Chapter 10
Saturday after lunch, Alec spent the afternoon going through her file and the notes he quickly took when he first met the girl. Thank goodness he took notes, because he wouldn't have remembered anything from that day where he met all of them one after the other. It was all messed up in his mind.
He made a couple InCalls and looked some things over with his own security detail, Jasper Baldwin. He made sure to choose an outfit not too formal, something comfortable, but nice at the same time. He chose white t-shirt, a pair of black pants, and a black suit jacket. He paired the outfit with some white aerodynamic sneakers, and decided to let his hair down.
A couple hours before supper, he looked on his Contacts and used the location device – he installed it after his date with Hyo-Joo, when he bumped into her – asking where she was. It showed she was in her room. He went down to the 13thfloor and searched for her room. He knocked twice.
"Coming," she said. The door opened. "Oh, Your Highness," Verramine von Aslar said, surprised to see the Prince at her door. "What can I do for you?"
Alec stuffed his fists in his pockets – something he always did when nervous – and cleared his throat, keeping his smile on his face. "I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me?"
"Oh, my God. Of course! This evening?"
"Now, actually."
"Now? Um, maybe I should change, I-"
"No, don't change," Alec said. "You look fine like this. I mean, a ball gown won't really be practical, to be honest. Just stay as you are."
Verramine smirked. "Are you sure? I could at least wear something a little bit fancy…"
Alec chuckled. "Naah… you'd be overdressed compared to me."
"Okay," she said. "Is there anything I need to take with me?"
"Nope, you're good." He offered her his arms and he led her to the Vacuum and then to the 9thfloor, to the Main Entrance.
"We're going out?"
"Oh yeah," Alec said. "I already can't stand being in here with everyone watching. I agreed for only oneHovoCam to come with us, and I can turn it off at will. So for now," he said, grabbing the orb from the air and stuffing it in his pocket, "It's out. Come on." There was a Two-Seater Hovo waiting for them, and they went in. Alec punched in the coordinates of where he wanted to go, and they were off. They didn't need to do anything, just let themselves be carried away to their destination.
"Where are we going?" Verramine asked, curious.
"Do you like surprises?" Alec replied mischievously, and eyeing her discreetly. She was wearing a knee length navy blue A-line dress with three quarter sleeves and big silver jewelry, paired with white heels. Maybe he should have told her to change the shoes. He was wearing sneakers.
"I do," she laughed. "Fine, I won't ask any questions," she added, feigning outrage.
Alec chuckled, too. "If you're not going to ask questions, then I will. If you don't mind."
Verramine rolled her eyes. "I bet you're going to ask me if Veena and I are sisters or something."
Alec raised an eyebrow. "I was. But if you prefer, I can ask you something else…?"
"No, it's fine. We are twin sisters, actually. We got separated as little girls when our biological parents died, and we kinda lost contact and all."
"But signing up for the Selection and being both selected was a long shot."
"A verylong shot," she said. "But it was definitely worth the try."
"I can see that." He paused. "What happened? How did your parents-" he stopped short. "I'm sorry, maybe you don't want to talk about this."
Verramine smiled. "It's okay. I guess you want to know a little bit more about your girlfriends." She smiled. "It happened a long time ago, Veena and I were 8 years old. They died in a Hovo Accident. There was a bug in the system, and it crashed against another one." She paused. "That's why my sister has a bionic arm, and I have an artificial eye. The brown one," she added.
Alec looked at her eyes. "Oh wow. I never even realized you had heterochromia eyes. Can you see different with the artificial one?"
Verramine laughed. "Yes, I can see in the dark, and zoom in, like with binoculars."
"That's awesome!" Alec exclaimed. "I wish I had some enhanced body part."
"You don't? Everyone rich enough has an enhanced part. Mine was paid by the medical insurance my parents paid before their death, otherwise I would never have had one. How come you don't have one?"
