The first meeting

Jamie sat at the verandah behind the kitchen. He was too busy engrossed in the assignments he had to do for his classmates. They had paid him a ton of money for these assignments, and he couldn’t afford to disappoint his clients. He needed the money to pay his landlady for his accommodation rent, which was due in March. He didn’t want to disturb Logan with the money. Logan already had a lot on his plate. He went through each of the assignments bit by bit while using a red pen to cross the answers, which he felt were incorrect. His father, Logan brown, had told him not to draw too much attention at the palace. He had to be as calm as much as possible. Logan Brown had been working in the palace for close to twenty-five years. He had served the father of the crown prince while he was still crown prince.

Jamie didn’t want to visit this weekend. After all, he had not visited Maurishia Island since he turned sixteen when his mother had left his father. But his father Logan had insisted on him visiting since he had not seen his son in a while.

As Jamie went through the rest of the assignments. He suddenly felt a pang of hunger. He had not eaten since all day. How was he going to get food? He thought? He couldn’t just waltz into the royal kitchen and ask the cooks for food. After waiting for an additional thirty minutes, Logan had not still come. The hunger pangs had increased. How was he going to cope?

Logan didn’t normally take time to attend to the king. But today, the crown prince was hosting a brunch for his friends. He had just returned from Kenya, where he stayed for two years. His royal friends were too happy to visit the prince, and so the prince hosted a brunch for his future bride to be, Princess Charlene, and the visitors of the royal house.

Jamie had never seen the prince, but he had seen paintings of the prince, where he wore his royal attire. Logan said he looked like his mother, queen Mirabella. Logan couldn’t stop talking of his kind features, which he took from his grandfather King George the first. Logan also couldn’t stop talking about how much the prince had made his father proud with the works he had been doing in Africa. And in a couple of years, he would be married to Princess Charlene of caspia kingdom. She was a beauty to behold.

Jamie’s stomach began to growl. And he couldn’t hold the hunger anymore. He left the verandah where he was sitting doing the assignments and decided to sneak into the royal kitchen, trying to find something to eat. When he entered the kitchen, the cooks were too busy cooking to notice him. They were all too preoccupied with the prince’s brunch. But then one of the cooks, Martha, cited him. And so she said.

“Oh Jamie, your father would be on his way soon. It would be best if you were hungry. Why don’t you help yourself with some pastries before he comes?”

Jamie was overly excited. The woman had offered him food without him revealing he was hungry. While he decided which pastry he was going to eat. The hot croissants caught his eyes. Now he just needed a glass of water from the fridge. When he opened the fridge, something else came upon his mind as he turned to pick up a bottle of water. It was his birthday. How could he forget his nineteenth birthday? Was he so engrossed in his school affairs that he didn’t even remember his own birthday? In that instant, he felt nauseated from the croissant he had already eaten. He wanted to throw up, but then he gulped the bottle of water, trying to ease the urge of vomiting.

He glanced at his reflection in the kitchen mirror. He didn’t like what he saw. He had lost a lot of weight from running around the school. Adapting to a new environment was not an easy task for him. Especially now, he needed to pay for his rent by March.

The urge to vomit didn’t stop. Maybe if he had something like orange juice, the urge would disappear. But then, as he opened the fridge, he saw a bottle of a jar of Nutella. How much he loved Nutella. In that instant, he thought, maybe this would stop the urge to vomit.

Still trying to compose himself, he stood by the fridge still thinking about how he forgot his own birthday. But then he couldn’t hold it anymore, he needed to throw up, and so he asked Martha, the cook.

“Ma, please can you direct me to the restroom? I need to use it.” His face had begun to turn green, and so she said.

“Jamie, I am quite busy trying to make the Coleslaw, but why don’t I describe the bathroom for you.”

At this point, Jamie didn’t want to say anything, so he nodded his head in agreement, trying desperately not to throw up in the palace kitchen.

“Go down on your left. When you get to the last corridor, turn left, you would see the restroom. But if you see the palace guards tell them you are Logan’s son. And they would let you pass.”

Martha wasn’t done explaining to Jamie when he ran out in search of the restroom. He walked as fast as his legs could carry him, trying not to walk too suspicious. After all, it was a palace. He didn’t want anyone suspecting him to be a criminal. He kept looking behind him, making sure no one was coming behind him. But then he bumped into a young man. The man was tall. He looked charming with his masculine figure. His blue eyes gave his beauty away. He was extremely handsome. Like the men, he had read in his mills and boom novels. He would stop for a while to admire this beautiful creature on a good day, but then he really needed to use the restroom.

“Watch your way, young man,” the handsome man said.

“I am sorry, I need to find the restroom. I must have rushed in at eating the hot croissant, or I ate something bad last night,” Jamie said.

But then the handsome man said, looking as calm as possible.

“You don’t look so good.”

Jamie felt so uncomfortable, so he tried walking away from the young man who had worn a nightwear robe. Who was he? He thought. He didn’t want to spend any more minutes in front of this handsome man, or he was going to throw upon him. But then the handsome young man didn’t quite feel comfortable with being walked out on, and so he held the arm of young Jamie. Stopping him from moving any further.

“Where do you think you are going? I am speaking to you.”

Jamie looked at the handsome man with a frowned look on his face. Who the hell was he? But then the man should have let him move along to the restroom and so, with the young man still holding him. He emptied his stomach right there on the handsome man’s feet. Emptying everything he had eaten earlier. And when he was done vomiting, he cleaned his mouth using the sleeves of his shirt. In that instant, he began to apologize.

“I am so sorry. I would get a mop and clean this off.” But then, as he spoke, some guards ran towards his direction, calling in.

“Your majesty.”

On hearing the word, your majesty Jamie froze still. He wanted the floor to open up and swallow him. This was the fucking crown prince, and he had just thrown upon his feet. What was going to be his punishment? Death by hanging or eternal enslavement in the royal palace. He had a puzzled look on his face.