Entangled with the Prince

by Elizabeth Lennox

  Mickey gave her a hug as well, smiling in his quieter manner. “Congratulations, honey. I’m so proud of you.” He pulled back, wrapping his arm around his wife’s waist affectionately. “When you become some fancy-pants designer, we can point to your picture in the magazines and say, ‘Hey, we knew her when she was just a waitress!’”

  They laughed and Cindy leaned in for another hug. “Listen, honey. I’m so proud of you, but we gotta get back to the diner. If you’re not going out with that boyfriend of yours, you come on by and Mickey will make you a special celebration dinner, okay?”

  Savannah nodded, blinking back tears. “Thanks guys. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Cindy laughed, waving her hand. “No way, honey! You take off for as long as you want. Jenny has already agreed to cover your shifts in the morning.” Cindy grinned. “You gotta get ready for your fancy job, right?”

  “Right,” Savannah replied, smiling as Cindy and Mickey walked away. She remained standing there for a long time, not really sure what to do or where to go. Where was Gaelen? Was he okay? The idea that he was hurt was almost more painful than him forgetting about today.

  “Ms. Harmon?” a man asked, stepping forward.

  “Yes?” she replied, blinking back the traitorous tears.

  “This is for you.”

  Savannah looked down at the box in the man’s hands. It was the familiar, pretty blue with the white ribbon that only came from one store. “Oh, um….”

  “He said you…”

  Her fingers curled into fists by her side. “Is this from Gaelen?” she asked, her heart pounding.

  The man bowed slightly, still holding out the box. “Yes, ma’am. He sends his deepest regrets for not being here tonight. Something came up.”

  Savannah stared at the man, pain hitting her like a dump truck. “Something came up,” she echoed softly. Cindy and Mickey had closed down their diner in order to be here for her for just a few hours. But Gaelen hadn’t made it. Something more important had come up. Something more important than her!

  Savannah nodded slowly. “I see. Well,” she glanced down at the box and sighed. “Thank you, but I don’t need whatever is in that box.”

  The stranger stared at her, startled. “Excuse me? This is a gift from…”

  “I know.” She turned towards the exit and lifted her chin. “I’m worth more than whatever is in that box,” she told herself as she hurried outside. The subway was only half a block away and she rushed down the stairs. Standing on the platform, she waited for the subway to arrive, not seeing anyone or anything. She couldn’t see because the tears streaming down her eyes blurred her vision. He hadn’t thought she was important enough. Damn it, she shouldn’t have invited him! She should have just…come on her own. Or skipped the whole stupid ceremony!

  Wiping her eyes, she stepped through the doors of the subway and took a seat, grateful that it wasn’t rush hour and there were available seats. Normally, the subway was so packed, she was relegated to hanging onto one of the bars. At least one thing was going her way, she thought listlessly.

  A half hour later, she wearily walked to her building, staring up at it and wondering how long it would be before she had enough money to live in a better neighborhood. One that didn’t require her to have her pepper spray at the ready when she came home after dark.

  That was for the future, she thought with a sigh, and trudged up the steps.

  Chapter 13

  The following morning, after a sleepless night, Savannah sat on the bench for a long time, not really seeing anything. Just staring straight ahead. He hadn’t come. She’d been so sure that Gaelen was different but, in the end, when it was really important to her, he hadn’t shown up.

  Sighing, she shifted on the bench, sorting through the events of the past few weeks. They’d spent so much time together, making love, laughing, sharing thoughts, and enjoying meals together.

  And now…she’d graduated. Her new boss had called last night to congratulate her, reiterating that they were excited for her to start work on Monday morning.

  That was good, she thought. Wonderful, even. She needed to focus on her career and not on Gaelen.

  At least one part of her life was going well, she thought. If she’d had silly dreams of Gaelen falling in love with her and the two of them spending the rest of their lives together, having babies and growing old in each other’s arms…okay, those were just silly fantasies.

