It was getting close to Christmas and- just like the weather and injury- illness also didn't discriminate against who it affected. It was the first week of December and the younger Prince was infected with flu, meaning he'd had to cancel numerous public engagements. For those that were still going ahead, Prince Patrick of his older son had stepped in, or they'd left the duties to a lesser Royal such as a second cousin or a Duke-of-somewhere, someone that didn't reside in the palace.
For Erin though- because Jay remained in the palace- she had a lot of free time. While it was cold, she spent several hours of the day in the most unlikely of places: the palace library. A solo room that was bigger than her entire apartment back in Chicago, somebody in the palace so obviously treasured it.
Three of the walls were consumed entirely, floor to ceiling, of books although it wasn't these Erin was most interested in. Her attention was mostly drawn to the electronics that lined the remaining wall: the Royal family obviously had a room full of the latest Apple and Sony products to exist. Her favorite spot of which was the corner monitor, where she was least likely to be disturbed.
She'd been sitting for the past hour in that very place, chewing for the past ten minutes on an annoying piece of skin that had come loose around her thumb. Though it didn't taste half as good as what it was supposed to be substitute for: Erin had taken to biting her nails and fidgeting with what she could because she couldn't have the fix she really wanted.
Yes she still though about the drugs, daydreaming of the familiar and euphoric feeling she got after taking something. She thought about it especially, when she was alone. Not wanting to catch the flu from Prince Jay meant she was alone for most of the week. To distract herself, Erin switched on the computer monitor, getting comfortable and curling her legs beneath her.
Prince Patrick had provided her with a password for the computers but, remembering what had occurred with her cell phone, Erin knew that whatever she went onto wasn't private. First, she opened the internet browser to check if there was anything of interest happening in Chicago. There wasn't. Although she wasn't patrolling the streets of that city any longer, her subconscious brain ensured it was the first thing she checked. Plus, she would be flying back for Christmas soon so needed to be kept in the loop.
Her fingers hovered eagerly over the monitor keyboard. Before she could stop herself, Erin had typed "Ellen Halstead" into the search bar.
It didn't surprise her that the first result to come up was the very one she was looking for. Erin's fingers hovered over the cursor before she clicked onto anything: what would the internet have to say about her? She remembered the private conversation with the young Prince, and how he'd told her that the media had spun stories.
The website flashed in front of her with an image of Jay, as a baby, being held by his mother with his father and brother at their side. Erin's eyes fell upon the woman.
Fuck, she had been pretty.
Her dark hair hung in curls over her shoulders and she wasn't looking at the camera but at the baby in her arms. Erin gulped: the article author had obviously chosen the image with reason and it was having its desired effect. It was almost in complete contrast though, to the words that were written underneath:
ROYAL PRINCESS KILLED IN FATAL CAR CRASH- BUT WHO WAS THE MYSTERIOUS MAN KILLED ALONGSIDE HER?
"Jesus," Erin said aloud to herself as she scrolled. Jay and his family had probably read this and it wasn't a nice article for her and she wasn't even involved.
"What did he do this time?" a voice from the opposite corner made her jump. Then she heard a snigger, a rather disgusting sniff and Prince Jay came into view. He pulled a handkerchief from his pants pocket and held it against his nose.
"Huh?" Erin startled, her hand rushing towards the mouse to change the screen and pretend she'd been looking at something else.
"I said…" the Prince still didn't sound like himself, his nose bunged up and his tone sounding scratchy. "Never mind. What are you doing?"
"Nothing," she replied, too quickly, apprehensive and not wanting him to think she'd been snooping. "Shouldn't you still be in bed?" she most certainly did not want to catch the disease from him.
Jay grunted as he walked over to where she sat and then leaned against the desk. "Believe me, that's definitely where I wanna be." He sniffed again, his face contorting as he spat something into the tissue. He laughed a little when Erin shifted in her chair away from him. "Relax, this is man flu. You can't get it."
