Here's the next chapter!
Julian looks over the girls
Drea meets a certain someone
And more!
Chapter 4- Profile
Monday, July 6, 2260
Drea POV
Drea was sitting, at the corner table of a coffee shop that Wisteria had on-site, typing notes from an experiment she had observed earlier that day when she heard someone settle in the seat across from her. She glanced up, expecting it to be Elijah, but she ended up blinking in surprise at the complete stranger sitting in front of her.
He was well built, with broad shoulders, fair but tanned skin, messily tousled sandy blonde hair, and light hazel eyes. Drea assumed he was a soldier and raised a brow at him. Soldier or not, it didn't explain why he was sitting across from her.
"Can I help you with anything?" Drea finally asked.
"You're assisting with Prince Julian's Selection right?" He asked, meeting her green eyes with inquisitive ones.
"That depends on who's asking," Drea said, closing her laptop and packing it away. She was due to return to the palace soon.
"Taylor McNeal. I'm the go-between for the Illean military and my family's company. I'm also Margot McNeal's older brother."
That's why he looked familiar. Drea thought. She had seen his picture from her mom's brief about McNeal Enterprise, and he had the same coloring as his younger sister. And she supposed now that she knew who he was, it explained why he had sought her out.
"What do you want to know about Julian?" She asked.
"Is he the playboy the news makes him out to be?" Taylor immediately asked, carrying the air of a protective older brother and Drea couldn't blame him. The magazines made Julian out to be much worse than he actually was most of the time.
"He really isn't that bad," Drea said. "Yes, he can go overboard, but he'd never hurt anyone on purpose."
She saw Taylor's shoulders relax slightly at that, "Is there a way to get my sister out of the Selection in general? Our mom had forbidden her to enter and she still did on a whim. She regrets it and doesn't want to come." Taylor explained, looking at her with hopeful eyes.
Drea sighed, "There's nothing I can do about that. Her name and photo were shown on national television. Nothing short of a scandal will get her out of coming to the palace."
"I see…" Taylor said looking thoughtful, he then focused back on her, a warm smile spreading across his face. "Thank you for answering my questions, Lady Drea."
"Just Drea is fine." She said automatically, a light blush spreading across her cheeks as his smile grew. He really was handsome.
"Then call me Taylor," He said, looking at her empty cup. "Can I ask for another cup?"
"I have to go back to the palace soon," Drea shook her head. "There are some things for the Selection I need to set up."
"And are you excited?" Taylor asked curiously. "It must be hard to suddenly have thirty-five other girls around."
"I'm not so sure if excited is the right word and ... I'm sure I'll eventually live through worse." Drea said, "And besides, one girl is going to be the future Queen of Illéa. I'd like to know her sooner rather than later since I'll be stuck with her too."
"Are you going to try and keep the trouble-makers away from Julian?" Taylor asked, standing up with Drea as she stood.
"Please," She slung her bag over her shoulders. "That guy is a magnet for trouble, I would know." She started to walk towards the exit of the building with Taylor at her side and a part of her wondered why he was still talking to her. Didn't she answer all his questions?
"You don't seem to mind," Taylor observed, he was clearly remembering all the news he read about Julian's adventures with her and Jesse at his side.
"Life's never boring around Julian." Drea grinned, also remembering a few ridiculous situations the three of them had found themselves in; like the time when Jesse had woken up in a women's bikini, none of them remembered how that happened.
"One more question," Taylor said, holding open the door for her. "Are you going to be coming back here often?"
"I have an internship here," Drea explained easily. "I'll be here when I'm not focused on the Selection."
"Then, next time you're here, let me buy you a coffee for answering my questions." Taylor insisted.
Drea looked him up and down at the offer, once again taking in his broad shoulders, blonde hair, and hazel eyes. He was cute but they had barely spoken, "Hmmm." She huffed walking past him and out to the waiting car. Before she got in, she turned and looked back at him, thinking he looked somewhat dejected at her silence.
"Taylor," She called out to him, "I'll think about it." It was the best she could offer him at the moment. Now, she couldn't wait to meet his sister.
