The Thing About Third Wheeling
The thing about third wheeling was, it was awkward. Super awkward.
Not that Hayden would know, of course. She'd had a long list of lovers lined up at the palace door the moment she turned nineteen. Half of the eligible young men in Illéa had already filled out their Selection forms. She broke millions of hearts that Friday announcing she would not be taking part of the long-standing Illéan tradition, and neither would her twin.
Then, Rhys came along, and the rest was history.
So, the fact that she had voluntarily taken on the responsibility of third-wheeling her little sister's date du jour must have qualified for some kind of sainthood. She even wore one of her most unappealing outfits - a blush pink belted suit-dress with oversized puffed sleeves - in order to 'blend in' and 'avoid undue attention to herself' (Elodie's words, not hers). Even at her 'worst', Hayden looked damn good, if she did say so herself. Delia's stylists would have to work overtime to compete, which would honestly take a miracle with the hack job Delia did to her bangs.
As soon as Delia caught sight of Hayden in the foyer, she made a face.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm your chaperone for today!" Hayden said, way too chipper. She'd have to work on her genuinely-happy-to-be-here voice before the cameras started rolling. "I know, try to contain your excitement. Elodie called in an IOU and asked me to cover for her."
"Elodie called out of work? What, is she dying?" Delia asked, and Hayden shrugged. Delia rolled her eyes. "Maybe she finally learned the value of a day off."
"Between you and me, I'm worried about her," Hayden said, unable to stop concern from seeping through. "She didn't show up for breakfast, and her maids say she hasn't been out of her room all day."
"You think this is about Paris?"
"How could it not?"
Paris, the elephant in the room. Unless you were living under a rock, there was no escaping the 'Paris Fiasco' - the code name the royal press came up with for the utter shit storm that was the Prince of Illéa punching out the Crown Prince of Illéa for abusing his mistress on live television. Mom and Dad had been in panic mode ever since headlines broke. No one else dared utter a word in fear of setting off an emotional bomb.
Put in perspective, it made sense why Elodie didn't jump at the chance to chaperone a date between budding young lovers. Romance was probably the last thing on her mind, and the last thing she needed...even if it mean forsaking her perfect attendance record.
"So, what's on the agenda?" Hayden asked, taking a hard left into safer topics. "Elodie left me a tip sheet but I only had time to skim, so I literally am flying by the seat of my pants."
In actuality, Elodie had left a ten-page dossier about Selection protocol, but just looking at it made Hayden want to cry.
"Ummm I think I'm supposed to meet Teo Fernandez out by the stables for some activity that I pray is not horseback riding." Delia made a face like she would rather face a firing squad than go on this date. "Elodie never tells me much about these things because she's afraid the more I know, the more likely I am to ditch. And she's right."
"For once we agree," Hayden said and wrinkled her nose, looking down at her feet. "God, I hope it's not riding. These boots are not meant for horses."
Delia rolled her eyes again. It was a miracle her eyes didn't roll right out her head.
Just as they were about to head outside, someone else joined them in the foyer. Hayden had seen Aunt Josie earlier at breakfast, but the older woman had already managed to change out of her fluffy robe into another outfit and twist her hair up into something that showed off a single streak of distinguished grey. She looked distracted, preoccupied, but managed a smile when she saw Hayden and Delia.
"Hello girls."
"Hey Aunt Josie," Hayden greeted, clinging to her saving grace. "Where are you off to this morning?"
"Mathis and I wanted to take a walk around the gardens. As much as he complains about the heat, I think he's secretly enjoying life on the west coast."
"Are you going to stay forever?" Delia asked, not in a mean way but in a genuinely curious one. "We have a zillion spare bedrooms."
"No," she said quickly, decidedly. "As much as I love you all, I've had quite enough of this place. The first twenty years of my life were enough."
"Bummer." Delia looked genuinely bummed. "You're like, the only cool adult here."
As much as Hayden loved her parents, she had to agree. Was the world ending? Agreeing with Delia twice in a row?
Aunt Josie smiled indulgently. "You haven't happened to see Jordan around anywhere?"
"Not for a while." To be fair, Hayden didn't keep tabs on Jordan. She had no reason to; they weren't that close. He was Elodie's friend and therefore Elodie's responsibility.
"I remember seeing him at dinner last night," Delia supplied, trying to be helpful.
That's when Hayden remembered seeing him last as well. He dipped out on dinner early, making some excuse about work. And then he didn't show up for breakfast this morning...same as Elodie.
Hayden looked over at Delia, and their matching gazes told Hayden they had come to the same conclusion.
Could it be? Elodie and Jordan...together?
