"How could this happen, Sean?!"
"Weren't YOU supposed to be looking out for things like this?!"
A series of thumping on the hall woke me up. As I paid attention to the angry voice, I noticed that it was Scott's. He was furious. Grabbing the cozy pink sweater Mom had given to me a few years ago, I opened the door trying to find out what had caused such riot inside the house.
The sight in front of me made my heart start to race. Sean slumped on the rail case, Mom was eyeing him apologetically and Scott was furiously stomping through the tiny hall pulling his hair and waving what looked like a crumpled magazine on his right hand.
"What's going on?" I asked warily.
Scott froze on the spot. He was breathing heavily. His chocolate eyes were even darker than usual. They portrayed how angry he was. My heart was pumping so furiously inside my ribcage that I'm sure they heard it. Slowly, I walked to him and pulled the magazine out of his hands.
"Emily don't."
I ignored him.
A large lump formed in my throat as I saw my picture on the front cover. Me and Sam. We were laughing and his arms were around me. It was back in Cali. You could see the beach in the background and a few torches around us. This picture was taken the night he proposed to me. I looked absolutely happy around him. The title of the magazine read "The American charade. The truth behind Emily." My eyes widened as I turned to look at Scott. I'm not sure if I showed how panicked I was but Scott quickly snapped the magazine off my trembling hands and passed an arm around my waist as he pulled me to him.
"That bastard gave an interview from Paris" Scott turned to glare at Sean.
"What did he say?" My voice was high pitched.
Scott breathed hard beside me. "Nothing of importance, Em..." he didn't sound confident. At most, he sounded pissed and really stressed about it. I tried to pry the magazine off him but he held it higher. "It's not worth it."
"You read it!" I gestured exasperated with my hands.
"I had to" He answered calmly.
"But-"
"Scott" Sean cleared his throat, "your highness has requested a meeting with you." He winced as his eyes turned to me, "both of you."
Scott closed his eyes. Pulling apart, he leaned on the wall clenching his hands into fists. My still wide eyes turned from Scott to Sean, who was looking at the floor awkwardly.
"In half an hour" He added after a moment.
"Bloody hell Sean!" Scott snapped.
"What?!" My voice came out like a shriek and I clasped a hand to my mouth.
I was going to meet the Queen under this circumstances?!!!
"Scott" My mom stepped in front of us. "Be mature about this. This is not Sean's fault and you know it." She paused to let her words sink in. "You'll regret your attitude sooner or later." Addressing to me she added, "You should better hurry Emily, take a quick shower and try to compose yourself."
Ok. I was panicking. It was pretty evident. But I mean, I had to meet the Queen and under this circumstances! I was pretty sure what her opinion on this whole matter was going to be. Actually, I knew exactly what she wanted us to do. I couldn't see the point on me going, other that she wanted to humiliate me or something. Yet, I couldn't turn her down and not show up. She would reel on that. So, I did what I was supposed to do. I sucked it up and tumbled around the hall to get to the bathroom. Scott stayed rooted to his place clenching his fists and looking to the side.
Mom was right, though. Someone, us, had to be the better person here. Sean had nothing to do with it and it was kind of immature of Scott to blame him for this. I knew he was mad, furious even, but he'd feel bad about his rudeness in no time. Sean was much more than his bodyguard. He was like his father.
I took the fastest shower ever. I remembered about the whole gala thing. Yesterday, we had fun despite Elaine's futile attempts to make me mad. The ball had been nice and I had met Scott's father. He had been quite respectful and surprisingly nice. The Queen, on the other hand, had merely glared our way for a few times but had completely ignored us for the most part. I had been worried about it. Now, I'm pretty sure that Sam had given her the reason to publically hate me.
Whatever.
"Are you ready?" Scott asked from downstairs. I had done everything mechanically while I was thinking about it all. I peered in a passing mirror and surprised at how normal I looked. I had chosen gray wool pants and a black knitted sweater. My hair was up in a loose ponytail and I had grabbed the first silver earrings I had seen. Yet, it all worked together.
