Page 3 of The Prince and the Double Shot
“It’s exactly what I’m saying. I think you need to experience the life that Petra might have had if he had never met you, in a way ofmychoosing, of course. If you walked away from all of this, what would you have? Who would you be? I think you need to know the answer before you become the ruler of the Tranquilles. They deserve you to truly understand… you. I’m hoping this trip is the opportunity you need to find yourself again. Do you think a mother enjoys watching her son so lost and sad?”
“Honestly, I wasn’t sure you noticed.”
“Have I been that bad a mother?” She pursed her lips. “Do you remember all the times I kissed your scraped knees whenyou played with the servant’s children? Do you not remember the stories and the kisses until you thought you were too big for them? I never left you. I gave you space. That’s what I’m giving to you now.”
“Is this an order?”
“Yes. A royal one. Shall I have the house of Tranquilles vote on it, or will you just listen to your aging mother?”
I took the envelope and opened it. “Coach?”
“You are just Phil now. I hope that Phil can help you find whatever it is you lost.”
I knew Petra wasn’t there. How can you find the ghost of the only thing you can never have again?
ZANE
Iabsolutely hate cleaning the fucking foamer! Why doesn’t anyone else in this fucking café do their damn job? They clean the outside, and then all of the mechanics inside get screwed up because they didn’t take it apart and do what they were supposed to. Why can’t people follow stupid directions?
Humanity never ceases to disappoint me in every way.
That’s not fair. The guys here are great, I’m just… moody as shit most of the time. I get it honestly. My life is fucked. Still, I’m disappointed.
I’m sure my parents say the same thing about me to anyone who’ll listen! I am the biggest disappointment in their entire lives. I relish in it, actually. Their expectations were too much, too forceful, and the only option I had was to run away as far as I could. Especially when I saw what they were willing to do to their only son. A broken son. A son they didn’t want any longer.
Oregon... It still didn’t feel far enough. I could feel my mother’s discernment from across the world. She was a professional discerner.
I left their house when I was nineteen and ran away as fast as I could. I didn’t want any part of the family business, and they’d have to figure out what to do without me. It wasn’t my problem.That was now totally theirs. The only thing I cared about was keeping my job, dancing as hard as I could, and finding a nice man every now and then for some mattress yoga. The rest, I would figure out as I got older. Well, I was getting older, wasn’t I? But I was living. I was in charge of my own destiny. I had enough money to live. I made sure of that before I ran away. I wasn’t stupid. You’d be surprised what a few large jewels can get you on the black market.
I had money, but it wasn’t like… life money. I did need a job. After a year of running and hiding in fear of being found, I wound up here.
Layla had given me the opportunity and even a room for me to live in while I worked here at Le Café Magnifique. I had lived here for almost two years and eventually found my own apartment not far away. Layla was super sweet. Her wife scared the shit out of me, though. The way she sometimes looked at me as if she knew all of my secrets was alarming. She treated me kindly enough. But I still tried to keep my distance. I didn’t need people to figure out who I really was. If they knew, they’d treat me differently. They might not trust me. They might not even like me anymore.
A liar. I had been a liar my entire life, and I came from a long line of liars, so… Yeah. They’d think I was as bad a person as I knew my fucking family name made me. Especially my mother. She was like the mafia without being actually… Let’s just say that I ran away because I knew if I didn’t, I’d grow to be another one of them, and the world didn’t need any more assholes.
Fucking foamer…
I screwed the nozzle back in. It was really starting to get gross and probably needed to be replaced soon. I pushed it, and it tilted.
Yep.
Totally needed to be replaced.
Princedelphia was a total trip! I had no idea that this place would be so full of fucking royals. They were the absolute worst. Even the ones who tried really hard to pretend to be a normal person – they were probably theabsoluteworst. They just weren’t very good at it. That took someone who was a very good liar – a pro. You’d think that they’d excel, but they required constant attention. They were always easy to spot if you knew what to look for.
I turned and caught my reflection in the mirror, and stopped in my tracks as I stared at myself. My red hair was a fucking mess. The curls looked like a crow’s nest. I needed to get cute before I even thought about going out. Who’d want to fuck someone that looked like they belonged with the McDonald's clown? I was aging. Twenty-five was just a few months away.
A liar… I was one of the best. If Layla ever found out who I really was – what I really was – she might throw me out. She liked honesty, and the time for that had long passed.
I would throw myself out.
You should never trust anyone who lies to you. They’re snakes. I was a fucking pit viper.
I did miss parts of my home, though. The mountains in winter were truly one of the most beautiful things in the world. I missed ice skating on the frozen lake, and in the summer, I’d dive from the lower cliffs into its depths. I missed a few of my friends, even though they were never truly myfriends. I still wondered what had happened to them.
Five years…
A lot could happen in five years. They were probably married and had children.
