The sound of shattering glass in the bathroom woke Kaylie up. It took her a second to remember where she was, and when she did, she panicked and bolted upright.
“Oh, my God! The bathtub!”
She jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom and then went sliding across the floor when she hit a bunch of soapy bubbles. Just as she feared, the bathtub was overflowing, and the beautiful crystal bottle that had held the bubble bath was shattered on the floor.
Kaylie ran for the bathtub, jumping over the glass, and turned off the water. She almost disappeared into the tub of bubbles as she fished around trying to open the drain so the water could start going down. By the time she was done, she was soaked from head to toe and had bubbles all over her.
Horrified, she saw the floor that was also covered with water and bubbles. She tried to use all the towels to push the sudsy water into the shower, but only succeeded in creating a bigger mess.
“I need a mop and a bucket, something, anything,” she panted, looking around. When she couldn’t find anything, she checked the time on her phone. It was past eleven o’clock and she didn’t want to bother Elsa or admit to anyone she’d been such a fool.
“I’ll just find something myself,” she muttered as she hurried out her bedroom door, leaving a trail of dripping water behind her.
Ten minutes later, she was still wandering the halls, searching for the kitchen, or some kind of storage room that might have buckets and mops, when Blixen appeared.
He looked about as surprised to see her as she was to see him.
Kaylie knelt down. “It’s okay, Blixen, I’m just looking for the kitchen.”
When Blixen raced off, Kaylie followed him, hoping he wouldn’t start barking and wake everyone up. She was surprised and relieved when Blixen led her right to the kitchen. “You are a good boy,” she said, petting him. “Thank you, Blixen.”
Blixen wagged his tail, looking like he was loving the attention.
Kaylie looked around the kitchen in awe. It had all the latest state-of-the-art appliances and looked like something from a cooking show. It was also beautifully decorated for Christmas with garlands and wreaths that were lit up with white lights. There was even a Christmas tree in the corner that was decorated with cute Christmas-themed cookie cutters tied with red ribbons.
“Wow, the queen was right. This really is a gourmet kitchen. I’d almost be inspired to cook in here.” She glanced at Blixen. “Okay, maybe not, but it’s still really cool.”
Kaylie’s heart stopped when she heard footsteps. She didn’t want to be caught prowling around, looking like a drenched rat. Then she saw the pantry door ajar and quickly slipped inside just in time. Peeking through a crack in the door, she covered her gasp with her hand when she saw the prince enter the kitchen. He was the last person she wanted to run into. She noticed he was also wearing a robe, but one that was a rich crimson color that had the same gold embroidered swan crest on the front. He was wearing chocolate brown leather slippers.
“Blixen, what are you doing in here?” the prince asked and looked around. “Are you with anyone?”
When Blixen barked and ran over to the pantry, Kaylie jumped back and accidentally tripped over something on the floor and fell into the shelf. “Ouch,” she cried out in pain just as a bag of flour fell off the shelf, dumping its contents all over her.
When the prince flung open the door, Kaylie looked as embarrassed as the prince looked shocked.
“What on earth is going on in here?” the prince demanded.
“Looking for a mop and bucket,” Kaylie said with as much dignity as she could muster. As she tried to brush the flour off her, it just mixed with the water from her soggy, sudsy bathrobe, making a gooey, pasty mess.
The prince gave her a suspicious look, “For what?”
Kaylie wiped some flour out of her eyes. “There’s been a little incident. But I can clean it up, no problem. I just need a mop...”
“How little?” the prince asked, as his eyes narrowed.
An hour later, Kaylie and the prince stood in Kaylie’s bathroom, both holding mops and both of them dripping wet. The bathroom looked much better but Kaylie knew she was a hot mess. She gave the prince a grateful look. “I really appreciate all the help.”
“You should have just called someone to come clean this up,” the prince said, wringing out the sleeve of his bathrobe.
“I didn’t want to wake anyone up. This was my mess to clean up, and besides, you didn’t call anyone either,” Kaylie said, giving him a pointed look.
“My castle. My job,” the prince said with a straight face.
“I’m sure you have many jobs, but I doubt janitor is one of them,” Kaylie said.
“My job is to do anything that needs to be done,” the prince said as he took her mop and picked up the buckets and headed for the door.
He was just about to leave when Kaylie called out to him, “Do you think we could keep this whole thing to ourselves?”
“Meaning?” he asked.
“Meaning, not tell the queen, your mother,” Kaylie answered. “I don’t want her thinking I almost flooded her castle.”
“But you did,” the prince said.
“Only my bathroom,” Kaylie quickly replied.
The prince shook his head. “Who knows if this leaked downstairs.”
Kaylie’s eyes grew huge. “Are you serious?! Did it go through the floor? What’s underneath me?”
“My mother’s bedroom,” the prince said as he crossed his arms.
“No…” But when Kaylie saw the prince crack a small smile, she glared at him. “You’re just kidding. You, Mr. Serious, pick now to make a joke. That wasn’t funny.”
The prince chuckled. “It was kind of funny. You should have seen your face.” He turned to leave. “I’ll see you in the morning. Try not to do any more damage between now and then.”
“I can’t make any promises,” Kaylie called out after him. She heard him laugh as he left the room.