Stranded

by Chance Carter

  Confidence was the name of the game as I strolled into the kitchen. The white-haired figure hunched over the kitchen island glanced up slowly upon my arrival, narrowing her pale blue eyes.

  “Where are you crawling in from?” Nana asked in a gravelly voice.

  She tapped at the screen of her tablet several times before the video paused.

  “Where am I coming from?” I grabbed a glass and furrowed my brow with feigned confusion. “I should ask the same thing. Sneaking around the kitchen at all hours...”

  She grunted and picked up the mug of tea next to her tablet, watching as I filled the glass with water.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “I came down to make myself a cup of tea and watch some television.”

  I gestured to the laptop, bringing the glass to my lips. “What are you watching?”

  Ah, sweet refreshment. There is nothing in this life that can satisfy more than a glass of water when one is parched. Well, besides sex, I suppose. If I had to choose between the two, I’d have a hard time.

  “Princess of Nowhere. It’s my new favorite show.”

  I finished the glass and wiped my mouth on the back of my hand. “Never heard of it.”

  “No, too busy partying like a seventies rock star.” Nana laid the full force of her judging eyes on me. If I hadn’t grown immune to it a long time ago, I would be quaking in my Oxfords.

  I sidled up to the counter, leaning my hip against it and cocking a brow. “And what would you know about that, Nana? What sordid tales have you been keeping from us all these years?”

  She exhaled through her teeth. “Your silver tongue will only get you so far in life.”

  I chuckled. “I expect stunning good looks, wealth and status will do me the rest of the way.”

  I winked.

  Nana frowned. “That might work on other people, but it has never worked on me.”

  I pushed off from the counter and moved over to the sink to refill my glass. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Pretending you don’t care. Pretending it’s all nothing but a game to you. Using your ego and what everyone else thinks of you as a shield.”

  I turned from the sink with a fresh glass of water and gave her an incredulous look. “Shit, Nana, this is starting to sound more like an intervention than a scolding. I was only having a laugh.”

  The older woman’s wrinkles seemed to deepen and she let out a gusty breath, like wind blowing through the trees.

  “I’ve been worrying about you lately,” she admitted. “Ever since Ed and Clarissa’s wedding you’ve been all over the map. The late nights, the partying, the women...”

  I set my glass down and walked beside her. I rested my arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss into the top of her head.

  “Nana, relax. I’m just having fun,” I murmured. “Surely you can remember what fun is like. Think hard. I know it’s difficult because of all those wonderful drugs from the seventies.”

  She grunted and shoved me back a few inches. “You know what I think it is?”

  “I have a feeling you’re about to tell me.”

  Nana held my gaze with intensity. “Your brother is married and now it’s your turn. It’s one of the only things the media and your family can agree on.”

  My jaw tightened but I forced a congenial smile. “That’s too bad,” I said. “There’s only room for one woman in my life, even if she is terribly nosy.”

  “Hmmph.”

  Even Nana couldn’t find the will to argue on that one.

  “Get to bed,” she muttered a second later. “Hank will be missing you.”

  I tapped the side of my glass against her mug in salute and strolled out of the kitchen. My bed was calling to me, that was for damn sure. I knew the moment I hit it I would fall asleep.

  My apartment in the palace was modest compared to the suites the rest of my family occupied. It was composed of a sitting room, a bathroom, and a large bedroom overlooking the back garden. I could have taken over my brother’s apartment after he and Clarissa moved into the cottage, but decided against it. I’d grown up in these rooms and I was hesitant to leave them.

  The door opened soundlessly, but Hank was waiting for me. My boisterous mutt nearly knocked me over before I even got inside the room, and I struggled to push him back in the darkness.

  “Hey, relax.” I flicked on the light and then closed the door with my foot, sinking into a low crouch to pet him. Hank licked my face. He wedged his wiggling body between my arms, spilling some of my water onto the floor. I laughed.

  “You’re ridiculous,” I told him between licks.

