Real-Life Prince Charming: A Friends To Lovers Romance

by Lauren Wood

  When I got my phone out of my pocket, there were several missed calls from Amber. I knew that she wanted an explanation, but I didn't think I was ready to give her one. What would I even say?

  How in the world had I failed to mention the fact that I had an eight-year-old daughter? We had talked about everything. She had asked me questions about my life and never once had I mentioned Caroline. It would have been so easy to do so, right when I had a chance.

  I was still pretty young to have a daughter that age. How could I expect her to want to pick up so many responsibilities at her age? I knew that our feelings for each other were true, but how could I expect it to translate into taking care of another person’s child?

  Maybe against my better judgment, I didn't call her back. I told myself that I would call her Monday, and we would be able to talk then. Caroline would be with the nanny, and I could keep on pretending that I was just a normal bachelor.

  Why was I so afraid to tell her?

  “I am sorry that I missed your calls earlier.”

  “It's okay, Frank. You said that you were going to be busy. I just wanted to tell you goodnight was all.”

  Amber was looking at me with a question on her face, and I wondered what exactly she was thinking. We were at a restaurant, and even though she had offered to come over and make me something at my place, I had insisted that she didn't have to cook. Truth was that I had barely been able to explain a stuffed animal the last time she was there. Now, Caroline was back, and she made it a point to spread her things everywhere. I would not be able to keep it all under wraps, not to mention that Caroline was there at the house with the nanny.

  “Are you going to tell me what's going on, Frank?”

  I insisted that it was nothing, but I could tell that Amber didn't believe me. I didn’t blame her. I didn’t believe me, either.

  “I feel like you're keeping something from me, and I wish you would just tell me. I don't like this awkwardness that has started between us.”

  “Do you really think it's awkward?”

  She agreed that she did, and I tried to get up the nerve to tell her about Caroline. I really did. It was on the tip of my tongue, yet for some reason it just wouldn’t come out.

  I tried to play out the scenario of me telling her. I had several that came to me, and all of them ended with her telling me off and walking away. Correction, stomping away.

  Why would I ever want to do that?

  By the end of the night, Amber was frustrated with me and she invited me back to her place. I had to decline because the nanny could only stay for a couple of hours. This was all something that I could potentially tell her, if I didn't think that it would all go to shit. Maybe I should just try. What was the worst that could happen?

  Short answer, it could ruin everything. I could lose her again, even though I’d just gotten her back. That was the worst that could happen.

  12

  Amber

  Something was going on with Frank and it was starting to really bother me. Whatever he thought he was doing was not helping anything. We went from being around each other and sharing everything together, to me having to wonder if he was seeing someone else. There was obviously a secret that he was keeping from me, and I wanted to know what he wasn't telling me. It made sense that the ‘why’ was because it was something bad.

  I am not proud of what I did next. I was so worried about what he was lying to me about that I was willing to go to great lengths to find out. I was, in fact, considering changing a lot about my life, moving back to Hampton, so I needed to know the truth. Whatever Frank was hiding from me, I needed to find out what it was. Then, I could make a real decision, because Gemma would not stop calling me, reminding me that I had a whole life waiting for me. I needed to know if staying here, and Frank in general, was worth it.

  So, instead of going to bed, which admittedly I should have done, I made my way to his house. I wanted to believe that I wouldn't find anything when I got there. Really, I didn't want to. Because then that would mean that everything I felt for him wasn’t real. How could I ever want that?

  When I got to his place, nothing really seemed out of the ordinary. There was no extra car in the driveway, and everything seemed to be pretty normal from where I was sitting. I was parked across the street from his house, and I was really starting to feel like a stalker more than anything else. I didn't like it at all.

  I didn't like the way it all made me feel. I shouldn't feel like this. I shouldn't feel like he was being dishonest with me, and I wish that I could ask him straight up what was going on. It would have been so much easier that way. I wouldn't have had to wonder, like I was now.

  After sitting there for about half an hour, I just felt like an idiot. There was no great party going on, no mysterious woman coming and going. None of that was part of it. The only thing that I saw was a house with a couple of lights that went off very early. One on the upper floor went off by ten, almost on the dot. Was that what time he went to bed? It hadn't been when we were together.

  Leaving, I still had this unsettling feeling that there was something major that I was missing. I felt like a failure because I hadn't figured out what it was. I went back home and called Gemma.

  I don't know why exactly I did. I really wasn't worried about what was going on at the office. I should have been. It was the business that I had worked for years for, but in the end, I was only thinking about Frank. I was hoping that business talk would help me get my mind off of him.

  “When are you coming back, Amber? You really need to get back. I can’t put off these meetings for much longer. It’s like you dropped off the face of the planet, and we have to get going with the new line…”

  I stopped her right there and assured her that I was well aware. She had been sending me lots of emails and giving me the blow by blows. They had gotten more frantic, and I knew that she was rightly in a tizzy. I had left with the idea that I would be gone a couple of days. It was well into week two now.