"Security measure," Alec shrugged. "Enhanced body partsays Techor Nano-Tech, and Techsays Hacking. Imagine if a Royal was hacked. Now that would cause mayhem and chaos."
"Ha, that it would," she said. "I never thought at it this way. So you don't have anything? Besides your contacts, I mean."
"Not tech, but I do have an Inktat."
"Really? What is it?" she asked.
Alec chuckled. "An eagle." He took off his suit coat and showed her his inner arm, near his bicep. "It was the symbol of the United State," he says. "Before it became Illéa. I like to remember where we came from." Verramine touched the Inktat with the tip of her finger and the bird started to beat his wings in a slow, majestic motion.
"Oh my God!" she said. "It moves!"
Alec grinned. "You've never seen a moving Inktat?"
"No, I knew they existed, but I've never seen one before. They're expensive."
"They are. But please don't tell anyone. If my mother knew I sneaked out without my security detail to get it, she would kill me herself."
Verramine smirked. "Your secret is safe with me, Your Highness."
"Alec," he said. "Please. I already told you all I wanted you to call me Alec."
"Sorry," she said, chuckling. "I forgot."
The Hovo slowed down, and Alec looked outside. "Here we are." It stopped and he helped Verra out. He put his suit coat back on
"What is this place?" she said in awe. They were at the top of a cliff, overseeing the ocean. On the edge was a black building hanging over the empty space, over the crashing waves.
"You're not afraid of heights, are you?" he asked, turning on the HovoCam so it followed them at a short distance.
"No."
"Good. Come on. This is my favorite place, actually. You see the sky?"
Verramine looked up. "Yeah? What about it?"
Alec smiled, staring at the blue infinity above them. "We're outside a PlexiDome. This is the real sky. It feels like freedom and life." He chuckled, lost in thought. Then, he looked back at the building. "And this is my favorite restaurant," he added. "It makes the best New Asian food in the country." He grinned, offering her his hand, which she took and they walked towards the hanging building. They were directed to a single table, alone in a back room, and the Chef himself welcomed them and took their order. Verramine and Alec talked throughout the whole dinner. He asked her about her job as an Octagarian Service Provider.
"How old are the people you take care of?" he asked.
Verramine popped a sushi in her moth before answering. "The oldest lady is 137 years old. She has all her mind, and if she still had a full strong and functioning body, she would most definitely run a half-Marathon."
"137?! No way! Life expectancy is only up to 115 years old," Alec said. "How is it possible?"
Verramine rolled her eyes. "115 is an average number. Some people die much younger, if they don't have the right medical insurance and the money to go with it, whereas people go up to 140 if they can afford it."
"Damn, I have another 116 years to live."
She burst out laughing. "Yeah, probably. You have the right money and medical insurance to get you there. But maybe in a hundred years, life span will be up to 200 years old," she mused. "You'd have another 175 years to live."
Alec almost choked. "That's a lot."
Verramine laughed. "Lily – the oldest lady in the Resort where I work – is a great, great, great, great grand-mother. You could be six or seven times great grand-father if you live up to 200 years old."
"Okay," Alec said. "I'm getting dizzy just thinking about it."
Verra chuckled, and they finished their dinner. Later, Alec and Verra went to a nearby beach. She took off her shoes, holding them by the strap in her hand, while holding Alec's hand with the other. Alec had had a couple glasses of wine, so he was much more open and talkative. And so had Verramine. They weren't drunk. Just a little merry on the side.
The HovoCam followed them around all evening, but Alec had turned off the sound recording. He would show the date, but not their conversations. That was private. When the sky turned too dark to see anything, he called the Hovo to the beach where they were on and they headed back to the City and to the Palace. They were both silent on the way home, and Verra lay her head on Alec's shoulder. Once back home, he walked her back to her room, and bid her goodnight with a kiss on the back of her hand. Verra blushed and went inside.
