Chapter 2
Just 15 minutes after leaving the fair the cars pulled into the driveway of the palace and stopped at the bottom of the steps, one of the footmen, called Henri opened the door for Mia while Lily got out the other side and looked up at the palace, smiling.
"Her Majesty Queen Amelia has returned with Miss Lily Moscovitz in tow" says the Major-domo, a man by the name of Christophe Laurent
Seconds later when Mia and Lily reach the top of the steps the former turns to the Captain and says "You know Mr Laurent, you don't have to announce my arrival every time I return to the palace".
"She's right you know, it does kind of get annoying".
"Lily, the man is doing his job, I apologise about her, she has this thing, she doesn't know when to shut up, now come on you, l gotta go show you something before you get into some real trouble".
"I resent that"
A few minutes later they arrive outside a door, just down the corridor from Mia's suite. "Where are we?" asks Lily.
"Go inside and see"
And so Lily walked inside to find herself in a beautiful room, complete with 4 poster bed, a couch and a small table, it also had 2 other doors going off it.
"Is this mine?"
"Uh-huh, the room Katie's been using is at the other end of the palace, but I thought you might like it you were somewhere a bit closer to me, so I had them do up this room, through that door there is your bathroom, complete with a shower as well as a bath and through this door..."
Mia then leads her friend through the second door and into a walk in closet, much like the one Mia had in her own room.
"Is this seriously mine?"
"Yup, I remember how you said you liked mine, so I had them build this, its almost exactly the same, I've even bought you a few new clothes".
"You didn't have to do that"
"I know, it's just a couple of gowns for you state events and such"
"Thank you Mia, thank you, thank you, thank you".
"You're welcome, well I bet you're tired from the plane so I'm gonna let you get settled in, maybe have a nap and then later I'll tell you the game plan for the next few days".
"Cool, see you later"
"Bye and Lily"
"Yeah"
"It's good to see you again"
"You too"
Mia then left and went back to her own suite where she sat on the couch and curled up, reading a good book, after a short while her mobile rang, she answered it and it was Joe.
"Hello Mia, can you hear me?"
"Hi Joe, yeah I can hear you, what's up, where are you?"
"We're in Moscow, we went to a museum earlier, naturally your grandmother loved it"
"Is she there, I wanna talk to her"
"Yes, hold on one moment".
Joe then passed the phone over and Clarisse said hello to her granddaughter, followed by "So how is everything in Genovia?"
"Great, my first 6 months have gone well, no significant problems"
"That's good, so what are you doing in the near future?"
"Not much, just getting used to a new P.A."
"Lily finished up her business in America then"
"Yeah, she flew in a couple of hours ago"
"You're happy to have her back aren't you?"
"Yeah, I missed her"
"So is there anything else?" asked Clarisse.
"Ummm, yeah there's a state banquet in 3 weeks for the Prime Minister's birthday, I was hoping you could come back and attend".
"It would be nice to see Genovia again"
"Please grandma, I've missed you"
"I've missed you too darling, oh alright I'll come"
"Yay, so I'll see you then, the banquet's on the 30th, so maybe come back a couple of days before, just to get settled back in yeah"
"Okay, we'll see you on the 27th"
"Deal, by grandma, I love you"
"Goodbye Amelia, I love you too"
Mia then out down the phone, happy to hear from her grandmother again and no sooner had she put the phone down than there was a knock on the door.
"Come in"
Nicholas then walked into the room and sat down nest to Mia on the couch, he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek before saying "How long have you been back?"
"About 20 minutes"
"How's that friend of yours?"
"Her name is Lily and she's fine, settling down in her room, I'll introduce you to her properly later"
"About that..."
"What is it Nicholas, what is it you have to say to me?"
"I don't know what you mean?"
"Tell me"
"I have to leave tomorrow"
"Why?"
"I have a big meeting in Rome on Friday and then I've been invited to London for a few days to see family"
"Why haven't you told me before?"
"I didn't know how to?"
"Nicholas"
"I know, I'm sorry, I hope you'll forgive me"
"It's fine, I hope you have fun in London"
"Thanks, hey did I hear you on the phone just now?"
"Yeah, it was my grandma, she and Joe are gonna come back in a few weeks for Motaz's birthday banquet"
"That'll be nice"
"Yeah, all I need is my mom, stepdad and brother and my life will be complete"
"They're coming over for Christmas aren't they?"
"Yeah"
"So you'll see them then, listen, I gotta go and pack up my stuff here, then go home and get some more, do you think me meeting your friend properly could wait until I get back?"
"Yeah sure"
"Thank you, you're the best"
"I know"
Nicholas and Mia then say goodbye to each other before he exits the room, leaving Mia to continue reading her book/
End of Chapter