My Prince

“Harry, what the hell?” I yelled.

However, Harry took one glance at Callum and something changed in his eyes.

“Oh,” was all Harry said.

“You… you’re… You’re the prince!” Callum stuttered. “Oh my– I mean, do I bow? It’s so nice to meet you, your highness.” Callum awkwardly bent at the waist in an attempt at a bow.

Harry continued to glance between Callum and me. I wanted nothing more than to shrink into nothingness. Of course, of course, this would happen. Why wouldn’t it?

I turned to Callum. “Callum, His Royal Highness Prince Harry, Prince Harry, this is Callum.”
“Do I shake your hand? Can I shake your hand? Is that allowed?” Callum was stuttering. His voice was about five octaves too high. I would have laughed had I not been in such an awkward position.

“Sure,” Harry said, surprising both of us and extending his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Callum.” He gave a hard shake. Definitely harder than it needed to be.

I was biting the inside of my cheek, not really knowing where to go from here. For the love of all things that are holy, I did not want Callum to know Harry was the guy I had told him about.

“Is this about work?” I asked Harry. “As I understand it, I was allowed to take this time off.” I was glaring deep into Harry’s eyes, trying to mentally deliver the message not to say anything about what had happened between us.

Another quick glance between Callum and me and Harry replied, “Sort of, though it’s privileged information if you don’t mind.”

Clever bastard.

“Oh!” Callum exclaimed. “Of course. I’ll leave you two to it.” He inched around Harry’s figure, giving him plenty of space. Once he was behind Harry his eyes exploded and he pointed at the prince as if to say, THIS IS WICKED! Luckily, Harry was facing me so he didn’t see anything.

I closed the door and sighed loudly. “Harry, what are you doing here?”

“I needed to explain what happened but when I got to your work, they said you had to leave for a family emergency. William wouldn’t release your address to me until this afternoon.”

“Trust me, you don’t need to explain anything. Alfred told me everything.”

“What?”

I massaged my temple, beginning to feel a headache coming on. “Yeah, he told me all about you and Olivia and why he needs to be the center of media attention.”

Harry’s face went from begging to shock. “He… what?” he repeated.

I crossed my arms, getting tired of his games. “I get it, okay? Maybe she was away or something and you needed someone so you didn’t feel lonely or whatever, and I was the easiest target.”

“Carolina, no–”

I continued without missing a beat, “I mean, I was the new girl. I hardly knew the rules and you used that to your advantage. I shouldn’t be the one you need to say sorry to. You should apologize to your girlfriend. Does she even know you’re here?”

“Carolina, she’s not my girlfriend.”

I gave him the are you kidding me? look. “Okay,” I said sarcastically.

“I’m being serious! I mean – yes, granted, we were dating a while ago. But we broke up months ago. Please, you have to believe me, Carolina.”

“God, would you stop saying my name?” I yelled, pushing past him and heading for the kitchen. Damn, I wished I had bought some sort of alcohol at the store now. Not to drink, but to throw something solid at his head. “I know what I saw, okay? A woman doesn’t come down the stairs wrapped in your sheets for nothing. I’m not stupid, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t treat me as such.”

I looked inside the fridge if only to have something to do. I didn’t want to see his face. Nor did I want him to see mine.

“I don’t-I don’t think you’re stupid, alright? I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make you think that. It’s just… God, would you please just look at me?”

I slammed the door shut and spun around. “What?” I yelled. “What do you want, Harry?”

When he spoke, he spoke slowly as if he had chosen his words very carefully before even stepping inside my house. “I did not sleep with her. She didn’t even sleep in my bed. She had just returned from a trip abroad but her house wasn’t finished when she returned, so she needed a place to spend the night. That’s it. She stayed in one of the guest bedrooms, I swear.”

I remembered how she came down the stairs, clutching the blood-red sheets around her presumably naked frame. In truth, I never got to see Harry’s bedroom, so I had no way to tell what color sheets he had, or if he was even telling the truth right then.

I shook my head. “Look, Your Highness, I really don’t have time for all of this, okay? I’ve got a million things going on and… I’ll just – I’ll see you at work, okay?”

“Please, Car, you have to believe me. I’m not that kind of guy.”