-x-
The next morning, Saturday morning, everyone slept in. Everyone but Austin. He tried, though. Ever since 6.30 am, he tried to fall back asleep, but to no avail. Since he couldn't sleep, he decided to use his time for some much-needed workout. Ever since the Selection was announced, he slacked a bit in that area, using his time to help Alec get ready. I mean, who would be so scared of 35 girls? Alec, of course, he thought rolling his eyes as he got up from bed. He chose his sport outfit from his ScreenWardrobe and took the Vacuum down to Level 2. He headed to the fitness room, ready to tackle some workout.
He was about to go to the HoloScreen to choose his workout routine, when he noticed he was not alone. A blonde girl was running on the treadmill, using the Concave Holoscreen to run in the greenest forest there was in the program, with earbuds probably giving her forest noises, along with the sound of her steps on a road of wood chips.
Austin stared for a minute, trying to remember her name. He didn't have the files of the girls on his Contacts like Alec did. She had long blond hair – her back was toward him, so he couldn't see her eyes – and a lean body. She was wearing a very short short and a pink tank top.
Kira! He thought, her name coming back to mind. He didn't want to scare her or anything, because she still hadn't noticed him, so he decided to send her a message on her running screen.
I don't want to scare you, Kira, but you're not alone in this room. Austin.He mumbled the message to his Contacts and blinked once to send the message, which appeared in black letters on the screen. She jumped in surprise and stopped running. She turned around, blushing furiously, and saw Austin.
"Oh my goodness," she said, taking out her earbuds, "Prince Austin," she said, almost tripping out of the treadmill. "Did you need the machine?" she asked.
Austin chuckled. "Nope. I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd use my time in a workout session. I just didn't want to scare you."
Kira giggled, tucking a non-existent strand of hair behind her ear – it was tightly tied up in a ponytail.
"Mind if I run next to you?" he said pointing to the other treadmill.
"No, of course not." She grinned as he dragged the machine next to hers, using the hovering setup.
"Good. The forest is a good idea. Do you want to wear your earbuds? Or we can put the sound on the loudspeakers."
"The loudspeakers are fine," she said with a smile. Her cheeks were still pink. Austin wondered if it was due to the effort or to her embarrassment. They both climbed on their machines and started running, in silence at first.
Once Austin took up his cruising speed, he turned to look at her. "So, Broadway, right?"
Kira nodded. "Yeah."
"But you're a Two," Austin said. "You could've been a HoloActress."
"I know," Kira said, still running. "But I much rather prefer the Live Stage to the Holo Studios. You get to interact with the public directly, and there's much more things that can go wrong. So it's more fun," she added with a grin.
Austin chuckled. "And you can sing, too, then?"
"Of course," she giggled. "Some of our practice sessions include running like this and singing at the same time. We need to be able to dance and walk and act while talking and singing." She laughed. "You might be the first one to be out of breath of the two of us if we continue to talk." She flashed him a mischievous smile.
"Probably true," Austin conceded. "I haven't done this in a while. Running, I mean." And already he was starting to be out of breath. If I want to keep up with her, I'd better make her talk,he thought. "So, what was your favorite show you did?"
Kira thought for a moment before answering. "My favorite ones are the Covers of old Disney shows. I loved playing in Frozen, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. But my favorite of it all was the Little Mermaid. The whole first part of the show was played in a giant aquarium! We had these little devices to breath under water; and singing under water is a whole magical experience!" And on and in she went about her shows. Austin enjoyed listening to her, and it made him want to actually go see a Broadway show…
Heyyy! here's the next chapter already! I hope you all were happy to meet these two girls, and that you got to know the Princes a bit more ;) Thanks for your reviews on the previous chapter! :D :D :D
Please, Please, Please go check LittleMysteries's Selection story! (I know some of you already sent a form for her SYOC), but she can't write her story if she doesn't have enough girls... Thanks! ;)
Please continue to tell me what you think of this story and what you liked/disliked ;) It helps me write better stories! And also thanks to those who sent me some additional info on your characters ;)
byeeee! :)