The breakfast went by quickly and full of sweetness. Harry and Mona not caring for the world and displayed their affections publicly. Mona was amazed how sweet and caring Harry is. For a guy who have everything and is surrounded with servants who take care of his needs, Mona was very surprised when Harry offered to get her food, made sure he took what she likes. He enjoyed watching Mona eats to the point that he almost forgot to eat. He was very sweet that whenever he saw strands of Mona's hair dropped to her face, he tucked it away. Such a sweet scene that even Donald and Dane became dreamy.
Mona enjoyed telling Harry about Filipino food and why she loves them. She made him try some and fed him which touched Harry's deepest soul. Her sweetness brought a foreign feeling to Harry's heart. He has never met a woman who is so sweet and not afraid to show the world about her affection and he was surprised on how he reciprocate her sweetness, forgetting that he is not an ordinary guy and there are cameras following him all the time.
He is used to women who were only with him for publicity because of his status and for the benefits of having him beside them...but Mona. He feels her very soul and everything she does is so sincere that they pierced to his very soul. For the very short time that they are together, he feels like he knows her in forever. Never in his mind that he thought for one bit that Mona is pretending.
"Have you seen this?" Harry's thoughts were interrupted by Hanna's happy voice.
"No, what is it?" Harry asked, uninterested.
"You and your hired girlfriend is at the front page of all local newspapers and all in England's. Here lo...." Hanna said excitedly but Harry snapped and didn't let her finish.
"Don't...you...ever...addressed her as my hired girlfriend ever again Hanna! That is very disrespectful. You address her by her name, you understand?!" He said loudly which surprised Hanna.
"Ookay. Are you yelling at me? What's wrong with you? Anything bad happen at breakfast today?" Hanna asked.
"What's wrong with me?! Are you that insensitive?! Forget it! Give me that thing and leave!" Harry answered and went inside his room. Hanna is left with open mouth and went to Donald's door.
"Donald? Open the door and come out here! I need to talk to you." Hanna said after knocking at Donald's room.
"What is it this time Hanna? I heard him upset. What did you do to ruin his perfect day?" Donald asked half laughing.
"Perfect day? What's going on? Enlighten me, I don't even know why he snapped at me like that!"
"What did you say to him?"
"I just told him that him and his hired girlfriend is at the front page of every newspaper. I was gonna update him of all the great reviews after last night but he didn't even let me finish, he just got upset."
"You said "his hired girlfriend"?! No wonder he's upset!"
"Why would that upset him? That's what she is!"
"That's not what she is, Hanna. Don't disrespect her again if you don't want the prince to make your job a nightmare. You know him too well to upset him like that."
"What do you mean?! I don't understand."
"Oh boy. Let me get back to work. You'll figure this out real soon. Leave before he finds out you're still here."
"But..Donald..."
"Don't be stubborn Hanna if you don't want this to get worse. Go!"
Hanna left, feeling frustrated and confused of what just happened. If I'm not going to get answers from you both then I'll get it from someone else. She thought, taking a turn towards Mona and Dane's suite.
When Mona heard a knock, she jumped up to get the door expecting to see Harry. She misses him already. These feelings really worry her but chose to not think the consequences and decided to just go with the flow and enjoy each moment with Harry. She is confident that Harry feels the same way, she can feel it everytime they are together and that is good enough for her to not entertain the things that are worrying her. But when she opened the door, she saw Hanna. She doesn't like her very much so her smile faded. She looks intimidating in red lacey semi-formal dress.
"Hello Mona, may I come in?" Hanna said when Mona didn't greet her.
"Oh..hi Hanna. My apologies, I'm just surprised to see you. Come in." Mona said.
"You're alone? Where's your friend..umm Dianne?"
"Her name's Dane and she's not here. She went to settle some things before we leave in 3 days. To what do I owe this visit?"
"Don't make it sound so formal my dear. You should expect me to come see you from time to time to brief you and to remind you how important the role you are playing for acting as the prince's girlfriend."
"I remember everything so you have nothing to worry about." Mona said, feeling hurt with the fact of how Hanna looks at her. She wishes she could respect her but that is impossible when she was the one who put her in her place right now. It sickens her to think that she should thank her for all the happiness she felt last night and this morning.
"I'm not worried my dear. I'm just here to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me." Hanna said in her most intimidating tone which worries Mona so she didn't say anything.
"Did something happen at breakfast today? The prince is acting strange."
"What do you mean? Strange how?"
"He is irritated and gets upsets so easily. Can you tell me exactly what happened? I know him since we were kids so I can tell if something's bothering him."
"Nothing happened Hanna. We had a normal breakfast. Why don't you ask him and get the answers from him himself? He's the only one who knows, he seemed okay and happy when he was with me so I don't know what to tell you."
"Right. I apologize. I don't know why I thought of asking you when I know he will be pretending when he is with you, especially in public."
"There you go." Mona said quietly trying to hold her tears from falling. As much as she wanted to believe that the prince was not pretending, there is a part in her heart that says he is just pretending to make out the best from the contract they both signed. They invested not just effort but a lot of money for this contract so it wouldn't be a surprise that he will do everything to make it work. Maybe he is disgusted everytime he touches me or be sweet to me but forced himself to do it? That's why he is irritated once I am not around him. He just don't want me to see it? Mona thought, still holding her tears.
