Keith Part 8
We had to walk while so it would be cheaper. At a certain point I caught a taxi and pushed the kids into it. It took longer because of traffic, but we made it back to the apartment. I paid the taxi driver as much as I had. I barely had enough but I was happy that I at least had a little over enough, but I was left with ten dollars in my pocket.
"Roger…" I called out in my old landlord's office.
"Oh it's you." he said not really happy to see us. He was a middle-aged man with dark skin and black hair, divorced and has one son in medical school. The kids and I cause a lot of trouble for him when we were living here so I didn't really mind his attitude towards us.
"Is my apartment still under my name?" I asked.
"Nope, some guy in a suit said that you were moving-thank god-to his place. I thought you finally got a guy and left so your rent is terminated." Roger explained.
"Am I able to move back?"
"Well your apartment is being rented by someone else, but, unfortunately there is more still open so I guess you can." he rolled his eyes. He got his papers and I filled them out swiftly. Nothing has changed.
We went into our new apartment on the second floor instead of the fifth floor. It look just like the old place and everything seemed fine. Everything works so it's all good.
"We only have two beds Aunty." Naru informed me. "And we don't have sheets, food, towels, or anything but clothes. We left most of our things back at the palace."
"We'll be fine, Naruki." I said. "We have two more months of summer before school comes in. I promise you in that short amount of time we will be back to our old lives." I said trying to be cheerful. "I took a lot of towels from the palace so that's taken care of. Now, stay here and clean. I have to go beg for my old jobs back."
"Clean?" Haru whined.
"I'll only be gone for a few hours. When I come back I'll do the rest okay." I said. I quickly changed into a business like clothes an put my hair into a ponytail. "I'll be back!" I said shutting the door.
First I went to the convenience store. When I stepped in I was welcomed with open arms. I was hesitant to ask for my old job back, but I blurted it out and bowed. I apologized a lot and bowed continuously. The old man who was also my old boss laughed and said that we will always hire me since I was the kindest to everyone. I start back tomorrow.
Next I went to the bakery where I worked as a late night janitor. I wasn't welcomed as much. My boss was a middle-aged brown hair woman with a dentist son and author daughter. She hit me with a large wooden spoon and cried because she didn't know where I went. She hugged me and told me not to be late for tomorrow tonight's shift. It was like I still worked here though I was gone for awhile. It was like I never left.
Lastly I went to the job I despised. My job as a waitress at La Blanc restaurant. Man, that job was horrible because my bald, always angry boss is a pain in the butt. I slowly and cautiously went in and say on a chair outside his office. When he came out he saw me and instantly went into a rage. He pulls me into his office and starts to tell and scream. It was hard not to laugh. His face gets so scrunched up and so red it's just hard to take him seriously. After that a customer bursted in.
"Marika!" the customer smiled happily.
"Oh Mrs. Hanazella!" I said. She is our number one customer and she always gives me a huge tip when this place doesn't do tips. She says it's because I'm so cheerful and nice and never messed up an order and I always talk to them and have her advice.
"Where have you've been! I was worried!" she said hugging me.
"Oh my kids have been getting into problems so I had to take care of them." I half lied. She wouldn't believe what I have been through.
"Well aren't you a good guardian. I respect that." she smiled. "I missed you so much! Monsieur Gordo I hope you aren't hard on her."
"Of...course not!" he regain composure. "She's the best waitress we have! She'll be serving your dinner party next week." he forced a smile.
"I can't wait! I'll pay extra!" she said. She paid him and left with a skip in her step.
"You're rehired." he said.
"What?"
"You're hired. You start next week now get out." he said. I said no more and left instantly.
When I finally got home I was smiling like crazy.
"I'm the luckiest girl in the world!" I shouted.
"Who's the luckiest girl in the world?" a familiar female voice ringed through my kitchen. I went in and I saw my friend Gazelle. We were in the same drama club in college and she's the only one I really stayed in contact with. I haven't seen her in awhile. She was a tall, blonde, and extremely beautiful and sweet. Gazelle is now a Broadway star and married to her match Wen and has a newborn, Lacie.
"Gazelle! How did you get into my house? Where are the kids?" I asked with a smile.
"Naru's friend Shaun came by and they went to his house, Haru's friend Beatrice also came by and they are having a sleepover at her place and Kai is sleeping. I came by to see you because I wanted to see you!" she hugged me. I made us some iced tea and we sat on the couch and talked.
"Yeah I'm back in town for the musical!"
"Really! I heard that 'Year's Away' is a difficult one, especially when you have the lead role." I said.
"Daphne is not that bad. My husband has the role of Ronan and that's more difficult than mine."
"Oh I hear you!" I laughed.
"So what's going on with you? What have you've been doing since dropping out?"
"Just working and working." I lied.
"I can tell when you're lying or not. Your smile gets all crooked. Come on tell me!"
"You won't believe me."
"I saw a butler here a few weeks ago telling me that you weren't going to be here for a while so try me. I am not leaving." she said getting comfortable on the couch. I gave in and I told her what happened.
"And so I left." I finished.
"That's awful!" she said with an angry expression. "They are not going to get away with this. You can sue them! You can tell the press!"
"No, Gazelle, no…there's no point. Besides Laura does have a point; a commoner does not belong with a Prince and so on and so on."
"That doesn't give them the right to humiliate you, the kids, and your brother!" she yelled.
"I know but I didn't leave empty! I slapped them both hard so that felt good." I said, but I felt heavy. When I remembered slapping Keith, I felt my heart constrict in pain.
