Page 31 of Kiss My Crown
I work my way through numerous meet and greets without any snarky comments. When lunch time comes I head into the staff building and look around for Justin. I was hoping that he might get a break around the same time that I did. No such luck.
I grab my tray and find Melanie sitting at a table. “Hey! How’s your day been? Seen any woodland creatures?”
“Oh my God. I thought you forgot about that.” Melanie’s face drops.
“Nope, but I’m totally not making fun of you for it. That counts for something.” I smile.
“You’re in a good mood. That’s nice instead of your normal scowl.” She throws her roll at me and both of us laugh.
I take a bite. “After lunch, I think I’m going to take a walk over to The Seven Seas and see if I can get Justin to talk to me.”
“Well, good luck with going into enemy territory.”
I look around us and see the majority of people looking my way and whispering. “This whole place is enemy territory lately. I was hoping that maybe they would have found something more interesting to talk about.”
“I mean, the park royalty dating the leftovers that no one wanted? I don’t know that anything will top that for a while.”
I look at her, shocked that Melanie would say something like that.
“Hey, not my words.” She shrugs.
“Whatever, go get lost in some bushes.” I wink at her before getting up, excited to try and work things out with Justin.
I walk toward the pirate area and start to get really nervous. I have never been the one to chase a guy. I haven’t even asked a guy out before.
The show is going on right now. I see Justin in the middle of the crowd surrounded by his friends. I watch the boys surrounding them excited and so into what they’re doing. The pirates’ swords are out and they are fighting each other then showing the kids a few moves before they let them try it.
As I watch I can’t help but wonder why they got such a bad rap around here. It actually looks really fun and the kids seem to be enjoying it. The show ends and the crowd dissipates. I take a deep breath and start to walk their way.
One of Justin’s friends notices me and nudges him. He looks surprised when his eyes meet mine. Once I’m standing in front of him I lose all my courage and forget everything I had planned to say. “Hey,” it’s all I come up with.
“Princess, you’re far from the castle. Are you lost?” He quirks an eyebrow at me.
“I just wanted to talk to you and say I was sorry.” I bite my lip nervously.
“Ah, royalty apologizing to a lowlife pirate. That’s something you don’t see very often. I think you should go back to your castle. I wouldn’t want the people to start talking about you.” He gives me a nod before walking away.
Well, that was nothing like what I wanted to happen.
“Hey, my sword is bigger than his if you’re interested,” the one pirate says as he looks over at me.
That, is why people hate them.
I walk back to my area of the park, forcing myself to smile because I have to. My afternoon is just as jam-packed as my morning was.
I text the girls.
He wouldn’t talk to me. I think it’s over.
I put my phone away and make my way toward the restaurant I’m scheduled to be at.
I spend the rest of the day trying to be happy and enjoy the things I’m scheduled for. I don’t, though. All I can think about is how some people would kill for this job and I spend every day hating it.
I really need to reevaluate what the hell I’m doing.
Dani opens my door and it bangs against the wall. “That’s it, get up.”
I look up from my pile of blankets. “I don’t feel like going anywhere. You guys head out without me.”
