A/N: I want to mention, again, that this is an AU and therefore does not follow any available details about Versus directly.
Nasco is Latin for, "to become acquainted with; get to know".
Chapter Three: Nasco
Two days later, found her heading down to an early breakfast without the company of Mrs. Harper. It was such a relief to be away from the sometimes overbearing woman, especially during the course of a meal. Not that she was all terrible. It was her employer's extraordinary kindness in having her that she was able to have a job in the first place. The relief is mostly from her preference to be alone rather than anything else. She did not much care for the things that outraged Mrs. Harper and the ladies of her position. She, herself, was not glamorous nor was she drawn to trends and idle celebrity gossip. Those things did not concern her when she was not anyone special herself. But she does occasionally enjoy watching people from an invisible corner to observe how they went about their days. It was one of her favorite past times to try and imagine how they might live and who they might know. All of which provided her with plenty of stories for her sketching.
It was quite early in the morning, but the outside sun was already shining gorgeously overhead. So, with her sketchbook in her arms, she is rushing to get a quick bite in before catching an hour of quiet sketching. Her plans are to find a nice scenic angle to work on before having to report back to Mrs. Harper. A shy delighted smile crosses her face as she makes her way to the host's booth to get a table to officially start her day.
Given the late night parties hosted by the resort, many of the guests were still asleep in their rooms. Perfect for her since it meant that the breakfast hall would be mostly, if not entirely, empty. There would be no chance for awkwardness. She greets the host and follows behind him to a table located off to the side, so she could avoid the eyes of any other early diners. She is no more thankful for this a moment later when, as she was sitting down, her large sketchbook tips over the centerpiece, spilling water and flowers all over her table in a wet mess.
"Oh dear!" she cries, mortified beyond belief to have caused such a mess. "How clumsy of me! I really, I am so sorry."
The maitre 'di and water bustle to change the clothe quickly with a calm reassurance that everything was all right.
"There's no need for all that," comes the confident voice she has been dreading as much as she has been wishing to hear these last two days.
When she looks up, he is standing right beside the chair she is currently sitting in.
"The lady will have breakfast with me," he declares. Not the least bit disgusted at her clumsiness.
A reaction of which she cannot help but compare with Mrs. Harper's continual disapproval when she would trip over nothing when she walked sometimes. Though, the Prince seemed too polite to show whatever disgust he may feel towards her. A kindness too, that she was of some note to extend such a thing.
"No, that's very kind of you," she protests quickly. "But I'll be all right as soon as they change the clothe."
"I should have asked you to dine with me anyway," he says, taking hold of her arm gently and nudging her towards his table.
How he had seen her around the bend, when she had not seen him at all was uncanny. His table afforded him absolute privacy to where nobody even saw that there was a table here.
It shouldn't have thrilled her as much as it did for him to take such charge of the situation for her, but it did. Somehow his brisk dismissal of her little accident made her feel more comfortable and his resolute way of having her eat with him did too. Why he would risk dining with such a klutz made her feel uncharacteristically at ease rather than make her even more nervous. He was just so sure of things and himself that she felt more settled. A purely feminine sense of glee seizes her as he holds out a chair chivalrously for her to sit beside him at the small square table in a position where even if one could glance their way, they would only see him and not her. A very observant consideration on his part. How he seemed to know that she would be tense if he had positioned her in view instead was very attentive in a way that nobody was ever attentive to her. All so graciously and naturally, as if they had known each other longer than they did, making her feel comfortable for the first time in a very long time.
Within a blink of an eye, the wait staff wastes no time in setting a place for her before she even has a chance to settle into her chair. If they thought it odd that the Prince should have her dine with him, they did not let it show in their faces. All they did was smile cordially as they went about their work as fast as possible and bid them to enjoy their breakfast.
"What will you have?" he asks, with a small smile at her. Not a trace of the fierce intensity that she had seen on his face that first time. It was at once inviting and open and she feels warmth because of it.
"This is so generous of you," she says, suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed with just the presence of him and all this… inconvenience. For it had to be an inconvenience on his part. She was not accustomed to having someone like him pay any attention to someone like her and being so considerate at that. Her body turned into a bundle of noodled nerves from his focused gaze. Too much longer in her company and he would think she was an idiot. "But I'm not very hungry."