"Do you love Prince Keith, Marika?" Gazelle asked.
"I don't know anymore." I said feeling sad. It was getting late so Gazelle left, Naru came back, and we all went to bed.
….
"I love you, Marika." Keith whispered in my ear. He was in a tux and we were standing on a balcony looking over the ocean while the sun was setting on the horizon.
"I love you more." I said back leaning closer. Our arms were holding each other so close I felt so safe, so loved.
…
I gasped and sat right up. I hit myself to stop thinking about him. I sighed heavily and fall back on the bed. We only had was one blanket we all had l to share one bed. I tucked them in and went to the living room. When I got there, Naru was looking out the window.
"Naru, what are you doing up?" I asked.
"I wanted to see the stars." he said sleepily.
"Can I join you?" I asked.
"Yeah." he answered. I sat right next to him and looked out the window.
"It's beautiful."
"Yeah." Then we were silent. "Why did we leave?" he asked.
"Lots of reasons."
"Can't you tell me?"
"I'll tell you when you're older." I said.
"Were you being bullied?" he asked looking up at me. I repeated what I said and he sighed. "Let's go to bed." I said picking him up and tucking him to bed. I went back to the couch and slept like a log.
It was the next day and someone was banging on my door. When I opened it, it was Gazelle with the most happiest look on her face.
"Guess what!" she said.
"What?"
"Lord Michel of Nobel Michel wants our old crew to perform at next month's costume party!" she jumped up and down. The crew she's talking about was us two and six other people who were in a sing, act, and dance for college. We went to competitions, parties, everything. We were the country's number one college group.
"Really!" I smiled. We hugged each other in excitement.
"Will you do a little comeback?" she asked. Before I answered yes I remembered that Keith and Laura might be at that party. I hesitated to answer. Sensing this she grabbed both my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.
"Are you going to let these two get in the way?" She said. "Do you want them to torture you for the rest of your life?"
I thought about it. I could show them that I'm better than them or just be there to honorate Nobel Michel...I can just do both.
"Alright I'm in." I said and we giggled like school children. We called up our old group and devised a meet up tomorrow when I was off work.
The next day we all met up at the college room that we used to practice in. All of us Gazelle, Alice, Marty, Zora, Sita, Den, Brisk, and I. It was like old times. While we rehearsed I caught up with the others. Alice has settled down with Den, Zora is finally getting recognized for her dancing skills, Sita and Brisk have become leading choir teachrs together, and Marty owns a bar in Nobel Michel. I was happy knowing that their lives were going well and that we are untied for this once in a little chance of performing together once more.
One Month Later….
We were hiding in the crowd when it was really dark since it was a costume party after all. We were all dressed with ripped, gothic style clothing with makeup. We wore black with one other color. I wore black and purple with fish tights and gloves and black flats with a purple flower on top of each shoe. I looked great. I am so glad that I was able to get a day off work and that Gazelle's husband offered to watch the kids. I am really lucky.
I can see all the princes in their costumes. Keith was a werewolf and next to him was Laura dressed as a cat. They looked so good together, but Keith's face did not look all that happy to be there. He seemed distant somehow. Suddenly our music started to play, reminding us to get into position.
"Ladies and gentleman!" Lord Michel announced. "I present to you a special treat from Charles: Their all time awarding winning dance group!" the people cheered and we got into our positions. The lights sinned down and we camouflage into the crowd. The base for "I'm in Love a Monster" by Fifth Harmony started to play with Zora coming out first.
"He'll buy me a thorn before he buys me a rose…" Zora in black and blue sang, having a ring in her hand and then did a trick changing the ring into an actual rose. After her was Gazelle twirling around in black and pink. We all of us girls came out and joined the chorus. Then it was Alice and Sita singing together. Alice was black and green and Sita was black and red.
"Hit it, Mari!" sang Sita. Then I came out dancing with Marty who wore black and white ripped tux. After that part the rest of the boys came out and danced with the other girls. When we were done, the boys went into "Lucky One" by EXO for the boys with Den in black and yellow tux, and Brisk in all black tux, each of them ruined to make them look handsome and haunting. They danced so swiftly it was like the old days.
After them Marty and I sang and danced "Re-Bye" by Akdong Musician. While the performance I looked over for a second to see Keith's face. By his expression I could see that he and Laura recognized me and that made me smile bigger. Then for the finale we all sang "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" by Meatloaf with Gazelle and Brisk leading. After we finished we were applauded by the audience. Their cheers filled the room as we were bowing.
"The Charles College Drama Club!" Zain announced instead. We all bowed one last time and started to head out until I heard my name being called. I looked over my shoulder and saw Keith running towards me, pushing people out of the way. I wanted to run into his arms, but all those moments in the castle stopped me from doing so. Instead I ran away, leaving the ballroom until I found myself lost in the castle.
"Crap, I'm going to be in big trouble…" I talked to myself.
"Heavens no!" I heard someone say behind me. I jumped and I turned around and see Lord Michel standing there smiling.
"Lord Michel…"
"Oh it's just Mike!" he laughed. "You haven't called me yet, why?"
"I've been busy…"
"Oh I know. You broke one of my vases that was given to my family centuries ago and ran away, then you were recovered and forced to work at the palace in Liberty under Keith."
"How did you know?" I asked surprised.
"Just wanted to know how you were doing. I hired someone when you didn't call me. It hurt not knowing what my savior was doing."
"But, I didn't save you. I really didn't do anything of the sort."
"No, but you helped me like your grandmother did." he said.
"My grandmother?"
"Come. This way please." he said motioning me to follow him.
