Chapter 23 Melinda
Chapter Twenty-Three
MELINDA
Driving around London wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but it kept us away from the crowds and for that I was thankful. I did want to explore London like a tourist one day but I guess I would have to bring Megan for that.
A few hours later, we arrived at the diner. I got out of the car going to the boot and grabbed my bag out of it. Alex wrapped his arms around me pulling me closer to him. “I don’t want you to go.” He groaned. “Not seeing you for the whole week is going to suck.”
“It will go fast,” I don’t know who I was trying to convince.
I pressed my lips to his, kissing him before he deepened the kiss.
“I’ll see you soon, Ella,” he whispered.
I watched as he got into the car and waved as it drove away. I walked into work, and I saw Daisy behind the counter. “Hey,” she said.
“Hi.” I grinned.
I walked into the back dropping my bag on the floor and reaching for my apron. For the next few hours, I concentrated on the work and not on the fact that I was not going to be seeing Alex. It was weird how much he had invaded my life.
Work finally finished, and I headed straight to Megan’s house.
I walked into her house and saw Oliver sitting on the sofa. “Hey, my other daughter. I was wondering when you would be coming,” he said.
“I’ve been in London,” I said.
“Tell her to bathe,” he said.
I laughed walking up the stairs into her bedroom, she was laid in bed scrolling through one of the various apps on her iPad. “Why did your dad tell me you need to bathe? What’s going on? Is it him?”
“Not here, can we go to your house?” Megan asked.
“Yeah, pack a bag,” I said with a shrug.
It didn’t take too long for Megan to get her stuff together. We left her house and walked to mine. As we turned the corner onto my street, I saw paparazzi waiting.
“Ugh, stupid paps. I don’t think they’re going to move now, so I guess it’s official.” I unlocked the front door.
As we reached it and walked inside, I locked the door behind us and ran upstairs, changing into my pjs.
Megan sat on my bed, staring at her phone.
I sat next to her. “Talk to me then.”
“The man I was seeing, he’s married,” Megan said quietly. “I let myself get sucked in by all his promises and bullshit. I thought I was in love. I didn’t want to disappoint my dad.”
“Your dad?” I asked. “Megan, what was his name?”
She looked at the ground, and my heart sunk. “Robert. It gets worse.”
“Worse how?” I asked.
“I’m late,” she said. “I think I could be pregnant. I took three tests. One was positive and two were negative. I don’t want a baby like this, Melinda. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“We don’t know anything for sure. Tomorrow, we will go get another pregnancy test, the clear blue ones.
They are crazy accurate apparently, and we will call the doctor.
If you are pregnant, it’ll be okay. I will be by your side, supporting you with whatever you decide to do.
If you aren’t pregnant, we’ll have a celebration. ”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You know what, let’s forget about everything. The rest of today, we are going to spend ignoring the world.”
We ignored the world until 5:30 in the morning when Megan woke me up, squealing excitedly.
She had started her period, the one time someone was actually excited about their period.
After she had woken me up, it was hard to get back to sleep.
In the end, I had finally given up trying to get back to sleep.
We made our way downstairs, and I began to make us breakfast.
“Good job, you can cook,” Megan chuckled. “If not, we’d be ordering breakfast in bed because I burned the rice.”
I laughed as I remembered that fiasco. “Yeah, we’re keeping you out of the kitchen unless you’re eating.”
I pottered around the kitchen, making us bacon sandwiches.
I handed her the plate as I sat down at the table, taking a bite out of my sandwich.
I hoped with her finally having answers that she would finally be able to be free.
I wanted to do everything for my best friend, but I also knew she wouldn’t accept any help.
I was worried that hopefully she could begin to be on the mend.
“Thanks. Okay, tell me about the ball. The pictures looked amazing.” Megan took a bite out of her sandwich as she stared at me.
“It was amazing, but I finally understood something though,” I said, taking another bite of my sandwich.
“Which was?” Megan asked with a mouthful of food.
“I get why he didn’t tell me who he was, the time he spent with me where he was normal it was heaven compared to what that ball felt like. It was amazing but the eyes, everyone was watching,” I said. “In the end it was worth it.”
“You really like him don’t you?” Megan asked softly.
I bit my lip, “I think I love him Megan.”
“Woah the L word already, must be serious,” she said.
“He already said it, I heard it once when we were going to sleep and then he just came out and said it,” I admitted.
She let out a squeal, and I flinched from the noise.
“He told you he loved you and you didn’t think to tell me?!”
“Can you shout any louder? I don’t think the reporters outside heard you,” I said sarcastically.
She looked at me sheepishly. “Sorry.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know if I’m ready to fall head over heels in love.”
“Oh sweetie, you’re already there,” she said.
“I don’t know when I’m going to get to see him again. He’s at parliament all week other than this polo game he wants me to go to.”
“Polo?” Megan asked, scrunching her face up in confusion. “I’m assuming it’s not like Marco Polo?”
