Alpha King's Mate

34. That Person

     It's been a week. The coronation is tomorrow.

     For the past seven days, I've been tormented by that event. I am still ecstatic, but more nervous than I was before. This is how it all begins. After this our lives get serious, and I cannot decide how I feel about that.

     I feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. Thousands of people are going to gather here in less than 24 hours to observe my coronation. They all are going to be watching me like hawks.

     As much as Lou has been trying to tech me how to be royal, I can't help feeling like I'm not. Maybe I will feel differently when that crown is placed on my head. Maybe I won't.

     Lou walks on air. She glides across floors, even when she stumbles it is petit and still graceful. She knows how to wear a gown, how to walk in one, how to dance, how to live while everyone in the kingdom is watching you at all times. I am a little less accomplished in all of those fields.

     I squeeze the ball at the end of my bottle of perfume and consequently douce my neck in the lovely, sweet-smelling liquid. I set it back down and it collides gently with the marble countertop.

     I stare at myself in my bathroom mirror. My face is done up completely, as if the coronation were tonight. My blonde hair has been cut and now hangs just below my shoulders, unnaturally wavy.

For the first time, I look at myself in this mirror, in preparation for a royal event, and I feel like me.

I hear a knock on the bedroom door. That must be Tilly. Leaving the bathroom, I approach the door in my robe.

My face drops when I see who it is.

"Good morning, Your Highness," Caroline grins at me.

"How did you get in this wing?" I ask her with a glare.

"The same way you did."

"What does that mean?"

"Why don't you try to figure it out? Might take a little while longer depending on just how small your brain is."

"I'll remind you that I am your Queen-"

"Not yet you aren't. You may be tomorrow but we'll see about that."

"You-"

"Goodbye Olivia."

And with that she simply turns around and skips away gleefully. I watch as she approaches a diverging hallway and stops, turning around once more.

     "Lost?" I ask, rolling my eyes.

     "Oh of course not," she giggles falsely. "I know my way around this wing. I just wanted to give you some advice for the ball tomorrow."

     "Advice?" I sigh.

     "Don't wear a tight dress," she says, smiling as she shrugs. I freeze. "You're looking a lot heavier these days."

     She walks away and I stand, just outside my doorway, in my white robe, before rushing back inside.

***

     "Do you think I got fat?" I blurt out, staring at my bare feet.

     "What?" Zac asks from the other side of the bedroom behind me.

     I turn around and sit criss crossed on the bed as he pulls his gray shirt over his head. "Do you think look bigger than when we first met?"

     "Okay, what?" He says as he sits with me on the bed.

     "You heard me."

     "No, of course not."

     "Liar."

     "What?"

     I sigh. "I've gained like 15 pound since I first got here. Maybe 20."

     "So?"

     "So, I have gotten bigger since I arrived. You've definitely noticed." I say, looking at his face only momentarily before returning my gaze to my feet.

     "Liv."

     "What?"

     "Look at me, Liv."

     I do so and peer straight into his eyes.

     "You're gorgeous, you know that right?" He says and I roll my eyes. "I'm serious."

     I search for a lie in his body language as tears come to my eyes.

     "Wouldn't you like me how I used to look? I mean, I wasn't even skinny to begin with, but now-"

"No-"

"I mean, ever since I was a kid I was chubby, but now my rolls are gigantic."

"Olivia-"

"You can just admit it. I'll know you still love me even if you say it."

"Olivia!"

"What? I won't be mad."

"Zac!" I exclaim, sad and angry.

I don't want to hear him say it. I mean, I do... but I don't. I don't know what I want really. I know what the truth is, and so does he, but I want to know how he sees me.

I think I look okay, but I am so much bigger than Caroline. She probably weighs 90 pounds-

     "Do you want the truth, Liv?"

     I nod.

     "The honest, bare truth?" He sighs.

     I swallow hard and nod again. "Yes."

     "I am in love with you."

     Wha-

     "I am in love with Olivia Eleanor Mayer. A person who is kind, and generous, and honest, and good. A woman who is brave and caring and perfectly imperfect. A beautiful person, but most of all a beautiful soul."

I'm speechless. I smile at him as a tear or two leak down my cheeks.

"I am in love with that person, and I was weeks before we said it to each other. I was scared of the thought of letting you in. I was becoming used to the idea that my mother and Lou were the only ones who wouldn't betray me. But, I know that you are not the type of person to run from what scares her. You face it, and that is beautiful."

I spring into his arms. My hands hold the back of his head and bring his lips down to mine.

"I love you so much." I whisper between our kisses.

"I love you. No matter what, I will love you." He says.