  Her job wasn’t to dream. Her job was to work. She was good at working. After years of holding down two or three jobs, work was what she did best. And now, she’d have a career, not just a job.

  Standing up, she looked around, startled to notice how dark it had become. When had that happened? As she walked towards the subway, Savannah realized that her legs were stiff and her bottom hurt. Had she really been sitting on that bench for…looking down at her watch, she realized that six hours had passed since she’d come out here.

  “Good grief,” she muttered and picked up her pace. It wasn’t safe to be out here after dark, alone and without her pepper spray. Not to mention, it was stupid to be so completely unaware of one’s surroundings.

  Looking around, she noticed the black SUV sitting on the corner. Sure enough, as soon as she walked down the sidewalk towards the subway station, the SUV followed her.

  She pushed her hair back, startled when her hand came away wet. “What in the…?”

  She wiped her cheek again and realized that she’d been crying.

  She picked up her pace. “I don’t cry!” she muttered. “Not over a man who doesn’t want me.”

  She walked down the filthy steps of the subway entrance, flipped her card against the reader and walked through the gates. Standing on the platform, she looked around, thinking that her subway should arrive in about… she wasn’t really sure. So instead, she sat down on one of the benches and…cried. “Stop it” she muttered, wiping the tears away. “Just stop it!”

  “Are you okay, honey?” an older woman asked, stopping to look at Savannah curiously.

  Savannah smiled, nodding her head. “I’m fine.”

  The woman didn’t look convinced. “You don’t look fine.”

  Savannah chuckled damply, wiping away more tears. “Man troubles.”

  The woman nodded with understanding. “I figured. Bastards. All of them!” She shifted her purse on her shoulder. “You’re better off without em, honey!” With that piece of advice, she walked away, stepping onto the subway.

  “Huh,” she muttered. “That’s my train.” But she didn’t have the energy to get up. Especially when the doors closed and the train sped off. That’s the good thing about the New York Subway system. Another train was always on the way.

  A half hour later, she stepped out of the subway system near her apartment building. She snorted when she spotted the black SUV waiting. One of the guards was coming out of the building, looking concerned, and Savannah felt a spurt of satisfaction. They were worried because she hadn’t arrived home on time. Good! Let them worry!

  Instead of going in the front entrance of the building as she normally would, Savannah moved to the side door, slipping in and heading up to her apartment. She was done with Gaelen, so he could just pull his guards back. She wasn’t his concern anymore.

  Closing her apartment door, she leaned back against it. For a long moment, she simply closed her eyes and breathed in and out, trying to control the pain that threatened to swamp her.

  Letting her bags drop to the floor, she opened the fridge, but nothing inside appealed to her. She slammed it shut and stripped off her clothes, letting them fall to the floor as she entered her bedroom and just slipped between the covers.

  She curled into a ball as the sobs started. Savannah had no concept of time. It was dark, her eyes were closed, and everything hurt.

  For the next two days, she remained in bed, pretending she didn’t exist. A few times she got up and poured herself a glass of milk or some water, feeling dehydrated after crying
so much. But then she’d climb right back into bed.

  Monday morning, she forced herself out of bed. “Time to work,” she muttered. There was a bit of excitement in starting her new job. But as she showered, carefully pinning her hair back to look professional, then dressing in a black skirt, white silk blouse, and matching black jacket, she knew that something was missing. But she refused to admit that it was Gaelen she was missing. He was gone, part of her past.

  Eventually, her heart would accept that.

  Chapter 14

  “That’s actually brilliant,” Tony said, staring at the concept board Savannah had created for their client.

  Standing in front of Tony’s desk, Savannah beamed, thrilled with his praise. “Thank you.”

