by Ana Ashley
The photo wasn't new, but the headline and the report were:
"The Prince and the Pauper—was Prince Kristof really at the drug-fueled party weeks ago with his boyfriend Sergei Nowak, or was the reason for his absence from recent royal family engagements something altogether different? Prince Kristof has been seen in America, the Connecticut countryside nonetheless, in the company of a young American aspiring artist, name as of yet unknown. Has Prince Kristof already moved on from the break-up with his long-term boyfriend Sergei? See Sunday's special edition of Monza magazine where the results of outstanding investigative journalism by our own Ceecee Bloomfield will uncover the latest scandal in the Lydovian royal family."
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!" I shouted. "They know about Charlie. James, what do I do? He can't be involved in this mess. He's too good and innocent for it."
James's cellphone rang at that moment, the call coming through the speakers in the car.
"James Bennet."
"James, my dear, we have a problem."
I recognized the voice of Mary, James's housekeeper.
"What's the matter, Mary?"
"The press is camped outside. Looks like they think Tonya's visit the other day was a gimmick to hide the fact that Kris was in the area. One evening paper has a photo of Kris with a man. They're walking in the rain."
"Mary, this is Kris. In the photo, can you see the other man's face?"
"No. His face is covered up because you were embracing, but my guess is whoever took that photo took many more, and they're building up the interest to print tomorrow."
"Thank you, Mary," James said. "Can you do me a favor and call Tonya and ask her to meet me in our usual spot?"
"Will do, dear. You two be careful."
James ended the call. We were close to the Old Mill, so before James dropped me off, he left me with orders to not leave the building without further instruction.
As soon as I was in the building, I ran up the stairs and knocked on Charlie's apartment door. The lights were off, but I hoped he was in. I knocked again. Nothing.
I went inside my apartment. The key to the connecting door was on top of the fireplace. Without thinking twice, I grabbed it and opened the door. I turned the light on, and my heart sank when I saw Charlie's made-up bed without him in it. At least all his clothes were still there so he'd need to come back for them.
My cellphone rang, so I ran back to my apartment, leaving the connecting door open.
"Hello?"
"Kris," Aleks said. "I have the press office with me on this call. I understand that a member of the American press found you and saw you with your guy and reported on it."
Aleks's voice was assertive, but I could tell she was shaken by the news. My big sister would usually be shouting and swearing by now, but I suspected her act was for the benefit of the royal family press officer, Mr. Peeters.
"Your Royal Highness," Mr. Peeters said. "I deeply regret what happened, and I assure you we will work hard to manage the situation. The American press are sensationalist, but the good news is that the majority of the public these days doesn't believe a word that is printed. Having said that, I understand there's someone else involved?"
"Yes, Mr. Peeters, a man by the name of Charlie Williams," I said.
"What is his relationship to you?"
"What does it matter?" I paced the length of the room frustrated that the apartments faced the back of the building so I wouldn't see any cars approaching.
"Your Highness, we can't afford any curveballs on this one. Excuse the sports pun, my son is into those American games and watches them all the time. Anyway, I need to know so I can help Mr. Williams."
"He's my fake boyfriend." I cringed at my words. I knew how they sounded when I said them aloud, and they were also not a reflection of how I felt toward Charlie.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I met Charlie a few days ago. He's here for his sister's wedding. His ex-boyfriend was trying to get to Charlie, so I suggested I pretend to be his boyfriend so he was left alone. And yes, Mr. Peeters, I know how that sounds."
"I'm not here to pass judgment, Your Highness, just to do my job."
"Carl," I said, feeling defeated by the whole situation, "Charlie isn't just my fake boyfriend. He's a good person who doesn't deserve to be dragged in the press like this, neither do his family. He's…"
"I understand, sir."
Carl Peeters was a competent press officer; he'd worked for the royal family for a long time. I trusted him implicitly, but I was also scared. Somehow, when the press had attacked Sergei just after I'd publicly come out as gay and in a relationship, I hadn't felt like this. Maybe it was because Sergei wasn't just big in size, he also had a big personality and could deal with anything on his own.
Two hours later, there was still no sign of Charlie, and I was still waiting for a call back from Carl. I'd decided to stay in Charlie's room so I'd know when he was back. It was invasive, especially considering what was happening, but I needed to see Charlie.
Tiredness was getting to me, and I felt myself drift in and out of sleep. Without Charlie or news from Carl, there was nothing I could do. I resigned myself to getting some sleep in Charlie's bed.
The sound of a key in the door woke me up. I sat up straight in Charlie's bed and rubbed my eyes.
Charlie froze when he saw me.
"Please leave my room," Charlie said in a cold voice.
"Charlie—"
"No." He put his hands up to stop me from getting closer.
I saw Charlie's eyes were red, probably from crying, his hair was messy, and his dress shirt was untucked. He was still the most beautiful man I'd ever laid eyes on.
"Please let me explain, Charlie. You need to know exactly what we're dealing with. You may not forgive me or want to have anything to do with me, but at least you need to be informed, for your safety and your family's."
