34

34-Luke

After Allaina, I went back to the hotel where I waited earlier because this is also going to be the last place where I’ll be meeting the fifth candidate. Drey had to pick her up because for some reason the driver who was supposed to bring her here got sick and so my mom made a little change with the plans and instead made my personal assistant fetch the last lady. Which was by the way, absurd since we do have other drivers who could attend to the next lady but my mother insisted that it is only appropriate that my assistant do it instead since its going to be the last date of the day and it would show my determination to meet this lady despite the odds I had to face.

It was a good thing that I was already in the good mood because of my date with Lady Allaina that I was able to accept my mothers ridiculous reasons and now, I am simply waiting for my next date which by the way, will have to work hard because the ladies before her, well a certain lady anyways, was still in my head and tough to beat.

My conversation with Lady Allaina, is somehow still playing in my head because that lady, she’s unique. She has this views that makes me laugh and she did listen to me after I told her to just be herself and forget about acting flirty and lustful because it didn’t suit her. She’s too spirited for those kind of things and I much appreciated her bubbly self than the other one.

As I was waiting at the roof deck, Drey initiated a bet with me. Its just a simple man to man bet whether the next lady would make me turn and or not. A sinch of idea that would make me look forward to this fifth lady that will be joining. Though my head is still clouded with what happened to day, I guess this bet helped me refocus my mind and spare this next lady a fighting chance. The stakes are not that high but I am a little competitive and I like the idea of being engaged into something, so here I am waiting and looking forward to the next lady.

Drey told me where they were and figuring that I still have the time to spare, I decided to go down where the reserved rooms for the royals are located and decided to clean myself and also so I could use the toilet before actually facing my last date.

One of the guard informs that Drey has already escorted my next date to the venue and so I had to rush back to the roof deck so I can now see this last lady, even though I already have a feeling who it might be, one shouldn’t be close minded. I am very much open to new prospects.

“Ready?” Drey asks me as he welcomed me by the elevators. We both walk to the door leading to the roof deck and with Dreys smiling face, I think I may have already confirmed who our next lady is.

“Open the door” I ready my smile and my excuse just in case I’ll need one. The guard opened the door and I took a step forward ready to say something when I saw a familiar back waiting for me. I would have said something already if it wasn’t for the gush of wind that completely caught her off. She’s only wearing this strapped sliver dress that molded her body perfectly. Her hair flew all over her face that she had no choice but to turn around and block the harsh winds but even with her facing me, she couldn’t see me with her hair flying all over. I swear this would have been a perfect scene if it wasn’t for the wreck the winds causing. But in its own special way, the scene I’m witnessing is quite cute.

When the wind kept attacking her way, move next to her and place my hand on her waist to make her face the opposite way of where the wind goes. She was stiff for a long second but eventually she looks up to me and there I see, her familiar orbs looking deep into me.

I could feel her heart beating fast and every part of her shaking. She must have been shocked by how I suddenly show up and with her looking almost like a mess.

“I should probably apologize for ruining your hair but even so, you still look good. Gorgeous even.” I whispered in her ears, which was a mistake because it was supposed to be just inside my head but heck it found its way to my mouth, because she really does look great at what she’s wearing now and the simpleness of her make up just makes her natural beauty glow even more.

I admit, the first time I met her, I did find her attractive and a little hot when she fought back but I’m just full of pride to even admit this little things.

“Its been awhile Danielle, or should I call you my lady now?” I teased her so I could cover up my own embarrassment from my own little slip but when she suddenly pushed me away and bow down, she was following protocol just like the rest.

“Please excuse my behavior your highness, the wind just caught me of guard” I could tell from her tone that she’s embarrassed from what happened. But more so, she sounded like she’s just trying to persuade herself that, that was really the case.

“Relax, I don’t expect you to even be nice to me after what happened” I started. We have to talk about what happened between us, everything is just part of my plan and since this is really happening, I need to play the part.

“Why don’t we talk over there, I’ll ask Drey to get you a coat, for the mean time… wear mine, the wind tonight would only get harsher. You might catch a cold and tomorrows the actual start of ceremonies” I take off my coat and placed it around her. As much as I enjoy how she looks right now, I don’t want my mother barging into my place just so she could scold me because I didn’t protect Danielle from a simple cold.

I quickly types a message address to Drey and helped Danielle with her chair. She admired the view and I admired her. For some odd and mysterious reason, I feel as if I am ten times attracted to her tonight. I haven’t seen her in awhile and after the kiss, we haven’t really talked. Maybe that the reason why I’m so captivated by her tonight, this is the first time I’m seeing her after the whole moment we had and she just has this vibe that up to this point, I am still trying to figure out.