"Well...I should go. Donald will call you for the details of the prince's commitment tonight." Hanna said, interrupting Mona's thoughts.
"Thanks for dropping by." Is all Mona could say. Right after closing the door, Mona broke down and cried. How can I think that he wasn't pretending. I'm a fool! I'm a fool! These in her mind, she just let herself weep, hoping she will be better later once she see him again. She is so hurt that it felt like she is being stabbed in her heart. It's funny how time played her. This morning she was in heaven and now she's in hell.
Dane came back and was horrified with what she saw. Tissues all over the floor, Mona curled like a fetus on the bed and she could hear her sobs. She ran to her and hugged her.
"What happened lovey? What's wrong? Why are you like this? You were so happy when I left you."
"He was just pretending. He was just pretending."
"What made you say that? Donald and I saw you both. He wasn't pretending. Donald said so."
"He is just pretending Dane." Mona cried even more.
"Ssshhh...I'm so sorry lovey. Whatever made you feel this way, I'll find out if it's true, okay?" Dane said, hugging her tight and comforting her. She got hurt too, she knows Mona easily gets hurt and it really upsets Dane whenever she sees her cry like this. She can't remember the last time she saw her like this which only means that her friend have really fallen for the prince. Dane prayed for Mona to be wrong. She wants her to get this one shot of happiness and she will do anything to help her friend.
When Mona finally fell asleep, Dane called Donald's room. She wants to ask him if he knows what caused Mona's misery.
"Dane? Missed me already?"
"Shut up. I need to talk to you about what happened to Mona."
"Something happened to Mona? What do you mean? Is she alright?"
"She's not alright Donald. She's broken-hearted. I left her so happy after breakfast earlier and now I came back seeing her curled up on the bed crying her heart out and by the look of the tissues all over the floor, she has been crying for hours. Do you have any idea what happened?"
"Oh my God! No. I have no idea at all. The prince didn't leave the suite because we are working on his speech for tonight so I am pretty sure he doesn't have any idea as well. Did you try asking her?"
"I did. That's why I called you. She kept saying 'he's just pretending'."
"Wait..wait..wait..so the reason of her pain is really the prince? How..I mean..they were so happy earlier. Poor Mona..I don't know what to say, Dane. I'm so sorry."
"Donald...what happened to Mona? Something happened to her? Answer me Donald! Is that Dane? Let me talk to her." Harry said in panic when he overheard Donald saying Mona's name.
"Dane, I'll call you back. The prince is here. I'll talk to him about it. Don't worry, we'll figure this out, okay?" Donald told Dane before hanging up.
"Donald, you are killing me. Is Mona okay?" Harry yelled.
"She is not okay Harry. Did you call her after breakfast?"
"Nooo. What happened?!"
"Good question. Dane left her so happy after breakfast and when she came back now, she found her curled up on the bed, tissues all over the floor, she's been crying for hours." Donald told Harry which made him froze, his eyes full of worry.
"Did she tell Dane what happened and what's wrong?" Harry managed to ask.
"According to Dane, she kept saying in between sobs 'he's just pretending'. Do you have any idea why all of a sudden she thinks you are just pretending?" Harry sat down with his hands on his face.
"Hanna..." Was all Harry could say.
"What do you mean? This is Hanna's doing?"
"You know her Donald. If she can't find answers from us, she finds it from someone else who is involved. I snapped at her earlier and when she asked me what happened at breakfast that made me so irritated, I didn't answer her. I just didn't wanna deal with her. She is so insensitive, it annoyed me to the bones. I'm sure she went to Mona to ask what happened during breakfast and I can see how she handled it, trying to make Mona talk."
"Oh God. You're right. She came to me too after you dismissed her and asked me the same thing and I didn't give her answers too. Aahhh poor Mona."
"I'm going to go see her, can you come with me? I want to assure her that whatever Hanna told her, it wasn't true. I can't stand knowing whatever it was that Hanna told her broke her. Hanna will really pay for this."
"Calm down mate. I'm sure Hanna's intentions are good. She had no idea that you aren't pretending. She didn't witness it like how I did. Give her the benefit of the doubt."
"She was being irresponsible and insensitive Donald. She wasn't thinking again. She shouldn't have come to her for such nonsense reasons. I'm really mad at her, not as the prince but as her friend. She hurt me bad by doing this to the woman I love."
"The woman you love? You really have fallen for her mate. I'm so happy for you. She's extraordinary, you are so lucky to have fallen for such a woman."
"Yeah..but now I broke her heart. Thanks to Hanna." Harry said teary eyed.
"Let's go see her and try to fix this and explain it to her." Donald said sympathetically.
They left with a heavy heart. Harry hoping he can still fix whatever happened, Donald praying for the same as they walked towards the ladies' suite.
A/N: Hello guys, I hope you like this chapter. Let me know what you think.
Don't forget to vote, add this to your reading list and follow me, loveys. ~Aireen