  Hank was somewhere between a German Shepherd and a lab, with a big body, floppy ears, and a long, snuffling snout. He shed enough black and tan fur to make a rug, and I often wore a layer of dog hair over my designer suits because of it. Not that I minded. My brother was in near constant dismay about something or other in my life, so it was easy to avoid his criticisms about that as well.

  With a final pat on the head, I rose from my haunches and made for the bed, resting the glass on the polished mahogany dresser next to it. Hank hopped on the bed and waited for me to undress. We both knew he wasn’t supposed to be on the bed but we also knew that I was too tired to protest. I turned off the light, then staggered through the darkness. I lay down and Hank settled in against my side.

  I was out within moments.

  * * *

  Something wet and warm touched my face and I pulled the covers up to protect myself, sleepily acknowledging that it was too quiet to be time to get up. A whine, and then a canine foot jabbing into my ribs.

  “Fuck,” I wheezed. “Okay, okay.”

  I cracked open an eye and pulled the blankets down. Hank blew moist, hot air into my face. I wrinkled my nose. Dog breath was the last thing I needed first thing in the morning when my head felt like it did.

  I staggered to my feet and Hank shot for the door, wagging his tail expectantly. After pulling on a robe, I opened the door and he shot down the hallway, making it down the stairs and to the side door well before me.

  My head pounded. I needed a dose of back to bed, stat. How long had I slept for?

  I opened the door and Hank bounded out, alarming one of the gardeners hunched over by a cluster of rhododendrons under the window. If the gardeners were here it couldn’t be much earlier than eight-thirty, but no later than twelve. Good enough for me.

  Hank did his business and happily strutted back into the palace, swinging his tail all the way up to bed. I put out some food for him but he was already busy getting fur all over my sheets.

  I closed my eyes and drifted off, though my aching skull and the wobbly sickness in the pit of my stomach didn’t aid the process.

  I awoke sometime later to the trilling of my phone. I felt a little better by then, though the loud ringing was unappreciated by both me and Hank, whose ears pricked up.

  The name Theodore Walter Cartwright lit up my screen and I tapped the answer button with a lazy smile.

  “Just can’t get enough of me, can you?” I asked.

  “Can’t get enough of you? I feel like I barely got to see you last night,” Teddy replied. “You were too busy snuggling up with that heiress...Carlotta? Caroline? What was her name?”

  “Corina,” I corrected.

  “Is she with you there now?”

  I let my head fall sideways on the pillow and Hank licked my nose. I chuckled. “Definitely not.”

  Even if Hank didn’t occasionally reserve room in my bed, I would never bring a girl back there. Even I had my limits, and the last thing I needed was some chatty socialite gushing about her tawdry affair in the palace with the prince.

  “Probably for the best,” he said. “I expect after this morning’s Vanity Rag there will be a score of reporters waiting outside the gates. I could only imagine what a shot of that walk of shame could go for.”

  I groaned. “Vanity Rag got pictures? Of what?”

  “Just
of Corina with one of those delightfully long legs crossed over yours.”

  “Great,” I muttered. “Edward’s going to love that.”

  “Who cares what the royal bore has to say?” Teddy chuckled. “You look devilishly handsome in the photo. I’m tempted to hang it.”

  “If you’re too broke to afford proper wall hangings it might be time to ring daddy.”

  “Darling, hell could never get that chilly,” he replied. “Now, let’s talk about what we’re doing this evening.”

  I closed my eyes and sank further into the pillow, petting Hank absently. “We’re not doing anything this evening. If I’m seen going out twice in a row the papers will have a field day and so will my brother. Best to let it cool off for a few days.”

  Teddy was undeterred. “Not a problem. As always, it’s your genius best friend to the rescue.” He laughed. “Tonight’s entertainment is a masquerade ball. Nobody will even know you’re there.”

  “Teddy, maybe you are a genius.”

  “Well I’m certainly not just a pretty face.”

