"I was wondering if you'd accompany me to New York City in three weeks."
Jackie looked up from her omelette, with excitement. "New York City? I love it there!"
"I know you do, " Harry said with a grin. "Kate told me about all your trips there as child."
"My parents and I would always go over Christmas holiday. My mother would show me Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's apartment when we walked through Central Park. It was always a dream of mine to live in that same building. I was named after her, you know," Jackie added.
"You were named after an American?" Harry asked, mock incredulously.
"I was. I suppose if I had to choose any American to be named after, it would be her. I believe your grandmother met her in the 60s," said Jackie. "I should ask her about it."
"I'm sure she'd be glad to tell you all about her." Harry took a long drink of coffee. "So, would you like to come?"
Jackie pursed her lips. "I really would love to, but I can't. I'm scheduled to work."
Harry sighed. "C'mon, they've been understanding about you taking time off before."
"But that's the point, I have to work now. It's not fair to everyone else."
Harry rubbed his forehead, a habit Jackie had come to realize was a sign he was getting frustrated. "It's just a job."
Jackie felt her cheeks redden, this time with anger. "This is my career. I've worked hard for it. It's my life."
"I thought this-" Harry motioned between himself and Jackie- "was your life now."
Jackie folded her arms on her small kitchen table she and Harry were eating breakfast at. "C'mon. I can go on trips with you when I'm not working."
"But you're working all the time," Harry shot back.
"My boss has been so understanding these past months about letting me take time off to go on these trips with you!" Jackie protested. She could feel her voice rising, becoming a bit shrill. "What's the big deal if I can't go on this one?"
"Because I want you with me! You're going to have to quit your job anyways, why do you care so much?"
Jackie was taken aback. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You can't work at the hospital and be and be a Duchess of So-and-so."
"I'm expected to give up everything?"
Harry seemed to search for the right words. "But it's not everything. You have me. You don't need to work if you're with me."
"I-" Jackie let out a huff. "My career is my identity. It's who I am. I'm Jackie the Nurse. You want me to quit my life's work so I can be sitting around, available for vacationing?"
"No, it's- you won't be sitting around. You'll have public duties and engagements-"
"I don't have anything if I'm not part of the royal family. I can't even get security to keep the paps from crushing me every time I step outside," Jackie spat.
Harry looked a bit hurt. "But you will. We've spoken about this, you want to get married."
"I didn't know that getting married meant changing everything about myself," Jackie said quietly.
"I thought you understood what you were getting into," said Harry, almost inaudibly.
"So did I."
They faced each other in silence, both staring into their plates. "I guess I need to do some thinking," Jackie whispered.
Harry looked at her, pain in his eyes. "What's there to think about?"
Jackie felt her eyes brim with tears. "If I'm willing to give up my life for this."
Harry nodded, pushing back from the table and grabbing his jacket off of the kitchen counter. "Well, I'll let you think in peace."
Jackie's limbs felt frozen and it was as though she couldn't open her mouth to ask him to stay. She sat, staring at her half-finished omelette, wondering where her words had come from. Since when did she think she couldn't handle the pressures of being the Prince's girlfriend? The tabloids, though intrusive, rarely printed a malicious word about her. Her boss, Jessica, seemed to understand enough to allow Jackie to take long leaves, moving the schedule around to cover her absence. But is that what she wanted? Did she want to be treated differently? She had worked long and hard to get her dream job, and now, she was expected to just give it all up in the name of a relationship.
Jackie began to chew on her fingernail, a familiar urge creeping up inside. Just like a binge-eater drawn to food, an addict pulled to a cigarette, Jackie rushed to the couch and threw open her laptop, typing "Jackie Baker" into the search engine.
Immediately, the latest news and photos popped up on her screen. An article on the Daily Mail's site caught her eye, and Jackie opened it with a firm click.
'Jackie and Harry- "Let's Get Married!"'
Jackie read the article with a frown.
'A source reports that the couple have talked about what they want in the future, and their ideas seem to line up. The source also claims that Jackie can't stand the cultish media attention, and that finally marrying her Prince will give her full Royal press protection.'
She read on.
'Some wonder whether the romantic getaway to the Virgin Islands was the perfect setting for a royal proposal. Any updates on the developing story will be posted as they arrive.'
The words were familiar. As if Jackie had spoken them herself. She knew that tabloids often made up lies and claimed they had come from a source, but lately the stories, and this one in particular, were oddly accurate. Jackie had assumed that some of the photographers that hounded her were lip-readers, after all, entire transcripts of she and Harry's conversations at public events were often interpreted by lip-readers and reported in articles. She had assumed someone had watched her speak on the phone or to her friends in public to make plans, mention Harry or their relationship, or anything about herself.
"'Ideas seem to line up,'" Jackie repeated aloud, tapping her fingers on the mousepad. "'Ideas seem to line up.'"
A sickening realization washed over her. Just two days before, she had said those exact words to Emily. In private, away from the eyes of the press. And a source had reported it.
Jackie put a hand to her mouth. Was it possible that her best friend, besides Kate, who she had known for more than 5 years, could be selling stories about her to the tabloids? She didn't want to believe it, but it had to be true. Emily had betrayed every ounce of trust Jackie had placed in her.
Jackie couldn't hold back the tears that spilled down her cheeks as she picked up her phone and dialed a number she knew by heart.
There were two rings, then, "Hello?"
"Kate!" Jackie cried.
Kate's voice was full of concern. "Jackie! What's wrong?"
"Everything."
---
"The Emily business is easy," Kate insisted as she collected the remains of Jackie and Harry's half-finished breakfast from the table, piling the dishes in the sink before pushing up her sleeves and drizzling dish soap on a sponge.
Jackie was sitting on her kitchen counter, frowning. "How is it easy?"
"Remember what Will did when we first met him at St. Andrews?"
Jackie tried to remember, but she was too flustered at the moment. "No, what?"
"He told us some lie, nothing too serious, to see if he could trust us. If it showed up in the tabloids, he would have known we were spilling his secrets. If not, he knew we could be trusted."
Jackie sighed, resting her head in her hands. Kate continued. "You can do the same thing to Emily. In this case, you can do it for proof. Tell her a little white lie, and if it shows up in the Daily Mail, you'll have to confront her, and I know it'll be difficult, but you'll have to end your friendship."
Jackie's heart was heavy. "I still want to be friends with her- but I want to be friends with the old Emily. Not the one who earns money by telling my secrets."
Kate began drying the dishes, her face sympathetic. "I know. It's hard to lose a friend, but, you need to surround yourself with people you can trust. Like me, Wills, and Harry." Jackie looked up to see Kate eyeing her. "I assume he was upset?"
Jackie sighed. "Of course he was."
"That's something you'll have to figure out on your own," Kate said, drying her hands and joining Jackie on the counter. "In the end, do what makes you the happiest."
Jackie nodded as her phone rang. She checked the screen, her eyes widening.
"Who is it?" Kate asked, craning her neck to get a glimpse of the screen.
"It's Emily."