She let out a giggle. "Man flu? Oh please-"
"Hey, it's a thing!" he protested. Jay leaned over towards her computer monitor. If he had caught a glimpse of what she'd been looking at, he didn't say anything. "I didn't get out of bed from choice. We've been summoned," he rolled his eyes.
"We?" Erin frowned. "By who?"
"My father," Jay told her, standing again. "He wants us in the breakfast room in ten minutes."
Erin moved to switch off her computer she'd been using. Since Jay's honest conversation, she had found herself spending less and less time with Patrick but she couldn't avoid her employer if he called for her.
She followed a spluttering and forever-coughing-and-sneezing Prince Jay down three corridors and a flight of stairs to reach where they were wanted. Erin was about to knock upon the door and wait but Jay strode straight into the room, shoving his handkerchief into one of his pockets.
Prince Patrick was seated at the furthest end of the table, in the company of his parents, Queen Katherine and Prince Henry as well as Will and Nina. Robert was there too.
"What's going on?" Jay asked before he'd even say down.
His older brother and wife-to-be looked as confused as Erin felt.
"A few things," Patrick cleared his throat and spoke loudly. He then went through a list of upcoming engagements and Erin struggled to keep count. At least she'd be reminded nearer the time. "Robert has decided to retire. Next week will be his last."
"What?" this addition to the conversation seemed to make Jay come to life. "But who's going to replace you?"
The question was aimed at the driver but Patrick answered first. "We will, of course, be holding interviews for our next chauffer although I'm sure Robert will be almost impossible to replace," he paused and looked over at Erin. "I was thinking, for now, you could take over the role and drive the two of you to Jay's engagements? We will, of course, pay you extra."
"Me?" Erin gulped, thinking about sitting behind a driver's wheel that would be on the wrong side of the car. "I don't have any experience driving on the right," she admitted.
"Oh, yes, I forgot you do things very differently on the other side of the pond," Patrick laughed but looked to be hiding annoyance. "Yes well, never mind, Will or I could teach you-"
"Well that's definitely not happening," Jay butted in. "Will never drives faster than 30 and if you think I'm letting you get behind the wheel in the same car as Erin then you can think again."
"And what is that supposed to mean exactly?" Patrick's face had turned sour. "I'm the best driver I know."
"So is that why you accompanied Mum to that charity ball on that stormy night then? Oh wait, you didn't do that! You just let some other guy drive her and get them both killed!" Jay had found a low blow and he knew it but screamed at his father anyway.
"James! Don't you dare speak to your father that way!" Queen Katherine jumped out of her chair, an open palm slamming against the huge oak table. After she'd spoken, a tense silence filled the room and Erin watched the eye-contact war Jay was having with his father.
He stood up suddenly, drawing in a long breath. "If Erin needs to learn to drive, I'll be the one to teach her. This conversation is over." He gave Erin a look that told her she should follow him. He didn't speak again until they were out of the room, although Erin could still hear the conversation continuing without them.
"No time like the present," when he wasn't shouting at the top of his voice, Jay still sounded sick.
"Now?" Erin wasn't in the mood, especially for something that definitely required her full attention and use of her brain. She thought about playing it off on him. "Are you sure you're feeling up to it?" He'd coughed about a hundred times in her presence. Erin had presumed all he would want to do is go back to bed.
"There's no way I'm letting my father be in the same car as you if he's in the driver's seat," he cleared his throat loudly, as if to suggest he was feeling better. Then he clasped his hands together over-excitedly. "Let's get the Range Rover."
"Whose car is this?" Erin gulped, staring at the car in front of her. It was the size of what she would call a truck back home though it was definitely a hella lot more expensive. As she leaned closer to it, her face even reflected in the motor's exterior.
"It's mine," the young Prince told her, proudly. "If you crash it then I guess it comes out of your pay check," he laughed, reaching into his pocket to grab the key fob. That in itself resembled something like a credit card, further reinforcing to her how expensive it must have been.
Erin laughed off his comment, despite her insides resembling jello. There were so many things that could go wrong. "So how many people have you taught to drive?" she asked, at the same time Jay motioned for her to get in the car. On the opposite side to what she was used to.
