37. Nick #2
Willa: Please do! I'm too tired to think about cooking and I don't want to starve.
Me: I could always cook for us, you know.
Willa: There's a difference between cooking and burning meat to a crisp, Nicholas.
Me: One time, Wilhemina. That happened one time.
Willa: That one time left an indelible mark on my psyche. And on our kitchen ceiling.
I have no witty comeback since it's the truth. The burn marks are still there. How was I to know that you had to be very careful when you added liquor into a pan on a gas stove? The chefs on television make it look so easy.
Me: Any dinner requests?
Willa: Something warm and comforting. Maybe pasta?
Me: Done. I'll see you soon, my darling.
Willa: Truth or dare?
I smile.
Me: Truth.
Willa: How much do you love me?
Me: Words cannot describe the magnitude of my love for you, my darling. My world revolves around you. You are the sun to my Earth. My days begin and end because of you, and without the warmth of your love, I would exist in a cold world cloaked in darkness.
Willa: For not having words to describe your love, that was pretty good.
Me: I have my moments.
Willa: I love you, Nicholas.
Me: And I love you.
After a quick call to the kitchen to put in our dinner order, someone knocks on my office door. I'm grateful to see it's my brother and not anyone else. The Crown’s press secretaries and communications staff have been in and out of my office ever since the interview ended.
"The network sent over the rough cut of Willa's interview. It looks good, really good."
"That's welcome news."
Even though I was seated next to Willa during the interview, there is always the worry that the television studio may cut and splice Willa's remarks to alter the narrative.
"It is. I've asked for another favorability survey to be conducted on the individual royal family members, including Willa, after the interview is aired. Once those numbers confirm that Willa has our citizens' approval, we'll make our move against Mother."
I'm glad to have Alex on my side because he's intelligent and strategic in ways I am not. I'm playing checkers. Meanwhile, he's playing chess .
“Alex, can I ask you something?" When he nods, I continue. "Why are you so keen to exile Mother? Of course, I'm grateful, but I’m also curious.”
Because of how Alex was raised—to value the monarchy over self—his ruthless plan to cut Mother out is surprising.
Given how much time Father spent preparing him to lead our nation, Alex was always closer to Father than Mother, but his relationship with Mother has never been overtly hostile or rocky.
So, I'm left in the dark as to why my normally steadfast older brother is willing to force Mother into a diminished role within the family.
Does he simply believe it's time for the older generation to step aside? Is it to punish her for planting the tabloid story?
Or does he possess a different motivation altogether?
“I haven’t been entirely truthful regarding my relationship and engagement to Annika,” Alex starts. He sighs, gathering his thoughts. “Do you remember me mentioning a girl named Evelyn Tomasi?”
“Evelyn,” I repeat, searching my brain. “Did you meet her at uni?”
"I did. We met during my third year at Marymount University."
“I vaguely remember her name.” I snap my fingers when I remember something else. “She was the first girl who really captured your attention. You had quite the crush on her, yeah?”
“It was much more than a crush, mate. We were in love. Madly in love.”
Madly in love? I've never heard my brother speak this way. “You loved her? What happened?”
“The Crown happened," Alex huffs. "Evie was a first year. A scholarship student, the first person from her family to attend university.”
“Oh, bloody hell,” I mutter, knowing exactly where this story is heading.
“Her scholarship covered a portion of her tuition, and she took out loans to cover the rest. She also had a waitressing job to cover her living costs. That’s where I met her, at the pub where she worked.
Her parents worked menial jobs and couldn’t afford to help her out.
She worked so damn hard, and she wanted nothing to do with me at first. She refused to date a silly, rich boy who had never worked a day in his life, she told me the first time I asked her out.
” Alex leans back in his chair with a small smile stretching his lips as he gets lost in his memories.
“But I was stubborn and asked her out every time I saw her. Finally, she acquiesced and accepted my offer to take her to dinner. She said she was only in it for the free food, but from that very first date, we fell for each other. We were from opposite walks of life and our personalities were like night and day, but somehow, we worked together as a couple.”
God, it hurts to hear the forlorn happiness in Alex’s voice as he recalls his relationship with Evelyn.
"How did I not know about this? Why didn't you tell me?"
"At first, we kept everything quiet because I didn't want the press to catch wind of it.
You were at a different uni. I planned on telling you, but I didn't get the chance before things ended.
And afterwards…I didn't talk about it because it hurt too damn much.
" He blows out a breath. “Anyway, I told Mother that I wanted to bring Evie home over summer break and introduce her to the family. Mother was thrilled that I’d met someone—at first. Once she found out that Evelyn was a daughter of a janitor and a store clerk, Mother's tune changed drastically.
"Two weeks later, just as finals were finishing up for the spring term, Evie came to me crying. She was holding a letter from a university in the United Kingdom. Despite not applying, she’d miraculously been offered a full scholarship, including living expenses and a food stipend.
It was too much money for a poor girl to turn down, but she didn't want to leave me. I offered to pay for everything if she’d just stay with me at Marymount University, but she was proud to accept money from the monarchy.
” Alex scoffs harshly, “Of course, Evie had no way of knowing that she already was.
As soon as I read the letter, I knew Mother had orchestrated that scholarship offer to tear Evelyn and me apart.
They were paying Evie off to leave me, and she didn't even know it.”
“Bollocks, Alex. I’m sorry,” I offer lamely. “Did you tell Evelyn the truth?”
He shakes his head. “No. I couldn’t do that to her.
While she was sad to leave me, I saw how excited she was at the prospect of graduating college without being buried under a mountain of debt.
Having lived below the poverty line her whole life, that scholarship could change the entire trajectory of her financial future.
I couldn’t take that opportunity away from her. ”
“Fuck,” I mutter with a lengthy exhalation. My selfless brother strikes again.
“Then the following year, after I graduated from uni, Annika was invited to dinner. We’d been friends for years, and I recognized that Mother and Father found her to be an acceptable match. She was everything Evelyn wasn’t—soft-spoken, demure, and the daughter of a lord.
“It was obvious Mother was trying to set us up. She continued inviting Annika to palace events over the next year, and eventually, I stopped fighting it. I went along with Mother’s plan and began dating Annika.
We shared a companionable, quiet sort of love rather than the fiery, passionate love I experienced with Evie.
" Alex looks up and his anguished gaze meets mine.
“I see what you and Willa share and I believe it’s the same kind of love that Evie and I once shared. "
"Jesus, Alex.”
I’m reeling from this newfound knowledge. I remember the despair and depression I felt when I left Willa in America, and I'd only known her a matter of weeks. I cannot imagine the pain my brother must have endured losing Evelyn after loving her for nearly a year.
"Alex, that night…when we spoke about missing people and how it was better to leave them in the past…you weren't talking about Annika, were you?"
A sad smile graces his face. "No, mate, I wasn't."
And with that knowledge, my anger at our mother grows.
"So, to answer your earlier question, I have several reasons for forcing Mother to step down, but one of them is that I won’t allow her to meddle and ruin another relationship.
I won’t allow her to chase off Willa like she chased off Evie.
You and Willa have a chance to form a union based on real love, and that’s a rare occurrence within a royal family. ”
“You deserve to find love too, Alex. Have you thought about contacting Evelyn?”
“Over the years, I’ve kept up with her from afar.
She’s stayed in London after she finished uni, and she’s married now with a young son.
What we once shared is over, with no hope of rekindling it.
I always knew that I would have to make personal sacrifices to serve the monarchy, but I didn’t realize my own mother would destroy my happiness.
But now, as king, I wield the power to stop it from happening again. ”