I heard Charlie walk up to the woman on the bench and ask her what happened a few minutes later. She said, “A garden attendant noticed her and asked for identification. She pushed him and jumped into the pond. They are over there blocking her exit and deciding who has to go get her.”
I didn’t hear a response from him and figured he just left. Then I heard someone swimming and braced for the take down. When I opened my eyes, Charlie was holding onto the rock. He asked me if there was room for him. I moved over, and we sat down. The garden attendants were furious, but they couldn’t say anything to the Prince.
“So, what really happened because I know it wasn’t what Malerie said?”
“She wanted the bench and told me I was disrespecting you. She told me I would be working for her too and that she wanted me to stand on the rock. I did as she asked.”
Charlie looked at me for what felt like a lifetime. “You did nothing to disrespect me. You are my guest. You don’t need to take orders from anyone else. I will get you a royal visitor pass. Are you ready to swim back to shore?”
I smiled. “Only if you are coming too.”
We swam to shore and headed back to the elevator. I apologized for ruining his uniform. He said he’d take care of it as well as mine. We went towards his apartment.
On the way, we passed many royals who were very cordial with him but gave me dirty looks. That was until we encountered his sister. He went to introduce me and finally realized he never actually asked me what my name was. I told them both I was Rose, and it was nice to meet her. She asked if she wanted to know why we were dripping wet.
Charlie laughed. “We inspected the pond. It is doing well.”
She smiled in response. “So, I hate to ask, but do you think you can recruit Luke for your project?”
“Yeah, do you need him urgently or can I see if I can move him to the butler rotation?”
“I think I can wait.”
“Okay, why don’t you join us for dinner?”
“Well, I was going to have dinner with Sky, but if she can come, we’d love to.”
“I’ll see you later. Love you.”
She said, “Love you too” and headed on her way.
Charlie explained, “Sky is my younger sister. She doesn’t get much attention with the twins around, so we like to hang out with her as much as possible.”
He unlocked his apartment and invited me in. It was huge and full of color and pictures and personality. He showed me to his shower and gave me his bath robe to use while my clothes were being cleaned. He told me the hot water was unlimited and to take my time. He had beautiful smelling soap and shampoo. It was the first time I really felt clean in weeks. I finished my shower and he told me to make myself at home. I sat on his couch and he turned on the TV before heading for a shower of his own. I watched the commercials about how they were building the ship up and making it more beautiful. I understood now why Charlie was so frustrated this morning. I ended up watching the music video channel. It had been so long since I actually listened to real music. I ended up singing along and kind of lost myself in it.
After a little while, the TV made a loud sound and four men were staring back at me. One of them said, “Dude, Charlie has one of his projects there again… Aww look at her face. She thought she was the only one, like she was special or something. I wonder how he got this one out of her clothes.”
I was so embarrassed and felt so stupid because yes, I felt a little special. Charlie came out of the bathroom in his towel, got in front of me, and angrily exclaimed, “I told you not to call my television. Go back to security and leave us alone or I will have you transferred.” He turned the TV off. “I’m so sorry about that. My dad hired some royals for security, and they think they are so funny.”
I awkwardly smiled. “I better get back to the office, so I don’t get too behind. Thank you for letting me show you around and for allowing me to see the park. Have a nice dinner.”
He sat down and sighed. “Look if you really want to go, I won’t stop you, but your uniform won’t be done for thirty more minutes. You are not a project and the others they talked about were old ladies.”
“You are a royal. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
“At least wait for your clothes. I’m going to get dressed and I’ll stay in my bedroom so I don’t bother you. I am truly sorry about this.”
“It’s okay.” It wasn’t okay, but he was right, I needed my clothes.
He went and got dressed. A few minutes later, I heard a piano like instrument coming from his room. He was playing his heart out. I went towards the door but was distracted by a photo hanging on the wall. It was a family photo. I recognized his dad the most. The woman in the photo was not the queen. She was stunning, with hair like the sun and those same piercing blue eyes. Then, I noticed two more things about the photo. It was taken by a purple ocean and they all had colorful patterns on their skin. Charlie’s was light blue, his dad’s was purple, and the ladies all had pink patterns. They all had a slightly different pattern, almost like a fingerprint.
I was so focused on the mysterious photo that I didn’t notice Charlie had stopped playing and was looking with me. When I realized, I immediately apologized and went to leave.
“Don’t be sorry. That just proves I’ve only had old ladies here since no one has noticed it before. That’s my family before we were royals.”
“Your mom is beautiful.”
“She sure was. I see so much of her in my sisters. I think my dad does too. He wasn’t always like this but losing her broke him. You aren’t going to ask about anything else in the picture?”
“You’d tell me if you wanted me to know.”