Charlie nodded and closed the door behind him.
"I wanted to tell you the truth, Charlie, you have to believe me."
"It's a bit too late for that, isn't it?"
"It's not easy growing up in the public eye. Everything you do is reported. What I did at school, how good my grades were, how I coped when my mom died, when I came out. Nothing is out of bounds to the press. The press in Lydovia mostly like the royal family, and they absolutely love my sister." I smiled as I thought of Aleks. "You know, she'd get along great with Hannah."
The corners of Charlie's mouth lifted slightly. I felt like I'd won the biggest prize ever.
"Because of who I am, I've had to always be aware of everything, and that meant I never had much contact with people outside my immediate family. Even my boyfriend…ex-boyfriend was the son of my former nanny. He grew up in the palace, so he knew what it was like for us."
"I'm sorry." Charlie said, "That sounds really awful."
"It's okay, it's all I know." And if that wasn't the truth.
"Is that why you're here?" Charlie asked.
I nodded. "Some bad photos came out, so my sister advised me to come to America and hide away until I have to attend the president's ball in a few weeks. I never thought I'd run into the most interesting, kind, and beautiful man I'd ever met. Charlie, I lied out of need and habit, not out of choice."
"So, what happens now? I don't want this to ruin Hannah and Ellie's wedding."
Just then my cellphone rang.
"That'll be my press officer." I answered the call and put it on speaker. I wanted no more secrets or lies between us.
"Your Highness, we have a solution."
"Go on."
"We advise that you continue your fake relationship. We are trying to get in touch with Sergei to get to the bottom of the other photo, but in the meantime, reports that you are in a relationship and in love are good for you."
I looked at Charlie who looked like the rug had been pulled from under his feet .
20
Charlie
I thought I'd been kidnapped and sent to an a
lternate dimension. One where talking about real-life princes and press damage control was a thing. Except I wasn't in an alternate dimension. It had really happened. Kris really had told me he's a prince.
When I'd walked away from Kris earlier, I hadn't known where to go. I hadn't wanted to involve the family, especially as I didn't know what was happening. All I'd known was that Kris had lied to me, and it had taken Ceecee outing him for him to come clean.
I'd walked miles, trying to get my conflicting thoughts in order. I'd tried to think of all the things I'd done with Kris over the last few days, the time we'd spent together. Yesterday. Was it all a bit of fun for Kris? I'd remembered the lady on the bus a week ago showing me the headline in the newspaper.
Was that only a week ago? So much had happened since then, it felt like a different life long ago in the past.
They'd been talking about Kris and his lifestyle.
Was Kris a playboy prince who'd decided to have some fun with a commoner who didn't know any better? I didn't read any of the gossip magazines, so I would never have recognized him.
Had it been a game? When I'd fallen over Kris that first time, was all that flirting a ruse?
I didn't want to believe that—well, I didn't know what to believe any more.
I was so embarrassed. I'd started believing in our own made-up relationship and had been caught up in how Kris had made me feel. For the first time in my life, I'd felt really wanted by another man, my opinions had mattered, my jokes were funny, and I was visible.
It had been so easy to fall for Kris. How fucking stupid.
"Charlie?"
"What?"
"Carl is suggesting we carry on with the fake relationship," Kris said.
I looked at Kris, really looked, but I wasn't sure what I was seeing any more.
"Why?"
Kris stared at his cellphone for a moment.
"Carl, I will call you back soon. Please work on a contingency plan." He ended the call and then faced me.
"I want to say how sorry I am, but none of the words seem right enough to express it, Charlie. Carl is just doing his job, which is to safeguard the royal family from the press and any scandals that could damage our reputation."
I suddenly got it. Yes, Kris had lied by not telling me who he was, but it was our fake relationship that had caused all this to happen. If Kris hadn't been with me, he'd have been safe at the Old Mill, and no one would have known about him. Ceecee wouldn't have seen him.
"Oh god." I covered my mouth and walked back until I hit a wall and let myself slide down to the carpet. "This is all my fault."
Tears I'd thought had run out during my walk were back with a vengeance.
"Oh no, Charlie, no."
Kris knelt on the floor next to me and ran his hands through my hair. I choked, remembering that only hours ago the roles had been reversed, and I'd been the one comforting Kris.
"Charlie, this isn't your fault. The press never stops. It would only have been a matter of time until they found me."
His warm hand rested on the back of my neck before he used it to tilt my head up.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Carl will stop any photos being printed, and so far, those that are out don't identify you."
"What do you mean? What photos?"
Kris went over to the bed to grab his cellphone and showed me a news app.
I scanned through the news about the prince of Lydovia being in Connecticut and scrolled down to see more photos. There it was, a photo of the two of us embracing as we'd returned from our rainy walk just after…
"Do they have photos of us? I mean…when we were…you know…"
I felt like I was going to be sick. I didn't want to imagine what my family would go through, the gossip in town, their names being dragged down in the local papers.
"I don't think so. Usually when they have something like that, they lead with it. I suspect they're building up for a big reveal of who you are."
