Chapter Seven

Evan and Gabrielle went to inform the bouncer about who they were. This way, the bouncer let them go into the palace.

Once in there, the previous party was being held on the ground floor. In around an hour, the guests would need to go upstairs to the second floor so they could enjoy a fine dinner and listen to King Antoine and Prince André's speeches, as well as Lady Madeline's.

Everyone was chatting and mingling. Evan stopped to contemplate the architecture of the palace: it resembled the Versailles Palace a bit, only that it didn't have as many details in gold, almost all of the corinthian columns were sculpted in polished marble with alabaster details, the base of them, though, did have some features in gold. The floor was also of a pearly marble, more grooved than the columns and slightly lighter. Something peculiar Evan noticed was the windows' style: they looked gothic.

A staff member holding a silver plate full of canapés, cold cuts, and some glasses with unknown drinks approached them. He looked like Magalí and the interviewer Evan met before, he wondered if he was a native Avevian as well…

"Good evening, Lord and Lady! Fancy a starter? Some drinks?" He asked, smiling wide and politely at Evan and Gabrielle.

Gabrielle grinned, clearly feeling enthused.

"Is that a Brisa de Papagayo what I see there?" She asked, with a rather curious voice that somehow sounded almost certain about the answer about to be received (if not a hundred percent certain).

"It is indeed, My Lady!" He paused briefly to take a better look at Evan, "Ah, you must be Sir Evan Clarke! And the lady with you is Lady Gabrielle of House Martí! It's a pleasure to serve you. Lady Martí, would you like me to explain to Sir Clarke what the Brisa de Papagayo consists of?" He asked Gabrielle.

"Sure thing, kind gentleman. I'm glad to have come across such a well-mannered staff member like you!" She smiled cheerfully.

"Well, Sir Clarke, the name of Brisa de Papagayo is the Spanish expression for Parrot's Breeze. It's basically a punch of fruits usually eaten by the local parrots, we squeeze the juice of said fruits and we add slices of them, we add gin tonic and colorants to resemble the colors of a parrot's feathers, ice to cool it down et voilá! A colorful tropical drink, quite basic yet quite exquisite. if you pay good attention, you can make out each fruit's taste." The staff member explained, he seemed so enthused that it almost seemed he'd like to have a drink with them as well.

"Sounds really interesting, I'd like to try it." Evan said, grabbing one of the glasses.

"I'll have one, too." Said Gabrielle, mimicking Evan. "Careful, Evan, you usually need to pour a fair amount of gin tonic in this drink!" She warned, giggling graciously.

The three of them chuckled at Gabrielle's comment.

"Well, it was a pleasure to serve you, Lord and Lady, but I'm afraid I need to go back to my duties." The staff member said, bowing nimbly at them. Evan and Gabrielle bowed back, then, he parted ways.

Evan took a sip of his drink, it really tasted good! The perfect mix of fruit exploding within his taste buds; it was fresh and sweet, even mawkish, but it really felt like a liquid heaven for someone with such a sweet tooth like him.

"You like it, don't you?" Gabrielle giggled, she seemed to have noticed Evan's reaction to the drink. "I wouldn't recommend drinking more than one glass, though. As I've said, it contains a lot of alcohol. And you haven't tried our finest Avevian wine yet!" She exclaimed. "If you're a fan of sweet drinks, you'll like our local wine for sure."

"Oh, gee, you have to teach me not only about the local waltz but also about the local gastronomy!" Evan joked, making Gabrielle smile widely.

"I'm telling you, we're an archipelago of islands, our gastronomy includes a lot of fish and spices, maybe a bit of chicken and pork meat, but we're actually quite creative chefs!" She replied, sounding rather excited at Evan's curiosity. "I want to introduce you to my best friend, Lady Amandine of House Duron, come with me…" She said, tugging on his arm gently, leading him somewhere among the bustling crowd.

But something interrupted them. Most precisely, it was someone unknown.

"Excuse me..." It was a man, he had a clear and melodic voice, almost soothing, like one of those tenors Evan used to hear at the opera house in London when he was a child (his mother used to force him to go with her).

The unknown man placed a hand on Evan's arm; the one that was holding the glass of Brisa de Papagayo. This startled him and, even if anyone would think he'd spill the drink on the man's suit, the first reaction of Evan was clutching the glass against his chest, making thus the very colorful drink spill on his own suit.