“I’ll show you instead.” He turned the dial on his watch and suddenly, he was covered in a beautiful pattern of multicolored spots. They all eventually turned to a shimmering orange. “That was taken on our home planet a few weeks before my dad was recruited for space exploration. My mom was sick but didn’t tell us. She passed away right after we took off from our home. Your planet was the most sought after and became my father’s reason for living. He provided for us, but we needed him, not his stuff or money… I’m sorry. I must seem so spoiled.”
“I lost my dad. I understand. I’m sorry you lost her. How… where did the queen come from? Wait, I’m sorry. Never mind.”
“It’s okay. She wanted power. She was the pilot’s wife, but she left him for my dad when it became clear we were going to get to earth. She made people listen to him and treat him like a king. She also dealt with my dad’s “demanding” children. She got him drunk one night and the twins came along. Our dad hasn’t spoken to my sisters since the twins were born. Ella is supposed to be married off to the prince on another ship, which is elsewhere in space. I’m supposed to marry the woman you had the pleasure of meeting and he had already promised Sky to royalty on our home planet.”
“And none of you want that right?”
“Of course not. We don’t want to be split up, but it’s not that simple. Each marriage brings the family a lot of money, resources, and land. Honestly, if we sent Sky now, she would probably be happy, but that’s not how my father operates.” His spots turned bright red. I wasn’t going to actually ask, but he said, “They are like a mood ring. They are different for each of us. Red for me is upset or angry, but for my sister it’s gold. I’m not angry with you by the way.”
“What does orange mean?”
“Nervous or embarrassed.”
“So, why do you hide them? I mean it’s obvious you guys were not from the planet and that you crashed your ship in the woods.”
He laughed. “The council thought your race would listen more and feel more comfortable if we looked like you. It’s what we’ve done on the other planets as well.”
“So, your watch is some sort of disguising device?”
He turned the dial again and had purple scales. He turned it again and had three eyes. He went to turn it again, but I feared what
I might see and asked him to stop. He pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket and showed me the caption on his family photo. Before the glasses, it just looked like swirly symbols, but once I put them on it said, “The Atlas Family 100,000”. He said, “On our planet it was the year 100,000, on yours it was 2010.”
He went into his room and brought back a notebook with hundreds of different symbols in it. They were alphabets and words from different planets. “Those glasses translate any language into that of the wearer. I also have an earpiece but it’s not sanitary to share that.” I laughed, and he said, “You are the first person I’ve really talked to in years.”
I laughed. “Too bad you have to clean me.”
He laughed. “Yeah, that is too bad, isn’t it? Do you think he’d notice if I didn’t?”
“I don’t know. He’s your father.”
“True, but you spend more time around him.”
“He most likely forgot I am with you, so I don’t think he’d notice.”
“Good because I think we could both use a friend. I really am going to fix things around here. I don’t want you to think I misled you.”
“Charlie, I trust you.” I meant it too. There was a connection between our hearts that I couldn’t quite explain. Charlie smiled in reply and then my clothes arrived and ruined the moment.
I got dressed while Charlie made some calls to get Luke moved to the house cleaning department. He got into a small argument, but ultimately his word went. When his call was done, he said, “He was working in the trash pits. I am going to work on your job too, but his was way more dangerous. You probably already figured it out, but he is my sister’s boyfriend.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything but that makes sense. What time is it?”
He looked at his watch and replied, “It’s about five. My little sister should finish her lessons soon. They are teaching her to be a proper princess, but also English subjects, in case that doesn’t work out.”
“English as in writing and reading or English like those taught in England?”
“The second one, it’s actually the country with the most visible leaders. My step-mom imported a tutor. She wants to send her to boarding school, but she hasn’t managed to pass an entrance exam yet.”
“Maybe that’s on purpose. Her family is here.”
“I know, but she was excited to be around other kids her age. The math is hard for her… and me.”
I laughed and said, “I can try to help. What is she learning?”
“Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions, but she has timed sheets.”
“She’ll get it. I had to go to detention for a few weeks until I could get mine.”
“They detained you for not being able to add fast? Maybe I don’t want her to go to school on your planet.”
I laughed and explained, “No, they didn’t put me in jail or anything. I just wasn’t allowed to play after lunch like the other kids.”
He laughed and said, “That’s still awful, but at least it kind of makes sense.”
“Keep in mind I went to American schools. They taught us to pass standardized tests, so they could get more money.”
He just shook his head to that one.
There was a knock on his door a few minutes later. It was his sisters with a box of pizza. I went to sit at the table, but they all squished on the couch. I laughed at myself a little and sat down next to Charlie.
Ella said, “Charlie, you spilled some paint on yourself and your watch.”
“I turned it off. It’s okay. She knows. Skyler, this is Rose by the way.”
Skylar said, “Isn’t she in charge of dad’s office and the twins room?”
“She was, but not anymore. Oh, Ella, I got Luke the job. He should be here after he showers.”
She thanked him and said, “Sky is it ok if we bring people to movie night?”
“Of course, new people are exciting, and I like Luke. Rose, it’s nice to meet you.”
