Seduced by the Prince

by Cristina Grenier

  Max’s sigh brought her focus back to his face. “I take you for a woman who is trying to bury her grief until she feels strong enough to handle it.” He walked away to the window. “Go ahead. Call your friend and make your arrangements. And give him my number, in case something happens and he needs to reach me.”

  Tina wanted to rail at him suddenly for being sweet and understanding when she was clearly being a bitch, but she forced herself to focus. Max was probably right. All this erratic, frankly insane behavior was probably just her way of dealing with the reality that Grannie was gone for good. She called Seth’s number, and when he didn’t answer — and he never did — she left a message asking him to call her. She added that it was important, so he’d call back quickly. By the time she finished the message and hung up, she felt back in control. Her wildly swinging emotions seemed to have settled down, and she was even sober enough to feel guilty for making Max jealous over Seth, whose husband shared the loft apartment with him. She had let Max in much closer than she realized if she was this pleased that she had made him jealous of a gay man.

  She finished her dinner and was cleaning up, insisting that Max stay seated for once, when Peter returned with a gorgeous arrangement of calla lilies and a bag full of fruit. She fought against the tears that seemed to be always right beneath the surface now at this fresh evidence that Max was the kind of man she had been looking for all along. She placed the planter on the ground next to her balcony doors, and went to thank Max. But before she could, her cell phone rang.

  “Hi Seth. How are you?”

  “Better than you, I’ll bet. What up, beautiful?”

  Speaking the words would make them all too real, but Tina had no choice. She swallowed her tears and said, “Grannie died this morning. I was just wondering of you would be able to help me for the next few days get things organized? I’ve already handled the funeral arrangements and the pastor is set.”

  She kept talking, not wanting him to stop her before she was done, because she wasn't sure she could handle saying anything once she stopped speaking. Seth’s husband, Mark, was a chef who ran the restaurant beneath their loft and Seth’s studio. When she finally ran out of steam and subsided into tearful silence, Seth finally got a word in.

  “I am so very sorry, Tina. Of course Mark and I will be here for you. I’ll let Mark know what you need, and he will message you for specifics. Is there anything you need me to do for you immediately?”

  “I can’t think of anything right now. But I’ll call you tomorrow. I’m sure if I’ve missed anything, it’ll come to me.”

  “Did you do all the running around since this morning alone?”

  “No. I had a friend with me. But he’s going home tomorrow. He’s the one who suggested I call you.”

  I’m glad he did. I know how independent you can be sometimes, but now isn't the time, lady. This is the time to get by with a little help from your friends, as the song says.”

  “I know, and I’m grateful to you, Seth. Hold on a sec, please.”

  She put her hand over the speaker and asked Max, who was gesturing to her, “What?”

  “Give him my number.” He handed her his phone with his number showing.

  “My friend wants me to give you his number, in case you ever need to call him.” She called out the digits and listened as Seth repeated them to her.

  “Your friend is from Eastern Europe?”

  Not knowing how to answer, Tina said yes.

  “Well, I’m glad he was thinking clearly, at least. What’s his name?”

  “Max.”

  He looked up when she said his name, and his eyes glowed. He smiled at her and she smiled back and missed the next thing Seth said.

  “Sorry, Seth, what did you say?”

  “I said Mark and I will come over tomorrow with meals for the day, and then you can discuss what you need for the reception after the services.”

  “Sounds good. Thank you, Seth.”

  “No problem. And again, you have my and Mark’s deepest sympathies, sweetie. Take care till tomorrow.”

  “Thank you. Bye.”

  Another goodbye was about to be said, and her heavy heart sagged even more at the thought. Max stood as she approached him, and took her hands in his.

  “I must go now, milaya,” he told her. “Will you be alright until I call again in the morning?”

  She nodded, waiting to find her voice again. “I’ll be fine. Thank you for the flowers, Max. They’re beautiful.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek, and she sighed. “You’re going to make some very lucky woman incredibly happy. Thanks for all your help over the past few days. I wouldn’t have made it without you.”

  He didn’t reply, just squeezed her hands, bring them both to his lips in an old-fashioned gesture. She watched his head descend, watched his lips where they landed on her knuckles, watched his eyes rise to meet hers, a question in them. She knew what he wanted. She wanted it, too, so she nodded. It would be all she had in these next few days when she would have to face the final moments with her grandmother alone. She turned her face up to him, and let him kiss her lips, and taste her tongue. She reveled in his own spicy flavor, and wrapped her arms around his waist to steady herself and to memorize the feel of him against her. Then she pulled away, and he let her go.

  “When is your grandmother’s funeral?” he asked.

