Royal S.O.B. (A Bad Boy Romance) (8 page)

"May
we come in,
Princess
Adelaide?"

A
strong baritone and the unusual emphasis on her title kind of warned her on who
the visitor could be.

Addie
felt sick in her stomach.

"Yes,
please come in," she answered, hiding the panic rising inside her.

"So
gracious of you,
Your Royal Highness
."
The voice continued before showing its owner.

She
looked up towards the door.

She
had been with Cate, it was almost evening, time for her best friend to go. And
now this unexpected intrusion.

From
behind the curtains emerged Kenrick Royce, the one she had seen fleetingly on
the day of the ceremony. And the one she had seen hundreds of times in the
newspapers and on television. The heir apparent to the throne, Prince Kenrick
Royce.

"Please
forgive this interruption," he said, as if reading her thoughts.

"We
were extremely troubled on hearing about our princess's serious
indisposition."

Addie
gave a start. She had forgotten all about that reply and the reason she had
given in it. It was the last thing she had expected, a royal visit to check on
her health.
And she did not appreciate
the 'we' in his speech.

She
stood up, in spite of herself, and Cate followed suit. That was when they saw
another young man emerge from behind the curtains. He walked in, timid, and
joined the prince who, by now, had entered and was seated on one of the ornate
chairs in the living room.

"By
the way," said the famous baritone.

"Meet
Mr. Patrick Longfellow, an intimate associate of mine of many years. Mr.
Longfellow, this is my stepsister, Princess Adelaide Royce."

They
exchanged their hellos with each other.

No
one spoke. Mrs. Bradford, who was dutifully standing in a shadow, slipped away.
She did not want to witness whatever was going to happen there.

"Please
sit, Mr. Longfellow," instructed Kenrick.

Pat
sat at this.

"Our
princess is indisposed and could not be expected to remember her
hospitality."

The
prince looked around the room, his eyes settling on Cate.

"Ah,
who do we have here? An intimate associate of
yours
, I suppose? Am I right or am I right, Princess
Adelaide?"

"Er,
I'm sorry, yeah, please be comfortable," she responded hesitantly, to the
earlier complaint of the prince.

"Yes,
this is my friend Cate, Catherine Furlough. Miss Catherine Furlough."

"Pleased
to meet you, Your Royal Highness," provided Cate, as was taught to her.

Kenrick
didn't bother to respond. He was studying Addie with his patented microscopic
vision.

Not bad
, he said to himself.

Not bad at all.

That
evening of the ceremony, amidst the crowds, he wasn't able to gauge her
appropriately. This here was a surprise packet.
So, we'll see
, he said to himself.

"As
you can observe, Mr. Longfellow," his baritone boomed in the room.

"My
stepsister is still highly indisposed – we feel the need to summon the royal
physician at once."

"Oh
no!" came quickly from Addie.

"I
mean, Your Royal Highness, I… I'm fine now. My headache… I had a severe
headache… it's gone. Yeah, completely."

"Oh?"
he replied, looking at Pat.

"We
didn't expect it to go so soon, did we, Mr. Longfellow?"

Pat
just looked from him to Addie and back. In between, he stole a glance at Cate.
To him, it seemed he had seen her somewhere. He could not place where, though.

"In
that case," Kenrick got up, gathering all his dignity.

"Our
business here is over. We do not need to delay any more, do we, Mr.
Longfellow?"

Pat
merely looked at him. He knew that any reply from him was not expected in the
least. He was just an appendage to this enactment of drama. A sidekick.

The
prince was now up, ostensibly surveying the room.

"Our
princess may have forgotten her courtesies, but we haven't," he said with
a kind of calm arrogance, looking Addie straight in the eye.

"We
trust everything is to your satisfaction here, Princess Adelaide?"

"Oh
yeah… I mean yes, Your Royal Highness."

"And
we hope you have all that you need, including stewardesses and servants to
attend to your every desire."

"Yes,
Your Royal Highness."

"We
know that these things take some time getting used to. Especially when you come
from your kind of background."

Suddenly
there was a heavy silence in the room. Addie, who had been too courteous till
now, felt no need to continue that way. But she kept her cool. It was her
mother's reputation at stake, not hers.

"We
would appreciate an answer," came the prince's voice again.

The royals just do not
let things be
,
thought Adelaide.

She
took a deep breath.

"Your
Royal Highness," she said, not a quiver in her voice.

"I
have everything that I need here, thank you. And if I need something, I'll send
you a letter on royal stationery."

Kenrick
could not believe his ears. Was someone really saying this to him – a
commoner
to boot – or was he dreaming?
Surely, he could not countenance such insulting behavior. He turned towards
Addie, his eyes sharp and spewing steam.

"Thank
you," he said, suddenly changing his demeanor.

"We
appreciate it. After all, we're here to take care of you, or we would be failing
in our duties."

With
that quicksilver change, he took an about-turn towards the door. His coming
down must have made an impression – exactly the kind he wanted. Pat got up and
joined Kenrick.

"But
before we go," he turned back, training his sights on Addie again.

"We
invite my stepsister Princess Adelaide to our humble quarters, towards east of
this palace complex. We hope and trust my sister would accept this invitation
and grace us with her august presence."

