AT some point at what seemed the middle of night—albeit in a windowless room with dark blue walls, where night is day and day is night—Zander heard his phone buzz. At first he denied its intrusion, comfortably spooned against Andi beneath a blanket he’d found that they’d laid out on the floor. He made a mental note to replace it for Pippa as soon as possible. Maybe he’d ask her if he could keep it for sentimental reasons.
Sentimental? Had he lost his mind? Since when had he become maudlin about sex?
Zander extricated himself from Andi’s warm body and fumbled on his hands and knees in the dark, following the buzzing sound that persisted. Finally he found his phone and saw a raging text from his mother.
ALEXANDER, WHERE IN GOD’S NAME ARE YOU??? WE ARE HOSTING A BREAKFAST WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF FRANCE IN ONE HOUR, AND YOU ARE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. YOU HAD BEST SHOW UP, CLEANED, DRESSED, AND LOOKING YOUR BRIGHTEST OR I ASSURE YOU THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!!!
“Crap,” he said, gulping. His mother was not one for hyperbole. When she threatened retribution, she meant it. He glanced over at Andi, sound asleep beneath the cozy blanket and snoring slightly, clutching the blanket so serenely, and he didn’t have the heart to wake her. He’d call Pippa first thing and straighten things out, but he’d better get a move on prontissimo or he would meet with the wrath of an angry mother.
He pulled on his still-clammy shorts, dug his keys from the pocket, placed a gentle kiss on Andi’s shoulder, and snuck quietly from the room.
~*~
“That bastard!” Andi said as she woke alone in Pippa’s movie theater, in the pitch black, having no idea what time it was but well aware she was all alone. She fumbled around until she found a light switch and could survey the damage. Her cute borrowed skirt lay rumpled some five feet away from where she’d last worn it. Her top was God only knew where, her bra hung suspended from the doorknob, and her thong had ended up by the popcorn machine.
“I could kill him!” she said with a growl. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him! All he wanted was to get in my pants. Another notch on the royal headboard. Dammit! I should have known better!”
She collected up her belongings—well, Pippa’s belongings—fluffed up the couch, folded the blanket, and left the comfort of the screening room—screening room, indeed!—to face her shame.
Andi followed her nose, trying to remember her way through the house on a mission to get up to her bedroom where she could bury her head in a pillow and maybe cry for a minute or two before regaining her composure and saying “fuck it” about Z’s betrayal. But instead she was greeted with sunlight blinding her dark-adjusted eyes as she wended her way through the main floor of the house and into the kitchen.
“Well, good morning, princess,” Pippa said, slapping her friend lightly on the back.
Andi blanched. Princess? Oh, God. She knew?
She smiled the smile of someone who just realized they have a huge hole in the crotch of their pants and everyone’s noticed it.
“Princess?” she said, leading the question in hopes that Pippa would not only disclose what she knew but also where that lout Zander was. Andi knew for sure he hadn’t run out to grab them coffees. And she sure as hell hoped Pippa wasn’t aware of her ill-conceived royal hookup, what with the “princess” reference.
“A little joke,” her friend said. “Though you can be the princess of our hearts, if you’d like.”
Andi felt like she was going to throw up. How on earth had she gotten herself into such a situation?
“Thanks, but I’m not cut out for the royal life,” she said. “I think I’ll stick with my commoner status where I can stay under the radar if I’d like.”
“According to my friend Zander, it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be anyhow,” Pippa said. “Far too many ribbon-cuttings and grip-and-grins, and a whole lot of feeling like you’re the most important unimportant person on the planet.”
Important? Full of self-import is more like it, Andi thought.
“I can only imagine,” she said, and really, she could only imagine. Because the royal life would never be her life. And she knew she absolutely hated the flippancy and the betrayals that seemed to come with members of the royal family. Thanks, but no thanks.
“Did you sleep well?” Pippa asked her, handing her a cappuccino she’d just made.
Andi took a sip of her drink, trying to come up with a legitimate story. “Like a baby, thanks.”
“And with whom?”
Emma spluttered out her cappuccino. “What do you mean?”
“My powers of deduction at work,” her friend said, holding up her fingers, counting. “First, you’re still in last night’s clothes. I didn’t figure you’d tend to sleep in your party wear. Second, you’re doing a walk of shame from that direction”—she pointed down the hall—“nowhere near your bedroom. And third, well, you look like you’re ready to throw up, which means either you’re dreadfully hungover, or ready to commit hara-kiri for an embarrassing hookup.”
The woman was a damned clairvoyant.
“Um, yeah, well, about that...”
Pippa laughed. “No need to confess. I was just teasing. I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that.”
Andi rubbed her temples. “I shouldn’t have put myself on the spot like that.”
“As long as you had fun,” Pippa said with a wink.
Andi didn’t want to think about how much fun she’d had, at least until she’d discovered she was abandoned and alone.
“Yeah, well, it was okay. Let’s leave it at that.”
“So, what would you like to do today?” Pippa asked, reaching for the remote and turning on the television.
Curl up in a ball and cry?
“Gosh, I hadn’t even given it a thought.”
After all, I was too mired in embarrassment.
“We could go into town and shop,” Pippa said. “Although on your budget that might not be in order.”
Andi shook her head in agreement. “My backpack wouldn’t appreciate that either. It’s about as full as it can get.”
“Or we could hang out here, lounge by the pool, and just relax.”
“That seems more my speed.” She wanted no chance of being in public and running into that rat bastard ever again.
The television blared in the background.
“...In other news, the royal family hosted the French prime minister at an official breakfast at the palace.”
Andi glanced up at the television screen to see a cutaway of Zander and what must be his family, all shaking hands with the prime minister. She shook her head to clear her mind. Of course he had bigger fish to fry, she thought. After a quickie with the girl he wanted to conquer, it’s only natural he’d run off to be a prince with more important duties. A lesson learned. She bit her lip and suppressed tears from rolling down her cheeks.