  Chapter 2

  Tamara

  Fresh faced and back in my own clothes, I was nearly ready to leave. I always felt pounds lighter once I’d shed my character for the day and it never failed to put me in a good mood. I loved my job, but there was nothing quite like slipping back into my own mind after a long day of pretending to be somebody else. It was like pulling on a favorite pair of jeans, ones that you’d worn in perfectly until they fit just right.

  A knock rapped on my trailer door, startling me.

  “Come in,” I called.

  I lugged my purse up onto my shoulder just as the door opened a crack and the blue-streaked head of Marcia, one of the set assistants, peaked in.

  “There’s someone here to see you,” she said.

  “Who?”

  Marcia didn’t have time to answer before a tall redhead barged past her. “Surprise!”

  “Joanne!” I cried, lurching forward to hug my sister. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  She gripped me tight around the torso and we rocked back and forth, laughing.

  “I just finished exams,” she said. “There wasn’t a single thing I wanted more than to see my big sister, so here I am!”

  “I’m glad you are here.” I pulled away and catalogued her features, attempting to see if anything had changed in the months since I’d seen her last. Our numerous Skype sessions only barely filled the void and her sudden arrival was a dream come true.

  Joanne grinned, her cheeks pink, blue eyes laughing. People were often surprised to learn that we were sisters, since she took after my dad in looks and I my mom. We were almost like negatives of each other. Her creamy skin to my terracotta, her blue eyes to my brown. Our hair held the same wave but mine was long and black and Jo kept hers in a bouncy bob.

  “I was wondering why you never replied to my last message,” I said. “I didn’t realize it was because you were on a plane.”

  “That’s the whole point of surprises,” she said, prodding me in the nose and flouncing off to inspect my trailer. “They’re meant to be a surprise.”

  Jo started poking around, opening each of the cabinets in turn until she reached the one where I kept the snacks. She grabbed a bag of chips with a triumphant laugh and sank down onto the couch.

  “You don’t have any plans for tonight, do you?” she asked, opening the bag of chips.

  I sank down next to her and shook my head.

  “Good.” She popped a chip into her mouth and crunched down on it. “I used your star power to get us an invite to a very exclusive and very promising party.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Of course you did. I should have known that any surprise from you would include binge drinking.”

  “Hey, I’m a college kid.” She knocked her shoulder into mine. “It’s what we do.”

  “You’ve been here for two minutes,” I said. “Don’t you want to see some of the sights? You’ve never even been to Europe before.”

  “The only sight I want to see is a bunch of sexy guys in masks forming an orderly queue in front of me.”

  I cocked a brow. “Huh?”

  Jo pulled her purse onto her lap and dug inside before producing a rectangular cardboard box. She pulled out something glittery and passed it over for inspection.

  I held up the mask, flared around the eyes to look like the wings of a monarch butterfly. It was beautiful.

  “Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” I asked.

  She whipped out a mask of her own, pink with rhinestones dotted next to the eye holes. “Because despite your ultra-cool career, you’re the responsible one,” she said, holding the mask up to her face. “And I’m the one who knows how to have fun.”

  Despite my hesitance, it was hard not to get excited when I had someone as bubbly as Jo by my side. We went back to my flat to get ready, Jo with a hefty sigh of relief when she found a dress in my closet to match her mask. She brought little with her, opting to rely on my wardrobe as she had been doing since we were kids. We were roughly the same size, though she was a little taller and I was a little curvier.

  The dress code for the party was evening wear, and I had the perfect black gown to match my mask. I’d worn it to a red carpet event a couple months before and was dying for a chance to pull it out again. I may have been playing a princess on television, but nothing made me feel more elegant than this dress.

  We arrived at the venue, a luxurious banquet hall on the south side of the city, and I took stock of the crowd. It practically smelled of money. I still wasn’t used to rubbing elbows with the elite crowd, from royalty to .com billionaires to fellow actors. Memories of Jo and I prancing around our modest New York townhouse in feather boas pretending to be at an awards show were still fresh in my mind. I always knew I would end up here someday and I assumed by the time I starred in my own television series I’d be used to all this. I wasn’t.