  “I don’t know, Gemma. I am going to be a bit longer. Some things have come up, possible opportunities.”

  “There, in Hampton?”

  She was incredulous, and since the town was so small and known for open space, it wasn’t the sort of town that would help my high-fashion line. No one there would be interested in my clothes, or their price point. I don’t know what I had been thinking.

  “I am still working on it, Gem. You know that I don’t like to say anything until it’s fully brought together, though. You know how I am.”

  “I know, but what do I tell your clients?”

  “That I had a death in the family.”

  She was silent for a moment, and I felt bad using Grandad’s death in that way. While it was true his death was affecting me in many ways, all of this stemmed from the trouble that I was having with Frank. He was the one that caused me all kinds of issues.

  “Anything you say, Amber. I just want you to know you can count on me for whatever you need. I am here for you.”

  The more she talked, the worst I felt. I got off the phone with her, agreeing to meet up with a potential wholesale client that I couldn’t ignore. I’d waited months to get an appointment with her, and Gemma was right, I had to go. I was hoping that by then I would have an answer about Frank. I didn’t know what it would be, but I was hopeful that I would be able to figure something out.

  Gemma didn’t settle my mind, so the next morning I was up early, trying to get everything together that I needed for the meeting. Champs was a wholesale clothing line that wanted to introduce my new line to their customers. They had a huge market share, and I was hopeful that they would take me on. That would mean I would no longer have to do smaller sales. I would be a real clothing line, then, and not just a boutique.

  Finding out that Grandad didn’t have internet, about three o clock, I was trying to get some work done and my phone just wasn’t cutting it. I needed a program on it, and I headed down to the only place close by that had pu
blic internet. It was a hybrid coffee and ice cream parlor. I needed caffeine, and I grabbed a coffee, before I sat down to work a while.

  A little girl’s voice made me look up. It was a little dark-haired girl around seven or eight. She had on a school uniform, and she said something about wanting to get her dad some ice cream.

  “What do you think he would like, Caroline?”

  She smiled and then said without blinking that he wanted Blue Moon.

  “It’s Dad’s favorite, just like mine.”

  The older woman that was presumably her mother agreed, and they got two cones and left. I know that I was being paranoid now. Blue Moon was a popular ice cream in the area. I knew that it was a lot of people’s favorite ice cream. So, why was I only thinking about Frank? I knew that it was his favorite, so now he was on my mind. I didn’t see a connection to the little girl. It was just a coincidence. Or, it was the universe’s way of driving me crazy. I wasn’t sure which one.

  Frustrated that he was now all I could think about, I left not too long after the pair with the two cones did. I went back to Grandad’s place and did a few sketches. I wanted to have some visuals to show to the people I had to meet, to give them an idea of what else was in store.

  I spent the rest of the evening working. It was a reprieve from all of the chaos in my head. Soon, I was thinking about fabrics and colors, not Frank and his mysteries.

  13

  Frank

  Caroline was so proud, handing me an ice cream cone.

  “I remembered it was your favorite.”

  I agreed and thanked her, reminding her that it was her favorite as well. Her cone was almost gone and mine was melting at a rapid clip. I took it to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl, wiping my hands. It was just like her to think of me, and it melted my heart. She was such a sweet kid.

  Caroline was full of all kinds of information that she wanted to give me. What they had done that day and how much she had enjoyed it. I was hopeful that I would be able to get a little time to go see Amber later. Caroline was talking a mile a minute, and I tuned out for a few. She noticed and asked me what was wrong.

  “Nothing, Caroline. I'm glad you had a good time. Thank you for the ice cream. It's exactly what I needed.”

  In truth, it was getting all over me and it even got on the cuff of my sleeve. I tried to wipe it off because I didn't have time to change into something else before another meeting, but that bright blue color wasn't coming off.

  “I'm sorry I got it on your shirt.”

  I waved her off and told her that it wasn't a big deal. She also wanted to ask a bunch of questions about Halloween that was coming up. I didn't know what to tell her because my mind was on the woman that had gotten away.

  “We will just have to see. Have you thought about what you're going to wear? What you want to be this year?”

  She said that she didn't know, and I was finishing up my ice cream. I told her that I would see her back in a little bit, but I had a meeting that I had to go to first. I got the same questions about why I had to go to a meeting at all. I was used to them when Caroline was home, but they still bothered me. I wished that I didn’t have to work so much, but running my own business took time, and that time had to come from somewhere.

  I promised that I'd be back as soon as I could and made my way to the other side of town for the meeting.

  I let work go by the wayside when I was engulfed in Amber for the week. Not only did I need to find time to make it up to her, but I also needed to find time to make it up to my clients, as well.

  When it started getting late, I told my client that I just needed to go. I was used to running late with clients, but I wasn’t used to being as antsy as I was feeling lately. Usually I would stay and have a drink, but tonight I had no patience for work.

