The British Princess

Part 22

Everyone was exhausted after Jeremy's party and the massive clean up that followed. So that night, as soon as I hit the pillow I dosed off to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and was summoned by Thea with a message. She drew back the curtains at 7 and told me Tate requested my presence.

"Why on earth does he want my presence this early? Surely he would want to sleep in on his birthday."

"He's an early bird miss. I've heard he wakes up when the sun comes up, getting ready before his maids arrive for cleaning duties."

"Well I certainly can't say the same. Can you get my dress please? I'll do my hair and makeup later."

Thea nods and helps me get dressed in my costume, a royal blue shirtwaist dress with silver buttons down the front. I love the vintage style and theme for the party.

It was going to be held in the ballroom, part of the disco, for us to be able to dance.

I put on some shoes quickly and asked Thea where Tate wanted me to be, so she sent me off to a sitting room somewhere on the first floor. I had his gift in a box under my arm and was fixing my collar with my spare hand.

I found where I was meant to be and saw Tate waiting, gazing out the window. He turns at the sound of my footsteps and smiles.

"Happy Birthday." I say softly, still feeling like it's early because most people are only just waking up as it's only around 6:40.

"Thanks Charlotte." Tate comes over and pulls me into a warm hug, "I'm glad you came. Sorry if it's early."

"It's alright, I should be getting up earlier anyway."

"I just wanted to see you." He says and pauses as his eyes trail down at my outfit before blushing and meeting my eye again, "You know, before all the commotion of the party later. I love your dress though."

"Thank you." I say and give a little curtsey to show the fabric I obsess over, "And you look very handsome today Tate. I like the style."

He nods with a grateful smile as I take in his outfit.
Tate's dressed as if he runs a vintage style bowling alley, with a white and faded blue top with blocks of colour. His belt and grey checkered pants were basic but added to the retro look, going with his brown hair that's styled back neatly.

"I like the 20th century theme." Tate says and offers me a seat as he sits down on the lounge. I take the spot beside him and his knee lightly touches mine.

"So do I." I say with a smile that matches his, before extending out the gift box to him, "I got you a present. I don't know if you will like this but I thought it a good gift for you."

"I'm sure I'll love it Charlotte." Tate says and opens the gift box, looking at the contents with what I hoped was pleasant surprise.

Tate carefully picked up the first item, a big scrapbook type thing with a bumble bee on the cover.

"This first thing is the main thing, it's an art book with little prompts of activities to do. I thought it was cute, and maybe we could do some together."

Tate meets my eye and his smile is so infectious I can't help but grin back,
"I like this. Thanks Charlotte. Wait, there's more in here?"

I nod, "A few other little things."

"Well aren't I lucky?" Tate said as he glanced to me out of the corner of his eye with a grin, before looking at the other little things in the box. I had included a few materials that Tate could use for the book, like paints, pencils and brushes.