“Will anyone recognize who I am?” I ask Jasper anxiously as the nondescript black Merc revs up the driveway of the East Wing entrance.
“I have arranged a discreet shopping experience, Ms. Turner. Where we are going to is catered for privacy. No one will recognize you unless you run out in the streets and flag the paparazzi down. Everything your purchase will be on the expense account. You don’t have to swipe any credit cards.”
Jasper opens the back door for me. He does not seem friendlier towards me than before, even though he has seen me almost naked twice. It doesn’t matter. I can’t help it if no one likes me because of who I am.
But I can help being affected by it.
I’m about to enter the back passenger seat when Claire comes running down the stairs of the entrance.
“Wait for me!” she calls. “I’m coming along.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be at the hospital, your highness?” Jasper says with a hint of displeasure. Oh good, so he treats everyone else with disdain.
“They only let a certain amount of people in at one time.” Claire dashes into the backseat with me. “You don’t mind if I tag along, do you?”
“Of course not.” I wonder if I should be calling her ‘your highness’ as well. I also wonder if she would make this entire shopping trip an unpleasant experience. Still, it’s a good chance as any to bond with the younger sister of the love of my life.
Jasper gets into the front passenger seat, muttering something under his breath.
The car drives off.
“So,” Claire says brightly, “tell me what it’s like to be a hotel maid.”
Uh oh.
Well, I have nothing to be ashamed of. At least one royal, her brother, thinks so. So I tell her about my job and what it entails, and how I was trying to make ends meet for college because my mother was made redundant.
“You’ve opted out of college. How cool!”
It isn’t that cool actually.
“I’m just taking a hiatus,” I put in hastily. “I’ll be going back to college.”
When I can.
“So you toured Indonesia with my brother for a month. Tell me about it.”
She seems quite chatty and inoffensive today, and so I tell her all about our life in the villages – how we helped them erect a communal house, how we paid for a ‘doctor without borders’ to fly in to vaccinate the newborn babies.
“Fascinating,” Claire says with a twist to her mouth to suggest she doesn’t find it fascinating at all. “So how do you feel about my brother?”
I’m taken aback. Wow, this is sudden. I steal a look at Jasper in front, who has been listening to every word with pricked ears, I’m sure.
Again, I have nothing to hide.
“I love him,” I say.
“Do you really?” she says disbelievingly.
“Yes.”
“Is it because he’s who he is?” She raises her eyebrows. Her coloring and looks are exactly like her mother’s. “It’s a valid question and to protect my brother, I have every right to be asking it.”
Boy, she’s being brutally frank.
I say, “I understand. When I first met your brother, I didn’t know who he was.”
“I’ve heard the salacious details.” She flashes an impish smile. “Quite the stud my brother is.”
“I would love Alex even if he were a pauper,” I add.
“Even if he didn’t look the way he does?”
“Yes,” I say in confidence. Of course, Alex’s godlike looks are a major turn-on, but that’s beside the point. I have seen into Alex’s heart and fallen in love with the altruistic and impartial soul that resides within.
“Interesting. That’s what they all say, by the way.” Her expression turns cunning. “Did you know that my brother is quite the player?”
Well, I’ve Googled him a bit and he had been linked to a lot of supermodel types in the past.
“No, I didn’t,” I say. But that was the past, right? That was before he met me.
Right?
“Women throw themselves at him all the time. It’s obvious why. He’s got quite the roving eye. He may be with you now, but what’s to stop him from checking other girls out in the future? After all, he was with Tatiana until he met you.”
I’ve really never thought of Alex that way. In fact, it never even crossed my mind. He was with Tatiana? Really?
“Yeah, it has happened,” Claire says, smiling slyly. “Did he tell you that he loved you? He told Tatiana the exact same thing, and you can see how that went. I’m telling you all this for your own good, by the way. My brother can’t make a commitment, and you don’t want to be in a family who thinks you ought to be put back in your rightful place, do you now?”
An acute discomfort prickles the back of my neck.
No, no, she’s lying. You have to trust Alex.
And yet, when I recall all the Google articles and images of Alex with other women, a sliver of doubt crosses my mind. Alex the player. That was my initial impression, and dare I say – prejudice.
My voice quavers as I say, “What do all of you have against me? I have done nothing except stand by your brother when he needed me.”
“I have nothing against you personally, although I can’t speak for my mother.” Claire curls a finger around her hair. “You’re just not the type we would want for my brother’s girlfriend. What would the press say? A prince dating a hotel maid so that the palace can save on toilet cleaning?”
Now, that’s really vulgar and low. I physically wince. Claire has a cruel streak in her, I realize that now.
I was going to say that I am not going to remain a hotel maid forever, when it hits me again – what’s wrong with a prince being with a hotel maid? This isn’t the medieval ages. Heck, it isn’t even the middle of the twentieth century where there was an actual division of classes and races. The world has changed a lot, even if some of its citizens haven’t been dragged along for the ride.
“There’s nothing wrong in Alex dating me,” I say.
“If you seriously think that, you’ve got a rude shock coming. Anyway, we have reached Rue Chabon. We have a lot of shopping to do.”
Despite Claire rattling my confidence, I must admit to being impressed by Rue Chabon. This is apparently the Magnificent Mile of Moldovia. Its sidewalks team with fashionable shoppers in sunhats and pastel sundresses, and the storefronts are decorated with gorgeous clothes, purses, hats and accessories. All the designers are here – Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana, Chanel, Bottega Venetta, and even the newer ones like Zac Posen and Zubair Murad. Here and there, sidewalk cafes intersperse the designer stores. The whole place has the ambience of a French Riviera.