"I am done. I am done thinking about that sad excuse of a human being," I angrily grumbled as I paced back and forth whilst Greta, Gertrude and Gemma, the new and very eager assistants of Pablo, followed closely behind me with their prickly clothing pins. "Who does he think he is? He steals a kiss from me and then he decides he won't call or text me back? That's it, I'm never talking to him ever aga–"
*ding*
Stopping dead on my tracks, I eyed my iPhone from the other side of the room sitting comfortably on top of one of the desks. Not a moment to waste, I rushed to my phone and anxiously unlocked it to see who left me a message.
Your bill for this month is –
Releasing the biggest sigh I could ever muster, I closed the message I read from my telecommunication service provider. Fucking hell. Why am I still expecting him to reach out to me when it's been three days since I left him that text?
"Greta, Gertrude, Gemma, can either of you take my phone? Burn it, destroy it, I don't care. Just keep it away from me because I am going to go crazy just having that thing ring every now and then."
Greta, the oldest amongst the three ladies, obediently kept my phone in her right dress pocket and continued on working on making my lavishly designed gown perfectly fit me.
The Christmas Eve ball was tonight and everyone in the palace were all crazy busy, trying to get everything done before the guests arrived. Before I started my preparation and final dress fitting, I passed through the grand ballroom where the event was going to be held and to say that it was grand was an understatement. And it wasn't even half finished yet.
I was told that this event would be the biggest event of the year – even bigger than the time I was welcomed and introduced as part of the royal family.
Oh, how time flies.
In the midst of my trance, I realized that all three ladies have stopped working and was now standing behind me with small smiles in each of their uniquely shaped faces. My dress was done. Finally, a dress that was nowhere near the color pink. No. This was a beautiful blue green colored dress that touched the floor and wrapped my arms with its intricate lace details. It even had pockets on each side, which I just loved for some reason.
If Pablo were here today I would shake his hand for a full hour just to congratulate him on such a job well done. Sadly, he couldn't be here since he was with his twin brother on a family vacation out in the Caribbean. Lucky bastards.
"You look beautiful, Princess," Gemma, the youngest and the sweetest of the three complimented whilst the rest nodded their heads in agreement. I blushed. After months of people complimenting me for my beauty, I still can't grasp the idea of me being beautiful. I've always seen myself as ordinary and for so long I was okay with that. I loved not standing out in a crowd. There's no pressure whatsoever to look a certain way and make mistakes here and there.
Joke's on you, my subconscious snarled.
Now that I'm the princess, everyone's keeping such a close eye on me that even me hiccupping could possibly end up in a tabloid paper the next day. I'm not even kidding. It already happened once. PRINCESS EMBARASSINGLY HICCUPS IN AUCTION DURING KING'S SPEECH splattered on the front page and sold in news stands everywhere. Yup, life's crazy like that. Now I understood how my parents couldn't visit me back when I was still in the orphanage, unknowing of what's ahead of my future.
Once I was done thanking the girls, I hastily took the gown off so I could take a short break before they did my make-up. I handed them the gown and made my way to the door. But before I made it to the door, I heard the familiar ding of my phone.
Slowly, I turned to see Greta staring at my screen. "It's Parker," she said as my eyes lit up. "I am just going to keep it like you instructed."
"What? No, give that to me!" I exclaimed excitedly, rushing to Greta's side and before she could pocket my iPhone, I snatched it from her temporary possession and happily opened the text message. "It really is him."
I had the biggest smile on my face as I read his text, which said:
Hey love. I'm sorry for getting back to you so late. I had some things to settle. Always thinking of you. -P
While I was composing my reply, I heard Greta tutting behind me. I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, Greta," I muttered with a hint of humor in my tone. This might sound ridiculous but after receiving Parker's text, my mood has turned to a complete 360 and no one, and I mean no one, can ruin it.
What can I say? I've become the love struck teen who lies about having the strongest self-control. I have become every other girl I used to mock in the past for being sappy and sick in love when in fact, it's rare to ever find a relationship that lasts these days.
Boy, was I wrong.
I mean look at my parents. As annoying as they are, they're still one of many couples who continued to love despite the differences many couples in this generation choose to break up from. I only hope to have a successful relationship like theirs someday.
