Come, let's follow me to the cinema room."

As we pass the hallway, I notice a tiny path on my left, leading to what looks like a balcony.

I grab Beth's arm. "Beth," I say, "I'm gonna sneak out for a smoke, okay?"

She looks at the direction I'm pointing. "Oh, sure."

"If anyone notices, just say I went to the bathroom."

"You mean the loo?" Beth grins.

I chuckle and duck myself out of the group. I walk as quickly as I could, in case the tour guide lady returns to check. Once I arrive in the balcony, I take a long, deep breath to the fresh spring air.

"Thank God," I hiss, reaching out for a cigarette inside my bag.

This balcony is actually the perfect place to smoke. It's facing the main garden, and there's a huge fountain with beautiful Romanian statue standing in the middle. It's so zen.

I lit the cigarette and immerse myself in the first puff of smoke with so much relief. This will help wake me from this boring tour━

Suddenly I hear someone saying:

"You know, you can't smoke in here."

"Whoa!" I jump in shock, immediately throwing my cigarette to the ground. "Shit!"

I look at the cigarette on the ground and look up at the person. But I quickly look down again, back at my cigarette, wishing there's a way for me to rescue it. But it's dead. It fell right into a puddle of brown water.

"Shit," I curse again.

"I'm sorry," the person says, "I didn't mean to scare you or anything."

That's when I look up and really look at the person in front of me. 

My mouth opens. I know for sure that both of my eyes are widened with surprise. 

It's the━ uh, 

It's him. 

The Prince. 

What's his name.

William.

Oh my God.

It's Prince William!

***