"None," he got in the car after her, sliding into the passenger side.
She turned her head to face him. "What do you mean, none?" Erin was about to quiz him on what the hell he was thinking but then she frowned as her left foot came into contact with something. "What the…why is there an extra pedal?!"
The Prince muttered something under his breath- she didn't catch it but swore he had said Americans- before breaking into belly laughter, clapping his hands with comedy effect. "Everybody drives manual cars here…we aren't lazy," he said through his chuckles. "I suppose that's the biggest difference," he continued and leaned forward slightly to point. "Clutch, brake, accelerator, left to right."
As he resumed normal position, his hand rested on the gear stick in the middle of them. "This is what you use with the clutch pedal," he looked over at Erin, softening his features when he saw the apprehensive look on her face. "You don't need to panic," he attempted to reassure her. "The car will tell you when you need to change gear. And if it doesn't, I will."
They both reached around for the seatbelts, fastening them into place.
"I'm guessing you don't need me to tell you how to start the car," he smiled, one of his one-sided smirks but didn't look at her.
Erin was confused for a second before she caught sight of a Stop|Start button on the lower dashboard. Even as she only hovered an index finger over it, the car sprung into life. It was only around 10 seconds before the dashboard was fully lit and something beneath her heated her ass.
Before she had the opportunity to ask Jay where she should head to, an automated voice interrupted.
"Good afternoon Your Highness…"
Erin's mouth hung open as the car continued to detail the current weather, frequent destinations and how much gas was in the tank. When it paused, she blew out a breath.
"You have your car programmed to call you "Your Highness"? Do you need any more of an ego boost?"
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" he protested. "I did it as a joke but now I can't figure out how to change it. Don't know a lot about cars."
Erin scoffed. "Well that's reassuring," she said sarcastically.
"I'm kidding!" the Prince held his hands up in defence. "You need to keep your left foot over the clutch always. Well, until we're on a motorway-"
"Motorway?"
"Okay, highway or whatever you call it but we probably won't do that today. We could just stay in the palace grounds," Jay shook his head, realizing he was getting distracted. "Your right foot changes between the brake and the gas," he put on an American accent for the last word, over-emphasizing the sound.
He explained to her how to move forward- by finding the balance between acceleration and clutch and how to take off the hand brake when she was ready. Erin put the 4x4 into its first gear and they shot forwards, to the sound of Jay's laughter.
"Not bad," he said, pointing towards the gravelled space in front. "Now, drive towards that building and I'll tell you when to turn."
Erin followed his instruction, surprised that she was managing to navigate the vehicle at all. The changing position of her foot felt weird.
"Now turn left," Jay said to her, without making further comment about her driving. She did as he said, turning the when so they faced a new direction. As Erin continued at a slower pace, Jay continued to speak.
"Now! Press down hard on the brake and clutch!" he said, with too much urgency.
Though her limbs were already hovering above the pedals, Erin had a sudden panic when she couldn't remember which was which. The car halted abruptly, causing them both to fly forwards in their seats before the belts locked.
"That's an emergency stop," the Prince informed her. "You know, for emergencies."
Erin laughed then, he'd clearly been stating the obvious. He reminded her how to start up the vehicle again before they drove around the palace's courtyards. After twenty minutes or so, Jay told her to kill the engine.
He clasped his hands together and laughed. "Not bad," he repeated, reaching to unbuckle his seatbelt. "Don't know if I can trust you on the motorway yet but I'm impressed. I thought you'd crash into a wall or something."
Erin's mouth opened in feigned surprise but really she agreed with him: she was shocked that the existence of an extra pedal hadn't thrown her more. And she definitely agreed about not being ready for the "motorway" as Jay called it. Although she'd been involved in some pretty mean car chases back in Chicago, she for sure needed more practise here. Especially if she was responsible with the Prince in tow.
"Just got to park her up in the garage so I'll see you in a bit."
Erin nodded- obviously not trusted enough yet to manoeuvre the Prince's prized possession into its safe place. She unclipped her safety belt and jumped from the car, her boots landing on the gravelled ground with a thud.
