David frowned slightly. “Do you want to leave?”
“No, no. I’m used to it, don’t worry. I just don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
David reached his hand across the table and grasped Katy’s. “Don’t worry about me, Katy. I’m just happy to be with you.”
The annoyance smoothed off Katy’s face; her lips curled up, and she squeezed David’s hand. “I’m happy to be with you, too.”
When the waiter came by, David could tell by his starstruck expression that he immediately recognized Katy. Fortunately, he played it off well, while Katy ordered drinks. As she spoke, David’s eyes traced over her delicate features and graceful form. He gazed at her, hungry to take all of her in, a flush of tender warmth clutching his chest. He almost couldn’t believe he was even sitting across from a woman as compassionate and beautiful as the one who smiled quizzically back at him right now. She’s stunning. Every man in this room wants to be in my shoes right now.
Katy cocked her head, gazing at him with her steely eyes, noticing his stare. “What is it?”
“Just thinking about how lucky I am,” he said.
“Classes went that well?”
David chuckled. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I . . . I think I do,” Katy replied in a low voice. The dim light of the dining room played off a thin golden necklace that spilled down her chest. “And I feel pretty lucky myself.”
When David squinted in playful suspicion, she doubled down.
“What? You’re a catch. Tall, dark, and handsome. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory.”
“Well,” David said, “I’m not sure how much of a ‘catch’ I am. It’d certainly be news to most of the girls I grew up around. I had a reputation as a bit of a nerd.”
Katy covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. “A nerd? I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true. Always had my nose in a book,” David continued. “But, well, now I’m dating a princess. Guess nerds really do get ahead in the end.”
Katy laughed, a sound that filled David with joy.
Over a sumptuous meal, David was relieved to hear that Katy’s first day had gone much better than expected. Unwilling to dampen her excitement, he kept his unpleasant encounter with Michael to himself. It wasn’t worth going into after such a perfect evening.
“So,” David went on around a mouthful, “have you thought about your summer plans yet?” David had certainly been thinking about it. He didn’t want to be away from Katy for any extended periods of time.
“Skiing season is over, so we usually spend summers in Southern Lorria, by the Mediterranean,” Katy replied, dabbing at her mouth with a cloth napkin. “Actually, I was going to ask if you’d come with me. We have separate guesthouses there, so we wouldn’t have to be under the same roof as my parents the whole time.”
Even though he’d just been thinking about ways to spend his time with her, the offer caught David off guard with its sweetness . . . and how enticing it sounded. What better way to spend a summer than in paradise with the girl he was crazy about? Unfortunately . . .
“That sounds amazing,” he said, then had to catch himself. “But I’m applying for a summer internship here. Of course, I might not even get it. I hear the competition is tough. But if I did, I’d have to stay in Cambridge.”
Suddenly the prospect of the internship excited him much less. He hadn’t considered what it’d be like to be away from Katy for so long. But this was an important opportunity: it was a gateway to a graduate program and thus a better career.
“Well,” Katy began slowly, “if you’ll be here, then I’ll be here too.”
David’s eyes widened as her words sank in. An appreciative grin spread over his face. “If I do get that internship, the best part might be spending my whole summer with you.”
Katy blushed and looked down at her plate, but her ankle beneath the table moved to rest against David’s. It stayed there for the rest of the meal.
After dessert, Katy paid the check (another event that David wasn’t quite used to yet) and then they gathered their things to leave.
By that time, with the lulling influence of the soft atmosphere and Katy’s company, the thought of the paparazzi had all but slipped David’s mind.
“Just because you bought me dinner,” he joked as they walked through the restaurant back to the front, “doesn’t mean you get anything extra afterward. I don’t come cheap.”
Katy reached down to take David’s hand, squeezing it just a touch possessively. “Still worth it.”
David smiled. At the moment, he was excited, titillated by the hope of being alone with Katy in private; holding her, being near her, maybe even getting a glimpse of her under the dress. But as the restaurant door opened, all those thoughts went up in a flash. Literally.
“Princess Katerina!”
A half dozen photographers surrounded them, yelling out Katy’s name and title as their camera’s flashbulbs lit up the night.
“Princess Katerina, how are classes going?”
“Princess Katerina, when are you going back to Lorria?”
“Princess Katerina, have you given up your crown?”
David reacted instinctively, wrapping his arm around Katy and pulling her in close to him to protect her from the onslaught. He put his other arm up defensively and began to push through the crowd toward the car.
Suddenly, the photographers had a new target.
“Sir, are you dating the princess?”
“Princess, who’s the mystery man?”
“Is the princess your girlfriend?”
David continued to push through, feeling anxiety creep over him as the strangeness of the situation settled in.
How does Katy deal with this?
3
Katy
“At least they’re good pictures,” Cassie said casually, scrolling through a celebrity gossip website and sitting on her bed.
“That’s beside the point,” Katy replied from her seat on her own bed, huffing out a breath. She closed her comparative literature text and turned to her cousin. “David isn’t used to this stuff like we are. I could tell he was weirded out after dinner.”