I sent a text to Parker, inviting him to the party tonight. My grin was quickly turned to a frown when I read his reply minutes later, declining my offer, saying he had somewhere else to go to.
What a bummer.
I decided to take a quick shower to freshen up before I head back to the prep room where I will have to sit through hours of careful hair and make-up procedures done by three very eager ladies. All that prodding and dabbing isn't very comfortable you know.
After my shower, I went back down to the private kitchen – the only kitchen that was peaceful unlike both of the public kitchens where everyone was located, preparing for the function – to grab a small pint of my favorite flavored Hagen Dazs. Now don't judge, I've been craving for cookies and cream for the longest time. Luckily, I befriended our gourmet chef and bribed him to stack up on ice cream. I also needed this to make me feel better after receiving that text from Parker.
But of course this feeling of contentment was only short-lived because just as I was halfway through the pint, an angry voice resonated from the empty kitchen, "What are you doing eating ice cream when you should be getting ready for the ball?"
Out of shock, my pint went flying behind me, landing just a few inches from the person who disturbed my peace. "Jesus, Tenley. You've gotta stop doing that," I wailed. "I swear I'm gonna die from a heart attack one day."
"Go get ready. You don't have much time."
After voicing out her last order, she left. Just like that. She didn't even give me the chance to respond or protest. I eyed the wasted pint of ice cream where a small puddle was slowly forming on the white marbled floor. If it weren't for that damn broad, I would probably have finished the whole thing.
Feeling defeated, I shrugged. "Fine, whatever. Let's get this over with."
***
The palace was buzzing. There were people everywhere. Instrumental Christmas songs were played one after another by a string quartet situated in front of the venue. Walking around the grand ballroom, I forced a smile and tried to chat up a storm whenever people would stop to greet me – a favor my parents asked for me to do before they went the other way doing the same thing.
"It's a way for you to know the people of Siyena more," I recalled my mother saying with a reassuring smile. That was an hour ago.
I liked to think that I was getting better at this even if I was mostly faking the smile I had. I never did smile like this for a long period of time when I'm meeting people. But compare myself to the old me during my inaugural ball and now, you would definitely see the change – a huge one at that. And I'm proud of myself.
Before I entered the ball, I even made sure to keep my promise and spared time for a quick interview with the paparazzi I chose to call cohorts.
"Alex!"
Turning toward the direction of the voice with a knowing smile, I acknowledged her presence. "Why, hello to you too."
My cousin Leila was walking fast to get to where I was in a light metallic gold long gown that hugged her form. She did a little twirl to show it off and that's when I realized how low the scoop on her back was. If it went an inch lower, everyone would get the chance to see her ass crack. Knowing her, that's probably what she was going for.
"You like?"
"Are you kidding me?"
She laughed. "It's gorgeous, I know."
I had to roll my eyes. "Sure, if you say so."
She was confident; I'll give her that.
Leila and I then proceeded to talk about going out of town next week. It was originally her plan to show me around and I agreed without hesitation. I actually wanted to explore what's outside of Siyena and was looking forward to all the sceneries I could capture with my camera. The only thing that's worrying me now was getting my parents' approval. We were both very engrossed in our discussion that we didn't notice another person's presence until we heard him speak.
"What are you lovely ladies talking about?"
"Gaspar," I grumbled.
The egoistic prince who rudely interrupted Leila and I's conversation had the audacity to smirk. "Why the long face, Princess? I just wanted to come by and wish you ladies a Merry Christmas. Is that a bad thing?"
If it's you then yes it is, I thought bitterly. "Ye-"
"No, not at all. Merry Christmas to you, too, Gaspar," Leila uttered sweetly with a smile, cutting off my contrasting answer. I glared at her. Technically speaking, Christmas isn't due for at least three more hours so jokes on them.
"Thank you, Leila." Gaspar then turned to me and said, "Don't I get a greeting from the beautiful princess? I even brought a little present for you."
"Nah."
"Well, I'm still giving it to you anyway."
Give me what? What the hell was this guy on about? I ended up lost in thought again just thinking about being anywhere but here that I didn't realize an assuming Gaspar dangling a mistletoe above our heads. "They say if you refuse to kiss under the mistletoe, you will end up with bad luck. So pucker up, Princess."