By the angle Erin got out of the vehicle, she could tell they were at the opposite side of the palace. She listened to the rhythmic sound of the stones crunching beneath her shoes until she almost collided with the door that appeared in front of her.
"Oh shit," she said, clumsily, just about stopping herself from planting the door with her face. As she pulled the door open, Erin soon realized she was in the part of the palace that housed Queen Katherine and her husband.
The two members of the family she worked for that she had spent the least amount of time with. There was obvious reason for why she didn't see them as much: they had the most public engagements and were in the highest demand to be seen by the people. But they also happened to be the two who intimidated her the most.
Jay's grandmother was literally Queen of the freaking country. Erin let that slip her mind sometimes. As she walked further along the corridor that would take her back to the central corridors of the palace, she heard another pair of footsteps heading towards her. When she lifted her eyes level, she caught sight of Queen Katherine hurrying around the corner.
"Erin!" she sounded flustered. "Have you seen my grandson?" She came to an abrupt stop, the train on her elegant dress lying on the carpet behind her. Without the heels on that she usually accompanied her dress with, she was the same height as Erin. Her eyes were wide, like she needed an answer pronto.
"I was just with him," Erin replied, although she couldn't tell his exact whereabouts now. "He said he was going to park up his car," she gulped, not knowing how much to disclose.
"Right," the Queen's voice was taught, she sounded impatient. "My son requires his attention so if you find him before I do-" something appeared to distract the older woman and instead of finishing her sentence, she scurried off around another corner out of Erin's sight.
"Okay," Erin mouthed to herself and continued in the direction she'd been heading. When she found the more familiar corridors, she also found the younger Prince, dragging his feet and heading towards the palace kitchens.
"Jay!" she found herself running quickly to catch up with him, only slowing her pace when she was beside him. "I saw your grandmother. Your father is looking for you-"
"Yeah I know. But he can wait a little while longer," Jay said, taking deep breaths. "Why does he need to see me again? Isn't once in the day enough?" he sounded deadly serious.
"Maybe it's important," Erin felt stuck on the middle. She suddenly noticed the distinct aroma in the air around them, it burned her nostrils because it was familiar, but she hadn't smelled it recently. Her glance shot towards him. "What the hell were you doing outside?"
The younger Prince shrugged. "It was only one blunt. Relax. Besides," he laughed and waggled a dinger, making the smell of marijuana disperse further. "I'm gonna need it to knock the edge off if I need to see my father again." He continued to walk, chuckling occasionally, and Erin followed a step behind.
He was a grown-ass man for fuck's sake she thought she couldn't be left in charge of his recreational activity. Plus, he'd dismissed her from outside so how was she supposed to know he'd been smoking?
They reached the drawing room- where Prince Patrick had requested to meet his son- and Jay leaned against the door.
"Are you coming in?" his voice had changed and it now sounded softer.
Erin shook her head. "This isn't my business," she insisted, her eyes and head motioning in the opposite direction. "I should-"
Before Erin could move, Jay reacted, grabbing with his hand for her own. He missed and took a firm hold around her slim wrist. "Please," something in his tone soon had her following him into the large room.
Jay's father was seated at the head of the table, drumming his fingers impatiently against the wooden surface. As the door closed behind them he looked up, his face showing little emotion.
"There you are," he raised an eyebrow but didn't smile and turned his attention to her. "Erin," he shuffled in his chair, resting his elbows against the table. "Thank you for accompanying Jay to the room. I don't know how long I would have been waiting otherwise," he commented slyly. "You can go-"
"She's staying," Jay stated simply, making as much noise as possible when he dragged out one of the heavy chairs to sit on.
"As you wish," Patrick looked as though he didn't have the energy to argue.
Erin gulped, watching as the younger Prince pulled out another chair for her to occupy. She could already tell the tension was high in the room before their conversation had even begun.
"Now," Patrick cleared his throat but ended up coughing. Illness was fast spreading in the palace. "What on earth is that smell?" he wrinkled his nose. "Smoking that? On the palace grounds?" His face did change this time, to a look of disapproval.