That didn't make me feel any better.
"How will it work?" Charlie asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Our fake relationship. How will it work? What will we have to do?"
The tension in Kris's body disappeared, but his eyes told a different story.
"You really don't have to do it, Charlie." He sat next to me. "I used to wish I was a normal person. I wanted to walk to school instead of being driven, and I wanted to bring my friends home to play with me and my sister."
"You don't wish that anymore?" I asked.
Kris let out a choked laugh. "It comes and goes. I've used my expensive education and my influence to support charities in Lydovia. I used to do it mostly anonymously because I cared about the people more than publicity stunts, but it always backfires because when the press doesn't have anything good to say about you, they make up something bad."
"Is that what happened with your ex? They made up a story?"
Kris nodded. "When I came to America, I was determined to come up with a plan so I could continue to support the charities and do my work but be more visible with it to satisfy the press."
"And then I fell on you," I said with a smile.
"I had only arrived that afternoon. When you looked at me with those big green eyes, I panicked until I realized you didn't know who I was. With your cute flirting and your easy-to-be-around nature, you…" Kris paused, and I looked at him. "This is the first time in all of my life that I really wish I wasn't who I am. Even when my mom died and I wanted to be left alone to grieve, even then when I wished to just be a regular person, I didn't want it this bad."
I picked up Kris's cellphone from where he'd placed it on the floor next to us and handed it back.
"I need to understand what it is I need to do, and I want to make sure this doesn't affect my family or ruin Hannah and Ellie's wedding. Call your press person."
Kris turned to me and stroked my cheek. The damned butterflies in my stomach woke up. Maybe I was hungry.
"Thank you," Kris said, and I nodded back.
"One condition."
"Anything."
"I can't lie to my family. We need to tell them the truth. Maybe not all of them, but certainly my parents, aunt and uncle, and my brother and sister."
"I wouldn't have it any other way, Charlie. Believe it or not, I didn't want any of this to happen, and I do care for your family."
"I know."
Kris called Carl, and together they came up with the plan that once we told my family the truth, we were going to record a short statement introducing me and asking for privacy.
I got up to use the bathroom. I was exhausted from the evening, the long walk to the apartment, and all of the feelings I was trying to keep hidden.
I'd left my sweatpants and T-shirt in the bathroom earlier, so I got undressed and got in the shower. Maybe once I felt clean on the outside, I'd also feel better on the inside.
Last night, I'd been ready to talk to Kris about our relationship. Now everything had changed, and I had no idea what to do with it all. My head started throbbing.
It was all too complicated. In what world would someone like me be in a real relationship with a prince? What would I even have to offer? That was assuming Kris even wanted to pursue a relationship with me, but then again, we were about to announce to the world we were together. How difficult would it be to go from fake boyfriends to real ones?
How would I go back to my job at Clarence's after this? Would the press follow me? What would they say about me being a store manager? My insecurities came flooding back. What had I just agreed to?
Kris wasn’t around when I came out of the shower, but the connecting door to his room was open, and I could hear the shower. I went to my bed and lay down on top of the covers, closing my eyes, and hoping the headache would go away.
When I woke up, the sun was coming through the window, flooding the room with light. I looked at my cellphone and saw it was getting close to midday. At least I'd had a few hours' sl
eep, and my headache was gone.
I sat on the bed, and that's when I noticed Kris was asleep on the floor right next to my bed. It looked like he'd brought his pillow and comforter from his room too. I let out a long sigh.
I got out of bed as quietly as I could so I wouldn't disturb Kris, grabbed my cellphone, and went into Kris's apartment, closing the connecting door behind me.
There was only one person I could trust to talk this through with.
"Hey, honeybun." I smiled at Tom's endearment and usual cheery voice.
"Tom, have you ever been in love?"
I could have heard a pin drop on the other end of the line.
"Tom?"
"Oh, honey." Tom's voice was laced with pity.
"What?"
"You know he's not worth it, right? I mean, I don't know him but from what you've said—"
"What are you talking about?" I was confused. Tom didn't know Kris, or at least I hoped the news hadn't spread and revealed who Kris's "new boyfriend" was.
"Rory, honey, you can't get back with him."
I laughed because Rory was the absolute last thing on my mind. In fact, it looked like Rory had been trying his best to avoid being in the same location as me, so much so I hadn't bumped into him at all the night before.
"Tinker Bell, I'm not talking about Rory."
"Oh. My. God. Tell me everything."
So, I did. Well, I spared some of the details, but I shared the rest with Tom. I knew Tom would never tell our story to anyone.
"I am fabulous," Tom sang.
"I tell you I am in love with the prince of a small European country and that the press might be knocking on my door any time and that's what you have to say?" I honestly wanted to laugh because Tom was so very…well, Tom.
"Yes. You can thank me by making me a knight or a sir or something when you're king consort."
"Tom, what on earth are you talking about?"
"I picked your fabulous wardrobe, you meet prince, prince falls all over your expertly matched clothes, and you live happily ever after."