He was inching his way closer to me with his puckered lips and all I could think was this guy had to be delusional. "Bad luck?" I palmed his face and pushed him and his big fat head away from me. "I'll take my chances."
We've gathered a few curious spectators after the mistletoe stunt Gaspar pulled, none of which was Leila because she seemed to have hoodinied while I had that unfortunate encounter. I wasn't too surprised; she probably was off to find some unsuspecting guy to prey on for the night.
"Princess! Princess! Where are you going? What about my kiss?" Gaspar called out behind me while I was walking away. I raised one hand as a wave goodbye without turning my head to look at him. No thanks.
Grabbing a glass of sparkling wine from the small beverage tray a passing server was carrying, I dashed out to the balcony to get some air. Somehow, I thought of Parker, our first encounter at this same ballroom donning a black mask and remembering being drawn to his blue eyes all night long. Who knew that because of that chance encounter, I would end up falling head over heels for him today?
I shook my head and smiled to myself. I've gotta stop thinking about him so much. I'm going crazy.
"Mind if I join you, Your Highness?"
Today started off fairly well but after my encounter with Gaspar a while ago and my soon-to-be encounter with the person standing in front of me now, let's just say I'll be welcoming Christmas with a frown on my face. "To what do I owe this pleasure, Viscount Galloway?" I said with utmost sarcasm.
"Oh, there's no need to be hostile, Princess. I just wanted to make sure you are doing alright. In fact, I –" He stopped mid-sentence when his phone rang, took a few steps away from me, answered it, and spoke with whoever was on the other line. "What is it?... Yes, I am... If you don't then I will... Great, we have a deal then... Yes, I'll meet you in a while... Goodbye."
Viscount Galloway seemed to be pleased with his phone conversation because when he walked back towards me, he had a smile on his face. The kind of smile that could send chills down anyone's spine.
"So..."
"So, I think we should continue this conversation of ours some other time." I gave an internal sigh of relief when I heard him say that. I really didn't want to deal with him today. "I apologize for cutting it short but I have somewhere else to go. Please extend my regards to your parents. Merry Christmas, Princess."
Forcing out a smile, I replied, "Will do. Goodbye."
We both went our separate ways. It was after ten when I decided to exit the ballroom and head to my room. I might even waste a little time watching one movie in the theatre room before I crash once I have changed into my pyjamas. Should I watch a horror movie? A sappy rom-com? Or maybe a good old slasher film would be better?
I came to a sudden halt when my internal decision-making was interrupted by muffled discussions in one of the rooms along the corridor heading to the staircase. No one ever uses any of these rooms and I've never seen what was inside of the room as well. The door was slightly ajar so I thought it was best if I took a peek since my curiosity was slowly eating me alive.
My eyes widened in surprise when I saw my parents in that room sitting on big leather chairs having what seemed to be a serious conversation with Prince Gaspar and two more individuals I have never seen before. From the looks of it, the two individuals looked regal and were probably about the same age as my parents. Maybe even older.
Were they Gaspar's parents?
I couldn't hear much of what they were saying since the room was massive and I was only by the door, sleuthing to the very best of my ability. I tried to concentrate so I could hear bits and pieces of what they were saying, but to no avail.
Just when I was about to give up and leave, they stood up and slowly walked towards the door whilst talking. I bolted to the stairs but not before I heard one phrase that made me freeze in place.
YOU MUST BE FUCKING KIDDING ME.
***
A/N:
Guess who's back from the dead and here to bring you more chapters? That's right. ME! Lmao. A week from now I'll be updating again so just be patient until then. Also, what are your thoughts on where this story is going? If you think this story is nearing its end, think again. The exciting stuff's yet to come.
Oh, and the picture above is Viscount Charles Galloway played by Javier Bardem. Interesting guy, eh?
Random question:
What's your most used social media platform aside from Wattpad?
Mine would have to be Instagram because I love seeing other people's life stories in the form of pictures. It's crazy how one second I'm in one of my friends' profile and then the other second, I'd be on some complete stranger's profile. Btw, share your usernames below and let's be friends! I am no longer active on my account (snapshotsbyb) and am now on my personal account (beatricexlim) most of the time. I'm pretty OC when it comes to my Instagram feed so when you do peep my account, you'll know what I'm talking about. Don't judge me please. Haha!
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xoxo