He
paused the royal pause. Then:

"Please
visit us anytime convenient to you, since we're here for the whole of next
week. All you do is send me a message – on royal stationery, if you please –
about your arrival."

Addie
was a statue. She never expected this to turn out this way. And she certainly
never meant to dishonor the prince's intended visit; she just wanted some time
to get accustomed to the royal ways around the palace. But now it had
transformed into something lethal.

"We
hope by then our princess will be in the pink of health," continued
Kenrick.

"Failing
which we'll be forced to employ the services of the Chief Royal Physician.
Good-bye, Princess Adelaide."

For
the next five minutes after Prince Kenrick had left, there was silence in the
chamber. The two young women in the room could very well have been statues.

"Well?"

It
was Mrs. Bradford, who had walked in from the anteroom. Neither of the girls
had heard her come; it seemed the ever-gentle Mrs. Bradford was light with her
footsteps as well.

Addie
looked at Cate. Cate looked at Addie. Neither of them spoke.
What was there to say?

"Now
the matter is getting serious, my child," informed the governess.

"I
never expected Prince Kenrick to arrive in your chambers on receipt of your
note. That was most unusual of him."

A LOT of unusual things
are about to happen
,
said Addie to herself, as if foreshadowing a future she never dreamed possible.

"What
if I refuse to go, Mrs. Bradford?" the girl asked.

"Is
that also a breach of protocol?"

"My
dear!" Mrs. Bradford let out a shocked exclamation.

"No
one disobeys Prince Kenrick! He's the future king of this country, after
all."

There
was silence again. Cate exchanged a quick glance with the old woman.

"Anyway,
it's next week," offered Cate, injecting excitement into her voice.

"That's
far away, so let's not worry about it now!"

She
got up and sat next to Addie.

"Remember
we have our Annual Day before that!"

"Oh
yeah," Addie seemed to brighten up.

"That's
going to be fun."

"And
what about your poetry recital?"

"Good
Lord!" Addie bit her tongue.

"I
completely blanked out on that."

"Addie,
you've not a moment to waste," Cate added quickly.

"The
big day is on Wednesday."

"Yes,"
Addie fell into brooding.

"And
I've got no time to waste, either," announced Cate, getting up.

Addie
looked at the heritage clock at the far end of the room. It was a quarter past
six.

"Any
more delay and the tube will be crowded."

"Cate,"
said Addie, almost berating her.

"Whoever
said you're taking the tube?"

"Oops,
I forgot. That's not how things operate around here…"

Cate
looked at the governess.

"Mrs.
Bradford."

"Yes,
my dear."

She
went towards the house telephone.

*****

That
evening, Addie was disturbed.

The
looming visit to meet Prince Kenrick was on her mind, of course; and with that,
her impending poetry reading at the university's Annual Day. The first one was
a kicker; the second one she could manage. But both together were creating a
mini storm inside her head.

She
spent an agonizing half hour struggling with these two issues. Then she saw her
kind friend walking by.

"Mrs.
Bradford!" she called her.

"Yes,
my child?"

The
old lady came and stood near her.

"Why
don't you sit, Mrs. Bradford?" Addie requested.

"Oh
no, sweetheart. I'm quite fine just standing here."

"Mrs.
Bradford.
Beverly.
You're older than
my mother. And you want me to sit while you keep standing? No way."

She
pulled on the governess's hand and made her sit in the chair next to hers.

"There's
something I want to ask you," the princess said in a mock whisper.
   

"Yes,
honey," replied the old woman, sitting on the edge of the chair, as if she
were doing something wrong - as if she weren't worthy.

"Bev,
how do you manage when there's too much work to be done?"

The
governess thought for a moment.

"I
do what's important first."

"And
if there are two things that are equally important?"

"Even
if both are equally important," replied the gentle woman.

"You
can do only one at a time."

"So?"

"So
you do any one, usually the more important of the two."

"But…"
Addie stopped.

"Yes,
I know, my child," whispered Mrs. Bradford.

"If
both are equally important, check which one is needed first."

That
made sense to Addie.

"Okay,
thank you, friend."
The old lady rose and went about her errands, leaving Addie to solve her
dilemma. Now she knew what to do. She would focus on her poetry recital first;
she would worry about the visit to Prince Kenrick's chambers later.

She
had an early dinner, asked Mrs. Bradford to retire, and went to her study. It
was a large room lined with bookshelves, with an anteroom dedicated to working.
There was a priceless vintage work desk and a few chairs. Her governess had
informed her that this part of the chambers was never used much. She liked the
study for its quiet – it helped her concentrate.

Addie
brought her MacBook Air, iPad, iPod, and a writing pad with a few pens – and
placed them all on the desk. Out of habit, she arranged them neatly, with the
open laptop and writing pad next to her. Then she set out to work.

This
was Addie's typical way of working. While her focus would be on writing, she would
reference stuff off her laptop. She would write for the better part of an hour,
then she would take a short break.

She
would listen to something on her iPod during that time – mostly classical – and
maybe play a game or two on the iPad – mostly word games. The break would last
five or ten minutes, and then she would get back to her writing. By then, her
fresh mind was ready to churn out more prose.

And
there was a lot to do for Addie.