Wicked Prince Charmings: Blue Saffire & Co. Fairy Tales

by Blue Saffire

  “Is there anything in particular you want me to do? Or do I just smile and wave?” She looks through the passenger side window as we move through Penndel.

  “You just need to look pretty, interject into the conversation if you see a need, and act enamored.”

  “Enamored? Like in love?”

  “It shouldn’t be hard, acting, that is. You did it years ago. You were quite convincing.”

  “Just as long as we don’t forget ourselves.”

  “Oh, I won’t forget, but act like you love me all the same.”

  Turning into the driveway of the banquet hall, I come face to face with a line of traffic leading to the entrance. I grind my teeth. I’ll have to sit in the confines of this car much longer than I want to.

  “What about you?” she asks.

  “What about me?” I reply, tightening my grip on the steering wheel.

  “Are you going to act the same?”

  Act as if I love her. Yes, an act. I’ll put on an act all right. I push a hand through my hair, willing this line to go faster.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “I don’t think your arrogance and inner asshole will allow that to happen.” She chuckles.

  The traffic grows stagnant, heightening the tension building within me. Time seems to come to a halt. I work my jaw and keep my eyes on the cars ahead of us.

  Tearing my gaze from the cars, I look at her. “You don’t think I can act enamored?”

  She shakes her head. “Hell no.”

  I bite back my reply as we start to move again. Once we finally make it to the front of the hall, an attendant appears and flags the car to stop. He opens the door for Amelia, and we get out.

  Bulbs flash as photographers and news reporters take pictures. Some shouting out questions. I round the vehicle and take Red’s hand to I kiss it. She stands with a shocked expression for a second, then smiles adoringly at me.

  “Mr. Wulf, over here.”

  “Mr. Wulf, this way, over here,” the local reporters scream. I walk up to the barrier. One of the reporters holds the microphone pointed toward my face. “Mr. Wulf, what motivated you to run for mayor?” A female reporter asks.

  “Many things. My reputation in the past wasn’t one of praise. I came to pay my dues and give back resources to Penndel Heights.”

  Another reporter sticks a mic out. “Mr. Wulf, is it true that you and Ms. Huntsman are in a relationship?”

  I smile at the reporter. I know my smile looks like the Grinch. My evil plan seeping through.

  I turn to Red. “You want me to tell them, or should you?”

  She smiles at me in confusion. “You tell them what, love?”

  I turn back to the waiting crew. Tugging Red into my side by the hand. “Yes, we are involved.”

  “For how long?” A reporter in the back shouts.

  “We’ve been together for the past year.”

  She tightens her hand around mine. “A year? Try again, sweetie.” She thinks I’m going to back down, she’s wrong.

  I look back at the reporter feigning embarrassment. “Men, we never get the dates right. More like a year and a half.”

  I turn to smile at her because I know that she’s dying to claw my eyes out. The dimples on her face deepen with her false smile.

  “Are there any wedding bells in the future?” Another reporter adds.

  “It’s funny you should ask. I proposed to her earlier on this year and she never answered me.”

  My words are like blood to a pool of sharks. The reporters go wild. Lights flash and more questions fly. Red squeezes the fuck out of my hand, her nails biting into my skin.

  “Ms. Huntsman, why didn’t you answer him? Do you have cold feet?”

  Facing me, she places her free hand on my chest and leans in. I think I pushed her too far. She looks a bit wild in the eyes and irrational. I absolutely don’t see what she does next coming.

  “I answered him in the car coming over here.” She touches my face and lifts to her tiptoes, tugging my neck down. “I said yes.”

  Then she leans in and kisses me. I hear nothing after. My heart rate increases as Amelia executes the softest kiss I’ve ever felt. I lift my hands to her shoulders and glide them down her back, pulling her into me tighter. My blood rushes in my ears, flashes of lust seep through the darkness and I feel only Amelia. I want more. My body roars to life as it remembers her touch.