Impossible, Hayden thought, shaking the notion from her head. Elodie was strictly by the book, as straitlaced and rule-following as they came. And she had done too much PR magic to dupe the whole world into thinking her marriage was a fairytale for years on end. There was no way she'd throw all that away for Jordan.
Unless...
"Well, let me know if you see him. It's unlike him not to answer his phone," Aunt Josie said, looking between Delia and Hayden with a hint of suspicion.
"Will do," Hayden nodded, shaking off the conspiracy theory. "He's probably just caught up in his work. Being the new Governor must be so demanding. I know I've never had a head for politics."
"To be honest, I never thought Jordan would take after his father. He was always much more of a dreamer, a traveller, like his uncle."
Aunt Josie's face turned wistful, and the mood that had previously lifted sobered again. Over three decades, and the loss of Kyle Woodwork never softened. Of course, Hayden had never met her late-aunt or her husband, but the stories made Kyle out to be a selfless, heroic-type man whose greatest passion was helping people. That passion almost cost him Aunt Eadlyn. Hayden couldn't help but wonder what Kyle's life would have been like if he had chased his dream instead of accepting Aunt Eadlyn's proposal.
"I hear the Governor's job comes with a private jet," Hayden said, trying to make a joke before someone ended up in tears. Running mascara was not how she wanted to go on camera. "Lots of opportunity to travel there."
Aunt Josie shook her head. "You girls should get going. Mathis and I saw a camera crew setting up in the yard when we were heading in."
"You don't happen to know which yard, do you?" Hayden asked, flashing her 'I know what I'm doing but remind me anyway' smile.
Which is how they ended up trudging through all the gardens to get to the largest - and arguably least-pretty - one. Hayden really should have picked different shoes, but hey, sometimes beauty was pain.
Delia remained uncharacteristically quiet and...somber? Which was weird and also completely unacceptable behavior for someone about to go on a date and potentially find love in front of millions of their subjects and...wow, she sounded just like Elodie. That was even more unacceptable.
"Are you okay?" Hayden asked. She was used her sister to acting like some kind of manic pixie party girl, not this incredibly depressing morning after.
"Looking at Aunt Josie, how hurt she still is, it just made me realize...that's gonna be us," Delia said, kicking at the grass and scuffing up her white sneakers. "Gabbi's stronger than anyone I know, and I wanna believe she'll kick this thing but...one day she's gonna...and we're gonna be what's left." Delia sniffed and looked up at Hayden, making a startling amount of eye-contact. "I don't want to be like Aunt Josie. I don't think my heart can take it. Not again."
"Again?" Nothing about that last bit made any sense. "Are you high?"
"Forget it," Delia huffed and sped up, leaving Hayden to catch up.
By the time Hayden made it to the group of producers and cameras, Delia had already taken her place at a picnic table that had been set out for the occasion. Usually this garden remained empty: a large square space surrounded by hedges and a perimeter of gravel that formed a walking path. Dad had used it during his Selection to host a few dates. The recording crew would, no doubt, play up that comparison to their advantage.
The picnic itself was idyllic: a table set for two piled high with enough pastries, fruits, and cheeses to feed a small army. Pretty wasteful, but the royal family did nothing by half-measures. Part of the Selection process was letting people pretend that they, too, experienced grand romance. The rest of the food would be donated, of course. They weren't complete monsters.
Hayden was directed to take her seat at the "head" of the table: a third chair crammed into the side and partially hidden behind the tower of finger sandwiches in order to give the illusion that Teo and Delia were alone. A waste of her natural photogenic beauty, but this wasn't about Hayden. This was about Delia and Delia's love life. Even if Delia looked like she'd rather have her fingernails ripped out slowly, one by one.
Someone started a countdown, and on three Hayden saw the red light of a camera. They were live. This was happening. She plastered on a smile, ready to be watched.
Teo entered the garden flanked by two guards. He looked around the space in wonder, taking everything in like a child at Christmas. All cameras were pointed his way, zooming in on his face. Hayden could imagine the headlines; the press really loved a rags to riches story, and Teo screamed like someone who didn't come from much. He pulled not-so-subtly at his blazer, walked stiffly in his freshly-pressed, dark-washed jeans. The aim was to look casual, but casual for royals was much different than casual for everyone else.
Hayden and Delia rose from their seats as Teo approached. He must have been told to bow in their presence, bending ridiculously far at the waist at each of them before going to push in Delia's chair, but not Hayden's. Rude. Hayden reminded herself that she was invisible, that she was a fly on the wall meant it mediate if things got out of hand. For all intents and purposes, she was not even there.