  It was late whe I called my house to see if Caroline was still up. When I found out she wasn’t up anymore, I was relieved, in a way. That meant that I could go see Amber without too much guilt. I knew that Amber was a bit unhappy with me. She knew that something was going on and I had not really acknowledged it. I was going to have to at some point, but a big part of me was afraid that it would somehow ruin what was going on between us. To me, that was probably the last thing I wanted to happen.

  I called her and she didn't answer. I left a message, but finally I just went down to see her. Her grandfather’s house wasn't too far from my own. Then I would be able to focus on something else. Right now, all I was focused on was her.

  When I got down to her house, her car was in the driveway, and I was just going to take that as a sign. I walked in after nobody answered. I figured that she didn't hear me knock. I didn’t feel too weird about doing it, since I was quite familiar with the house, even after all the years that had passed since I’d been in it.

  Calling out her name as I walked in, I looked around and saw that there was swaths of cloth everywhere. She had been busy, but what she was doing I had no idea. At least she wasn't packing everything to leave like she had been the last time I was there. I was so afraid of her leaving, but I knew that if she knew my secret, she just might. That was at the root of why I stilled my tongue, even though I wanted to share all of my life with her.

  When I finally found her, she was in her old bedroom and she had even more cloth thrown around in there. I asked her what she was doing, and she had been so involved with whatever it was, that she jumped when I finally spoke. She hadn’t even heard me come up or anything. She was obviously completely enthralled in whatever it was she was doing.

  “God, you scared me! I didn't know you were standing there. You can’t sneak up on people like that!”

  I apologized for scaring her, and she just waved me off like it wasn't a big deal. Considering how much she had jumped, I felt like it was. I wondered why she was so jumpy. What was she thinking about so hard that she had reacted in such a way?

  She was on the bed, hand sewing something together, and I leaned down to give her a kiss. She kissed me back, but it wasn't sweet like it usually was. She was holding back, and I could taste it. Why, though, I didn’t yet know.

  When I asked her what was wrong, she just shrugged.

  “I've just been busy. I tried to get ahold of you a couple of times, but it seems like you've been busy, too.”

  “Work has been crazy.”

  “I hear ya. I work a lot, too, but I don't usually work every single night. I didn't know that I wouldn't see you anymore once you started back to work. Do you always work like this?”

  “Do you?”

  I motioned to the work that was in her hand at that very moment. She waved me off and said that it was only to keep her mind occupied.

  “All I'm trying to do is forget. What's your excuse?”

  There was something more in the way that she asked. Right then, right then and there I should have told her the truth about Caroline. About all of it. It was a lot for her to take. It would be a lot for anybody to take, but I knew that I had to come clean. She wasn't going to be okay with not knowing and me just never saying anything. She could already tell that I was keeping something from her. How could we ever be together if she didn't know about the little girl that I called my daughter? It seemed like I was the one that was being ridiculous.

  I had that moment of clarity, where I wanted to say something, but then another part of me was convinced that it wasn't even an option. The only way forward was to just get through it and tell her the truth. So why was it so damn hard to come out with it then? Maybe I was just afraid that she would leave again. Was that it?

  “I don't have an excuse. I just got behind and when people give you their money to invest, they want to know what's going on. They want to get ahold of you, they want to go to meetings where you tell them how you're going to make them rich. I haven't been doing that because I was occupied with you. I guess I just have to get my face back out there, to assure them that I haven't run off with their money.”

  She looked away for a moment, and I knew
that it was because I was trying to make it seem like she was crazy. Obviously, there was no reason for her to be upset. I was just working after all. While it was the truth, it wasn’t the whole truth and I felt properly guilty about it.

  The very fact that I made her feel that way, actually made me feel bad. As much as I wanted to tell her the truth, apparently, I wasn't ready for it. Instead, I was ready to make her feel guilty, like it was her fault.

  “Sorry, I guess I'm just not used to a guy disappearing like that. Everything was going so good, and then you were just gone.”

  I showed her that it wasn't because I wanted to be gone. I would have much rather been with her, and I started to kiss her, hoping that she would remember the way we felt when we touched physically and forget about this bump in the road.

  Before long we were on top of all the clothing swaths and not worried about anything else. I wanted to believe that whatever was going on between us would be fixed. I was eventually going to tell her about Caroline. I was just looking for the right time. This was obviously not the right time. Or I was obviously still being a coward about it.

  “Do you really have to go?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “I miss you staying over. I miss waking up in your arms.”

  I told her that I might be able to stay over later in the week, but I couldn't make any promises. She didn't like that answer, but since there was no other one to give her, I couldn’t say any more. That was all I could offer at this time.

  I was putting my shirt on when I noticed the blue smudge on my sleeve and she did as well.

  “What in the world did you get on your shirt? Do you want me to try to get it out before you go? I might have some club soda around here.”