  I pull back and kiss her forehead before I do something stupid like pick her up fireman style, carry her back to the car and finish what she just started. The photographers coo as we hold hands, making our way inside. Just like that, Amelia makes us the it couple for the night, and dare I say the campaign.

  My mind wages war with my heart. However, I won’t be deceived again. This is all an act, nothing we say or do is real.

  At least that’s what I try to tell my heart as it keeps pounding against my rib cage.

  Amelia

  I have done some crazy, stupid things in my life. Like eating twelve brownies and not realizing they had weed in them. Or jumping off a roof with an umbrella to see if I would fly like Mary Poppins—don’t ask. This right here surpasses all the stupid events I’ve ever done in my life.

  I just wanted to affect him the way he does me. What the hell was I thinking? I practically told the press that I’m engaged to Ethan Wulf.

  What. The. Hell. Was. I. Thinking?

  I pace the powder room of the hall, having a mini meltdown. This is all going to blow up in my face. When the door opens, I spin around while holding my breath. I half expect the reporters to rush in with more questions.

  “Oh, my you are such a twit for hiding all of this from me.”

  I sag in relief. It’s just Piper. I can’t tell her the truth. It’s just lies upon lies. My stomach is twisted in knots. I don’t know the truth from the tale in this moment.

  She continues as I spiral in my own mind. “And that kiss. Well shit, Melia, he just became a heartthrob and front runner of the election.” Despite her excitement, all I can do is nod.

  “Congrats. Come let’s go. Your dad is looking for you, by the way.”

  As we step out of the restroom someone snags my elbow and drags me away. It’s my father and he’s boiling over with anger. After walking into a private office, he closes the door and starts to rant.

  “Tell me it’s a lie.” He paces with both hands on his hips.

  “Dad, I can’t.”

  He slaps the office table and it shakes. “Tell. Me. It’s. A. Lie.” I say nothing, refusing to answer while he’s in this state. “Your silence says it all. I should have destroyed his ass when I had the chance.”

  “Dad maybe we can discuss this.”

  His anger rises. “I don’t want to discuss anything with you. You’re just like your mother, weak and shameless.” A vein pops in his forehead and beads of sweat ease down his temple. “Have I taught you nothing? Have I not protected you? This is what you do to me.”

  I inhale to calm my ire, taking in the office-library that I’ve been dragged into. The pine bookcases hold different books. Some old—I can tell by their grey color, broken book spines, and the threads that hold them together—others shine, glossy and new.

  It’s neat in here. The smell of lemon oil fills the air. The wooden shelves gleam in the dim lighting, causing me to think their polish is the source of the smell.

  “Are you even listening to me?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  His nostrils flare. He’s sweating profusely. “We’re family. How can you do this to me?” My heart twists. A part of me wants to tell him of Ethan’s revenge play. Yet a small voice challenges, why would you ever do that? So I decide against it. He continues to pace with his rant. “A slut just like your mother. All you had to say was cha-ching and she was gone.”

  “We both know that’s a lie,” I seethe.

  He turns slowly toward me. “What did you just say to me?”

  Seriously, I’m having severe diarrhea of the m
outh today. First, it’s the engagement to Ethan, then this. Well, it’s too late now.

  “She left because you didn’t treat her right.”

  He shoves everything off the desk behind him. A glass breaks, pencils fall to the floor, white papers sway gently taking their time with gravity to reach their final resting place on the hardwoods.

  “I gave your mother everything—cars, money, jewelry.”

  “You gave her everything but love.”

  “What do you know about love?” he shouts. I hope no one hears us on the outside. I don’t want to make a scene. It’s the last thing we need.

  “You think because you had sex years ago with that ass. It was love?” he spits.

  “I think you never knew what true love is.”

  His eyes bulge before they narrow. “And you do? How? By turning into a black trollop for that white man outside.” I stand unmoved. I have to hold my ground. “He has money now, little girl. He will use and drop you. You think he will marry you?”