Julian POV
Julian was sitting at his desk in his bedroom, slumped over and face-planted firmly against the furnished wood. He couldn't wait for this day to be over. It had started far too soon and was taking way too long to end. It didn't help that the day hadn't gone as he had hoped at all.
First, Calli had ordered him out of bed to go over budget sheets with her which took way too long. She then kicked him out to meet with some of the best interior designers that Angeles could offer so that he could choose furniture for the selected girls and Julian found that he wanted to cry. It was furniture for Pete's sake! Why did he have to choose them? And from what he understood, the girls could slightly customize their rooms once they arrived, so what he chose for them might be replaced anyways! Would any of the girls really notice if he chose cream curtains vs beige ones?!
And now, it was after lunch and Julian had desperately been hoping for a break but what did he find stacked oh so nicely on the desk in his bedroom? All the forms for his selected who would be coming to the palace in a few days. There was also a note in Calli's handwriting that told him to look through them.
He didn't really see the point. In a few days, his world was going to be invaded by thirty-five girls… and one of them would be his wife. It was chaos. But he felt a bit better knowing that the girls' lives were also getting turned upside down. Representatives from the palace had gone to visit their homes to get the measurements for the wardrobe the girls would be given, telling them the stupid rules of the palace and Selection and getting their signatures to finalize it all. The palace itself was in a frenzied state with the maids trying to get dresses and rooms ready too. He couldn't even have peace for his final days before the Selection.
As Julian was drowning in his misery the door to his room suddenly burst open and Jesse and Landon strolled in as if they owned the place. "Get out," Julian mumbled, not even bothering to lift his face from the desk.
"What are those?" Jesse asked, his eyes roaming toward the stack of papers on his desk.
"Budget reports Calli wanted me to look at," Julian said, finally raising his face from the wood to glare at the intruders. "So get out."
"Right," Landon said, with disbelief on his face. "I know you already went over them with Calli this morning. Try again, Bro."
"They're reports." Julian insisted.
Jesse ignored him and strolled up to his desk, snatching the paper at the very top to look at it. "Yeah. A report on how hot these girls are. You don't have to hide that you're looking over your concubines."
"If they were concubines it would be so much simpler. I wouldn't have to marry them." Julin said.
"If they were concubines, you'd already be married." Landon pointed out, frowning at both of them. He walked up to Jesse and snatched the selected girl's form out of his hands, steely hazel eyes skimming over the sheet. "Calli making you memorize the girls?"
Julian nodded, there was no way either of them would leave him alone now. "I've been over them a few times but I just can't get them straight. You know I can never tell blondes apart."
"You have a hard time telling brunettes apart too," Jesse joked. "All girls are the same in your eyes."
Landon gave them both an unimpressed look before letting out a long-suffering sigh. "Okay… how about this,"
He flipped the form over so that Julian could get a look at the girl, "Helene Van Aller, a two from Labrador, it says here she's a student." The girl in question had long dirty blonde hair, fair skin, and dark brown eyes. "On a scale of one to ten, what do you think?"
Both Julian and Jesse looked at Landon in surprise. "That's pretty shallow of you Lan, judging a girl by her looks," Julian said.
"Well, I know you, and I think this will work," Landon said. "What do you think?"
Julian took a closer look at the girl. "I would say a solid five for me." She looked classy and elegant, no doubt she would get Calli's approval.
"I'd say eight." Jesse shrugged. "Landon? He chuckled at the scandalized look on the blonde's face. "Come on, you started this, so you have to join in."
"...four," Landon finally sighed, he went over to Julian's bed which was surprisingly clean for once, and put Helene's picture in the middle. "You know I favor brunettes a bit more."
That was true, after all, Landon's long-time girlfriend was a brunette. Julian guessed he favored brunettes too since Drea was one.
Jesse took the rest of the selected girls' forms, keeping one half of the stack for himself and handing the other to Landon as he joined him by Julian's bed. "Carena Sloan, a six and casino host." Jesse held up a girl of New Asian descent for Julian to see., I give her a seven."
