I couldn't help but smile as I watched Maiena thoroughly enjoy the simple meal that Tasha and her husband Dante prepared.
We grew up together and I have seen her in many gatherings and feasts. Watching her at that moment, dining with two people she just met, listening to their stories, sharing jokes and laughter with them, endlessly complimenting the dishes that were far less sumptuous than what the royal chefs serve her everyday, comfortably sitting on a tiny wooden chair in a small table that barely had space for us was both peculiar and nostalgic.
It took me back to our secret picnics in the abandoned cabin in the woods when we were young. Only then, it was just the two of us. I wondered if we were born outside of our royal and noble houses, would a simple life together give us unconditional joy? I wondered... If we ran away to a place where it would just be the two of us, would we be truly happy?
After our meal, I volunteered to help Tasha clean up while Dante showed Maiena his collection of photographs from his travels. Aside from being a chef, he also had talent in photography that piqued the interest of the Princess.
I may have stopped working to watch them too closely because after a while, Tasha nudged my side with her elbow and said, "She'll be fine. Dante probably has a thousand stories to tell, she won't get bored."
"I'm not worried about that." I mumbled.
"You're worried she's having too much fun." She chuckled. "I didn't know you were the jealous type." She said.
"I'm not." I grumbled, frowning when Dante made a joke and pointed at one photograph that made Maiena laugh heartily.
"Except when it comes to her." She observed as she put the dishes in the sink.
I turned to face her. Something in her tone told me it was time for a long overdue conversation.
"You don't have to hide it from me." She said. "When we met, you told me a story about a girl you have been inlove with all your life and that you were trying to get over her because you can't be together."
I nodded. I did tell her that story.
"That was the Princess, right?" Tasha said as she looked at the Princess.
I nodded again.
She smiled. "It wasn't hard to guess. She would always come up in our random conversations. She was always on your mind wherever we went, like when we went to the market in Bergamo and you remembered how much the Princess loved cheese. Her Highness doesn't like seafood. Princess Maiena likes berries. It was the random and little things that told me, you were with me but there was someone else in your heart." She sighed.
"Tasha, I..." I wanted to apologize. It must have been hard for her.
"Don't even say sorry, Aidan. No one needs to apologize for loving someone. It was my choice to stay with you eventhough I knew I could never fill that special place in your heart because you kept her there." Tasha smiled softly. "Of course, I was a little hurt then but I now understand how it feels to be truly loved and to love just as much and more."
"When you left and went back to Reidonia to serve in the Elite order, I had hoped our relationship could survive it but I knew deep inside that it won't because you were going back to where she was, the one who owns your heart." She looked at me. "It was romantic really. Even at the expense of my own heartache, I sort of rooted for you two." She chuckled.
"Besides, if everything between us didn't happen and you didn't leave, my bestfriend wouldn't have the courage to profess his love for me and I wouldn't be this happy." She grinned as she rubbed her belly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't answer all your messages and calls back then, I was busy falling inlove with my bestfriend and building a home with him." She continued.
I chuckled. "That's okay. I was busy being confused and fighting my feelings for mine." I sighed as I gazed at Maiena.
"I wouldn't have known there was a fight if you didn't tell me because you clearly lost that battle, Sir." She laughed.
I laughed with her and shook my head. "I have. Completely."
She smiled at me. "I sincerely wish the universe rearranges all the stars to make it possible for you and the Princess to love and be together forever."
"Thank you, Tasha." I smiled back and hugged her. "I wish you, Dante and your baby all the best."
***
Tasha and Dante invited us to stay for tea. An invitation that though I was reluctant to accept because of the time, the Princess accepted in a heartbeat especially when they mentioned freshly-baked strawberry strudels.
"Just an hour more please, Aidan. We have time, don't we?" She smiled at me sweetly and batted her eyelashes.
What could I have done with that? I'm just a man utterly besotted with her. Of course a single bat of an eyelash had me saying yes, hook, line and sinker. Even if we didn't have time, I would've made time!
Luckily, we won't be missed by the Crown Prince who was still busy with meetings with the other world leaders until dinner time which was three hours away.
She was so delighted when I agreed that she squealed and clapped her hands then kissed my cheek. I stared at her in shock as I felt my ear warm up but she was already skipping to the kitchen with Tasha to get the pastries.
Dante chuckled. "I know that look." He smiled. "That's the same way I look at my wife."
"My wife." I thought as I watched Maiena giggle and blow air on the still hot strawberry strudel. I felt a burst of warmth and unfounded hope in my heart. If only it were possible. If only...
***
I sensed a fresh sense of contentment in the lightness of her steps when we walked back to the docks. When she looked up at me, there was different sparkle in her eyes and ethereality in her smile. She held my hand tighter and leaned her head on my arm. I couldn't help but smile and feel the same joy she was feeling.
It was dusk when we got to the boat. For a few minutes after we sailed back to the other side of the lake, we basked in the pink and orange hues of the sunset in silence as we stood leaning side by side against the beam.
Then in the middle of the lake, with no other boats and people in sight as the crew of the boat where in the cockpit, she turned to me.
She smiled up at me but didn't say a word. She just gazed into my eyes. There must be a million things running through her mind but she didn't say a word.
With our faces just inches from each other, I smiled back, my heart brimming with love and devotion for the woman whose brown eyes captivated me and whose smile splintered and recreated my entire universe every time.
I wished every moment could be like that. Away from royal duties and responsibilities to the kingdom. Away from the noise that surrounded us everyday. Away from it all.
No one and nothing else mattered.
Just US.
"Aidan?" She finally spoke.
"Hmmm?"
"This day... I will remember this. I learned a lot of new things, experienced something different. I can't really explain why, but somehow, I feel happier and more hopeful."
"For what?" I asked but she didn't answer instead she asked me the same question I had in mind.
"If I was just Maiena and you were just Aidan... If we were nobody but you and me, do you think we could be as happy as Tasha and Dante?"
I sighed and smiled as I cradled her cheek in one hand and slipped the other around her waist and pulled her closer to me.
"I think we can be happy whoever we are, if we choose to be." I whispered as I inched my face closer to hers. "Maiena, will you choose to be happy with me?"
She smiled as she gazed deep into my eyes and slipped her arms around my back. "Always."
It didn't make sense. Our hope was illogical. Our wishes were impossible to attain. But at that moment, it felt right like nothing could be more perfect in the world.
I closed the gap between us, finally touched my lips on hers and kissed her.
Slowly, savoring every stroke of her lips and every drop of sweetness in her mouth.
Gently, leisurely caressing her lips with my own as if doing so would stop the world from spinning and freeze time so we could be in that divine moment, just loving each other for eternity.
Deeply, with all the love I had in my heart and all the essence of my being that was solely devoted to my Maiena.
***