  My heart is beating in my ears. I’ve never in all my life opposed my father, but in this moment, defiance is building up on the inside as he continues. “He’s going to have fun with you and leave you. He will never love you again after what you did.”

  Those words twist at my gut, but I will be damned if I show it. He continues to hurl hateful words at me. “Did you know he has a girlfriend in New York?” he asks slyly.

  Why does that hurt? I don’t know, but what I do know is that this thing with Ethan is all for the cameras. Yet still, I swallow down my feelings and answer.

  “I do.”

  “See, just like your mother. Do you think he’ll stay?’

  Tears burn my eyes, but I refuse to let them drop.

  “Whatever she thinks, Mr. Huntsman, is really none of your goddamn business.”

  I turn toward that voice. Leaning on the doorframe, scrolling through his phone is Ethan. He acts as if my ranting father doesn’t exist.

  “You.”

  “Before you go on hurting my fiancée. I will advise you to think twice and leave. Or else you will be escorted out.”

  Ethan glares at my father numbly and waits. My dad tugs on his jacket and points at me. “This isn’t over,” he whispers to me.

  “Oh yes, it fucking is. Get out,” Ethan says lethally. My father straightens his cuffs and tie, and with a huff he leaves the room.

  “Are you okay?”

  Am I okay? I just want to collapse. My knees wobble under my dress. He has a girlfriend in New York, I’ve allowed myself to forget that and here I was thinking of us as a couple again.

  “I’m fine.”

  “About that kiss—”

  “Let me remind you, Mr. Wulf. Despite all the drama, this isn’t a real relationship. We’re pretending so you can win the election.”

  “Agreed, let’s go back to the party.” He saunters to me and gives me his elbow for support.

  “Yes, let’s.”

  For the rest of the night, I laugh and fulfill my promise. I act sweet and enamored. Hating every minute of it.

  Chapter 5

  Lower Penndel

  Ethan

  “So, how does it feel seeing her again?” Soren asks, his voice booming through my car speakers.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, it was surreal for me and Jay. It’s been years.” I don’t reply. “Where are you heading?”

  I know once I say where, he will go into a panic. I have no intentions of starting that train wreck. I keep it to my damn self.

  “Nowhere significant,” I say curtly.

  “Turn left onto Nook Street you will arrive at your destination in seven hundred feet. Your destination is on the left,” my GPS announces. Thank God he can’t hear. However, that doesn’t stop him from sensing something’s up.

  “What the fuck? I know you’re there. Get out of there, bro.” This is what I didn’t want. “Eth, man. I will call Jay and tell her where you are.”

  “I’ll call you back in a bit.”

  “Ethan—”

  I hang up the phone and drive down to the end of Nook Street. Some things never change. Poverty is still in fashion in good old Nook. Some homes are behind chain-linked fences. Piles of garbage stand, consisting of things like old tires, broken car bumpers, empty rusty appliances like washers and fridges. Men sit in their lawn chairs in their dingy wife beaters, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer.

  I’m stopped at lot 405. This trailer park was built in 1945 in Lower Penndel. It was a five-star trailer park back then. In 2019, even Google warns of the danger of entering Lower Penndel.

  The trailer that I’ve parked in front of is an original 1945 model. In its hay day this cream 8’ x 20’ would’ve felt like a mansion to some. Now it looks like a death trap.

  I get out of the car and remove my jacket to throw it in the seat and close the door. I make my way to the front entrance of the raggedy structure. The trailer is shut tight. I wonder if anyone is home.

  A kid rides up on his rusty old bike. He has sandy blonde hair and green eyes. His Ben Ten T-shirt is dirty with small moth holes. “Looking for somebody, mister?”

  “Where are the people who live here?”

  He squints. “What’s it to yah?”

  This little bastard has guts, I give him that. “I used to live here.”

  He opens his eyes up wide. “Are you Ethan?”

  “Yes, I am. And you are?”

  “I’m Keegan.”

  The door of the trailer opens. “Keegan Eli Stone, get your ass in here.”

