Chapter 8 #2
“This must be a culture shock compared to New York,” Lady Laurel said kindly.
“That’s an understatement,” I laughed. “This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
After finishing the five-course meal, I wasn’t sure if I could stand, let alone dance along with the rest of the young guests now relocating to the center of the room. As I was trying to determine my next move, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“May I sit down?”
I knew that voice. I looked up to find Prince Oliver standing with his hand on the back of my chair.
“Do you really need permission, Your Royal Highness?” I asked, winking.
“I always ask for permission,” he winked back.
I nodded my head to Bronson’s now-empty seat on my left. “How is your night going?” I inquired as he sat.
“Quite well, aside from suffocating in this tux.”
Suffocating, suffocatingly handsome, same thing.
“I get that. After that meal, I’m not sure I could even walk right now.”
“That’s a pity. I actually came over here to ask if you’d like to dance.” Prince Oliver smiled, laughter in his eyes.
“Well, who am I to deny the Crown Prince of Wexstone a dance?”
He stood, holding out his hand to help me up, then leading me to the dance floor. As we walked, he nodded and made brief pleasantries with the people we passed.
As we joined the other dancing couples, the quartet transitioned into a cover of “Kids” by MGMT.
The prince set his right hand on the small of my back and took my own hand in his left.
As we moved, I felt eyes on me. Not just one set, but the entire room.
Do. Not. Trip. Don’t embarrass yourself right now.
“How was your flight from New York? Did you have any problems getting here?” the prince asked.
Oh, you mean other than getting stopped by customs for my vibrator?
“Nope. No problems at all.”
“And the Alexanders have been treating you well?”
“Absolutely. Their house is beautiful, and they’ve been very generous.”
“Good. I had no doubt about Vince, but Bronson can be a bit…” He trailed off.
“Direct? Abrasive?”
“Yes. Quite.” He laughed heartily.
I didn’t miss the few female heads that shot our way at his deep laugh.
God, was this how it was going to be the entire time?
Every little sign of happiness or the slightest indication that he was making a connection with someone, and the vultures would be there watching, waiting to jump in and see what made the prince happy?
It was so vastly different from our weekend in New York.
Prince Oliver twirled me around the dance floor, both of us enjoying the movements and laughing as he spun me to and from his body. A crescendo marked the end of the song.
“I think you have a line forming for the next dance,” I said as I peeked around his large frame to spot the gaggle of women forming a border at the edge of the floor. Their eyes glistened with hope and lust.
“Geez,” Prince Oliver huffed under his breath. “I need a drink after that dancing though. I suppose they’ll have to wait.” He smiled conspiratorially as we meandered to the back wall. A server passed by with yet another tray of champagne. Prince Oliver took two flutes, handing me one.
“Thank you,” I said as I took the glass. “So, growing up here in the palace must have been incredible. I can only imagine what this place must look like all decked out for the holidays.”
“You won’t have to imagine for much longer. The staff and my mother will start decorating soon. She loves when it all goes up. My father tries to hold her off until the end of November, but he gets less successful with each passing year.”
I laughed even as my heart ached. “My mom was the same way. She would have kept the tree up all year round if my dad would have let her.”
“Would have?” His forehead scrunched inquisitively at my use of the past tense.
“Ollie! Oh, there you are,” a shrill voice whined.
The prince turned stiffly. “Renata,” he said, all the warmth leaving his voice.
“I’ve been looking for you since dinner. You owe me a dance. You know how I love to waltz.” Renata clutched his arm like she was clinging to a life raft.
“Of course. I’m just in the middle of a conversation with Bernadette at the moment. I will come find you in a bit.” Oliver motioned toward me.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you standing there,” Renata said, sugary sweetness in her voice and the fakest smile I had ever seen plastered to her face.
“The girl from America, right? It’s so exciting to have you here.
If you need anything, please let me know.
I would love to help you while you’re here. ”
It took everything in me not to roll my eyes at her. This bitch was as fake as her lip injections.
“Ok, well, I’ll let you two finish your little chat. Ollie, do come find me when you’re done.”
As Renata crossed in front of Prince Oliver and me, I caught an evil grin sliding over her face just as she twisted her wrist and emptied her glass of red wine down my front. She threw herself into Prince Oliver, grabbing his arm again as if to steady herself.
“Good heavens!” exclaimed the prince.
“Ack!” I startled.
“Oopsie! I’m such a klutz. So accident prone!” Renata feigned embarrassment.
That trifling little bitch. Accident, my ass, I thought.
A staff member rushed over, a swath of cloth napkins in her hands.
I wiped the wine from my chest but really needed to find a bathroom to clean up what had seeped down my cleavage and was now threatening the longevity of the tape holding my boobs in place.
I tried to dab the wine from the bodice of my dress but made zero progress. I looked up at Prince Oliver.
“I’m so sorry. If you’ll excuse me, I need to find the ladies’ room and see if I can get this out.”
“Of course. It’s the first door on the right in the corridor,” the prince answered, looking apologetic.
I excused myself and located the washroom, which held two stalls with thick wooden doors, across from which sat a large marble vanity.
I turned on the sink and grabbed a hand towel from the neighboring basket, trying to remember if hot or cold water was better for removing stains.
After wiping up the pool of wine from my cleavage, I started to rub at the large purple spot on the front of my gown.
