Royal Chase

If he knew, there’d be no way to tell if what was happening between us was real.

Genesis and I were making dinner. Michelle had left and Abigail had returned. Dante hadn’t come home, which made me think he was just going to travel from one location to the next. Michelle was from New York, and then he’d go to Iowa with Genesis and Georgia with me. Genesis had already packed her bags, and we talked about how worried she was for her aunt to meet him. “We’re not what you would call normal,” she said.

“Nobody ever is,” I reassured her.

That seemed to make her feel better. We again discussed how we imagined Abigail’s family trip had gone, because we hadn’t seen her come out of her room since she’d been back.

“Do you think it was a lot of tallyhos and pish poshes and hunting foxes?” Genesis asked.

“It depends on whether or not she comes from money. There were probably a lot of tea and crumpets involved, though.” Neither one of us had any idea about regular English family life. We hadn’t been to England and didn’t really know anything about the country other than what we’d seen on TV. Which wasn’t really fair, because if somebody judged Americans by our television shows, well, then nobody would ever visit our country again.

I did have one friend who was English, but she was a princess and there was no way to explain that.

“Do you think it’s weird to have feelings for someone you don’t even really know?” Genesis blurted out, not looking at me.

“What do you mean?” I ignored my jittery pulse, afraid of what she might say.

“I feel like there’s things I should know about him but don’t because we hardly get to spend any time alone together and he’s always asking about me. Like, how many brothers and sisters he has. His favorite kind of car. His favorite movie or his favorite song. I don’t even know what his major was in college.”

“Philosophy.”

She looked so sad. “You seem to know a lot about him.”

I wanted to tell her why. It seemed unfair for her not to know. I kept thinking about what I wanted and how this all affected me, but what about Genesis? She really liked Dante. Should I step aside to give them a real shot? Was I confusing things for him by being there?

And how could I explain that I had found out his major the one time he visited me in Colorado, and after that was all over, I didn’t know if he’d ever speak to me again?

Graduation day, Brighton, Colorado. Nico and Kat had been engaged for a couple of weeks, and he had flown out to see her graduate. She hadn’t seen him since they got engaged, although they e-mailed, texted, and FaceTimed constantly, and she stood at our window in her red cap and gown, waiting for him. She offered to pick him up from the airport in my car, but he didn’t want her to have to deal with the paparazzi who waited for him. No one had told them Nico was coming into the country, but it was a safe and correct bet that he would come for our graduation.

Sterling was still at his hotel. We had just gotten engaged ourselves the night before, and he planned to pick me up a bit later to take me to the ceremony. A week earlier Nico had offered me the opportunity to represent his family and their public relations interests. It had never occurred to me to start my own company, but I absolutely loved the idea. I researched online what I needed to do, and talked to some of the professors from my department and some from the Anthony School of Business. I hired my own attorney and began the process of forming my very own corporation. It was so exciting. It felt like my life was finally on track, and everything I’d ever dreamed of was finally coming true.

I had the right man, the right career path, and I was graduating from college. Everything was perfect.

“He’s here!” Kat threw open the door and ran down the stairs to greet Nico. A line of paparazzi formed behind his car, and Nico’s security got out first to stop the photographers. Nico jumped out of the back of the limo to meet her halfway. He picked her up in his arms and swung her around, and then they kissed. That kiss ended up on the cover of about a dozen different magazines.

I watched them, so happy to be together. I was happy for them, happy for myself, just full of happy.