"Agreed." Landon nodded.
Julian looked closely at the girl, her dark hair and eyes contrasted nicely with her creamy pale skin. "Seven is fair." He nodded and Jesse placed her picture a bit above Helene's.
"Winter Nalette, a seven from Carolina, she's a construction worker." Julian blinked at the picture Landon showed. The girl was fairly striking with platinum blonde hair and strikingly blue eyes that contrasted against olive skin. He would also bet she was a bit more muscular than the other girls.
"Four." Julian finally said she was pretty for a seven, but something about her intimidated him.
Landon and Jesse shared a look, not voicing their opinions as Landon put Winter's picture under Helene's.
"Zylah Kavya, a two and lookie here, it says she's an astronomer, that's different." Jesse produced a picture of a girl with long black hair and striking aqua-blue eyes that popped out against her dark brown skin. "I'd say seven."
"Four," Julian said.
"I would say six," Landon argued.
"Really?" Julian tried to look deeper at the photo but at first glance, she just didn't appeal to him. "I still think four."
"It's your Selection," Landon sighed, placing her photo over Winter's.
"Catalina Espinoza, five, make-up artist," Landon showed a girl with light brown skin, curly dark hair, and dark eyes. She was very pretty; the confident smile she sported just made her more appealing to him.
"Eight." Julian grinned, giving the highest rating he had so far.
"I would have said five," Jesse shrugged. "Girls who do their own make-up throw a fit if you ruin it."
"How does that affect how they look?" Landon asked. "I'd say six." He added.
"Well, they don't like their hard work going to waste." Jesse shrugged as
The three of them continued on, ranking the girls, many of them not going higher than a five for Julian.
"Ugh… definitely a one for me," Julian said, looking away from the girl who looked like a bloated walrus. Seriously, he thought the girls selected were supposed to be pretty.
"I'd give her a three," Landon said, earning him wide-eyed looks of disbelief from the two dark-haired men. "She may have a heart of gold, you can't judge solely on appearance." He argued.
"I thought that was the point of this," Jesse said. "Danica Rivera of Honduragua, a four who works in her parent's restaurant." The girl he held up had long, untamed black hair, cocoa-brown skin, and deep brown eyes that seemed to be laughing. "I'd rank her a six myself."
"Seven," Julian said, he felt like the two of them could have fun.
"That smile spells trouble," Landon grumbled, instead of giving a rank, she had the same mischievous smile that Julian sometimes got which meant more stress and trouble for everyone else.
"Magnolia Franco from Allens, she's a painter," Landon said, giving her a look. "I think you really liked this one when she was announced."
Julian remembered, he smiled subconsciously as he looked at her face again. She had a sweet and happy smile. She was also pretty with mocha-colored hair, sun-kissed skin, and light blue eyes. "Definitely a ten."
"What? Barely even a five." Jesse said.
"Hey, it's my Selection," Julian said.
"That is true," Landon said, placing her form above Catalina's, Magnolia was the only nine so far by Julian's standards.
"Emilyn Mends, a six and a maid from Belcourt." Jesse showed him a picture of a small-looking girl with tanned skin, freckles, wild bright red hair, large blue eyes, and a round face that made her look somewhat childish, but there was no mistaking the look of maturity in her eyes.
"I'd give her a four myself," Landon said.
"For once you and I agree." Jesse chuckled. "She looks a bit young for me."
"Her form says she's twenty." Julian noted, taking one more look and shrugging, "I say four too."
"Next, Fallon Galston," Landon said, a small smile on his face as he looked over the form before showing the picture to Julian. It was a very pretty girl with warm bright brown eyes, fair, but tanned skin, and waves of sandy gold hair. "I give her an eight."
Jesse let out a low whistle as he looked over the picture. "She's pretty but that's way too high for her, she looks more… book-smart pretty than model pretty. I'd say she ranks as a six."
"And that's a bad thing?" Landon raised a brow. "That's the kind of girl you should go for. Besides, her middle name is Avery."