I told her it was nice to meet her too. Charlie got some drinks for us and Skyler picked a movie. Luke arrived a few minutes later wearing his sleep uniform. Ella introduced him to me. He squished in at the end of the couch. After the movie, Charlie asked his sister is she did her homework. She told him she tried but it was pointless. It was crumbled in her bag. Charlie asked her to sit at the table and try again. He gave Luke the magic glasses and said, “Ok buddy, you were a doctor on your planet. Can you help?”
“I was the equivalent of a nurse, but I can try. Do you have any extra paper and a pen?” Charlie got some and said, “Rose can you give it a try as well?”
“Sure, can I borrow the pizza box.”
He looked really confused but went with it. I asked if he had markers and he got them for me. I drew a pizza and then used the colors to make slices and label the fractions. It really helped Skyler with the fraction part of her homework, which was about half of it. Luke figured out a trick for addition and subtraction. It was just multiplication and division we had a hard time explaining. We ended up using little squares of paper. The time got away from us and suddenly an alarm went off on Luke’s watch.
“Rose and I have to go, or we are going to miss curfew. Charlie, thanks so much for your help. Skyler, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She thanked us both for our help. Luke kissed Ella goodnight and headed out. I hugged Charlie and thanked him for the amazing day. He said he had an idea for a new job for me and would work on it. I walked back with Luke. He lived on the twelfth floor. I made it to my room just before lights out and had to sleep in my work uniform.
Chapter 3
Sunday
The next morning, the lights came on at five and I put a clean sleeping uniform in with my dirty sheets. It was Sunday. It didn’t mean much besides it was the day to strip the sheets and come back early to get new ones. I went to work like the day before never happened to me. I ran into Luke and it was as if I had imagined meeting him. I realized it was because we were not supposed to know each other. I got to the office building and checked into security. The escorts took me to a room on the tenth floor instead of to the offices. The man left me at the door and said, “You have been selected for the nanny training program. For this week, you will observe and if you learn well enough, this will be your new job.”
I went into the room and it belonged to Skyler. She was reading a book aloud with her tutor intensely staring at her.
The tutor said, “Is there a reason you are interrupting our lessons?”
“I apologize ma’am, I am a nanny in training.”
“Nanny? Is that what they call it? Sylvia, not that you speak to your nannies, but this one is an American so especially ignore her. She will undo all of our progress. The woman you are working with is in the bedroom cleaning. Please go! Quickly!”
I was confused by both Skyler’s name change and what the woman meant by refusing to call me a nanny. I went as quickly as my feet would carry me to the bedroom. The other nanny was an older woman. She was remaking the bed, so I jumped in and helped her.
“You are supposed to be observing.”
“I’m so sorry. I’m not used to standing still.”
She laughed and said, “I’m just kidding, but you will need to work on standing still. Royal dinners require a lot of standing at attention. I’m Sally and you are?”
“I’m Rose. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Likewise, Sylvia is one of the easier children to care for. We don’t have to do that much for her. She is very independent and picks her own clothes and draws her own bath. We only need to make the bed and make sure she has enough toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, conditioner, and shampoo. Oh, and a towel. We cannot forget the towel; not that she would complain. She’s just easy to practice with.”
We restocked the essentials, brought in a fresh towel, and made our way to the next room.
On our way to the next room, Sally stopped. “So, they told you we are nannies, but in all honesty, we are royal
maids. Some of the children are in their late twenties. Just be prepared for that. I am warning you because the next room after this belongs to Prince Charles. Anyway, this room belongs to one of the council member’s child. She is only three and quite the handful. We just provide supplies for her full-time nanny. Just be careful. She’s a toy thrower.”
We went into the room and the little girl almost escaped. We replaced the essentials, took the dirty diapers, and made the bed all while dodging different toys. The regular nanny didn’t seem to actually interact with the little girl. It may have just been a bad day, but it made me sad. We walked into Charlie’s room; just walked in without asking or knocking because apparently that was a part of our job. Luckily, he was fully clothed and seated at his desk working. We took all his trash out, made his bed, cleaned his bathroom, and restocked the essentials.
While we were in the hall, Sally was very talkative, but whenever we entered a room, she fell silent. During one of our cleaning intermissions, she said, “Tomorrow is deep clean day. We have to mop the floors, sweep, dust, vacuum, and clean their fridges. Today is an easy day!”
I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, but Charlie did me a favor and I wasn’t going to let him down. We moved on to the next room, and the next after that, and the next after that. We finally reached the end of the floor and then Sally pushed the cart into the elevator. There was a whole second floor of royal offspring to care for. We had to kick some boys out to go meet their tutors and some men to go to their jobs. We walked in on a royal doing nude yoga and meditation. He didn’t even react to us. After all the cleaning, we had to go back and deliver all of the lunches. I was so confused on which food went where, but Sally knew exactly what she was doing. She made me deliver the naked yoga guy’s food. He didn’t get much to eat for a royal.
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