Great, amazing, now his suit was wet with different colors…

"I'm really sorry!" The man apologized.

Evan raised his glance to see the taller man better: tan skin, auburn cherub curls, dramatic cheekbones with slightly sunken cheeks that emphasized his well-defined mouth, and, most importantly, very familiar teal eyes… He was looking at him with a worried, very embarrassed expression.

"Evan, what's going— Your Highness!" Gabrielle got startled and quickly bowed to the unknown man.

"Y-Your Highness?! I'm really sorry!" Evan flushed, making haste to bow at the taller figure.

"It's okay, there's no need to bow to me, Lady Martí, and especially you, Evan." He smiled gently, making a nonchalant gesture with his hands to ease the awkward situation.

Evan stared at him with a puzzled look, mouth half-open.

"Evan… Do you know Prince Michel by any chance?" Gabrielle inquired, her voice sounding just as confused as Evan was.

"Of course we know each other! Summer of 2005, Camp of Leeds for the International Nobility. Don't you remember, Evan?" Prince Michel asked, sketching a pristine and quite charming smile.

Evan frowned, trying to go back to said time and place and remember. His fair blue, almost green eyes, his cherubic curly hair, and his gorgeous perfect smile. His name: it was a male name yet it sounded so girly…

"Michel? Michel Beaumont?" Evan asked with bright pink cheeks, his citrine eyes shining at the memory of his first love.

"I see you remember." Michel's smile turned into a wide pristine grin.

Evan couldn't help but chuckle. The world was indeed a small place… To think that when that summer was gone he felt so lonely, so crest-fallen while he longed to see that handsome little prince again just for another short while... His heart broke for the first time when he was still a child. And now destiny seemed to be playing one of its tricks, reuniting them. Not at the best moment, of course; but Evan would still be able to see him again. He felt so thankful.

"You've changed a lot." He uttered with a shy smile.

"What do you mean? I'm still taller than you." Michel teased him, making both of them laugh with ineffable nostalgia.

"So, Your Highness and Evan were childhood friends?" Gabrielle asked.

For a moment, Evan had forgotten Gabrielle was still with them. He felt a bit bad, ignoring her like that…

"We met at a summer camp that taught us about etiquette, history and international culture. You know, to be a proper nobleman. Prince Michel was in the same cabin as I and we were roommates." Evan explained, still feeling embarrassed.

"Yes, Evan didn't talk a lot, unfortunately. I remember I had to snitch him etiquette rules and historical facts every now and then so he could pass the tests. He'd always say thanks with reddish cheeks afterward and gave me a bag of cookies he had baked in cuisine class." Prince Michel told those childhood anecdotes to Gabrielle, silly little stories Evan would always treasure.

Gabrielle giggled, clearly amused by the story she just heard.

"That's so adorable! Who would have thought you already knew Prince Michel, Evan. I'm eager to know more about you. You know, your childhood experiences… You seem to be full of surprises!" She exclaimed, joyful.

But the ambiance didn't feel that joyful on Evan's side. In fact, it felt a bit tense… as if they were sort of fighting for his attention. But it all must have been inside of his anxious little mind. None of them knew he was gay nor that Prince Michel was his first crush.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down a bit when suddenly a familiar voice called his name…

"Evan?" J.J, how to forget his manly, alluring voice.

J.J approached them, breaking through the massive crowd of people in elegant suits and regal dresses.

"Your Highness Jean-Jacques, it's a pleasure to have your company." Gabrielle bowed to him flawlessly.

"J.J, do you know Evan as well?" Prince Michel inquired, sheer curiosity could be perceived in his voice.

"Yes, I do. Evan, would you like to explain the short yet fun story?" J.J glanced at Evan and sketched a confident smile.

Evan took a look at Gabrielle, who was staring at him with an absolutely astounded expression on her face.

"S-Sure." Evan tripped on that simple word. "So… I was shopping for clothes this afternoon and a robber tried to steal my phone when I got out of the car. But thankfully His Highness Jean-Jacques was there and managed to pin the robber down and gave my phone back to me." Evan scratched his nape, feeling as if he should have told what happened to Gabrielle earlier on.