Jay's mouth opened and closed several times but the other two occupants of the room didn't hear anything. So there was quiet until…
"That would be my fault Your Highness," Erin said suddenly. "I found this last bit at the bottom of my suitcase…I shouldn't have given it to Jay but he looked like he needed it. I'm sorry."
She ignored the what-the-fuck?! look Jay was currently giving her, focussing instead of his father.
Patrick couldn't hide his surprise, but that quickly changed to an unimpressed look. "You're lucky I like you Erin," he said, scowling. "Supplying my son with drugs is a sackable offense. If it happens again-"
"It won't," Erin said firmly, then regretted interrupting. That was even more rude, cutting him off mid-sentence.
Jay looked as though he was about to protest but his father butted back into the conversation first. "Yes, well, back to the matter at hand," Patrick's attention moved from Erin to his son. "James," Erin got the impression Patrick only called his son this to piss him off. "It has come to my attention that you are yet to find a date for Will's wedding next week," he paused, waiting for a reaction but Jay didn't give him one. "So I have lined up a few –shall we call them- outings with possible matches for you," he sounded proud, like he enjoyed having control over Jay's life. "The first one will be this afternoon with a Miss Cassandra Davidson. Her father is a well-known investment banker so I'm sure the two of you will be well suited."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jay finally bit back, leaning forward in his chair. "It's not even my fucking wedding so why do I have to have a date?" he brought down a palm to collide with the table, so hard it made Erin jump.
"Don't you give a damn about your reputation, Jay?" Patrick sighed, shaking his head.
Jay scoffed. "So you think I have to parade around the bloody chapel with some random chick on my arm so I have a better reputation? You're tapped, Dad."
"Don't you take that tone with me!" Patrick was standing now and struggling to keep his cool. "Ms Davidson will arrive at the palace in the next hour and I strongly suggest you are there to meet her. Or else."
"Are we done here? Are we finished? Can I like…go?" Jay was already moving and Erin, not wanting to stay alone in Patrick's company, decided to follow him. She closed the door behind her and gasped when Jay suddenly strode towards her so she stumbled back until she was pushed against the wall.
He put up an arm either side of her and blew out a long breath. "You didn't have to do that."
"Do what?" Erin found herself temporarily confused before remembering what he was getting at. The rather heated discussion between Jay and his father meant her mind was side tracked.
"Take the blame for the week. That wasn't your fault." His eyes lowered, looking towards the floor before making eye contact with her again. "Your eyes," he whispered after a minute. "Have they always been so blue?"
She cleared her throat. "Uhh, yes," she replied, blinking. It was a strange comment and Erin knew he was only speaking in the heat of the moment. "Maybe," she cleared her throat again for it felt like there was something stuck there. "Maybe you should meet with that girl this afternoon," she said.
Erin watched him recoil slightly at her comment, bringing his arms back to hang by his sides. "Why do you say that?" his eyes narrowed as he waited for her answer.
Why did she say that? So somebody else could watch out for him whilst she went home for Christmas? "Because then maybe your Dad will stay off your back for a while."
Jay blew a childish raspberry to show his disagreement. "Yeah right," he rolled his eyes. "But what if-"
"And," Erin wriggled past him, walking up the first two steps on the flight of stairs in front of them. "Perhaps," why was there a lump in her throat again that didn't want to budge? She attempted to swallow it away. "You don't want to go to your brother's wedding alone, do you? Just," she took another two steps but walked backwards so she didn't turn her back on him. "You may as well meet with her and see how it goes. She could be great and not what you're expecting. I'll get the details about her this evening," she laughed at her own comment, at the same time as trying to hide a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach.
What the fuck was that? If Jay had passed onto her his bug, she was gonna kill him. The last thing she wanted was to be sick too.
Erin reached the top of the stairs, heading to her chambers to relax and wait until the Prince needed her next.
The top of the stairs, a small distance away from the Prince and not near enough to hear Jay as he said quietly:
"But what if she's not the one I wanna go with?"
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