Page 5 of The Prince and the Double Shot
She was right. He looked so tightly wound that I was sure there was a giant stick up his ass to keep him that straight. “Shit… yes. But it was clean…”
“Not anymore, sunshine. How much do you wanna bet?”
“I’m broke.”
“Always,” she snickered. “How about we get out of here after our shift and I buy you a drink? Liquid courage for your big interview.”
“I could use all the courage I can get.” The doorbell dinged. “Welcome to Le Café Magnifique. What can I get you?”
Of course, he ordered a cappuccino. Di was always right.
PHIL
Princedelphia was not what I was expecting from an American city. Of course, I had only ever been to New York, so my experience was lacking. Itwasa city, but it was also quaint in its own way. The name of the city was not lost on me – fitting, actually. I had heard rumors of this place when I was in boarding school. But it was almost like a folk tale that would be whispered in the hallways after one of our own disappeared.
Where had he gone? Princedelphia, of course! Then we would all laugh, but under the laugh was something else. Sometimes it was true. A place where royalty could lose themselves… Or find themselves, as my mother hoped.
But how could you find something that was unfindable? I was broken, and Petra had my missing piece buried within his coffin.
The car careened around a curve way too fast. Is this how the commoners drove? I had never been in a taxi before, and it was not the most pleasant of experiences. “Do you always drive this fast?” I grabbed the handle above the door and clutched it tightly.
“It’s tourist time,” he said in an accent I could barely understand. “Where are you from? Europe somewhere?”
“Yes,” I hissed as he merged into traffic and sped up. “How about you?”
“I’m from Alabama, but I’ve been here for almost twenty years now. We’re almost there. That place has been a staple of this town for a long time. You can’t stay anywhere better than the Renverse Hotel. I’ll tell you that.”
“That’s what I was told.” My stomach dropped. I was used to traveling. I’d been to most of the world during my lifetime. America was the one place I had never cared to explore. But here I was, and now it was feeling very real. What was I supposed to do while I was here? It was odd to travel with no guards or servants. But there was something… exciting about it, in a way. I had never really been on my own before – not like this, anyway. Petra and I used to sneak out and drive places, but… I hadn’t been alone, and I hadn’t been somewhere that I didn’t know. A stranger in an even stranger land, if you believed the things they said about this country.
The car screeched as it turned onto the small ramp. A large hotel loomed in front of us.
My adventure was beginning, and I felt so numb. No… I was scared. I was scared that my mother was right, and I would lose Petra forever. I knew I couldn’t go on like this. I had a duty to my people that I would have to fulfill. They deserved me to be at my best, and I had been at my worst for so long that I couldn’t even remember what my best felt like.
We drove into the shadow of the hotel. A small circular courtyard catches my eye, and I squint at the large statue standing in the middle. People are milling around and chatting as if they are having a meeting of some kind. My castle is huge, but the hotel is much larger. I glance upwards through the window to the many stories looming above us. My skin feels electric as I wait for our turn to get to the entrance. ‘Tourist season,’ the driver said. We had tourists, too. But we were asmall country. Princedelphia’s borders alone would be almost as large. I was nothing here. My hand twitched. I was weak and stupid. Mother would not have sent me here if there was anything to fear. I knew that. But why was I shaking? I wasn’t a fucking child.
I took a long, slow breath and slowly let it out. There is so much concrete and not enough green spaces in this world. The Earth gave me comfort and my sparse magical abilities. My connection to the green spaces of this world was one of the only things that still brought me comfort. To communicate with a tree and to feel its lifeforce was a gift that my family had. Here, I would barely be able to use it. I had barely used it for the last two years, ever since Petra died.
I felt even more alone.
“Almost there.” The car jerked, and I put my hand on the back of the seat to steady myself.
The hotel looked like it had been added on to at some point. The styles of design almost fought against themselves. The oldest part felt European, but the addition looked much more modern. It was odd, but comforting in a way. Old and new - living together side by side. It was the same thing that I had to become. I had to find the newinsideme so I could overcome my past. I had to find a way to live in harmony, and this was to be my first step.
The car lunged forward, and I yelped as we quickly came to a stop. My door opened, and a handsome young man offered me his hand. “Welcome to the Renverse Hotel.” I took his hand and carefully extracted myself from the backseat of the taxi. “Go inside, and we will bring your bags right in.”
“Thank you,” I tried to smile, but it felt forced. I handed the man a ten-dollar bill before walking towards the large front doors. These I opened myself. If there was a doorman, he was nowhere to be found. I was not used to slumming it. The redcarpet of the lobby was bright, if not a little dingy in places. I walked over to the front desk and waited for the woman who sat behind it to acknowledge me.
“One moment,” she muttered without glancing up. “What’s a nine-letter word for confusing and evasive? Why do I do these things?”
“Obfuscate,” I chuckled.
“Mother fucker! You’re right.” She wrote the letters down on her crossword and then set it aside and stood up. With one glance, I felt judged.
“How is Margaurite? Is she still a bitch?”
“How did you…”
“Relax, Phillipe… Sorry, Phil is what I was told to call you while you’re our guest, isn’t it? Your mother and I have chatted, and I was expecting you. How was flying coach? It’s a shock to the system the first time. How do they make those seats so small?”
