by Holt, Layla
“It’s going to start snowing anytime,” Ariana said as they sat on a bench. “I love snow. It transforms everything into a fairy land.”
“You like fairy tales?” Jaime asked her.
“All women do. We all want to meet someone, fall in love and live happily ever after.”
The atmosphere between them changed. A thought came to Jaime’s mind. What if Ariana had started to believe that he was her prince? He didn’t want to hurt her but he couldn’t let her continue building him up in her mind. He wasn’t princely material and he definitely could not be anyone’s love interest.
“Ariana,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “I hope you don’t start thinking that this is more than what we agreed. I’m not the man you think I am. Marriage is not in my plans. Not in the foreseeable future.”
He felt her gaze on him. “What? Of course not. I’m not falling in love with you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
If that was the case, why did she sound so angry? “Relax, I just wanted to make sure that we’re on the same page,” Jaime said.
They sat without talking. He had upset her. He felt bad but it couldn’t be helped. It was better she knew now than when it was too late and she’d convinced herself that he was her knight in shining armor.
“I feel tired,” Ariana said abruptly and stood up. “Shall I escort you to your room?”
“Yes please,” Jaime said. He was disappointed at the abrupt end of the evening but he was not short of things to do.
He’d brought his laptop and was connected to the systems at Candin Inc. They’d agreed that he could work remotely and, where necessary, have virtual meetings.
They walked silently through the maze of hallways until they reached his room.
“Goodnight,” Ariana said.
He stared at her. He wanted to say something but he couldn’t think of what to say. Despite her denial, Jaime knew that she had begun to have hope about them. The reason he knew that was because he felt it too. The difference was that he knew it wouldn’t work. Not when his head was so messed up.
“Good night,” Jaime said and entered his room.
He changed into sleeping shorts, fished out his laptop and slipped into the bed to work from there. He threw himself into responding to the emails that had piled up in his inbox.
Every so often, the same thought came up again and again. What if it could actually work between them? The last time he’d had an episode was in Italy with Megan and that was because of a helicopter flying past. He knew now that some noises triggered an episode.
By midnight, Jaime’s head was aching from all his thoughts, from scintillating to hope to hopelessness. He shut down his laptop, turned off the lights and within minutes he drifted off to sleep.
The next time he came to was to a bright light burning his eyelids. He struggled to open one eye and then another. Either he was dreaming or there was a man fastening the drapes in his room. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision.
The uniformed man finished with the curtains and came to stand near the bed. “Good morning, Sir,” he said, his voice with the tiny weeny accent that signaled he was a local. “My name is Philip Bernadine and I’m going to be your personal assistant for the duration of your visit.”
“I need a personal assistant?” Jaime said, seating up. “Whatever for?”
The man wore a bemused look. “Well, for starters, you’ll need someone to oversee your diary and make sure you’re where you’re supposed to me. Take this morning for instance, you and Her Royal Highness, Princess Ariana, have a series of interviews, the first of which is in,” he glanced at his watch, “an hour’s time.”
“Would you like your breakfast here or in the dining room?” the man asked in a brisk tone.
Jaime shook his head, afraid to speak for what might come out of his mouth. He grinded his teeth. The man got the message and exited his room. He checked the time. Six am.
Jaime groaned. He wasn’t an early riser and preferred to do the bulk of his work in the afternoon and at night. But nobody was asking. He thought about how he had woken up to a man in his room.
It was definitely not the kind of life he was used to. He got up and headed into the bathroom. When he returned to the bedroom, he stared at the bed. Something was different. The bed was made. Someone had been in his room.
He padded to the walk-in closet and saw that his clothes had been reorganized. It was uncanny and annoying. He was used to finding his things the way he had left them. How did Ariana and her family handle the lack of privacy?
Someone could enter your room at any moment, handle your clothes and personal belongings and be on their merry way.
Once he was dressed for the day, Jaime made his way to the dining room, asking for directions from the uniformed guards he met along the way.
“You found us,” Ariana cried when Jaime entered the dining room. She stood up and met him halfway across the room.
Her face was wreathed in smiles and his own spirits rose. Seeing her reminded him why they were doing this. For Ariana. He was doing it for her. She drew back and kissed him full on the mouth.
“How did you sleep?” she said, while taking his hand and leading him to the serving table set against the wall.
“Good,” he lied.
He’d slept late after flirting with the idea of making his and Ariana’s relationship real most of the night. In broad daylight, looking into her gorgeous sapphire blue eyes and listening to her sweet voice, it was tempting. An image of him in Italy, crouched next to a rock, terrified to his bones, formed in his mind.
A real relationship with Ariana was impossible. He would be a constant embarrassment to the royal family.
Ariana handed him a plate and he served himself breakfast. Ariana poured his coffee for him and carried it to the table.
“Good morning Your Majesty, everyone,” Jaime said, as he sat down at the table.
“Good morning Jaime,” the queen said and then glanced at her watch. “Trouble with early mornings?”