  She told him, and promised him all the details. It would be nice if he could come, but she didn’t expect he would, not so soon after getting back home. Ambassadors were likely very busy people. Still, it was kind of him to ask, and consistent with his thoughtfulness since that first night when Peter had rescued her from the blizzard. He pocketed his cellphone and walked to the door, which Peter held open for him.

  “Take good care of yourself, Tina. We will speak again in the morning.”

  After Max left, she binge-watched episodes of Friends on Netflix, drank a whole bottle of wine, and was totally wasted by the time she dragged herself off to bed. Between her overwhelming attraction to an almost-stranger, and her grandmother’s unexpected passing, Tina wasn’t sure which way was up anymore. She fell into bed fully dressed, and when the cellphone sounded the alarm the next morning she slept right through it. Finally, a loud clamor made her sit up.

  She wondered for a moment where she was, holding her head between her hands as the room spun around her and the banshee in her head screamed at her. Feeling as if she were going insane, Tina struggled out of bed, because she finally recognized the noise as her doorbell. She stumbled to the door, forgetting to see who was there and opened it to Seth and Mark looking as crisp and fresh as daisies while she felt and probably smelled like dead skunk. She backed away from the door, saying as she tried to hurry off,

  “Sorry…had a little too much to drink last night. I’ll come right back.”

  Seth stopped her with a hand on her arm while Mark closed the door and took the grocery bags he carried into the kitchen.

  “Take a long soak. We’ll make breakfast. When you come out, there’ll be a hangover remedy waiting on your dresser. In the meantime, take two ibuprofen before you start your bath.”

  Tina went away to do as she was bid, and by the time the water began to cool in the bath and she rinsed off in the shower, she felt something more like a human being. She dried off and slipped on a pair of yoga pants over her panties and a long, misshapen sweater over her bra. Her head was one large cotton-stuffed ball, and a small ache registered on the very top, as though someone had hit her there overnight. She had some of the nasty-tasting drink left on her dresser while she put on her clothes, and took the rest of it into the kitchen where her friends were waiting for her.

  “This is vile,” she said, pointing an accusing finger at Mark. “You’re trying to poison me.”

  The big blond man chuckled. “Yes. I thought you’d appreciate my effort to reunite you with your grandma. Pity it doesn’t seem to be working.” As usual, his English accent delighted her.

  Tina laug
hed. It was the first time, since her little crazy meltdown the day before, that she had felt any kind of emotion other than crushing grief.

  “Ready to eat?” Seth led her over to one of the chairs at the kitchen table. “Greasy food is best, as you know, for soaking up overnight alcohol. So, a full English breakfast, and we expect you to eat it all.”

  Tina eyed the food and hoped she could manage even half of it. Her friends didn’t know about her illness. In fact, they didn’t know about the whole disaster that was her weekend. Well, the horrible beginning of it, and the pleasurable end of it. She wasn’t sure she would be sharing any of it with them, either, especially since neither man had liked John much, and had warned her about him. She didn’t feel like eating crow with her sausages and bacon.

  “So, who’s the friend who helped you yesterday? Anyone we know?”

  “No. He’s an ambassador.”

  “Oooh, snooty!” Mark eyed her teasingly. “Where’s he from?”

  Damn! How was she going to get out of this one?

  “You know that country where there’s going to be a coronation in a few weeks’ time?”

  “Wait? You mean Lauenstein? Wow! Definitely snooty!”

  Ah! At last she had a name for the place Max was from. “Yes, very. And I’ve been invited.”

  Lord help her, she must still be a tad drunk, else why had she mentioned the invitation? She didn’t plan on going, after all.

  “Oh? By your ambassador friend?”

  She nodded, hoping they’d drop the subject. Vain hope.

  “You’re going, right?” Seth’s excited tone had her rolling her eyes. What was wrong with men?

  “Seth, Grannie just died! I can’t go anywhere!”

  Both men looked at each other, then back at her as though she had grown horns.

  “What?” Now she felt defensive, which was rather unpleasant on top of a hangover headache.

  “You’re kidding, right? You can’t seriously be choosing not to attend the event of the year weeks after your grandmother’s passing, and trying to use that poor old lady as your excuse?”

  Before she could reply, her cell phone chimed, adding to the misery that was her hangover.

  “Hello, good morning!”

  “Good morning, Tina. It’s Max.”

  As if she would ever have any trouble knowing who was talking to her.

  “Hi Max. Are you on your way?”

  “I am sitting in the aircraft as we speak. I called you earlier but you didn’t answer, so I assumed you were still asleep.”

  “I was. Thanks for calling me.”

  “I promised you that I would, didn’t I? I always keep my promises.”

  “That’s good to know. So, how long of a flight will it be?”

  “Six hours. I should be home before your dinner time. Have you eaten?”

  Tina smiled. Trust Max to check up on her. “Yes, as a matter of fact I have. Seth and his husband brought me over food for the day. Mark, Seth’s husband, is a chef.”