“How do I know that? God, Harry, I don’t even know you! This–” I pointed between us “–has been a terrible idea from the start. Let’s just drop it and pretend it didn’t happen, okay? I think that would be best for everyone.”

I could almost feel the physical pain showing in his eyes. I had to look away.

“Please…” he whispered. “Please don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?” I had to keep my voice strong. I had to pretend I didn’t see the hurt in him. “Break us up? Nothing even started, so there’s nothing to break up over,” I said, repeating my own words to Callum earlier.

Silence fell and I couldn’t look at him anymore. I could feel his eyes on me, though. Every inch of me. Unspoken words hung in the air like a damp cloud, though no one spoke them.

“Will I see you at work?” he eventually asked.

I swallowed. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I don’t even know when I’ll be back at work.”

“William said you had a family emergency but didn’t tell me anything beyond that. What’s been going on?”

I waved a hand. “It doesn’t affect you, Your Highness. Don’t worry about it.” I continued to keep my eyes low. I definitely didn’t want to burden the prince with silly commoner drama, let alone mine.

“Talk to me,” he whispered, inching a step or so closer. I kept my eyes on his shoes, measuring his distance. “Is everything all right?”

Involuntarily, I scoffed. “Yeah, everything’s peachy.”

“Is this place yours?”

I took this chance to finally look at him and I saw him glancing around the place. He tried to hide it, but I see a faint look of shock on his face.

“No,” I sighed. “It’s my mother’s. I know, it needs to be cleaned up.”

Harry eyed the one clean spot on the counter and the opened oven door. “He was helping?”
Why, yes, that was a bit of jealousy in his voice.

I glared at him. “Harry, don’t start. You and I kissed, what, twice?”

He held his hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. I’m just looking out for you.”

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. “I can take care of myself.”

“So, if this place is your mother’s, is she here? Can I meet her?”

I gritted my teeth. Should I lie? I felt like that would be a terrible thing to do to the prince.

“Not exactly,” I answer slowly. He looks at me, confused. I would like nothing more than to stop speaking right now and usher him out the door but I have a feeling he wouldn’t stand for it. “She’s not really… well. She’s staying at the hospice.”

At the last word, something changed in Harry’s face. It was too much, so I had to look away again. I busied myself with putting the cleaning supplies away from earlier and putting the half-finished non-alcoholic margarita mix in the fridge.

“Is she… I mean, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but…” Harry was fumbling for words. I was glad that, for once, it wasn’t me fumbling.

I took in a deep breath and exhaled it as slowly as possible. “Callum and I were friends going up. He’s her doctor now, which I didn’t know until he walked into her room at the hospice. He doesn’t think she has long.”

“I’m so, so sorry, Carolina.”

I shrugged. “Look, it’s fine. She and I weren’t close. I just have to focus on cleaning this house up to sell it once she does pass. Callum was just helping with that.”

“I can help if you want. It’s too late for me to drive back to London right now anyway.”

I looked at the clock on the wall, wondering if it even told the correct time anymore.

“To be honest, I just want to go to sleep, Harry.” I was not about to offer him a room here – either he would have to stay in my room where Callum and I just had sex or my mother’s room. I didn’t even know the state of that room yet, nor did I particularly think it would be fit for a prince.

He nodded back to the stairs. “Go to sleep. I’ll take care of this.” He motioned around the general area of the kitchen.

I looked at him like he was crazy. “You’re kidding, right?”

“What?”

I laughed at the ridiculous situation. “You can’t be serious. You’re a prince. You can’t clean for me.”

Harry cocked an eyebrow. “You think I don’t know how?”

I titled my head, trying to envision him wearing an apron and rubber gloves and going to town on the stove. I couldn’t.

“No,” I answered, “I don’t think you do.”

“Go upstairs, go to sleep. When you wake up, you won’t even recognize this place.”

“You’re not tired?”

He shook his head. “Not in the slightest.”

I really was tired from all the traveling, cleaning, and general anxiety about seeing my mother. I pointed out all the cleaning supplies under the sink, slapped him on the back, wished him luck, and headed to the stairs.

