(Copyright) © 2011 Candle_Ice
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Chapter 10
Elise looked around the dining table at her family. They were more comfortable with Leonidas now than at first in the living room.
When he arrived earlier, he was introduced to everyone: Erik, her eldest brother, the med student; Zane, the photographer; Helena, the ballerina; Jared, the future footballer/ astronaut; Tatiana, best friend/ un-biological sister; Karin van Hastening, her mother, magazine editor; and finally her father, the lawyer, Randolph van Hastening.
They all curtsied, but were told to forget he was the Prince, and welcome him as a friend and address him by his name. Her father then surprised her and everyone else, by asking him into his study for a while.
She had teased him about interrogating Leonidas, but she didn’t think he would have taken her seriously.
They were in there for over twenty minutes, and she was starting to get worried when they finally emerged and shook hands.
Conversation was a little strained in the beginning, but the awkwardness was broken by Jared's comment of how popular he was now that his sister was dating the prince. That opened a whole long line of teasing from everyone and now they were all laughing like a normal 'meet the family' dinner.
By dessert, they were all relaxed. She was right, her parents did like him. Even her father, who was the most skeptical about this whole meeting, seemed to be a little more relaxed. But then again, Leonidas was great at charming people.
It was only a matter of time before he completely won over her entire family, her father included.
"Elise, can I talk to you for a minute, in private?" Leonidas asked when they were finished with the dinner.
"Sure," she replied.
He was leading her into her father's study, when her mother interrupted.
"Why don't you show him your room, dear?"
"There are a lot of rooms in this house, other than the bedrooms. They can go in any one of them if they wish. Why must they go into her bedroom?" Her father asked irritably.
"Come on Randolph, her bedroom is the only room in the house that reflects her personality. He should see that." Her mother replied and shushed them to the second floor towards Elise's bedroom.
When they reached inside he pulled her into his embrace and kissed her fiercely. That was the third time Elise was kissed by him, and all three times it was unexpected, but not entirely unwelcomed.
"I've wanted to do that all day," he said, after a while, still holding her in his embrace.
She smiled. "You know, you could give a girl some warning next time you plan on kissing her senseless."
"I'm sorry, but I did not hear you complain before." he teased.
"Well, I'm not really complaining now," she replied, then asked, "What did my father want?"
"He wanted to make sure that I was going to treat his daughter right and not rush her into anything... physical, you know: the usual things a father would tell a guy who’s dating his daughter."
"And what did you reply," she asked, curious to know.
"I promised him we wouldn't rush into anything, but it's hard to keep that promise when his daughter is so hot and full of passion."
Her eyes widened in shock and he gave her a peck on the lips, "Relax, I was kidding. We parted friends, didn't we? If I had said that, Prince or not, he'd kick me out of his home."
She mocked punch him, and was going to kiss him again, when her father walked in.
"You've been gone for more than a minute," he said, glaring at Leonidas, who still had his hands around Elise's waist.
Moving out of his embrace, Elise led him from the room, past her father.
"I should go, before I overstay my welcome and your father throws me out," he whispered in her ears when they came down the stairs.
"Ah," her mother said when she saw them, "did you like her room, your-- Leonidas?"
"It was beautiful," he replied looking at Elise. They both knew full well that he had not seen her room, and shared a secret smile.
Turning to her mother, he started making his goodbyes.
"Mrs. van Hastening, thank you so much for dinner. You have a lovely home, and I feel honoured to have been welcomed as I was."
Elise was convinced he could charm just about anybody, as she saw her mother blush.
When she followed him out to the car, she heard her mother say to her father, 'I told you the finer details mattered!' and smiled to herself.
"I forgot to ask, how your day today was?" he asked when they were on the porch.
She told him about her run in with everyone and he was very sympathetic.
"I'm sorry," he winced.
"I can handle it," she assured him.
"I'm sure you can. I'll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams, my darling Elise." He kissed her temple, and whispered before pulling away, "By the way, you looked lovely tonight. Can't wait to see what you wear tomorrow or at the ball."
As she watched his car pull away, Elise realised something. She had no idea what to wear to go to the ball.
***
The absolute best part of being the daughter of a fashion magazine editor is the access to all the latest trends. Just so happens, Elise is one of the lucky few who can boast about that fact.
The next morning, Elise decided that she's skip the drama of going to school and find a dress for the ball. Of course, Tatiana was there, stating it was her official duty as 'Royal Best Friend' to assist in picking out the dress. And Elise would rather trust Tatiana's choice than her own anyway. But when she handed over the duty of choosing a dress, Elise had forgotten one thing... Tatiana was meticulous in her choice of clothing.