Once her own chair was pushed in by her scooting her own butt across the grass, Hayden let herself relax. She crossed one leg over the other, and settled in for a good show. She shot Delia a subtle look, prompting her to start talking.
"So, Teo," Delia started, pulling down some chocolate covered strawberries until she had a sizable pile on her plate. "Is this enough nature for you?"
Teo looked bewildered, nearly dropping a blueberry scone. "Nature?"
Delia took a bite of a strawberry, then spoke with her mouth full. "Yeah, didn't you tell me you liked spending time naked in the woods or something?"
"Not naked," he mumbled, his cheeks flushing a dark red. Did Delia have to be such an asshole to these guys? Maybe Hayden should intervene, but no one was yelling yet, and nothing had been broken, so she waited for Teo to compose himself. "I have other interests too."
"Oh?" Delia arched a brow. "Let's see if we having something in common."
"I like to work with my hands: building things, fixing cars, woodworking."
"Never made anything a day in my life."
"I could teach you."
"Not interested in cutting off my fingers."
"I'm a very good teacher."
"I'm sure you are, with all the confidence you exude."
Teo's lips curved up into a smile. Instead of self-conscious, he actually seemed amused. "What can I say? I learned it from all the soap operas Abuela had on TV."
"No," Delia gasped, pretending to be horrified, but Hayden knew her sister better. She was actually having fun.
"Yes. Telenovelas."
"Teo Fernandez, aren't you just full of surprises."
"Like tamales, I have layers," Teo joked with a little laugh, not quite at ease but getting there. He picked up his fork and cut the corner off a pastry, like he had only now convinced himself if was okay to eat instead of look. "I'm surprised you remembered anything about me."
"I do possess brain cells," Delia said snidely, shoving another berry in her mouth. Hayden was disgusted and embarrassed. How did Elodie do this day after day and just sit there without losing her mind?
"I think all Teo means is that he's surprised that you cared enough to remember something he is passionate about," Hayden said, trying to smooth things over before Teo self-combusted.
"I think Teo is old enough to express exactly what he means," Delia replied with a snarky smile, the kind that promised trouble. The mood took a turn towards chilly, the exact opposite of where it needed to go.
"Your sister is right," Teo said, smiling Hayden's way a little bit in gratitude. "I'm sorry, I'm n-not so good with words, especially when I'm around you."
Hayden awwed and batted at Delia's arm. That was so sweet! Delia, on the other hand, looked like she may puke.
"Did I do something wrong?" Delia asked, looking confused but also confrontational, ready to raise hell and all her self-defenses. "Did I cross a boundary or make you uncomfortable? I'm pretty good at doing both."
"No, no! Nothing like that!" Teo shook his head, his eyes wide and spooked.
"Then why are you so nervous?"
"I'm not nervous," Teo lied, fidgeting with his hands. "Maybe a little. I'm just...it's so - " he cut himself off this time and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Did you sleep with Andre?"
Hayden spat out her drink.
"Excuse me?" Delia sounded incredibly calm and controlled for someone who looked like her temple was a second away from blowing a blood vessel.
"You slept with a Selected?" Hayden's voice went up an octave or two. "Wait...is that the one who stole my pashmina?"
Delia ignored Hayden completely. She closed in on Teo. "Have they been telling people that?"
"No! No, nothing like that! It's just, h-he was late to breakfast the other day, and Sidney saw Andre walking back from the other side of the palace...the part where the royal bedrooms are...and we kinda put two and two together so...yeah..."
"Great," Delia grumbled and slammed her head against the table in what could only be described as a display of pure angst.
"So you did sleep with Andre!"
"Fuck off Hayden!" Delia turned towards the cameras with a manic sort of rage. "Are you still rolling? Stop rolling! Delete that fucking footage or I swear to God - "
"It's nothing against you," Teo said, quick to reassure with assurances that made Hayden cringe. Boy he really knew how to put his foot in his mouth. "I don't care, I promise. Whoever you sleep with is your business - "
"Stop talking - "
" - I just don't know what this means for us or what you expect at the end of this date - "
"Nothing! I expect nothing!" Delia screamed, her voice echoing through the gardens. "You don't have to worry. I won't defile your virtue or innocence or whatever. I won't even touch you!" Delia took ten steps back and held up her hands in surrender. "Look, I'm keeping my distance!"
"I never said I - "
"This date is over. I'm going to bed," Delia proclaimed, took another step back, then kept walking.
"It's one in the afternoon," Hayden called after her, trying poorly to convince her to stay.
"I said what I said!"