Scott was already dressed in a dark brown suit. His face was solemn and there wasn't any trace of those crookedly smiles that he had shown me yesterday. My stomach turned as I noticed how tense he looked. His dark eyes turned to me as he heard me coming. He didn't smile to me but his eyes did soften.
"Come on, we don't want to be late." His hand encased mine as a determined look crossed his face.
If I had complained about the number of paparazzi waiting outside my house, I should had been grateful that there were no more than twenty. Now, there were more than I could count. The whole street was swamped in paparazzi and they were shouting different things at us. I'm pretty sure that the neighbors were complaining to my mother since a few had already raided her as she waved goodbye.
As Sean closed the door, I turned to Scott. "I need to know what he said."
Scott sighed. He pulled the magazine out of his jacket and handed it to me. He then turned to the window, where he fixed his gaze for the rest of the journey to the Buckingham Palace.
The whole magazine talked about me. There were different pictures from me and Sam. In each and all of them, I looked happy. My stomach churned. Sam had dedicated his whole interview on our supposedly happy love story. He recounted the moment we met and how it had been love at first sight for the both of us. He talked about my job and my parents. And how much I hated England forever. He said that after he proposed to me, I had changed. I had turned into this plastic shallow girl. Pretty much like Sonya. I think he actually described me as her.
That bastard...
He said that after I found out about Scott and Elaine's breakup I had changed. That I had confessed to Sonya that I wanted to come to England. He implied that I had set Scott up and that I wanted to have all the attention I could get. Even Sonya had the audacity to appear on the magazine supporting all his lies.
I was beyond mad.
I was outraged.
How dare he?!
How dare they?!!
I didn't finish reading it. I stopped in the part where Sam was describing how much he still loved me. I closed it as I closed my eyes and tried to control my breathing. After a moment I turned to Scott, "This is all bullshit!"
Scott's dark eyes turned to me. "I know."
Do you? I wanted to ask. He said it...yet...he was stiff and was wearing that blank mask on his face. The one he used in public events. Only...I wasn't everyone...I wanted to know what was he thinking, how did this make him feel? Other than stressed and annoyed.
I was beyond annoyed. I couldn't believe that Sam had it in him to do that. Scratch that. Sonya was probably behind it all. I was sure of that. What the hell was her problem? Couldn't she get a boyfriend and be happy for once in her life?!
To be honest, now that I looked into the past, it was clear that I wasn't in love with Sam. I was heartbroken about the cheating, but the thing that hurt most was that it had been with Sonya. The whole magazine stunt was clearly another attempt by them to ruin my life. But their story wasn't even convincing! I mean...how can you plan to bump into a Prince? You don't know their schedules or where they're at. It was just really stupid of him to say that...
I slumped in the back seat of the car. Paparazzi were still following us, even when we were getting closer to the Palace.
"Did you actually search for him?" Scott snapped angrily at Sean.
I rolled my eyes at the window before turning to Scott. Trying not to sound as exasperated as I felt, I voiced in a rather composed voice "this isn't Sean's fault, Scott. Sam was in Paris, it's not like you were going to make the CIA search for him just because he tried to abuse me."
Scott ran a hand through his hair frustrated. A moment later he grabbed my hand and pulled us closer. "You know? Here in England would be the Interpol..."
I smiled at him. He was trying to break the ice. It was kind of relieving.
The gates opened and the guard let the car pass through. Behind was left the herd of paparazzi trying to get a snap of us. My stomach churned.
Here we go...
Sean and Robin, the other bodyguard, led us through a series of pass ways and elegant halls. For a moment there, I thought of Harry Potter. This was far more elegant, though. Golden chandeliers hung in almost every room. Baroque chairs were placed everywhere. Large porcelain vases, all with beautiful and exotic yellow flowers, adorned the few tables placed here and there. Scott's hand gripped mine tightly and I could tell that with every new room that we passed his stance tensed even more. Finally, Sean stopped in front of a large set of mahogany doors. In the center between them was carved a large golden coat of arms.
"Break a leg" he said hesitantly.