"How long have we been searching?" Elise asked from her stack of dresses.
"What's with you? You act like if we're searching through a barrel of nails instead of beautiful dresses." Tatiana sighed.
Elise was never very fond of dress shopping. Tatiana on the other hand was a whole other story. Every dress Elise chose, her friend always found something wrong with it, claiming it wasn't 'princess material.' She was willing to go with her friend's judgment, but her patience was wearing thin, waiting on Tatiana to choose a dress.
They were in the magazine's 'closet', as it was dubbed, where all the clothes from the shoots were stored. It was the size of football stadium. Not really, but it was really huge! And Elise couldn't stand another minute in there with no prospect of finding what her friend wanted. Excusing herself, she went in search of her mother, and found her in her office.
"Hey Ellie Belle, found a dress yet?" her mother asked when she entered.
"Not as yet, I'm afraid." She said, sitting down on one of the office chairs, "Every single choice I make, Tatiana shoots it down. She looking for a dress fit for a future princess, and apparently there's none there that fits her expectation."
"I'm sure she'll find one soon." Her mother cajoled.
"I hope so. I don't want to embarrass myself in front of the entire Kingdom!" Elise exclaimed, almost in panic.
Her phone then vibrated, and she saw it was a call from Leonidas.
"I'm leaving for a meeting with the printers, okay, belle?" Karin said, heading out of the office.
But Elise didn't even bother with her. Her heart was doing a little fluttering dance inside her, and she couldn't wait to hear his voice.
"I hope your day is going better than mine," was his greeting when she answered.
"Why? How is your day going?" she asked, concerned etched in her voice.
"Nothing important at the moment, state affairs are in order. Just the preparations for my grandfather's arrival tonight are a little frustrating. I just found out that he wants to meet with me privately as soon as possible, and every time we have a sit down, one or both of us end up storming out in anger." Leonidas couldn't hide the sound of disdain in his voice.
"So the papers were right?" Elise asked, "You and your grandfather never see eye to eye?"
"He's just so old fashioned. How can we move forward, if his ideals and methods are in the past? And he feels it is his right to dictate to me, and my father, how to run the country. I really am not looking forward to his visit. Grandmother has decided to escaped, the lucky thing, she's fleeing to a spa in Switzerland for the weekend. I almost begged her to take me with her."
Laughing, Elise replied, "How magnanimous! The crown prince flees country to avoid grandfather."
"Yeah, would that be a bit extreme?" he asked in mock seriousness.
"A little," Elise replied in the same tone, "but didn't you know he was coming? So you must have been a little prepared to meet with him, right?"
"I knew he was coming for the ball. And I knew he would have some matters to discuss with Father, and I'd probably have a sit in, in one of the meetings. Plus, there's the five minutes I'd introduce you to him on Friday. Then I'd plan avoid him at every other chance possible." He confessed.
"You know, this is the first time you're telling me about your estranged relationship with your grandfather." She told him.
"I didn't want you to feel too nervous when you met him. There are things people don't know; things that can't come out. But I needed to talk to someone." He said, and Elise was glad she was the one he could turn to.
"I'm happy I could be there for you." She told him, meaning every word.
"Enough about my bad day, tell me something good about your day." He encouraged.
"I'm not so sure I can do that. Tatiana is looking for a dress for me, for the ball. And I have no choice in the matter. She turns down every one on my suggestion. I may have to wear a bed sheet to the ball at her rate," she told him.
"And I'm sure you look fabulous!" he replied.
"Ha ha! Wouldn't the media just love that. I can see the headlines now," she replied drily.
Just then, the office doors flew open and there stood Tatiana, looking like she's found the gateway to heaven.
"Umm, I'll have to call you back. I think she's found it!" Not waiting for a reply, Elise disconnected the call.
"I found it... There it was, right under my nose. I couldn't believe I didn't find it sooner." Tatiana bounced up and down in her excitement.
"So where is it?" she asked, as she walked up to Tatiana.
Without saying a word, Tatiana left the office and headed back to the 'closet' indicating to Elise over her shoulders to follow.
When they arrived, she saw it.
"OH MY GOSH!" was all Elise could say.
Tatiana had found her the perfect dress.
~~~
[A/N: You'll see the dress, don't worry. I didn't want to describe it here... You'll see it when Leonidas does! ;p ... I'll describe it PLUS I'll post a picture so u can see it for urself, because my description skills suck!
Thank you all so much for reading!--> Next chapter, the evil grandfather will make his first appearance...