Jaime had a feeling that beyond her friendly tone was criticism. He decided to be honest. “You’re right,” he said and smiled. “I’m an afternoon and night person. I’m not at my best in the morning.”
“Ha!” Daxton said. “You and me both. If I could, my day would start at ten.”
“You’ve always woken up early Daxton,” the queen said.
Princess Sala, Daxton's wife giggled. "He hits the snooze button too many times to count."
Everyone laughed.
"You have a series of interviews today," the queen said, smiling at him and Ariana.
“Yes, and between all that, I'll show Jaime around the town," Ariana said.
"I'd like that," Jaime said. After cleaning his plate, he poured himself another cup of tea and enquired after the children from Princess Sala.
"They're with their tutor," she said.
"Don't they go to regular school?" Jaime asked.
"Too risky," Daxton said. "We feel safer to have them here.”
He looked at the royal family with new eyes. Life as a royal looked glamorous and fun but the reality was quite different. He couldn’t imagine having children with Ariana and keeping them enclosed in the palace. As magnificent as it was, he had a feeling that it could easily feel like a jail.
"You two should get going," the queen said. "You need time to change Jaime."
What was she talking about? Jaime looked down at his attire. He'd picked a smart royal blue button down shirt, paired with brown chinos. "I'm ready Your Majesty." he shifted his gaze to Ariana. She was dressed formally in what looked like an evening gown. It showed off her hourglass figure perfectly but it suited a formal party rather than an interview.
"Maybe a suit would look a lot better," the queen said and with that she excused herself and left.
Jaime was seething. It was becoming clear that being part of the royal family meant that you never make decisions for yourself. He turned to Ariana. "You look bea
utiful but I promise you, you'll be more comfortable in jeans and a comfortable top."
Ariana did not respond. Tension simmered in the room.
"He's right," Daxton said. "We're the young royals, a different generation from father and mother. We're allowed to be less formal."
"Okay," Ariana said, but from her voice, Jaime could tell that she was not pleased. Well, neither was he.
He stood up, said goodbye to Daxton and Sala and followed Ariana to her quarters. Her suite had a small living area with a set of leather seats arranged around a comfortable TV and a flat screen TV up on the wall.
“Something wrong?” Jaime asked when he shut the door.
Ariana turned to face him and folded her hands across her chest. “Yes. You shouldn’t have contradicted the queen. There’s a way that things are done around here.”
A flash of anger shot through him. “When I signed up to be your fake fiancé, I didn’t sign up to have someone else pick my clothes for me.”
“She suggested, Jaime,” Ariana said.
“The same way there was a man in my room at six in the morning. What am I, a puppet?” Jaime said, the words rushing out of his mouth. Resentment expanded his chest.
“She’s the queen and the head of the family while my father is indisposed,” Ariana said, her face pinched with anger.
“Not my queen,” Jaime flung.
Ariana’s face reddened. “I don’t know what made me think this would work. And as for the man, he’s your personal assistant while you’re here.”
“I don’t need one,” Jaime said.
“Easily sorted. I’ll let Phillip know that he’s no longer required.” Ariana glared at him, whirled around and marched towards her bedroom. She banged the door with more force than necessary.
Jaime’s breath came out fast. He paced the length of the room. Okay, that thing he’d told her about the queen had been a cheap shot. But he still stuck to what he’d told Ariana. He was not going to be dictated on what he would wear.
She returned a few minutes later, clad in a pair of jeans and a pretty cream top. She’d freed her hair from the ponytail and it flowed down her back. Jaime forgot his anger in admiration. The jeans clung to her curves and he itched to slip his hands around her waist.
“You look gorgeous,” he said.
She gave him a tentative smile. “Thanks. Shall we go?”
“Sure,” Jaime said, his good mood restored.
The car was waiting for them at the front of the palace. A uniformed guard held the door for them and when they entered, it cruised out through the massive palace gates.
“I’d like to say something,” Ariana said, adopting a formal tone.
“Sure,” Jaime said. “I’m all ears.”
She turned to him. “We can stop this charade right now. You can go back home, Jaime. I’ll understand. It’s much harder to act like a couple in love than I thought.”
He thought about what she had said and everything in him rebelled. He didn’t want to leave Asencia. Not yet anyway. “I promised Daxton to help him carry out his duties for the holiday.”
“Being Santa is the reason why you want to stay?” Ariana had a slight smile as she said it.
Jaime adopted a solemn look and nodded. “It’s a very important royal duty, one that will go down in history.”
She laughed.
“I’ve missed that,” Jaime said and then added after she looked at him, questioningly. “I love hearing you laugh.”
She smiled and looked away. “We shouldn’t fight. We were friends before we came to Asencia and we should remain friends.”
“I agree,” Jaime said.
Chapter Twelve
“What made you fall in love with Jaime?” the spiky haired radio show host asked. His name was Ricko and he was very popular with the younger generation.
“And by the way, I like your attire. Listeners, you can’t see this but our very own Princess Ariana is wearing a pair of jeans and she looks gorgeous!”