  He looked at her. “The client is going to love this!” he replied, then laughed heartily. “Damn, this is fantastic!” He looked over the board once more, nodding. Finally, he put it down and turned to Savannah. “Okay, so here’s the next thing we need to do,” he began, then gave her a list of several new tasks, things she’d watched Tony do over the past few weeks. But they were tasks that were too important for a junior associate to do. The fact that Tony was assigning them to her, after only a few weeks of her working here, was a major event. Most of the other junior associates were still copying and pasting on project boards. Tony had asked her to set up a concept board all on her own!

  After the meeting, there was a skip to her step as she headed back to her cubicle, ready to tackle the newest assignments. Before she could even take a breath, her desk phone rang. “Hello?”

  “Hey Savannah, it’s Rebecca. There’s another delivery person here for you.”

  Gripping the receiver, she closed her eyes against a fresh wave of pain. “Please…”

  “He won’t leave without your signature,” she interrupted.

  For a moment, Savannah wanted to hunt down Gaelen and scream at him. But she knew that wouldn’t do any good. He’d just…do something more dramatic and she’d probably melt and then she’d be in the same situation she’d been before. She didn’t want to be in love with a man who didn’t love her in return. She didn’t want to be a burden to anyone, much less someone she was crazy for. But if he didn’t stop these deliveries and phone calls and letters, she couldn’t even start the process of trying to get over him.

  With a huff, she dumped her notebook onto her desk and stalked over to the reception area.

  Sure enough, a man in a dark suit stood in the lobby, a secured pack in one hand and a clipboard in another. No regular delivery person for Gaelen! Nope, he had to use a delivery service that was probably armed to the teeth! Which meant that he was trying to deliver something expensive.

  “Good morning,” she said icily to the delivery man.

  He perked up as soon as he saw her. “Are you Ms. Savannah Harmon?” he asked, checking his clipboard.

  “I am.” She waved him away when he extended the bag. “No. I’m sorry, but I’m not accepting that delivery. Thank you very much, but please convey to your employer that I will not accept any deliveries from him.”

  With as much dignity as her trembling legs could manage, she turned and headed back to her desk. Sinking into her chair, she sat very still for a long moment. She didn’t see the concept boards or the list of tasks she needed to get done today. For several moments, she simply sat there as she fought back the tears.

  Damn him! Why was he doing this? It wasn’t just his absence at her graduation ceremony that hurt so badly. It had been his silence the week afterward. His silence said clearly their affair was over. And yes, that’s all it was. An affair. Just a casual fling.

  At least, it had been an affair for him. For her, Gaelen was the love of her life. He had been so strong and powerful and amazing. And she’d fallen head over heels in love.

  Shaking her head, she pushed the memories aside. She didn’t want to think about him, darn it! He was her past. Running a hand over the fabric samples on her desk, she concentrated on her future, on doing a good job!

  That’s all she could do, she reminded herself. This would be her world. Stroking the fabric samples and the color palates, she breathed in deeply, then slowly released the breath, letting it relax her.

  From experience, she knew that she’d be okay for the rest of the day. She would thrive and work hard, learn new decorating tricks when she talked to the other designers…then she’d go home to her pretty, new apartment that she’d just moved into last weekend, a secret apartment that no one knew about…and she’d put her broken heart back together.

  Slapping some papers around on her desk, she muttered under her breath, “He just wants someone to worship him! But he doesn’t care. Not really!”

  “Who?”

  Savannah swung around, startled to find her coworker, Beth, standing behind her wearing a curious expression.

  “Oh, no one. Just an old boyfriend,” Savannah explained.

  Beth leaned a hip against Savannah’s desk. “Yeah, I’ve dated that kind of dude before. Totally self-centered, charming and funny, but when I really needed him, he’d disappear.” She shook her head. “Jerks. All of them.” Pushing away from the desk, she said, “Hey, if you want to get a drink tonight after work, let me know. There’s a bar down the street that makes great martinis!”

  Savannah grinned, her spirits lightening slightly. “That would be great! Count me in.”