The night then turned into some kind of a drama you see on television, Danielle asked me questions I thought I was prepared for. Fortunately, the awkwardness faded after the staff presented the dishes we were eating. I honestly had my doubts about every dish, because they were either weird or simply contradicting. But because I had to know more about Danielle, I had to taste every dish and I was beyond surprise that I even liked those dishes. On a scale of ten being the highest, I would definitely rate the dishes we had with eight. I was caught off guard by the squid dipped in chocolates and it was weird but they taste awfully great.

Though Danielle was a little skeptical, I believe she was also trying her best to open her mind with whatever it is that’s happening between us. I am well aware that I am the best when it comes to saying words and formulating the right one, well, the perfect lies.

I did say I had to push my plans and play along so here I am convincing not just Danielle but also myself that I am simply trying to figure things out. I even told here I liked her, straight to the eye and without blinking. It was a lie and yet she did believe every word that I said. There was a moment that she contemplated but eventually she gave in.

A thought did cross my mind while I was talking to her. She really does look like someone I could date and maybe have some serious relation, but a committed relationship in this kind of scenario is something that I could never imagine. I still have my doubts and as long as she poses a threat to the royal family, I can’t play things safe.

Danielle now looks at me as she kept thinking about what I said to her. I know she wants me to have an answer but all I could do now is assure her that she atleast has a fighting chance. I had to make her believe that she already has a place in my heart just so she would agree with me and play her own role during the events. She now has this look that’s both doubtful and hopeful, and then something twinkled in her eyes just right before she gave me this smile that’s new and refreshing. I never saw her smile like this before, she’s been nothing but guarded around me and right now, for the first time since she came and live with us, I can finally peek through her true self. This is her smile, her sincerest one.

“Well, that’s that then. I guess I’ll just have to do my best from now on. I did promise your mother and since both of you can’t do anything for my stead, I’ll just have to strive” She sounded like she’s trying to make herself believe that she can make it but her impression shows otherwise.

“You promised my mother what exactly?” I was curious what would she be promising about to my mother that she’s now required to strive.

“That’s between me and your mother. Lets just assume that she wants the same thing as you and she hopes for nothing but the best” She smiled but she also have this teasing look in her face that makes me even more curious.

“What makes you so sure that I want the same thing as my mom? Or that she does the same way as me?”

There are times where my mom and I will have differences in opinion even when we both want or fight for the same reasons. I never once witness my mother agreeing to any of my plans, she’ll always have something to say about it or even when she does agree, she’ll make sure that she’ll add something to my plan or she does thing silent manipulations that even my father couldn’t get away from.

“Simple, no parent would want to see their kids fail. So if they need to support them all throughout their lives, they’ll do so just to make sure that their children are safe” Danielle solemnly explained to me with a hint of loneliness in her voice.

Then I remembered Drey telling me that her mom recently died from the fire that burned their home. Her mom used to work here and I vividly remember her from when I used to visit grandma. Unlike the other maids, she would always greet me with a smile and she would even bake me this cookies that I like so much whenever I go and visit grandmother. Though I never had the chance to personally know her since aside from being my grandmothers head lady, she seems to be very private and I had other things to worry about in the past that we only have so little interaction with each other.

Though I have my doubts about her sudden death, Danielle must be feeling sad just by remembering the very thought of a mother.

“Your mother would be so proud of you once she sees you doing well right now” I won’t be great at what I do if I don’t use this situation to my advantage. In my vast knowledge about women, they tend to show their vulnerable side once you play with their most sensitive side. I am of course speaking about feeling and not the other thing, though my statement is as just equally true and effective on both emotional and physical aspect.

Danielle smiled at my statement before taking a small sip from her glass of wine and directing her attention back to the view we have up in the deck. I watch as she slowly fixes her hair back to her ears to pin it there and prevent the air from successfully ruining her whole look. Though her hair flowing with the air looks just as great as she is.

Danielle catches me admiring how she looks but instead of avoiding her eyes, I remained still. I wasn’t afraid that she’ll think I’m some kind of a pervert, in fact I would pretty much like her to think that I am so attracted to her so she’ll at least be a little confident during the events. Too confident that she’ll never think she’ll even fail.

“You do know that staring is bad right?” Danielle tries her best not to look too embarrass, but I could already see the glimpse of flush making way.

“It will be bad if you think of it negatively, but I would rather think of this as a guy simply admiring the beauty in front of her” I sweetly grinned and that made her shake her head while smiling. She likes this kind of conversation too, I guess she’s just like any other women when they like someone.

Sadly just like any other dates, this too has its limit. Drey enters the scene and gives us both a sad looking smile.

“I apologize for being the one to cut this perfect date short, if I let you guys go on, the inner court might just remove me from my post and I don’t like that so your highness, my lady, I’ll be waiting outside as you two say your farewells” Drey informs us both then he dramatically leaves us alone.

I slowly stood up from my own chair and look at Danielle as she moves her chair. I walk towards her and helped her with her own chair which she gladly accepted and smiled on. She was supposed to move forward but I blocked her way just like how I did before when I helped her with the gushing wind.