Elodie would have tried harder to get Delia under controls, but Hayden didn't really care that Delia was making an ass of herself. Typical Delia, flying off the handle at the tiniest of things. As if anyone really cared about her sex life. She was supposed to be getting with these guys anyway!
"Sorry, Teo. None of this would have happened if Elodie were here," Hayden said in lieu of an actual apology.
The poor guy just sat there, bewildered as he had been at the start, no doubt wondering how everything went so wrong so quickly. There was a second, a brief flicker of a moment, when Hayden thought it was her duty to pull Teo into a hug and comfort him. But that was way beyond her responsibilities, and her current emotional capabilties. Elodie wouldn't do that, either. Too many rumors, she would say. So Hayden kept her hands to herself.
Then, she got up and flagged down a cameraman. "This wasn't live, was it?"
"No, Your Highness. All footage is saved, edited, and aired exclusively on The Report. Though, there might not be much to report this week."
"Someone needs to go get Delia, bring her back here, and I'll calm her down," Hayden instructed, determined not to disappoint Elodie. "We are doing this, and we are getting that footage whether she likes it or not. Understood?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
The cameraman scampered off, no doubt to delegate her bidding. Just in time, too. Her phone started buzzing a familiar ringtone: Rhys.
Rhys hadn't called in a couple days, which made Hayden sick with worry. She had spent that entire time thinking she had done something to upset him, but by the end, she was mostly just resentful that he couldn't bother to talk it out. As happy as she was to answer the phone and hear his silky baritone on the other end, she was still irritated.
Hayden walked off towards the gazebo down by the pond, and once she was sure she was out of earshot, she answered the call.
"Hey," Rhys said, like no time had passed and this was just another ordinary check in. "Was starting to think you wouldn't pick up."
"Well, now you know how it feels."
Sure, Hayden was being petty, but she didn't care. She was upset and had a right to be.
"I didn't call to fight."
"Then why did you?" Hayden asked, unable to keep herself from whining. "You haven't called me in days. I was worried sick. You can't just ghost me like that."
"Like you were ghosting me for Vesper?"
"What do you mean?"
It was a white lie. Hayden felt guilty as hell about dodging his call at dinner, but she had tried to call back later in the car. She didn't leave him on read for days. Didn't the guilt of leaving her in the dark drive him wild, too?
"She told me about the Hope Gala. She told me you invited her as your special guest." There was far too much bitterness in Rhys' voice. She hardly recognized it. "How could you do that?"
"I thought you would be happy..." Hayden said, beyond confused. Why was he so upset about something that hadn't even happened yet? Couldn't he see the opportunity? Couldn't he see that if an Illéa made a good impression on her father, she could finally be open about their relationship?
"We've been together for years, and you choose to bring my sister, someone you barely know, instead?"
"You hate parties. You always complain about them..." Hayden pointed out, all her hackles rising as she prepared to defend herself. And then, a lightbulb went off. "Are you...are you jealous?"
"It's not about jealousy, Hayden." There was something new. Rhys never used her first name if he could help it. He called her Princess, he called her Schreave, he called her a litany of changing pet names, but not Hayden. Not since they first met. "Vesper is not who you think she is. She's not your friend, and she's not your sister. She's dangerous."
"Again, you are the one who introduced me to her."
"I was trying to get ahead of a bad situation." Rhys let out a sigh that was half frustrated, half exhausted. "If I had any idea what she would try to do, what she would get you to do, I would have never - "
"Rhys you are blowing things way out of proportion," Hayden tried to calm him down. This whole fiasco had to be one big misunderstanding. Lord knew that Hayden had gripes with her siblings; their relationships were vast and complicated. Rhys and Vesper were siblings just like any others, and they were having a spat like any others. That was it. "Vesper has been nothing but kind to me. She understands me. She's helped me through a lot these past couple weeks, things you could never understand."
"Oh, and she understands them so well?" He said, and it wasn't said meanly but she felt the sting just as sharp. Rhys had never sounded so harsh, never to her. He said once that Vesper brought out the worst in him. Well, she was starting to see it now. "I'm telling you, Vesper is playing you. She's using you in some little game of hers, and once you're done being useful, she's going to throw you away. Or worse. I don't want that to happen to you. Please, just listen to me. Say you understand."
"I understand," Hayden echoed, even though she didn't understand at all. She felt shaky and nauseous and lightheaded. Nothing made sense, not Rhys' words, not his tone, not his warnings. She just wanted something to feel safe, normal. "Maybe...maybe we should talk this over in person. When will I see you next?"
"I don't know. I don't know," he repeated, his voice sounding far away, like he wasn't close to the speaker. Looking over his shoulder at something else, someone else. "I have to go, Princess. I have to go."