"That's why you ranked her so high?" Julian laughed. "Lan, you can't rank a girl high just because her middle name is the same as your girlfriend's. She's a six for me too."
"What do you think of Peyton Rousseau of Atlin? She's a six and a seamstress." The girl was extremely beautiful with smooth cocoa brown skin, large brown eyes the color of chocolate, and extremely curly dark brown hair.
Julian grinned, for a six, she looked nice and he couldn't ignore the hopeful look in her eyes. "A nine." He said without hesitation.
"Eh, I would have ranked her a seven." Jesse shrugged, placing her picture just slightly below Magnolia's.
"A seven." Landon shrugged before producing the next form. "Trinity Melborough, another four who works in her parent's restaurant." The girl in the picture looked shy and timid with caramel-colored skin, thick dark, almost black hair in ringlets that looked incredibly fluffy in the picture, and lidded brown eyes. "A five?" Landon asked unsurely.
"Three." Julian and Jesse said at the same time. Landon nodded and placed Trinity's photo at the lower end of the row.
"Here's a hottie," Jesse grinned showing Julian the picture of a beautiful girl with porcelain skin, long golden-blonde hair, and light green eyes. "Kalliste Bouverie, a two and a violinist for the Illean National Symphony."
"Ten," Julian said immediately, the girl looked classy and elegant while looking like she'd also fit as a model.
"Ten." Jesse agreed, placing her photo above Magnolia's the only other ten so far. "Landon?"
"Eight for me." Landon shook his head.
"Elaena Stratton, she's a violinist too, but a five." He showed the two other men the picture of another blonde, this one with wavy dirty blonde hair, tanned skin, and blue eyes. "I'd give her an eight too."
Julian looked closely at her, she was pretty but coming after a girl like Kalliste? "I'd give her a seven."
"Five," Jesse said simply.
"Oh my god! They're ranking them!" Before Landon could show the next picture the three men were interrupted by a rather feminine and judgemental voice.
As one, all three turned towards Julian's open door and saw Lily standing at the doorway with Drea and another girl. The girl had fair skin, wavy mid-back length dark auburn hair, and light blue eyes.
"Avery," Landon quickly put down the remaining forms in his hands and hugged his girlfriend of two years. She hugged him back, an equally large grin on her face. "I missed you."
"I bet," She laughed, nodding to the two rows of five neatly filling Julian's bed. "So, do you like any? Should I be worried?" She teased.
"Of course not." Landon shook his head. "Besides, I'm not getting involved with Julian's selected, pretty sure that's illegal." He snorted.
"He thought this blonde was an eight," Jesse said, picking up Fallon's form.
Avery looked at the form and gave Landon a playful look. "Since when did you like blondes? Should I go blonde?" She laughed lightly at Landon's blush.
"It's more her name than anything. I saw her middle name and thought of you," Landon mumbled, glaring at Jesse since he was too embarrassed to meet Avery's eyes.
"Well… that's sweet." She leaned up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "And if it helps, I'd rate her a nine. Smart-looking blondes are my type after all." She gave him a wink, causing his face to become even redder and Julian and Jesse to burst out laughing.
"Avery, don't encourage them!" Lily said exasperated, glaring at all of them now. "One of these girls is going to be Julian's wife!"
"Well," Drea strolled into the room and gathered the papers Landon had put down. "The way they look is going to be the only impression we have on most of these girls for a while. But this one… I'd rate her as a one." Drea frowned, showing the group a picture of Angeles' selected girl, Bianca Murrue-Khan.
"Definitely one." Julian agreed. The mayor's daughter, while pretty with her glossy black hair and light brown eyes, was a thorn in his side. She was one girl he knew he'd try to get rid of right away, hopefully without any political backlash.
"How'd she get in anyways?" Lily asked, crossing her arms.
"Her mom probably pulled a few strings. I wouldn't put it past her." Drea said.