"Good choice of words, Sean..." Scott trailed. The nervous looks that they both exchanged added to the tenseness on Scott's part were absolutely nerve wrecking. Even though we all knew what was coming, I felt quite nervous at meeting the Queen. My heart was beating a mile per second. Scott sighed and pushed the door without knocking, dropping my hand to grab the large doors.
The large room was a library. The most gorgeous library that I have ever seen in my life. Antique looking books were filling each and every corner of the room. A few different marble statues situated on different points of the room. A large marble chimney was carved on one of the walls. The only one not surrounded by books to the roof. There was a small set of sofas and a large single sofa situated on the elegant carpet in front of the chimney. The Queen was sat in it.
Scott took a seat in front of her. His face was expressionless, yet his shoulders were completely tensed and his hands were forming fists. I took a seat next to him, not knowing if I had to vow or something. I mean, it was the first time that I had to look at the Queen in the eyes.
The woman had a stony look in her eyes. She was dressed in a black skirt and jacket. Her pixie cut hair was gray. Her blue eyes were eyeing us coldly and her stance was pretty much as tense as Scott's.
"Good morning grandma."
Her glaring eyes turned in between Scott and me. "I wouldn't say it's good, Scott."
Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God...
"It's been a while since you've appeared in front of me."
"I've been occupied."
She narrowed her eyes at me for a moment before returning those cold eyes to Scott. "I can see that."
Her hands were resting on her legs. Gesturing calmly with her hands, she added, "I suppose you know exactly why you've been summoned here...I know that you are smart enough to know that I do not approve on whatever you call this charade you've been playing at. You are the future king of England, as such, there are certain obligations that you must assume." She paused for a moment before continuing, "I've had enough of your rather unflattering gossiping. We are the talk of the moment and it certainly ends here."
If my heart was beating fast earlier, I was sure I was about to have a stroke or something. I was really pissed at her attitude towards me, or should I say, lack of attitude. It was offensive. Before I could say something, because I was fighting to keep my mouth shut for Scott's sake, he cut in.
"I don't really care what people think about my life." His tone was cold as hers.
She eyed him for a moment. "Do you want to make the same mistake your father did?"
That was a low blow...
Scott stood up and said through clenched teeth, "I'm doing exactly the opposite."
She shook her head. "That's exactly my point. You are being rebellious and quite frankly immature." Still ignoring the fact that I was there, she glared at him. "You have obligations to fulfill and it's time that you start acting like the future leader that you are."
"If you thought that by coming here I would accept those alleged obligations that you have imposed on me, you were wrong." He grabbed my hand and gently pulled me up. "I am human, after all. Unlike you, I plan to live it trying to be happy."
She rose to her feet. Despite being quite short, there was an unnatural air of authority on her stance. "If you decide to that...you're going to suffer the consequences, Scott."
I was expecting some kind of polite go to hell response, but Scott simply nodded and walk outside pulling me with him.
As the doors of the library closed, the Queen's voice resounded, "Next time that we talk I won't be so condescending, Scott."
Again. Why on earth was I summoned to come here?
"She thought that I would succumb to her and dump you on the spot." Scott said through clenched teeth as we walked back to the entrance.
"Oh." A few people eyed us curiously as we passed them. "Thank you for not doing it in front of her." The words left my mouth mindlessly. Of course, he wasn't going to dump me. He loves me, doesn't it?
Scott stopped immediately. "What do you mean?"
My green eyes widened for a fraction of a second as I watched his concerned face. Shrugging, I said "nothing."
"Do you think that I'm going to dump you?" His chocolate eyes were full of rage. Yet his voice was composed.
I sighed. My eyes bored into him. "I think we are both stressed about it all. We should stop overanalyzing everything."
He said nothing. He simply continued to lead me through the different corridors. As we walked around the elegant palace, my mind was going into overdrive.
It was time for a different approach. It was time that I took this whole matter in my hands.
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I know I know. It took me forever to write. All I can say that writer's block sucks.
We are in the last chapters and everything I write has to be thought through...
As always, thank you for your lovely comments, votes, and questions on when I'm updating next :)