<2> T H E P R I N C E S S 'S F I A N C E

The busy streets of Silléaco were packed, the traffic was insane. Yellow taxis were going up and down the road and there was a sea of people going in every direction. We were literally running and dodging in between them as we hurried towards Simón's art theatre. We were supposed to clean the place and arrange everything before his show in about three hours. That was why Mattie asked Denise to go with us because the place was huge and we obviously needed an extra hand to get things done quickly. Simón was standing impatiently at the entrance of the theatre when we arrived and he didn't look very impressed.

"You are late!" Those were his first words as we stood in front of him

"Sorry Simón, the bus came bit late than usual and---"Mattie started to explained to him but was cut off rudely by the man

"And is that my problem?"The man uttered irritatingly, his eyes moving between the three of us"Look Matilda ,I gave you this job because you begged for it. I could have given it to more professional people but I wanted to help you since you clearly could use the money but you are very ungrateful. Do you know how important today's show is ?"

Matilda's jaw clenched ,her nose flaring up as she looked over at Simón "Ungrateful? What the fuck are you talking about? I just told you that the bus came late. What were we supposed to do ? Fly here?"

"Now you are fucking giving me an attitude on top of that" Simón spat

"Fuck Yes! Or should we be grateful for you Mr Simón for talking to us like that huh ,is that it? You must be out of your damn mind Mister"

One thing about Mattie was that ,she didn't take shit from anybody ,it didn't matter who you were. You wouldn't just come out to Matilda Omán and disrespect her any how you wanted and expect her to take it. That was just never going to happen.

"Well I don't need your service anymore. You can all fuck off" Simón said to us rudely

"Just when I was about to tell you to shove your stupid little job up your ass"

"What did you say?" Simón said angrily, stepping up to Matilda. I was sure he was going to hit her but Mattie stood her ground seemingly unfazed by the taller man.

"You heard me "Mattie told him straight to his face" Or what are you going to do ? You are going to hit me ? Well you can try and see how I make money out of you. You would have two choices, either your ass goes to jail for assaulting a woman or pay a very heavy fine and just so you know ,I won't go easy on you"

"You fucking bagger!"Simón countered disgustingly, stepping away from Mattie "No wonder you ended up on the streets. You are so fucking disgusting"

"Who are you calling a bagger?"Matilda was ready to pounce on Simón but I quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards me

"YOU DON'T TALK TO HER LIKE THAT!" The words threw out of my mouth as I stepped forward. How dare he talks to Maddie like that?

I wasn't a person who liked yelling or screaming. I didn't even like talking much. I was very quiet and shy but I smiled a lot. I hardly even got angry but Simón was stepping the line. In fact he had already stepped the line.

"You don't fucking say that to people. Just because your life is all nice ,doesn't mean you should insult her like that" I said angrily. The people that were passing by were starting to be aware of the scene

"Yeah whatever, just go away from here"Simón said carelessly as he turned around and started walking back inside the theatre

"YOU ARE VERY STUPID! YOU UGLY-BIG-BELLY LOOKING ASS MAN. YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"Mattie yelled after him but Simón ignored her as he closed the door behind him without looking back

Matilda was fuming as she frustratingly ran a hand through her red hair "Just who the fuck he thinks he is ? Just because he's got money, he thinks he's better than me ?"

"No ,he is not "I said "But it's over now. Let's just go away from here"

"Annie is right Matilda. Let's go from here. People are looking "Denise said for the first time and true , people were staring and whispering amongst themselves

"WHAT? DON'T YOU'ALL HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO?"Matilda literally screamed at them"People can't just fucking mind their own business , can they?"

"Hey Mattie ,come on , let's go!"I dug my head as I forcefully grabbed her hand and started dragging her away with me with Denise right next to us.

That woman was a real hothead.

*

*

A while later ,we were sitting on the bench at the park. Matilda had calmed down a while ago but she wasn't necessarily in the friendliest mood. It was always like that with her , it took time for her to actually get over things , like literally in everything. When she was mad ,she was mad and nobody knew when she would come around, only she knew. It was even possible that she was going to stay moody for the rest of the day. At first I didn't understand it but as time went by I learnt that everything was the reflection of her past that she never talked about.

Mattie had a lot of anger that could be triggered even with the slightest issue. I had tried multiple times to make her open up a little but she just never did or even bothered to. Despite being friends for so long ,I still didn't know how she ended up being homeless but she knew almost everything about me. She never asked me to tell her about myself but I decided to talk because I felt like I could trust her. It made sense why she never asked because she didn't want to have to open up too. I didn't like that for her but I didn't want to force her to talk either because she clearly didn't want to or else she would have said something a long time ago.

I pushed back on the bench with a sigh ,my head leaning back against its ridge as I looked up at the blue sky. The only job we had for today was screwed and we had nothing else to do ,it seemed.

That was what we did for a living, got odd jobs around the town which mostly involved cleaning, like washing the dishes at some diners and restaurants , sweeping at some clubs or pubs and cleaning other people's houses ,in fact we did literally everything that could give us a little penny. Obviously some people didn't trust us and would refuse to give us work because...well ,we were homeless and little unkempt at times but those who did were because they felt bad for us and genuinely wanted to help.

"Did you guys hear that Princess Catherine's fiance is coming back from States? I heard that the royal family is hosting a welcome party for him at the palace tomorrow"I heard one of the girls who were passing by say to the other two girls she was walking with

The three of them looked so nice in sets of leggings and sports bras. Their beautiful hairs fixed up in ponytails and the other one had on a visor cap on her head.