I didn’t know what I would find in the morning, but it certainly wasn’t that. When I came down the stairs, I heard snoring from the couch in the living room. But I gasped at what I saw.

Not a fleck of dirt or dust was on the floor. I didn’t hear it, but Harry even hovered the rugs. He may have even scrubbed the walls, for all I know. I didn’t recognize the house I just walked into. In the kitchen, the counters nearly shone from cleanliness. The sink was clean from clutter, all rust stains had disappeared. The linoleum floors glittered from his mopping skills.

I didn’t know if the prince liked coffee or not, but I made a pot and poured some in a mug with a splash of milk and sugar.

I walked back into the living room to see a handsome prince snoring loudly on the couch, a quilted blanket draped over him but still much too small. His feet were left uncovered as well as most of his chest. His right arm was thrown over his head, covering his eyes, his mouth parted slightly. Even the pillows in the two chairs in the corner were fluffed. Granted, the stains still remained in the carpet. I doubted there was a way to ever get those out, other than replacing the carpets altogether.

I rounded the couch and nudged him. It took a couple tries, but he finally removed his arm from his eyes and looked up at me. He must have been confused on where he was for a moment, but then he gained his bearings.

“Good morning,” he said to me, yawning halfway through.

“You did all this?” I motioned around the room.

He sat up, stretching his arms out in front of him, and looked around. “Yeah. Did I do alright? Did I pass the test?”

I scoffed. “Coffee?”

“Ooh, gimme, gimme,” he said, reaching for the mug.

“I didn’t know how you liked it–”

He eagerly took a sip and said, “Coffee is coffee. I’ll take it any way I can.”

I sat on the now-cleaned coffee table, moving aside a neatly piled stack of old magazines. “I can’t believe you did all this.”

He took a couple more sips of the coffee. “There’s about half a dozen rubbish bags out front.”

I tried not to laugh at the state of his hair. It was sticking up at all odd ends but somehow made him look even more adorable.

“Are you allowed to be here?” I asked after a moment of silence between us. “I mean, I imagine you have half a million things to do back in London.”

He held his arms out. “I’m the prince. I can do what I want.” He laughed and lowered his arms. “I’m sorry, I’ll never do that again. Um, but no, not really. Willy said he’d take care of the morning for me.”

“Yeah, speaking of William – why does he think you’re here?”

Harry shrugged and looked down at his mug. “I just told him I needed to make something right.”

“He doesn’t know, right? About us, I mean, and what happened.”

“No, of course not. I know how he feels about these types of things.”

I let out a small breath. “Okay, good. So – um – do you, like, want some breakfast? I’m not much of a breakfast person but I could make some eggs and toast or something, if you like.”

“No, it’s fine. I should head back soon anyways. I assume you want to see your mother and I don’t want to be a bother.”

I laughed. “You’re a prince, I don’t think it’s even possible for you to be a bother. But no. I’m in no rush to go and see her. You’ve taken away much of my excuse to waste time this morning, actually.” Another laugh as I looked around the spotless room. “I could probably do the upstairs for a bit before heading to her.”

“Can I ask what’s wrong with her?”

My palms were suddenly soaking with sweat. “She’s got end-stage liver cancer. Apparently, she’s had it for months.” I made sure not to make eye contact with him. I knew he would pity me.

“She didn’t tell you?”

“Well, we’ve never had that close of a relationship.”

“Oh, Carolina, I’m so, so sorry.”

I waved dismissively. “Don’t be sorry. If you knew her, you’d know she’s had this coming for a long time.”

“Still.” He reached out and took my hand. “I am sorry. No one should have to go through this alone.”

I stared at our connected hands, embracing the feel of his warm, soft hand on mine. I wanted to feel his touch forever. I remembered our shared kiss in his kitchen, tasting of vanilla, his lips on mine cold yet igniting a fire somewhere deep within me.

I broke our hands to break the image in my head. Those moments are gone, I had to tell myself. They can never happen again.

“Right,” Harry said, clearing his throat. “I should get going. You’ll let me know if you need anything?”

I knew he was just being polite, but I appreciate the gesture. I nodded, took the mug from him, and led him to the front door.