“You really should dab at the stain. Rubbing it like that will just push it further into the fabric. Club soda can also help,” a soft voice said from behind me.
I jumped, knocking over a bottle of hand soap on the counter. On a velvet settee next to the door sat a beautiful girl with soft, cornsilk hair. Her dress was a stunning lavender that fell loosely around her shoulders. I had been so flustered that I completely missed her when I came in.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said, crossing the room.
“No, you’re fine. I just didn’t realize anyone else was in here. Thank you. I’ll dab it and try to track down some club soda.”
“Rough night?” she asked, handing me a fresh towel.
“It wasn’t going too bad until that red-headed mean girl decided to dump her wine on me ‘accidentally,’” I answered, placing air quotes around the word “accidentally.”
“Ah, you must be talking about Renata.” Her eyes flickered knowingly.
“Yep. That’s the one.” I rolled my eyes so hard I saw my brain.
“Here, let me help you.” She took one of the towels and started dabbing at my dress. “I’m Adelaide, by the way.” Another fellow suitor, though thankfully this one seemed far kinder than Renata.
“Hi Adelaide, I’m Bernadette. But please, call me Birdie.”
“Oh, you’re the American, right?” Her green eyes lit with excitement. “I mean, of course you are, with your accent. But, well, you know.”
I knew exactly what she meant. “Yeah, that’s me.”
“What a way to welcome you to Wexstone and into this ridiculous ‘competition.’” She rolled her eyes and grinned at me. “As if these things weren’t awful enough to begin with, you add Renata and her puppets, Ginny and Gemma, into the mix. They’re the absolute worst.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to see that,” I said with a sigh.
“They’ve always been atrocious human beings.”
“I take it you’ve been around the royal court for a while?”
“Oh, no,” she said, straightening up. “I’m not from a royal house, but yeah, I’m a part of all of…
this.” She waved her hand around, gesturing vaguely.
“But I went to school with them when we were in primary. They were just as awful then. And part of the reason why I’m hiding out in the bathroom instead of mingling and talking to everyone out there. ” She sighed.
There was a knock at the door. Adelaide and I looked at each other like we had been caught doing something wrong. A second passed and we both started giggling. Adelaide walked to the door and opened it. It was Knox, holding a crystal glass filled with fizzy liquid.
“Ms. Hamilton? The prince sent me here with this, he thought it might help with the stain.” He handed over the glass of club soda. “Ms. Levy.” He nodded to Adelaide.
“Oh,” I stammered as Adelaide took the cup, setting it on the countertop next to the sink. “Please tell him I said thank you so much.” It truly was so thoughtful of him. Through all the chaos of the evening, he had thought to have Knox bring me this.
“You good?” he asked, nodding to my dress.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s just a little spill. Accidents happen, right?” I smiled, thinking of trying to get the tahini sauce out of his flannel shirt.
“Okay. If you need anything else, just let me know.”
“Thank you.” I waved as he turned to go.
Adelaide closed the door. “Wow, I wasn’t aware the prince could think of someone else’s needs once they were out of sight,” she whispered in a smug tone.
“Ouch,” I said. “Not a fan of Prince Oliver?”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. He’s not a bad guy. We just…have a history.”
“Mmmm, yeah. I’ve been there before.” I sensed there was more to the story, but didn’t want to pry.
Adelaide helped me as we finished cleaning my dress. We got out as much of the wine as we could. The stain, at least, had changed from dark purple to navy blue.
“I think this is as good as it’s going to get,” Adelaide said, tilting her head as she took in our work. “I’m sorry.”
“Girl, maybe this just gives me an excuse to leave. Honestly, my feet are killing me and as beautiful as it is, I’m ready to get out of this dress.” I rolled my shoulders, feeling my back crack satisfyingly.
“Me too. I’m ready to take my bra off and get into my sweatpants.” Adelaide giggled.
“That sounds like paradise right about now.” I wiped up a few stray water droplets and threw the used towels into a basket below the vanity. “Thank you for your help, Adelaide. I really appreciate it. It was so nice to meet someone else here.”
“I feel the same way. Maybe we can join forces and make it through this unscathed together.” She winked.
I stepped out of the bathroom and spotted Vince leaning against the wall across the hallway, scrolling on his phone.
“Hey. Knox told me what happened. Are you okay?” he asked, pocketing his phone.
“I’m fine. Although I can’t say the same thing about my dress. Clarence is going to have a cow.”
Vince looked me up and down. A small smile crept across his face. “I can’t take you anywhere, huh?” He smirked.
“It was nice to meet you, Birdie. I’ll see you at the next event,” Adelaide said as she moved toward to the ballroom.
“Vince, let’s go home. I think I’ve had enough fun for one night.”
“We’ll need to go say goodbye to Oliver first.” Vince winced. “Let’s go find him.”
“No need.” Prince Oliver’s voice carried from down the hall as he walked toward us. “I didn’t see you return so I thought I’d check and see if you were all right.”
“I’m fine. Although given the state of my dress, I may call it a night. That is, if it’s okay with you?”
“Of course. I’m so sorry that happened, Birdie.” Prince Oliver grimaced.
“It’s not your fault; you have no need to apologize. Thank you for the wonderful night.”
Vince said his goodbyes to Prince Oliver, and we made our way outside to the waiting car.
“What a night,” I sighed as I leaned my head back on the headrest.
“And this was just the beginning.” Vince laughed.