Sometimes I couldn't help it but stop and stare and admire how beautiful other women were. So clean and confident and comfortable and enticing , god I envied them so much. I wished I could be like that one day. Like wear nice clothes, style my hair and put on makeup. I wanted to feel pretty like every other girl out there.

But of course a girl like me could only wish

"Yeah I heard. My parents were talking about it this morning"The one with the visor cap on said to them"We actually got an invite"

"Oh my god! Can I tag along Nisa?"The last of the three exclaimed hopefully , earning chuckles from the other two girls

"I'm sure my parents won't mind"Nisa smiled at the other girl , making her squeal excitedly

"Well my parents and I will be there too"The first one added "And the only reason I'll be there is to see the fiance. I heard the man is very hot!"

"Well they don't lie darling. That man! Oh my god!"The Nisa girl said dreamily before taking out her phone"I have many pictures of him on my phone, let me show you"

I watched as the girls jumped excitedly, swooning after being shown the photo.

I wouldn't lie ,I wanted to see it too. I was curious

"Fuck! That's one hell of a man! The face, the body! God I want him please!"

"I'm going to pretend to be sick tomorrow at the party ,so he can check me out "

"He's a Surgeon Ella"Nisa chuckled

"Still..a doctor"Ella shrugged"I would love to feel those hands on my body. Wouldn't you?"

The three girls laughed as they started walking away again and talking more about the man. I looked after them , suddenly feeling curious about the crowned princess's fiance. I knew Princess Catherine was engaged to someone ,well everyone in Galloway knew that obviously but I didn't know to who exactly but I've heard that the man wasn't a fellow royal but from one of the wealthiest noble family in the country.

"Who is Princess Catherine's fiance?"I found myself asking after a while

"Were you listen to those girls?" Denise asked instead

"Weren't you?"I countered, furrowing my brows at her and she sighed. Obviously she was listening too like I was and it wasn't like those girls were not loud enough for us to hear

"Who is he?"I asked again , looking over at Mattie on my left but she only shrugged, clearly uninterested. I wasn't surprised that she didn't know, the woman just never cared about things that didn't concern her or me.

I looked to my right as I asked Denise "Do you know him?"

I couldn't help my curiosity

"I only know his name and that he went to States after getting engaged to the princess to finish off his study to become a doctor or something like that" Denise told me

"What's his name?"

"Stephen Pául"

That name made my stomach feel weird. That kind of weirdness I felt when that mysterious man in the black car looked at me earlier.

Oh god him!

A smile broke to my face as his handsome face flashed back in my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about that man for some reason. He was haunting my mind.

"Why are you smiling like that?"Denise lifted her brow as she looked at me suspiciously

"Nothing!" I lied, wiping the smile away as I repeat "Nothing at all"

Denise shrugged, letting it go "Anyways I think we should head to the palace tomorrow too"

"And do what at the palace Denise ? Are you even invited?"

"Of course I'm not invited Annie"Denise rolled her eyes at me before she continued"But I was thinking we'll go there a little bit after the party and ask for you know....leftovers? Or what do you think Mattie?"

"Yeah, we'll go there tomorrow "Matilda said standing up from the bench and looked at the both of us "I think since the theatre work is screwed ,we should separate and hunt for work to the streets we haven't yet. Maybe one of us will get something "

"You are right" I said ,standing up too and Denise doing the same next to me "I'll go to Alávi Street down the road"

"I'll take Seven Ridge Park Avenue "Denise said , pointing her finger at the said direction

"And I'll take the Main Road once again and visits the shops and stores or whatever I didn't yesterday" Mattie told us "Okay guys , see you back at the camp. Take care of yourselves"

"You too "I smiled, hugging her and then we separated, going in different directions

*

*

Later that day ,I found myself at some small cozy bakery owned by an older couple ,Mr & Mrs Blackwood. The couple was so nice and just like yesterday at that house I was offered food too, a very delicious pastry I have ever eaten in my life before I started washing the dishes, which weren't many honestly, just a couples of spoons ,bowls ,mugs and pans. The bakery was not necessarily hiring but Mrs Blackwood and her husband felt the need to accommodate me even just for a day.

After I finished with the dishes, Mrs Blackwood insisted that I stay behind until they close. We talked a lot and even teached me few basics of baking. I watched while she did her thing and I suddenly felt like that was what I wanted to do.

I fell in love with it.

"It was so nice having you here my dear" The older lady said, smiling warmly at me. We had just closed the shop

"Thanks for having me Mrs Blackwood. It was so nice, I enjoyed myself "I told her happily

"You can come over anytime you want. And I can even teach you how to bake if you are interested"

"Oh my god! I would really love that. Thank you!"

"You are welcome my dear"Mrs Blackwood chuckled, caressing the side of my face lovingly"You are a very good child Annie. And I hope your life gets better soon"

I smiled , feeling the familiar moisture of tears in my eyes"I hope so too"

"Okay I have to go now my child. Do you need anything at all? A lift ?"

"No no I'm fine. I'll take the bus" I insisted and she nodded, giving me a hug "And thank you for these"

I referred to the plastic bag in my hand that was containing a loaf of bread, cookies ,rolls and muffins that Mrs Blackwood had gave to me

"No problem my dear. Okay Bye-bye!"

"Bye!"

I watched as the older lady walked away towards her husband's car and I waved at them one last time before I turned too and started to walk away from the shop with a happy smile on my face and a fifty dollar note safe in my pocket.