“Thank you, again, for doing all this.” I motioned to the room. “You really didn’t have to do that.”
His eyes were sparkling in the morning light filtering in through the windows. “I know.” His voice was so soft, so sweet – I could feel it wrapping around me like a cozy blanket on a winter night. I wanted to drown myself in it, and it nearly broke me in half knowing that I couldn’t.

I unlocked and opened the front door. “I’ll see you around,” I lied. I knew I had to do my best not to run into him at work anymore. It would only deepen the wounds. I liked him way too much for my own good, and that would get us both nowhere. Honestly, what did I really think? That he and I would fall in love and I’d become a princess like some damned Disney movie? This wasn’t a cartoon. It was stupid, stupid delusion to have.

He walked out the door but turned back to me. Stupidly, I hoped he would kiss me one more time. He didn’t. He only gave me a warm smile and walked away. I shut the door quickly so he wouldn’t have to see my broken expression. I looked down at the mug in my hands, knowing that his lips had touched the edge. I wish they had touched me, just one last time.

I cleaned out the mug and slowly made my way upstairs where I made my bed and jumped into the shower. I forgot how much worse the water pressure was in my house compared to my London flat. It took nearly ten minutes just to shampoo because my hair was still half dry. By the time I finished my morning tea, it was already nearing noon. I began to gather my things to head to the hospice when I tried to find the paper listing my mother’s bills. I searched the table, counters, drawers, even my bedroom but couldn’t find it anywhere. I triple checked my own bag just to make sure it wasn’t lost somewhere in a pocket. Eventually, I gave up. Perhaps Callum or Harry or even I threw it out without realizing what it was. Besides, the hospi ce would have another copy in their system so it really didn’t matter.

I walked the 20 minutes back to The Shakespeare Hospice but when I entered the front doors, everyone seemed to be in a tizzy. The woman who greeted me yesterday somehow grew her smile two times larger. It was almost creepy. I wondered how her face didn’t just split apart at the effort.

“Miss Pearson!” she exclaimed upon noticing me walking in.

I almost stopped in my tracks, surprised she remembered me from just one visit the day before.

“Hi.” I walked up to the counter, signing in. “What’s going on?” Two nurses down the hall were giggling to each other, and I could have sworn one even pointed at me.

“You’re never going to believe it!” the woman – Macy, I realized upon looking at her nametag – said across the counter.

I signed my name again onto a visitor’s sticker. “What?”

“The prince was here!”

Oh no.

Were there reporters outside my house? Did they see him? How could it have been out already? Does everyone here know now that he spent the night at my house? Oh God, William is going to kill me when he finds out that I caused another media storm.

“In Stratford? Which prince?” I said, trying to be shocked. Act like you didn’t know, act like you didn’t know…

Something in Macy’s eyes was lighting up. “No!” she exclaimed. “Here! The hospice! Prince Harry!”

My blood went ice cold. Harry was here?

“What?” Was all I could manage.

“Yeah!” Her voice was exploding with excitement, all of her words were now coming out as a high squeal. “And you’ll never guess what he did.”

Oh Christ, what did the boy do now?!

“Wh-What did he do?”

“He paid for Mary’s bill! Your mother’s expenses have been paid off indefinitely! He asked about her specifically. How do you know him??”

Her words weren’t making sense. “Wait – he what?”

Macy was nodding her head frantically. “He walked in here, asked for Mary Pearson’s bill, and – well, I told him I wasn’t allowed to give her information out – but he said he’d pay the bill in its entirety, plus told me – he spoke to me, can you believe that? – to keep his card on file for future expenses. Isn’t that amazing?”

I wasn’t in control of my facial expressions anymore, but I tried to give her a smile. I don’t think it worked. I couldn’t find the bill because he took it for the sole purpose of paying it off. I almost wanted to cry. I could feel my eyes welling up so I quickly thanked Macy before heading toward my mother’s room. I passed the two gossiping nurses who now definitely were pointing at me in shock. I heard Macy calling my name, still asking how I knew Harry. I ran into room 007 and shut the door behind me. My hands were shaking. I was afraid for a second that Harry might even be in the room but it was empty except for the skeleton that resembled my mother lying in the bed. She was still blissfully asleep, without any idea that a member of royalty just changed my life for the umpteenth time.

Notes