Arian blushed. She had to admit that Jaime had been right. It certainly was more comfortable to be dressed in jeans, rather than a gown. “Thank you!”
“She looks gorgeous in anything,” Jaime said.
He sounded so genuine and a part of her wanted to believe that he meant it.
“Princess Ariana. You were telling us what made you fall in love with Mr. Jaime Cohan?”
She thought back to that first date that Mrs. Cohan had set up. “He was gorgeous. I’d seen him in the papers but the camera did not do him justice. In person, Jaime was the se—” Ariana stopped before saying the word sexy.
“So you were attracted to his looks first,” Ricko said.
“Well yes, and when we got talking, I fell in love with his intellect and his kindness...oh, and Jaime is funny. He makes me laugh.” She turned and met Jaime’s gaze. She’d thought that he would be laughing or smiling but he wasn’t.
He was staring at her with an intense look. She could not discern his feelings or thoughts.
“What about you Jaime?” Ricko said.
“When I saw her walking to the table to have dinner with me,” Jaime said. “I was sure that she was mistaking me for someone else. No way was I about to have dinner with such a stunning woman. Of course, as I got to know her, I quickly realized that there was a lot more to Ariana than her stunning good looks. You can’t not fall in love with her.”
Ricko laughed. “You’ve nailed it. I have to tell you that every man in Asencia is a little in love with Princess Ariana.”
“An exaggeration,” Ariana said.
Later, after they left the radio station and were on their way to another interview, this time for a magazine, Ariana said. “You sounded so sincere, you almost made me believe the things you were saying.”
“I meant it,” Jaime said.
Her breath hitched. What did he mean by that? It was probably one of those things that people said without really thinking about it. The second interview was just as delightful as the first and, by the end of it, the tension between them had dissipated completely.
At lunchtime, Ariana called her friends, Ana and her husband Juel, who owned and ran a restaurant. They were her go-to people when she wanted to eat out.
“Are you sure it’s okay to have lunch in a restaurant? People might mob you,” Jaime asked her, touching her with his concern for her safety.
“We’ll be fine, you’ll see,” Ariana said mysteriously.
The driver, having taken her to The Crest many times before, drove the car to the rear of the restaurant, stopping right at the staff entrance. They hurried in and met Ana and her husband in the kitchen. Ariana introduced Jaime to them, before Ana took them to an area of the restaurant partitioned off from everyone else.
They could see the other diners but the other diners could not see them.
“Clever,” Jaime said. “It’s important to have the right friends.”
Ariana laughed, pleased that she had surprised him. “They are awesome people. Daxton and Sala are friends of theirs too.”
Ana herself brought them the menus. “Some wine while you order?” she said.
“No thanks,” Ariana said.
“None for me either,” Jaime said. “We have one more interview and I don’t want to smell of wine.”
They settled for water and steaks with potatoes and vegetables.
“This feels like a real date,” Ariana said when they were alone again.
“It’s nice to be here with you,” Jaime said. He covered her hand with his. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be at this moment.”
“There’s no one hearing or seeing us right now,” Ariana said, trying to inject a light note in her voice.
“I know that,” Jaime said.
“What’s going on Jaime?” Ariana said.
He stared at her for a moment without speaking. “I don’t know.’
Ariana swallowed hard and then let out a nervous laugh. “This is crazy. You warned me about mistakin
g what we have for someone else.”
“I did. I think I was warning myself,” Jaime said, his honesty unnerving. “I was frightened.”
She inhaled deeply. “And now?”
“You’re worth it.”
Ariana felt as if she was about to jump of a cliff. She wasn’t frightened either. If she had to jump, there was no one else she would have preferred to jump with.
“Let’s just flow with it and see what happens,” Jaime said.
It was vague but she understood exactly what he meant. She was relieved that whatever was happening was not one-sided. They were in it together. It was too new and too raw to define. But whatever it was, it felt good. As if she was standing on the edge of a cliff and was about to fly.
She smiled at him. “Okay.”
His features softened. “Okay.”
Ana brought their food at that moment, and the moment was broken. Ariana’s stomach rumbled loudly.
“You’d better be thankful you’re not at your mother’s table,” Ana said. ‘Enjoy your meal.”
“I love the food here and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the best restaurant in all of Asencia,” Ariana declared and picked up her fork and knife.
Jaime did the same and took his first bite. “I haven’t been to any other restaurant in Asencia but I second that.”
Ariana found herself watching him as he ate. She was fascinated by everything he did. “Have you spoken to your mom?”
“Yes, last night. I spoke to almost everyone in the family. They were having dinner at my folks’,” Jaime said. “They sent their love.”
She knew how it felt to be away from her family. In the four months she had been in America, while it had been liberating, she had also missed her family terribly. “You must miss them a lot.”
“I’m fine,” Jaime said with a shrug. “As long as everyone is healthy and we can talk on the phone every so often.”
Ariana took a bite of her food and contemplated whether to ask Jaime the next question or not. “Speaking hypothetically, say things happened, and we found ourselves contemplating the future. Where would we live?”