  The long pause at the end of her reply was a clear indication that Max was surprised by her answer. What else he might be she couldn’t tell, nor did his tone change to give her any clues when he said,

  “That’s very kind of them. I’m glad you have such good friends close by.”

  Well hell! Was he getting into a snit because of a silly tease? Or worse, was he homophobic? She frowned, wishing she could ask the question, but present company wouldn’t make that her wisest decision.

  “I have to hang up for now. I’ll call again when I arrive, as promised. Have a good day, Tina.”

  He hung up before she could reply, and suddenly the food before her was as unappealing as a wet dog in bed. Max had shut down at the end, if she was reading him right, and she didn’t know why. She would have to find out later, because if he had a problem with her gay friends, she would end her attempt at friendship with him immediately. Seth and Mark had been nothing but good to her from the moment they had met eight years earlier at an exhibition of Seth’s work that was being curated by one of her former college professors.

  “The ambassador?” Seth asked.

  “Yes. He had said he would call me before he left today.”

  She didn’t want to talk about Max, especially not with these newfound suspicions. She had few enough friends that it went without saying that she would defend them to the end. Max had not been a friend long enough that he couldn’t be unseated.

  “So, let’s get back to why you think you shouldn’t accept the invitation to the coronation. The Kastelic’s are an old family with ties on both sides of the Atlantic. The last I read on their official site, the guests had been heavily vetted by the prince, and a lot of important people have not been invited to attend. This guy’s not above pissing off the establishment to prove that he’s his own man. So you should consider yourself lucky to receive an invitation to attend as your friend’s plus one.”

  Something stirred in the back of Tina’s mind, but she couldn’t quite bring it forward, though she tried, as the conversation progressed.

  “It just seems …disrespectful to go prancing off to celebrate the coronation of some dude I don't even know so soon after Grannie’s death, that’s all.”

  Seth came to sit by her and took her hands in his. “Listen, chica, the truth is, your grandmother would have wanted you to get on with your life. You were the one who was always telling me how she used to get on you, back before she began to forget, that you needed to stop living in the past, and give yourself a chance to be happy. Do you really think she would be upset if you went to Lauenstein and had a good time on someone else’s dime? I mean, come on! You might even meet a guy you like!”

  “I’m not looking to meet a guy, Seth!”

  “More foolishness from you,” he retorted immediately. “You’re an attractive woman, intelligent, sophisticated, sexy. What’s not to like? If I weren’t totally in love with Mark, I’d be all over that fine body of yours!”

  He made a hissing noise with his tongue, as though he had spilled oil on a griddle, and they all laughed. Seth always knew how to cheer her up, and even though they didn’t see each other often, when they did, he was always positive and supportive.

  “You guys really think it’s not a jerk move for me to go whoop it up so soon after Grannie’s death?”

  “We really think it’s fine to do something to relieve your grief, Tina. Just because you are away from home, enjoying another country and culture, doesn’t mean you loved your grandma any less. It just means you’re doing what any adult would do who wants to keep moving forward.”

  Tina looked over to Mark, who had been mostly silent through the conversation. He had lost his first partner only two years ago to a violent drive-by shooting, so he knew all about grief. He nodded and smiled at her.

  “Okay. I guess I’ll look into tickets and such after the funeral.”

  “Let me know when you’re ready to go dress shopping. I have some ideas.”

  Tina laughed at Seth’s enthusiasm. “That reminds me, I need to get something fitting for the funeral.”

  “Dress shopping tomorrow,” Seth said. “I have a meeting with a museum director today.”

  “You don’t have to come with me!” she protested.

  “I know that. But I want to. Seems to me you’re in some kind of funk, and I’d rather not be standing beside you looking my fabulous best while you reprise your Little Orphan Annie look before Daddy Warbucks takes her in.”

  They all laughed again. Tina loved Seth’s ability to ham it up and play the stereotypically flamboyant gay man, because invariably it made her laugh, since she knew he was anything but that person. The guys helped her work on sending out notices to the few people she knew her grandmother kept contact with, as well as her own few friends, scattered across the country, not really expecting any but her closest ones to attend. Then she planned the repast with Mark, before he and Seth left for the day. She felt better than she had the day before, and managed
to eat a little of the food Mark had left for her for dinner.

  She tried to get some writing done, but could only manage a thousand words before she gave it up and went back to binge-watching. This time, it was Orange is the New Black. But for whatever reason she found herself crying as much as she laughed, and finally she shut it off, unable to handle the mix of emotions. Though she was tempted, she chose to drink soda instead of wine, and was on her second can of Coke when her phone rang again. She knew who it was without looking.

  “Hello, Max. Welcome home!”

  “Good evening, Tina. You sound better this evening.”