  Beth smiled back. “Fantastic! I’ll stop by to get you.”

  And then she was gone. Savannah smiled at the thought of spending time with another human being after work. She’d been so consumed by trying to make a good impression here and avoiding Gaelen’s minions, not to mention moving into her new apartment after receiving her first big paycheck and…just trying to pretend that her heart wasn’t shattered and telling herself that she was moving on with her life…she hadn’t really thought about trying to have a social life.

  What a concept! For the rest of the day, her heart didn’t hurt quite so much. Was she finally getting over Gaelen, she wondered, as she packed up for the day. Was she moving on and leaving Gaelen in her past?

  She walked with Beth and a few of the other junior associates towards a bar down the street, everyone laughing and talking. Savannah observed all of it, smiling and talking as well. Yes, she was getting out and making new friends. Gaelen wouldn’t know anything about these people and…!

  Was she actually getting over him if she couldn’t stop thinking of him?

  Probably not. Darn it!

  Chapter 15

  I’ve got to get hold of myself, Savannah thought, smoothing her down the skirt she’d pulled on this morning. Unfortunately, it was too loose and looked…messy.

  Pushing through the doors of the firm, she patted her hair to make sure it was in place. But instead of heading towards the elevators, she turned right and walked into the small café. Just a muffin, she thought. She considered getting a cup of coffee too, something to perk her up, but for some reason, the thought of coffee made her stomach ache.

  With the muffin in her purse and her portfolio tote on her other arm, she headed out of the café and…froze.

  Was that…? A large man with broad shoulders was stepping into the elevator. But she couldn’t see his face since his back was turned to her. But he looked like…! No! Impossible!

  She hadn’t seen Gaelen in weeks! He couldn’t be here, she thought. Not today. He was gone to wherever it was that he’d disappeared to.

  There was a long line of people waiting for the elevator and she joined them, her heart pounding. It couldn’t have been him, she thought. Why would he be here of all places?

  When the elevator finally dropped her off on her floor, she stepped out and looked around, sensing an odd energy in the office.

  “What’s going on?’ she asked of Rebecca, who was grinning in a silly manner.

  Rebecca wiggled excitedly in her chair. “Some gorgeous royal prince arrived just now,” Rebecca whispered. “He is hot!” she hissed.

/>   “A royal prince, huh?” Savannah echoed, smiling. “That’s pretty exciting. What’s he doing here?’

  Rebecca looked around, as if checking to make sure no one overheard her gossiping, even though everyone in the company knew that she was a horrible blabbermouth. If anything happened within the firm, Rebecca not only knew about it, she made sure to tell everyone who would listen. The receptionist had been admonished for her gossiping several times, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

  “I think he wants to hire a decorator!” She whispered.

  Savannah smothered her amusement. Instead, she leaned forward and whispered, “He’s in the right place then!”

  With a chuckle, she walked to her cubicle. Sitting down, her laughter faded as her thoughts returned to Gaelen. When would this pain go away? Why did she still think about him every moment of every day? It was completely unproductive! She should just…push him out of her mind and stop thinking about him.

  That was exactly what she was going to do, she decided.

  The muffin rolled out of her purse, looking far less appetizing now. Instead of eating it, she picked it up and contemplated throwing it out. Maybe she should just put it in the kitchen. Surely someone else would want to eat it, wouldn’t they?

  “Savannah? Would you come with me?”

  Savannah looked up, startled by the sharp tone. Initially, she’d assumed that it was her boss calling for her. Tony was a good guy, and always supportive of her ideas. She’d been working with him for two months now, ever since her first day here at the firm. He’d never used a sharp tone towards her before. In fact, he’d only had high praise for her ideas!

  But it wasn’t Tony calling for her, but Tony’s boss, Joe!

  This wasn’t good! Savannah dropped the muffin, grabbed a notebook and pen and hurried after Joe. “Is something wrong?” she asked the man’s back.