"Don't be silly," he chides, taking hold of his napkin and laying it casually back onto his lap. "You need to eat something."
"What would you care to have, Ma'am?" asks the waiter, standing just above her expectantly.
"Oh um, then maybe some eggs, please," she answers, trying not to fidget under the Prince's continued stare. She fidgets anyway. "Some toast as well, please."
"Very good," the waiter responds before walking away.
"I'm sorry about the other day," he whispers when they are alone. "I was needlessly mean to you."
"There is no reason to apologize," she reassures him quickly. "You merely wanted to be alone. I was the one intruding."
There is a moment of pause but he speaks again before it can become awkward.
"So where is your friend?" the Prince asks pleasantly.
"She seems to have gotten a cold," she answers, looking down at the table instead of into his eyes.
"How unfortunate," he says diplomatically, but he doesn't seem the least bit sorry for it.
The remark almost makes her smile.
"Is Mrs. Harper a friend or a relation?"
"Neither actually," she says shyly. "She's my employer."
"Are you a nurse or something?"
"No, I'm what you call a paid companion," she answers, trying her level best to look up and converse like a normal person would, but fails miserably when she can only look as far as her water glass. He was so just so, overwhelming, even when he smiled. Maybe, especially when he smiled. She could feel his presence and his stare like a physical touch.
"I didn't know companionship could be bought," he muses. "Not that kind, anyway."
"Well, I'm not gifted and I do have to earn a living somehow," she explains quietly.
"What about your family?"
"I have none," she replies softly. "My mother died before I can remember and my father not long ago."
"Did you get along with your father?" he asks, compassionately.
"We got along very well," she says, a smile forming on her lips as she thinks of the man that had been her father. "He was a little strange to some but we got on so well together. We were the world to each other."
"Must have been nice to feel that way about someone," he comments. It sounds more to himself than to her. "What did he do for a living?"
"He…," she hesitates, unsure of how to answer that. "He was a bit of an artist."
"What kind of an artist was he? Was he a good one?"
"He painted trees," she blurts out. "Well, not plural. He only painted one tree."
"So he painted the same tree over and over again?" he asks with a small chuckle.
She chuckles with him because it was always something that she had thought funny too, if not a little embarrassing too. "He believed that once you found that perfect something, you should stick to it. Do you think that's really crazy?"
"Not really," he answers, looking not the least bit put off by the idea at all. "I can actually agree with that."
"You can?" she asks in surprise.
"Yes," he answers easily. "Perfection is hard to come by. If you are fortunate enough to have found it, there's no reason to look for another."
The statement strikes her like a blow as the words wrap around her mind. He looks distant, upset at speaking the words. His voice sounds a little resentful too, even though his words are so full of understanding. His eyes blur to red and it looks as if he's angry, before he pulls himself together and manages to offer her a smile with eyes of blue once more. The change is so quick that she's in awe at how versatile and deep he was. Very broody. A little dangerous with many, many secrets hidden inside him.
He's probably not over his wife's death.
Of course he would be resentful then. He had, had perfection in his wife and he had lost her. She envied his late wife, the love that he seemed to still have for her. No matter that she was dead. What a great Lady she must have been to have the Prince long for her still.
"What's that you have there?" he asks suddenly.
Her food arrives then and she watches the steam rise a moment before looking to what he was referring to.
"Oh, um…," she says, very tempted to try hiding her sketchbook now that it has drawn his attention. "Since I have the morning free, I was going to do some sketching."
"Where were you planning on doing your sketching?"
"I haven't made up my mind yet," she answers plainly, pouring some cream into her coffee. Careful, this time, not to make another mess of things.
"I know a great place I could take you for some sketching," he says with another smile.
"Oh no! I wasn't…I wasn't telling you so that you'd offer," she cries, appalled that she may have made him feel obligated in giving the invitation.
"I didn't think that you were and I wouldn't have if you had been," he replies dismissively. "But I am offering to take you just the same."