Cassie continued to look at her laptop screen. “Why do they insist on calling David your ‘sexy rebound’? Alexei is old news. Can’t a girl get a new boyfriend without it being a rebound?”
“And that’s another thing,” Katy went on. She threw herself back to land on her pillow, unable to help herself, even if she felt dramatic. “How’s that supposed to make David feel? Constantly being compared to Alexei and being called a rebound.”
“Especially when David is so much better looking than Al,” Cassie replied snidely. But, looking over at her cousin lying dejectedly on her bed, she seemed to put a little more thought into her reply. “Hey, I’m sure David will be okay. He knew what he was getting into. And they’re just photos, right? Not like any of his personal details have leaked.”
“Yet,” Katy clarified. “It was stupid of me to even go to that restaurant with him. I guess I was just so excited that nothing went wrong on campus that I thought it’d carry over into the rest of the city, too.”
Katy thought back to her classes the day before. Everything had gone so much better than she’d expected. People had recognized her, of course, but they were all respectful and understanding. Aside from that awkward introduction by Bissenhof, her professors had either ignored the situation or glossed over it. For once, Katy could be herself without being bombarded with requests for photos and autographs. She had convinced herself that maybe things could be normal, or at least as normal as possible.
But after dinner, things had taken a turn.
“He put on a brave face, but I could tell that he was really put off,” Katy lamented to Cassie.
“It’s not his first experience with paparazzi, though. What about back on the tarmac in Lorria?” Cassie countered.
“This was different. This time they were shouting questions at h
im directly.”
In the limousine, David had tried to brush it off against Katy’s apologies. But the night had certainly lost a bit of its flirtatious spark. He hadn’t even asked to come in when they got back to Katy’s house, which had been more disappointing than she’d expected.
“Katy, hon, it just takes time for people to get used to things like that. This is all new for David. But you’re worth it, and he knows that,” Cassie reassured her cousin. “He’s just adjusting.”
Katy rolled over, away from Cassie, to face the window in their shared bedroom. “Hopefully.” But she was still nervous about what was to come.
“Maybe drama club will cheer you up,” her cousin said, her optimistic voice coming over Katy’s shoulder.
“If so, that’d be the only time that Mrs. Clarke has ever made anything better.”
Just because their drama teacher had warmed to her slightly at the end of last semester didn’t mean that Katy had completely forgotten her previous bad attitude.
“Is David coming tonight?” Cassie asked.
Katy glanced at her phone to check the time. “No, he has a lot of studying to do. But he said Zeke would be there.” She reluctantly sat up on her bed. “I guess we should probably head over there pretty soon.”
Cassie closed her laptop and stood. “Do you think Mrs. Clarke will be weird now that she knows your identity?”
Katy shrugged. “Well, it can’t be any worse than when she was convinced I was into married men.”
But as soon as Katy walked into the auditorium, she began to doubt that statement.
“Our star has arrived!”
Katy stared at Mrs. Clarke in abject horror. She had only been in attendance for a few seconds, and already she felt convinced that the whole meeting had been ruined for her. It was still ten minutes before drama club officially began, but most of the other students had gathered already. New and old faces alike all turned to look at the door after the advisor’s dramatic outburst.
“Oh, boy,” Cassie said from beside her, beneath her breath.
Mrs. Clarke walked over to them and smothered Katy with a big hug, practically pushing Cassie out of the way with her hips. “Katy, dear! Oh, so glad that you could make it!”
Yep. It’s ruined.
Mrs. Clarke pulled back and grabbed Katy’s shoulders, holding her in place so she could continue to talk to her.
“I was just telling everyone about that hilarious play you and your friends put on last semester! Oh, and your monologues and improv! To die for. I simply can’t wait to see more of that.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Clarke,” Katy managed, although she had to deploy all of her diplomatic training to do so. Nothing—not outright rudeness, prying questions, or even gossiping—was worse than boot-licking to Katy. Then, before she understood what was happening, she was being dragged to the front of the room, past a chorus of faces both familiar and new.
“Now that our star has arrived,” Mrs. Clarke said, as Katy felt her face grow red, “we can start with our first exercise of the semester. And what better scenario than . . . deception.”
Katy cast Cassie a confused look, receiving only an equally confused shrug in return. She didn’t even know if Mrs. Clarke had introduced herself to the group. Why would they be starting improv already?
Mrs. Clarke just about tossed Katy onto the stage and then took a step back to join the rest of the crowd. Katy stared out imploringly at her cousin in the crowd, but Cassie looked as confused and horrified as Katy felt.
“There. Now let’s begin,” Mrs. Clarke continued. “For our first improv, we’ll learn the art of manipulation from a master!”
Katy swallowed hard, staring out into the crowd in embarrassment. For the first time since she joined Harvard’s drama club, she felt like a circus act up on stage by herself. And to make matters worse, Mrs. Clarke seemed to be calling her a charlatan. I lied to live a normal life, not because I’m a master of manipulation!
“Mrs. Clarke,” Katy said, but she was cut off.
“All right, let’s begin with a scenario: you’re lying about who you are and you’re on the verge of being discovered. How do you keep up the ruse? Katy, you may begin.”