"Definitely," Julian agreed, glancing at Drea. Today she was dressed in a burgundy wrap-detailed dress with butterfly sleeves and black kitten heels; her dark hair was pulled up into a loose bun with a few strands left to frame her face. Even dressed for work she was cute and if looking at her still made his heart ache a bit, who was he to tell? He loved looking at her like this. She always did look her best in business attire. Which reminded him… "How was work at Wisteria today?"
"Same old thing," Drea sighed, looking slightly displeased. "All they have me do is take note of projects. I was hoping for more to do."
"They probably won't give you more until the Selection is done," Avery noted. Julian's selection is a pretty big deal and you are helping with it."
"So are you," Drea shot back, sighing, "This Selection could take months, which means I won't be doing anything but taking notes for months." She had no idea her internship would be so boring.
"Unless I randomly choose a girl in the first week." Julian joked.
"Don't do that either." Drea sighed. "But you know, something interesting did happen today." She said as she looked through the forms, taking Jesse's stack as well.
"What?" Jesse asked curiously.
"Margot McNeal's brother, Taylor came to talk to me, did you know he's the supervisor for the Wisteria Military base and his family's company?"
"No wonder the name sounded familiar," Julian said, he had heard Lorelai go on and on about the merger for months with Calli. What were the odds that Margot McNeal would get in? "Did her family pull some strings to get her in too?"
"Just the opposite," Drea said, finding Margot's form and showing Julian her picture. It was a girl with fair skin, hazel eyes, and blonde hair, she had a sweet smile. "Taylor said that both Margot and their younger sister Riley had been told not to enter, but both of them did. Taylor even asked if there was a way Margot could just not come."
"Why not?" Lily asked. "Julian isn't that bad, no matter what the magazines say about him."
"Thanks," Julian said sarcastically.
"What are siblings for?" She asked sweetly, her matching gray eyes meeting his.
"Taylor said it was because they didn't want it to look like the Selection was rigged in their favor. This partnership is big for McNeal Enterprise too." Drea explained. "But Margot, what do you think?" she waved the photo in Julian's face.
"Eight," Julian said.
"Drea!" Lily tried to scold the older girl.
"Come on Lily, it's harmless," Avery said, moving away from Landon so that she could get a look at the girls. "I'm assuming the lowest girls are on the top left and tens are on the bottom right?"
Landon nodded and Avery excitedly started to look through their rankings, nodding her head at some and shaking it at others.
Lily gave an exasperated sigh but her curiosity must have won out since she started to look over the girls too. Once all three were done, Drea put Margot's picture on the eights pile, over the picture of the girl from St. George.
"Ramona Lopez-Dimailig, a seven and auto mechanic." Avery then showed Julian a picture of a girl with tanned olive-toned skin, wavy dark coffee-brown hair, and gray eyes. She was pretty for a seven.
"Solid five," Julian said.
"Landon?" Avery showed his brother the picture and Landon blushed.
"A four, only based on appearances she's just not my type," Landon said.
"I would say eight. She's gorgeous for a seven." Jesse said, earning a look of disgust from Lily, and the frown only grew when he tried to offer her the next form.
Drea snatched it from Jesse's hands "Nicolette Pennington of Midston, she's a three and a librarian." Another blonde was shown to Julian, this one had fair skin and a splash of freckles across her nose and crystal blue eyes.
"Five," Julian said, all these blondes were getting repetitive.
"Okay, how about her? Addison Lutz, a seven from Sonage, she's a gardener." Avery said, showing him a picture of a girl with large, innocent olive-green eyes, dark chocolate brown hair, and fair skin.
"Ten." Julian grinned. The girl had such a sweet and shy smile. And more importantly, this was the girl who reminded him of Drea when they were kids.
"Really?" Jesse asked surprised. "She looks kinda meek to me."
"I like her," Julian said simply, shrugging.
"Fine," Jesse said, as Drea put her on the pile of tens.
"Last one," Drea said, holding up a picture of a girl that Julian had never seen before. "Serenity Quinn from Lakedon, she's a five and a Ballerina."
The picture was of a girl with wavy sunny blonde hair, fair skin, and warm hazel eyes. The smile she had on her face was both shy and hopeful.
