Maid For You 4

Chapter 57

A couple of weeks passed, and news about Calista's official engagement spread around the castle. While it wasn't published in the papers, it became common knowledge within the noble social circles. Calista couldn't bring herself to tell Lysander François about her engagement, but one day he showed up unexpectedly at the castle asking to see her. After he left, Calista cried for the rest of the day. She told me and Lucille that she wanted space, but she eventually let Coleman come to her room and he talked with his sister for a long time.

As for me, I of course still had feelings for Nikolas and was still saddened and troubled by the news, but I was no longer so fragile nor on the edge of tears at any given moment. I'd once cried in front of Calista on accident, but I'd made up an excuse that I had hoped that she believed. Calista and Nikolas's engagement was no longer a shocking, earth-shattering event for me every time I thought about it, but merely a depressing fact of life.

Coleman and I hadn't talked really about Nikolas after our night at McDonald's, but he often came to find me and we'd walk around the palace halls together or on occasion share a meal with each other. Nikolas's engagement had been more than just losing him as a potential romantic partner—it also meant I'd lost him as a friend. It didn't really feel right to call him up like I used to; Calista didn't love him, but she was still his fiancée and I didn't want to overstep my boundaries with a man who was engaged. Even if I wasn't wrestling with the morality of it, with everything that had happened between us, our friendship was altered and it would be foolish to pretend otherwise.

So I was grateful for Coleman's friendship.

Madeline, ever the socialite, was throwing a soiree to mark the close of winter, and Coleman and I drove to the party together in his Pagani Huayra. We'd managed not to match our clothes for a change—he wore a black shirt with white pants, and I wore dark blue dress.

"By the way, did you still want me to teach you more about the politics of the collegiate?" Coleman asked me.

It had been a while since he'd mentioned that. "Oh yeah," I said. "I probably should."

Coleman rose and eyebrow. "But?"

"But what?" I asked.

"There was a 'but' in your tone."

"But..." I sighed. "I don't know. It's just—I guess, I should probably know more about politics because I'm Calista's lady-in-waiting." I looked out the window.

"What's on your mind?"

I wondered if he was looking at me, but I just shrugged.

"Cassie?"

I watched the green landscape rolling by us, the black road creating an easy path towards Madeline's home. Coleman's Pagini Huayra, of course, made the journey smooth and comfortable. "I don't know where I'm going," I said under my breath. The quiet of the car, however, allowed my voice to be heard.

"What do you mean?" Coleman asked calmly.

"I mean..." I began. "I don't know. I guess that's the point though, isn't it? I don't know. I feel like I just got my degree but now I have no idea what to do with my life. I came to Aregano to travel and start my career. I've travelled, yes, but have I done anything for a career? It seems like all I've done since coming here is fall in love." I looked forward, through the windshield, and I felt Coleman's eyes on me. I glanced over at him. "Keep your eyes on the road."

He made a bit of a hmph noise, but granted my request.

"I know that being a lady-in-waiting is an honor, but I can't keep doing that forever. I need to find something else to do."