"Someone tried to rob you?! Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Gabrielle exclaimed and pouted, clearly affected.

"I'm really sorry, Evan. That's certainly not the image we want to give of our country." Prince Michel added, frowning in shock as well. "Please, let me do something to compensate you." He suggested, sounding willing to repair the damage.

"No, it's okay! Everything is under control now. I didn't get hurt and my phone is back with me, there's nothing to worry about, really." He reassured, full of anxiety.

"I insist, let me do something for you. We can go somewhere together, I can be the guide, so Lady Gabrielle won't have to worry." He enthused, smiling so irresistibly.

"If His Highness Prince Michel insists, it must be done. He can be quite thick-headed." J.J teased, receiving a killer glare from Prince Michel.

"W-Well… I'll think of it." Were Evan's simple four words.

J.J then fixated his glance on a certain part of Evan's jacket, frowning in disapproval at the specific sight.

"Is that a Brisa de Papagayo stain what I see there?" He pointed at the colorful spot near the hem of Evan's jacket that was now drying off.

"It was an accident...—" Evan tried to explain, but got abruptly cut off.

"Michel, Lady Martí, mind if I steal our British guest for a moment?" He said, taking Evan by his shoulders and dragging him somewhere with him with no allowance from either Michel or Gabrielle.

J.J led him through a corridor next to the hall where the previous party was being celebrated. There was a small square next to the open corridor, it had a medium-sized tropical tree and bushes of hibiscus of different colors. The corridors continued to be open in one wing and closed by walls in the other one. Evan felt like in an old manor of the Tudor epoch.

"This happens more often than you can think. That drink is delicious, yes, but it's actually an absurd mess to clean." J.J said, opening a wooden door by inserting a key on its keyhole. The ring where the key hung from contained many other devices of the kind. So that probably meant J.J had access to pretty much every room in the palace.

The ancient-looking, rectangular door creaked and opened, revealing a dark, tiny room with what seemed a good amount of racks with hangers and clothes inside.

"Enter there. Don't worry, it's like a pantry where we keep clean laundry for events. As I've just told you, this happens so often that it has already stopped being funny." J.J asserted, turning on the small, dim light bulb that hung from above.

Evan entered the narrow pantry a bit hesitantly. On the other hand, though, he'd need a new jacket if he didn't want to look like the foreigner who spilled a drink on his expensive suit —paid by his in-laws, by the way, and doesn't even bother about doing something to dissimulate it. It would have been very reckless of him.

"What's your size?" J.J asked as he got in and closed the door.

"Medium, sometimes small." Evan replied, going through the many hangers, finding only large sizes.

"Oh, I'm glad you're telling me. I'll keep that in mind." J.J joked in a flirtatious tone.

Evan blushed violently, and his heart started beating faster.

"I-I didn't mean it that—!"

"Here."

Evan had turned around without noticing it, facing J.J. Their faces were only just a few millimeters apart. J.J was smiling wickedly, eating him up with his cerulean eyes. Evan couldn't help but smile at him, staring at his curvy lips, expecting and longing for the inevitable first kiss.

"You know, leaving that unfortunate stain on your jacket aside, I confess you look really handsome tonight, Evan." He muttered, drawing Evan in even more each time.

"Why, thanks. I can say the same about you, Jean-Jacques." Evan teased.

With no warning, J.J grabbed Evan by his chin and pulled him into a kiss.

It was deep, passionate, almost violent. But Evan never felt more elated in his life. J.J's lips were fresh and moist, they tasted like chapstick. And his breath, mixed with the exotic drink Evan had had a moment ago, tasted like a forbidden savor never tried before. It was simply otherworldly… Until he bit his lower lip, nimble and hard, kicking Evan out of the intoxicating trance.

He led his own fingers to his lips, seeing small drops of blood on them.

"I told you I didn't like that name." J.J whispered haughtily into his ear.

J.J opened the door, smiling politely at him all of a sudden, inviting him to leave the tiny pantry and return to the party.

Evan took off his jacket and handed it to J.J. Then, he took the spare one and put it on. He gave one last glance to J.J, completely bewildered. The prince simply winked.

He then proceeded to leave the warehouse, still touching his tingly lips that, even if they were bleeding, they were smiling an elated grin nonetheless.