"Okay." Nothing about this was okay.
"I love you."
Hayden ended the call.
She would not cry. She would not cry. She had taken too long to do her makeup and who knew how long shooting this date would take.
Speaking of, there were the two lovebirds in question: Teo skipping rocks on the surface of the pond and Delia stalking his way with her arms crossed firmly over her chest. Someone from the crew must have bribed or threatened her into compliance, but she did not look happy about it. Maybe Elodie had been given a 911 call and she had written some sort of apology for Delia to recite, begging for a second chance she still would not take seriously.
Instead of any of that, Delia stood next to Teo and did not say a word.
From the gazebo, Hayden was far enough away not to be caught spying but still close enough to hear what they were saying. She tucked her body behind a pillar and kept watching, feeling like a creeper but readying herself to jump in in case a fight broke out. Teo was easily twice Delia's size, but Delia's words could hit harder than any physical blow.
"I'm sorry, about before. I wasn't trying to judge you," Teo spoke first, trying to be the bigger person.
"It sure as hell felt like it," Delia snapped, arms wrapped around her middle. "What I do with my body is my choice, no one else's. I don't give you shit for who you do and don't sleep with."
"No, you don't," Teo agreed. "But you have given me shit for everything else, and it's hard to figure out what you want from me."
"Like I said, I don't want anything from you," Delia repeated herself, enunciating each word more than necessary. Like Teo was stupid. "If I wanted to sleep with you, you'd know. I'm not exactly subtle."
Teo laughed at that. "Yeah, no kidding." Delia gave him a look and he held his hands up in surrender. "Look, I- ah, I'll just be honest. I have a huge crush on you. Like massive. Everyone back home teases me about it. I think you're pretty and funny and totally out of my league. So if I say the wrong thing or if I mess everything up, it's because I totally lose it when I'm around you."
He might as well have said he was a Martian from outer space. Delia looked at him like he was crazy. And maybe he was. Being in love with Delia would drive even the best to insanity.
"That...is not what I was expecting."
"And you're not what I expected," Teo said bluntly, honestly. "I'm not sure how to match up the girl on the TV with the girl in front of me. It's been...hard. I'm super confused all the time. But you're still pretty, and funny - even if the joke is at my expense - and out of my league."
"Oh please," Delia rolled her eyes, but there wasn't anything malicious about it. Her posture loosened up. She actually took a step towards him. "I'm sorry for being such a dick to you, Teo. You're not too bad yourself, even if you are totally crazy for living out in the woods like a caveman."
"It was one summer!"
"One summer too many."
"You are completely helpless," Teo said, shaking his head. Then, he turned his attention to the pond. "I bet you don't even know how to swim."
"My house has an indoor pool. Of course I know how to swim."
Teo muttered something under his breath that Hayden couldn't hear. Then, louder, "Prove it."
"Right now?"
"Right now."
Teo jerked his head towards the pond. Delia looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"That water is probably ice cold."
"I'm just gonna take that as you don't know how to swim."
"Fuck you, I totally do!"
"Come on, then!"
He walked over to the edge of the lake and tied back his curls. The man bun look was doing things for his face, making him look more mature now that his jawline and cheekbones were exposed. Then, he took off his jacket and shirt, and Hayden had to clap her hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp. Teo was...Teo was jacked. Like male model jacked. There had to be a six-pack underneath all that chest hair. There just had to be. Hayden definitely wasn't ogling...definitely not.
Maybe spending so much time in nature did have its perks.
Delia wasn't doing much better at being discreet. Hayden could see her sister's mouth open wide enough to catch flies as Teo finished stripping down to his boxers. There wasn't much time to admire the view before he ran into the water and disappeared under the surface. He popped up about six feet away, tanned skin shining in the sun, smiling.
"Come on!" he waved Delia over, biceps flexing with every move.
Delia was less enthusiastic about undressing. She left her dress and her shoes in a pile next to Teo's and walked to the edge.
"Fuck!" Delia yelped, snatching her foot back. "This water is freezing! You liar!"
Teo threw his head back and laughed as Delia shivered, glaring at him the entire time. He didn't give her time to adjust to the temperature, disappearing under the surface again, only to reappear by her side, grab her by the waist, and drag her under. Delia screamed as she resurfaced, shoving at Teo in vain attempts to get him off her, all the while he kept laughing. She splashed at him, kicking and hitting the surface as she shouted, complained, and eventually laughed with him.
Hayden saw all she needed to see.
She pocketed her phone and walked the path back to the garden, on the lookout for her trusty cameraman. He could break the news to the rest of the crew that production would have to stall for a few hours. Her sister was busy on a date.