  Flashing lights blinded me as we walked up the carpeted front steps. I wasn’t completely anonymous behind my mask, but I was comfortably shielded behind it. Normally the press made me feel exposed and insecure.

  “Come on,” Jo said, dragging me by the elbow. “I just saw a guy built like a linebacker go inside and I need to catch him.”

  “Jo,” I said in a low, warning tone. “Don’t do anything that’s going to get you or me kicked out of the country.”

  She snorted. “Relax. I’ll be totally cool. Completely chill.” Her head swiveled as another finely sculpted man sauntered past us. She squeaked.

  At least I could say I tried.

  We topped the steps and gave our names to the man blocking the door. He nodded coolly and stepped aside to let us past.

  Jo dug her nails into my arm. “This is so cool.”

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that you came here for another reason and not just to see your favorite big sister.”

  Jo smiled guiltily but then laughed, bumping into my shoulder. “You could be a poor intern up to your elbows in river grime right now and I’d still want to come visit.”

  “Good.”

  The main hall opened into three other rooms, with a winding staircase leading up to the second floor. Gilt candelabras, fitted with blazing electric lightbulbs, illuminated the crowded space in a warm, buttery glow.

  Jo stopped to stare in awe. I did too. Scores of people outfitted in the finest fashions surrounded us, masked and glamorous. They chatted in small clusters like wealthy chimpanzees, preening each other and gossiping.

  I didn’t expect that in a group of masked strangers I would find a friendly face, but Dean Horowitz was a hard man to miss. His trademark cheek mole and the shock of white blonde hair on his head attracted my eye instantly.

  I nudged Jo. “That’s my friend, Dean. Let’s go talk to him.”

  “Dean Horowitz?” she asked. “Like from your show?”

  “Yeah. Don’t be weird.”

  We shouldered through the crowd t
o Dean’s side and I tapped him on the shoulder. He detached himself from his group and turned. Confusion soon blurred to grateful surprise on his features and he enveloped me in a hug.

  “Finally, someone interesting!” Dean said, releasing me and turning his eyes on my sister. “And who is this?”

  “Dean, this is my sister Joanne. She’s visiting for...” I turned to Jo, frowning. “How long are you visiting for?”

  Jo ignored my question, clasping Dean’s hand and shaking vigorously. “It’s so good to meet you! I’m a huge fan of the show.”

  Dean loved compliments. He smiled widely. “Always happy to meet a fan. Especially one as beautiful as you.”

  “Down boy,” I said with a laugh. “Just because you’re a dirty flirt on the show...”

  Dean chuckled. “You’re right. Where are my manners?” He bent low and kissed Joanne’s hand. “M’lady.”

  Jo, who had never been bowed to before even as a joke, blushed. These two were going to get along just fine.

  “I’m going to grab us a couple of drinks,” I said, scouting above the crowd for the bar.

  “There’s a bar in each of the rooms,” Dean said.

  “Thanks.”

  I headed for the middle room, skirting around the walls until I was close to the bar and then cutting across. It was hot, though not unbearably so. I was thirsty all the same.

  I grabbed two glasses of champagne (since Dean had one already) and headed back toward the archway. Once there I stopped.

  Jo’s head was thrown back in laughter, lips pulled back from her teeth. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her so happy. Before I left home to shoot this season, she was about to go back into school for her third year. And she was miserable.

  Jo was one of those people who radiated from every pore when she was happy, but when she was sad it was like the rains had come and nothing would send them away. I was glad to see her like this, and hovered in the doorway rather than taking her drink over. Besides, I wasn’t worried. Dean was harmless. Apart from being a complete flirt and a bit of a playboy, he was much older than Jo and would never do anything to damage our relationship—least of all breaking my sister’s heart.