ELSIDAThe lipstick applicator slides to my chin and Natasha bursts into my room. I groan and pin her with a glare. “When are you going to learn how to knock Nat?”Natasha snorts, “Oh please. You should be grateful that I’m here to keep you company, Lord knows what you would do with yourself.”I roll my eyes and huff at her while I adjust my lipstick. “What do you want, Nat?”Natasha smirks and drops a black gift box on my dresser. “You know Elsida, I’m surprised Prince Charming is letting you go for Landon’s birthday dinner all alone. He’s obsessed,” she murmurs as her gaze flickers between the gift and me.I ignore her words and my eyes zone in on the tiny black box, I feel a surge of anticipation trickle down my spine and I waste no time unwrapping it.Ever since our first date and the night I grew a pair of balls to kiss Adrian, he has been relentless with gifts; Black roses, jewelry, designer bags. The list was endless, I was yet to go through all the piles of boxes in my room.M
JULIEN“It was nice catching up with you Julien,” my childhood friend Kayden says, who I’ve barely paid attention to in the past hour.My eyes hover over the tracker on my phone I got for Elsida. Yes, I’m that obsessed. The fact that we are not together doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep tabs on the whereabouts of the most important, scratch that, only woman in my life.“Julien, Dude. What’s got you so worked up?”My gaze flicks back to him and I am in no position to hide my grimace, I let it splay across my lips. He takes a sip of his martini and a knowing look spreads across his lips. “Wait, don't tell me, it’s Elsida isn’t it? Aren’t you guys broken up or something?”I let out a sigh and placed my phone on the bar top. I empty my glass of martini before I give him my answer. “I’m worried about her, the tracker I installed on her phone says she’s still at Bastad Landon’s house and she’s been there for over four hours.”Kayden scoffs and eyes me disbelieving, “Stalker much. How and
ELSIDAI grimace when Herma’s arms wrap around my feet rendering me incapable of moving further. “Landon, this isn’t necessary, I’m sure we can talk this out.”Landon takes a long sip of his soup before his gaze flicks over to mine. “Ahh you see Elsida, I have to take drastic measures so things don’t get out of hand, Dig in will you? I swear my chef did a wonderful job on the buffet.”I scoff at his nonchalance and my fists clench at my sides.“If this is not out of hand, I don’t wish to know what your definition of out of hands is,” Natasha rasps pinning him with a death glare.From where she’s seated opposite me, I see her fingers tremble on the table when Herman moves to her.Her harsh words are a blatant facade and I know my baby sister is doing everything in her power to keep it together. She doesn’t deserve this, neither of us do and I’m not giving up without a fight, he can point a gun at me for all I care.I tilt my neck and eye Landon for a minute, when he senses my gaze bori
JULIEN The shock on Landon's face, when the police arrived, was enough to make my lips tug an inch upward. The only reason why my smile didn’t grow any further was because of the stark fear on Elsida’s face and the blood dripping from Natasha’s ear.“You bastard,” Landon hissed.I yawned as the cops restrained his arms. “Save that for your trial Lad,” I rasped.“What is this? I had no play in this! It was all my son, I had no clue of what he had planned, don’t take me!”Landon’s Father, Anthony Wilson continues to bellow as the cops pay no heed to his shouts.He was never the brightest, how he managed to succeed in business remained a mystery to me.“This isn’t over Elsida, I’ll be back. Make sure you have your plaything under control next time.” Landon murmurs before the door is pulled close silencing his aggravating mumbles.Elsida flinched and remained rooted to the spot, her body started to tremble and I didn’t think twice before I stalked her pulling my arms tightly around her.
ELSIDA “Guess whose car I just saw loitering in the alley?” Natasha says as she wiggles her brows at me.I roll my eyes, “I’m in no mood for guessing Nat, have you seen the crowd we have back in the Cafe?”Natasha sighs and with a huff, she retrieves the dishes I was about to serve and eyes me with an amused glimmer floating in her green hues.“Seriously Elsida, learn to take a hint. Prince charming is waiting for you. Don’t worry about your shift, I'll cover for you.”My blood pressure rises by a fraction as thoughts of Adrian ricochet through my skull. I had unintentionally ghosted him after the kiss and I guess the man doesn't take no for an answer.“Stop over-thinking it El, go!” Natasha bellows.I wipe my sweaty palms on my apron, pull it off then wash my hands before I make my way out of the restaurant.I school a small smile on my face when a bodyguard holds the door open for me followed by a nod.“Hello Princessa, for a moment I started to think you were avoiding me,” Adrian
JULIEN“Ahh Julien, what a wonderful surprise. I’ve been aching to see a familiar face. It's been quite lonely here.” Landon rasps, regarding me with an uncharacteristically bright smile for someone who was in jail awaiting trial.What game could he possibly be playing at? I mused as his smile grew wicked.“You seem chirpy,” I drawled.Landon shrugged. “What can I say, jail food is not particularly disgusting.”“Oh?” I murmured, taking his bait as my brows quirked higher.“So, did you bring good news?”I snort at his blatant display of obliviousness. Did this idiot think I came to salvage him? What a fool.“Well, if you consider facing trial next week Tuesday to be good news, Good riddance to you Landon.”Landon’s smile deems a fraction and I take it as my sign to leave him to his foolish nuances.I’m about to rise to my feet when he decides to grace me with his chirpy as-ever voice.“You know Julien, you’re a strong man,” he murmurs. His eyes rake over me with stark sympathy dancing
ELSIDAElsida lets out a ragged sigh. “I'm going to Spain next week with Prince Adrian for the European Royal Action.”Her Father manages to surprise her when his eyes light up and a smile stretches across his lips.“Wow Elsida, this is great news, you’re auctioning your art in Europe!”“Err yes…” I stutter and my gaze moves to the tablecloth.”That's not all. Dad, Natasha, I have something I need to tell you both.”Natasha scoffs and rolls her eyes, “Oh my gosh Elsida, skip the freaking dramatics.”Oh, when I tell her this she’d soon realize there is nothing dramatic about my behavior.“Okay Nat, I’ll save the dramatics. I got offered a job in Spain by Pere… to collaborate with them on their next collection. After a lot of thinking, I’ve decided to accept the job offer. I think a move is exactly what I need now.”Natasha flinches by my side and her hand on the fork stills. She looks up at me with a smile that barely reaches her eyes. “I’m happy for you Elsida, really,” she murmurs. Th
ELSIDA“Prince Adrian, I'm sorry to interrupt but your little sister is standing in front of the plane, requesting you come out soon or she will..” the hostess flinches before she completes her sentence.” tear it down?”I turn to Adrian and give him an amused look as he fights the urge to stifle a laugh at the sight of the hostess who genuinely looks frightened.Poor Melinda.“Ahh, thank you so much, Melinda, I will be out soon.”I burst into a fit of laughter when the hostess leaves. “Well your sister is cute, I can’t wait to meet her.”Adrian sighs and stretches an arm towards me.”Trust me Elsida, if you spend more than an hour with her, you’d think otherwise.”The way his lips involuntary tug upwards from just talking about her makes me think otherwise and I give him a knowing smirk.“Lead the way Prince Adrian,” I bow.He scoffs as we make our way out of the plane hand in hand, “Just Adrian Princessa.”“I’ll call you Adrian the day you stop calling me Princesa.” “Ahh, if that’s