Mrs. Clarke’s eyes bored into Katy expectantly.
“Umm,” Katy murmured. She could feel blood pulsing in her temples. Lying. Ruse. Deception. Mrs. Clarke had probably meant it as a compliment, a testament to Katy’s acting skills. But in reality, it stung. And it didn’t feel good to be called a star over and over again.
She swallowed and stared out at the drama group. Zeke had come, just like David said. Lecherous Connor was there, too. And even though David couldn’t attend, Katy had still been really excited for another semester.
Until she actually arrived.
“Well?” Mrs. Clarke prompted smilingly. But Katy had made up her mind.
“I’m sorry,” she simply said. “I . . . I don’t think I can do this.” And, with a deep breath, she walked down off the stage and toward the auditorium doors.
She cast a last glance at the group that she had so loved participating in. Mrs. Clarke was watching her go with her eyes wide in surprise. Connor smirked in his unpleasant way. And Zeke nodded in understanding. Ever a loyal friend, Cassie turned from the group as well and followed Katy out.
When the doors shut behind them, Cassie turned to her cousin.
“Wow,” Cassie said, shaking her head, her face revealing a mixture of fury and disbelief. “Can you believe Mrs. Clarke? How tacky. I bet if we reported her to the department head, she’d clean up her act. Or we could get another drama teacher altogether.”
Katy started down the concrete steps with her cousin, down to the street level, and sighed heavily. “It’s not worth it. Besides, I knew some things were going to change when my identity came out. Just a shame that it had to be one of my favorite things.”
“I’m really sorry, Katy,” Cassie said. Then her face lit up with an idea. “Let’s do some rage-baking tonight, just you and me. It’s been a while. And I found a raspberry torte recipe that looked amazing.”
“Aw, Cassie, I’d love to. But I made plans with David this evening.”
“Oh,” Cassie replied, a little too gently.
Katy felt the back of her neck go hot with guilt. She hadn’t been a very good friend at all the past few months. The last thing she wanted was for Cassie to feel overlooked.
“Tell you what,” she said quickly, “why don’t we plan our own date for tomorrow? We can make the biggest, sweetest raspberry torte in existence.”
Cassie smiled. “Okay, that sounds good. What are you and David going to do tonight?”
“The movies. Some political thriller that David really wants to see.”
Katy and David hadn’t had the chance to talk much since their disastrous date the night before, so she wanted to be sure they had some time to talk after the movies that night. She wanted to get him alone, sure; but most importantly, she had to make sure that David was doing okay with all of the changes.
“A political thriller sounds like it’d be right up David’s alley,” Cassie quipped.
“Definitely not mine,” Katy replied.
“That’s because you live a political thriller.”
The girls laughed together, but Katy was having a hard time shaking off the experience with the drama club. Harvard would be useless if all of her professors acted the way that Mrs. Clarke had. How could she learn anything without constructive criticism?
* * *
“Did you see that ending coming?” David asked excitedly.
Katy grinned and tried to think of a polite way to say no, but that’s because I zoned out a bit. “Nope, took me by surprise.”
David looked handsome and refined as he walked beside Katy in his wool coat on one of Cambridge’s old sidewalks in the university district. Katy had made sure to keep her head down and cover her blonde hair with a scarf this time so they could walk unbothered. She lowered her chin down into the tail of th
e scarf to keep warm in the icy air.
“That was a great movie. Thanks for coming with me,” David went on. He leaned nearer to Katy as they walked, seeming to notice her huddling from the cold, and wrapped his arm around her. Katy closed her eyes briefly and leaned into David’s warm, broad chest.
Things seemed normal again. David was no longer the quiet, withdrawn person he had become after the flashbulbs ruined their previous date. Now he was acting like himself again, including enjoying political movies that, frankly, Katy had to slog through. But she was happy that he was happy.
“Of course,” Katy replied. Besides, she had her eyes on a feel-good romantic comedy to get back at him on their next movie night.
They had walked the mile and a half to the indie theater, and now they were facing another short but cold walk back to campus. But as long as David had his arm around her, Katy didn’t mind at all. In fact, she didn’t even feel cold. Walking together, touching each other, felt so romantic, comforting, sweet, like a thing that couples did in cute movies.
“About last night,” David began. When his voice trailed off, Katy decided to jump in.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I shouldn’t have dragged you all the way to Boston. I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m the one who should be sorry,” David replied quickly. “I shouldn’t have gone quiet on you. It was just a new experience for me, and I . . . well, I didn’t handle it well. And I want to apologize for that.”
Katy stopped and turned to face David. He stood over her, looking down, his bright blue eyes soft in the streetlight glow of Harvard Avenue.
“I think you handled it with a lot of grace,” she told him. “Especially for someone who values privacy a lot.”
David shrugged. “I value you even more.”
Katy felt her pulse quicken as David lowered his face to hers. Their lips met in a tender exchange of heat, and Katy’s fingers trailed up into David’s dark curls almost without thought. When he pulled back, he grinned. “And at any rate, I didn’t look half bad in those paparazzi photos that went up online.”
A Love that Endures 2 Page 3