“Prince Luke…” Danielle confusedly looks at me. I took another step towards her not to intimidate her but to obviously make her think of something.

“After tonight I won’t be able to do this with you, but I want to give you something to hold on before everything starts” I whispered in my most tempting tone and I look at her with only one purpose inside my head. “But you have every right to say no if you don’t want to” I continued as I leaned towards her.

She looks into my eyes, the same way I did with hers and when she didn’t seem to be against to what I am about to do, I went ahead and encircled my hand behind her back and my other hand around her neck. She closes her eyes and that just made me smile even more. She’s willing to accept my advancements now which would only mean she’s already opening herself to the idea of us being together. Another point on my little checklist.

I looked at her lips and I was just planning to tease her, so she could have something to look forward during the event. A little taste of what awaits her sort of feeling but instead I’m the one whose being teased by er inviting lips. She has this pull that I couldn’t resist and not being able to submit to that pull just gets me even more tempted. I slowly kissed the side of her lip and then I could feel her breathe hitch as I made another peck on the other side of her lip. My breathe became shallow as I kept fighting myself not to go full on, but when Danielle realized that I was taking longer than I should, so she open her eyes and again, just like she before, stares at me with question in her eyes and not just that but she also looks at me with this expectation glistening in her eyes. She was silent and so did I, I trace the side of her cheek and when my thoughts finally synced in, I took the higher road and just gave in.

I’m pretty sure Danielle was surprised when I finally gave in and kissed her lips. At first it was just me moving and then she finally realizes what was happening that she finally responded and damn it was sweet. She kept responding to my advances and maybe I got to greedy during the whole process but even with that, Danielle received it all. She matched every ounce of my greediness with equal amount of submission.

I bit her lips and she made this arousing sound that only made me hold her closer. I originally planned for a taste but I am now devouring, which is a big mistake. A mistake that I am obviously enjoying. If I didn’t have this knocking thought in my head that our time was running out I would have kept going but there was a knocking thought in my head and not just that, theres this heavy feeling inside me that’s preventing me to fully be enchanted by this feeling, this ecstasy i’m having with Danielle. I would have simply kissed her and go but I can’t. Its like she has this pull that makes me forget every plan and situation I am in. She’s trapping me and i’m letting her do it.

We managed to pull away from each other when we both realize we actually needed some air to breathe. We were both still pretty much tangled to each other when we both look to each other. I won’t lie and say that I was acting because truthfully I was in daze. Danielle was in the same state so when I pulled back a little she almost stumbled down if it wasn’t for the hand I had on her waist.

“Drey...Master Drey...” She managed to speak up but just like I was, she’s still in fairytale land “He might think I already killed you...” I made a soft chuckle when she’s trying to make a joke after what just happened. I leaned my head on hers and before I could even prevent myself, I slowly kissed her forehead, surprising not just Danielle but also myself. I close my eyes after that to curse myself for even doing something out of the plan and when I finally calmed down, I slowly pulled away from Danielle and plastered fake smile on my face.

“Maybe we should go before Drey finally has it and drags us both out of here” I suggested to her as she keeps looking down her feet.

“Yeah maybe we should” She finally looks up to me and gives me this smile that again made me unconsciously trace my finger o her face.

After a few moments, we both calmed down and got back inside the hotel. Drey was patiently waiting but for some reason, the guards are no longer with him. Drey even had this look that I could only classify as teasing but he was kind enough to put his wickedness into minimal.

“Ahm, a guard is already waiting for you at the elevator my lady. You should go first and you my Prince are coming with me because we are going to use a different lift and door to get out of this place” Drey informed Danielle and as thanks to my assistant, she gave Drey another of her brilliant smiles, which by the way, affects me in a weird and irritating sort of way.

Danielle then went ahead after she bows at me and gives me a huge smile before leaving both me and Drey.

“Well that’s a flush I see and a weird looking smile. If I didn’t know you better, I would say your smitten my prince” Drey finally breaks his kindness and teases me full time. I didn’t entertain his comments because if I did he’ll just keep pushing and right now, I don’t need his on point snide remarks. Right now all I want is to savor the last remaining hours I have for myself and to clear my head to the game I am about to join in because honestly, the ladies I met today are going to drain every energy, strength and patience that I have. Though there was some that did their marks and left a huge impression on me. Tomorrow is going to be the beginning of everything. The thing I had with Isabelle in the past is no longer valid and she’ll have to start everything from scratch starting tomorrow, then theres Allaina, a little ball of sunshine that will surely steal some hearts and minds during the events. Then there’s Danielle, I know I am attracted to her and that there is huge chance that I might get swayed by her little sweet smiles and that I might just kiss her again and be lost again but that’s really not the plan here and I have to stick with the plan.

Mind in the game Luke, or else you’ll lose everything.