“I didn’t realise that was played in water,” I said with a grin. “Alex told me that.”
“You have your very own fairytale, every girls’ dream.”
“Not a fairytale, and it might not even last,” I said with a little shrug.
Megan scoffed. “Puh-lease. I have read my fair share of romances and let me tell you girl, a man doesn’t bring a girl around his family that he’s going to break up with, especially if he’s a royal in line for the throne.”
A knock on the door stopped me from answering Megan.
I stood up, eating the last part of my sandwich as I opened the door. As per usual, I saw the garden filled with paparazzi. I was surprised to see Victoria standing there..
Hi,” I said. “Erm, come in.” I let her in, shutting the door behind me. I made my way into the kitchen with her following behind me.
“Your majesty,” Megan bowed in the process, slipping onto the floor.
I burst into a fit of giggles, grabbing my sides as I struggled to breathe “Oh my God.” I laughed. “I wish I had a camera in this house.”
“Not funny.” She grumbled, sitting back at the table.
“Sorta was.” I shook my head. I looked at Victoria. “Sorry I’m not very presentable.”
“I should think not.” She chuckled. “I looked worse at your age. As you are aware, Alexander is in parliament for most of the week except for Wednesday for the polo game. I hope you can attend. You may also bring your funny friend.”
“Hey, she thinks I’m funny,” Megan said, looking pleased with herself.
“I have made some arrangements because of your relationship with my son now being fully in the public eye. You will have a guard to escort you places safely because the press can be brutal, and we wouldn’t want bad things to happen.
You may not like it, but it is for your safety and that will be the end of that discussion,” Victoria said.
“I don’t even get a say?” I asked.
“Afraid not. Alexander doesn’t want your life to come to a standstill because of your relationship. At the end of the day, your safety is what matters to him,” she said.
“Does he know about this?”
She grinned, “No. I figured the best time to slip your security when he is in parliament and is too preoccupied to argue with my interfering ways,” she said. “I shall see you Wednesday. I’ll see myself out. A guard will be posted outside your house in a car similar to Jones. Goodbye, Melinda.”
I watched as she walked out the kitchen and stared until I heard my front door open and close. “Is she for real?” I asked.
“The Queen was just in your house! The motherfucking Queen!” Megan squealed. “How did she know where you live?”
I stared at her. “She’s the Queen.”
“Did I just hear the Queen was in the house?” A voice shouted from upstairs.
“Your mum is home?” Megan asked.
I shrugged and turned to look up the stairs, low and behold my mother was sitting at the top of the stairs. “When did you get home?” I asked curiously.
“Late last night,” mum said, letting out a yawn. “I’m going to go back to bed, so girls try to be quiet.”
I watched as she went back into her room, something told me she wasn’t alone and she probably had the sperm donor there. “How is she after the hospital stint?”
“She’s started to relax more and doesn’t work as much, so I think she probably realised how much she was draining herself,” I said, making my way into the living room sitting on the sofa Megan followed, sitting next to me.
“One episode of Ex on the Beach before we have to be at university?”
“You read my mind, babe.”
Two hours later, we watched an episode and left for university. As Clarissa said the moment, I opened my front door and saw that a guard was waiting. It seemed they were ready to take me anywhere.
This was going to take a while to get used to, and I truly was not keen on the idea at all. Somehow I knew I would be losing this battle. We arrived at university.
I got out of the car and looked back at the guard. “I’m sorry I never got your name.”
“Jimmy,” he said.
“Erm, you’re not following me around university right?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No ma’am, just to and from places. The university shouldn’t have any paparazzi in as it is off limits due to the Prince,” he said.
“Cool, bye,” I said.
We walked into the building, and I couldn’t help but feel like everyone was watching me. “Hey Megan, call me paranoid but people are staring.”
Megan looked around the university and nodded, “Yes, but get used to it girl,” she said bluntly.
I suppose she had a point, if I was going to stay with Alex I would have to get used to it. “I guess so,” I whispered.
“Are you working tonight?”
“Yeah, five until eight, pretty easy shift. I need to ask if I can switch my shift on a Wednesday. I may have to suck it up and work Sunday. I hate Sunday shifts.”
I laughed. “Subway?”
“I’m not going to turn food down,” she said.
We queued for Subway, getting our order. The line was thankfully short, so after a few minutes, we managed to find a table near the corner and sit down. We both started eating, and I tried to not let the staring bother me. I had to get used to it.
“His sister gave me a friendship bracelet. She’s my new best friend,” I told Megan.
“What? You can’t replace me.”
“Sure I can. She gave me a bracelet. When have you ever given me a bracelet?” I raised an eyebrow.
“I give you endless entertainment duh.”
I laughed. She had me there. Megan certainly did give me endless entertainment.
We finished eating our Subway.
Before we knew it, it was time for our lecture.
I could get through it. I just needed to tell myself that everything was good.
People weren’t staring.
I could pretend to be invisible, even if I wasn’t.