  I look down at the boy and like a puzzle it falls into place in my head. His face looks like Soren’s when he was his age. The door opens wider and the woman who I loved first before anyone else steps forward.

  She doesn’t look in my direction. She walks out and grabs the little boy, dragging him into the trailer fussing as she goes. Her stringy hair is tied up in a yellow rubber band and she has on a pink, washed out tank top with a pair of white shorts.

  “Hi, Ma. You didn’t tell me I had another brother.”

  She freezes. When she turns her eyes are full of tears. She releases the kid and moves to me. She reaches out her hand to touch my face.

  “Ethan?” I nod and she collapses in my arms as the tears begin to spill. “I heard the rumor that you were back, and you made a whole shit show by saying you were going to run for mayor.”

  “Yes Ma, that’s true. Where’s Jimbo?”

  She gets nervous when I say my stepfather’s name. “He went to do a drop. You shouldn’t be here, Eth. You know how he gets when he sees you.”

  Yes, I know. He’s a small wanna-be drug lord. He hates anything that reminds him of the fart he is.

  “What do you do with the money I send for you every month?”

  She twists her tank top in her hands. “Well, I have some bills I have to pay off.” I grab her hand and bring her arm into view. As I expected, she has tracks from the injections of her heroin addiction.

  Soren was right, I need to stop sending money, only food and clothing. She wouldn’t want that. I offered to take her from here, to buy her a house. She rejected all my offers.

  “You can’t stay. You know how Jimbo gets when he sees you or your siblings,” she repeats this as her gaze scans the trailer park wildly.

  I remember all too well. Eight years ago, when Soren was here, Jimbo broke mama’s jaw and she still stayed. I don’t get why. However, he will be dealt with eventually.

  I pull out my hotel room keycard and I gave it to her. “Come see me, please.” With shaking hands, she takes it. “I’ll go now.”

  I walk back to my car and get inside. I buckle up as my mind races with so many thoughts. I’m pulled from them when a knock sounds on the window. It’s Keegan.

  I turn on the car and roll the window down. “Will you be back to take me?”

  I don’t make promises I can’t keep. “You’ll see me again and you will meet Jay and Soren.”

  �
�Cool, I heard so much about them.”

  “How old are you?”

  “I’m six and a half. Ma says I’m tall for my age.”

  I press my knuckles again his cheek. He’s a cute kid with a shit life. Been there, have the postcard.

  “Keegan, get inside,” my mother hollers.

  “I got to go, bye.” He runs off waving.

  I lift a hand as I watch him go. Something burns in my chest. I shake it off, putting the car in drive and leave.

  Amelia

  I’m a jumbled mess. Last night threw me a curve ball. I didn’t expect to feel anything that I felt for Ethan and now I sit here evaluating my life. Especially what happened between us all those years ago.

  My father showed his true colors in that office. A reminder for me of the man I’m dealing with. A reminder of the power I lost and the fact that I haven’t regained it as I had planned.

  Which leads me to my decision to help Ethan with his revenge. I need to call him. I just don’t know what state of mind he’s in. That kiss last night brought back our first.

  It was a warm day out, but we’d been working on our homework inside Litchfield Manor. It had become our routine.

  “Thanks so much for helping get my homework to school.” Ethan said coolly.

  “It’s no prob, your suspension is nearly up.”

  He nodded as he packed his loose-leaf. Ethan got suspended again for arriving at school late and starting a fight with the Bio teacher. I wished he had explained to them that his mom had overdosed, and he was taking care of her in the hospital. Instead, he said nothing, and he fought.

  “Yeah, but I still appreciate it.”

  “I’m more concerned about the shiner on your eye.”

  His left eye was swollen, turned black and blue in the corners.

  “It’s nothing.” He started to stack his books.

  I reached to stop his hands. “In the last two months, I’ve spent more time with you than anyone else. I know when something is wrong.”

  “You need to make new friends. The majority of the ones you have, including myself, are fuckwards and assholes.”

  “I’m serious, Eth.”