"Who is she? I thought the girl from Lakedon was a redhead." Julian said looking confused. "Did they switch the girl out?"
Drea shared a glance with Landon, "The girl first selected from Lakedon was Haley Demonte, it turns out she's pregnant."
"What?" Both Jesse and Julian gaped at Drea in shock.
"That's why we send representatives to the selected girls' homes before they come," Lily sniffed. "Can you imagine what type of scandal that girl would have brought to the palace with her?"
"And this is the second pick?" Julian asked looking over Serenity's form again. She was pretty. "I guess she's a seven."
"Great." Drea grinned, and she quickly put the selected stack back together, "Now all you have to do is remember all their names before Saturday when you meet them."
"Easy." Julian sighed, his eyes were tired and already the faces were blurring together in his mind. "How am I going to tell which girl is right?"
"With time," Drea said, she put the forms back on his desk and looked at Landon and Lily. "I have to try some appetizers the cooks want to make for Saturday. Do you two want to join me?"
"I'm not invited?" Jesse asked, feigning a hurt look.
"You can come if you behave," Drea said, herding Landon, Lily, and Jesse out while shooting Avery a meaningful look.
"Not going with them?" Julian raised a brow at his brother's girlfriend.
"I thought we'd have a chat," Avery said sitting down at his desk. "You asked how you'll know which girl is the one?"
"Yeah. There are thirty-five of them to choose from. What if I send the right girl away?" Julian asked.
"You won't," Avery said, sounding certain as she looked at him with her blue eyes. "Illéa has had Selections since it became a nation and the Prince always found the right Queen."
"I wish I believed that as much as you," Julian sighed, "Honestly, sometimes I wish I was like you and Landon. Finding the person I want to be with naturally." Avery was the daughter of their old tutor and after growing up with Avery running around with them in the palace Landon had asked her out at sixteen. "How did you even know you wanted to be with him?"
"Well..." Avery gave him a shy smile, looking away. "I've always liked him, but I never thought he liked me back. But one day when we were sixteen, we had just finished ice skating, and lying in the snow, and all of a sudden, he turned to me and said he could stay like this forever." There was a happy light in her eyes as she told him the story.
"That's when I knew he liked me back and... well I wanted to stay with him too," Avery admitted.
"And you still feel that way two years later?" Julian quizzed. He was afraid he'd get bored with the girl he chose.
"Of course," Avery laughed like she couldn't believe he would ask. "I miss him after one day we're apart and I'm always eager to come back to him."
"I'd say that's sweet if it wasn't my brother." Julian quipped.
Avery laughed with him, "My point is that you'll know you're in love when you wish they were always around. She'll be... your other half, complete you. I'm sure once you know the girl, the sun will rise and set with her."
"I hope you're right," Julian said.
"I know I am," Avery said before Landon and Drea appeared at his door again.
"Aves, you coming?" Landon asked, giving her a smile and offering his hand.
"I wouldn't miss it." Avery grinned back, taking his offered hand.
Julian watched the way she easily tucked herself against Landon's side as if she always belonged there. The two of them just seemed to... fit in a way that he never noticed before.
And for the first time, he was realizing that he wanted that. He wanted someone who fit perfectly against him. For the longest time, he thought it was Drea but now... he was coming to terms with the fact that she might not be. He looked down at her, thoughtful.
"Cute, aren't they?" Drea asked, noticing his eyes on her.
"Nothing about Landon is cute," Julian scoffed. "... thanks for having Avery talk with me."
"I thought it would help. Feel better?" Drea asked.
"Not even close... I actually feel more nervous." Julian sighed, before smirking. "But I do know what will make me feel better."
"What?" Drea asked.
"Appetizers. Please tell me Jesse didn't stuff his face." Julian joked.
"Don't worry, I saved you some." She reassured as the two of them followed after Landon and Avery. "Just make sure you don't stuff your face in front of the selected."
"No promises." He grinned, finally feeling excited about the Selection. While he dreaded it, he also couldn't wait for Saturday.
End of chapter!
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Next chapter: We see the girls travel to the palace
