People say they love surprises. A few others declaim they detest it. You never know if the surprise would be positive or negative. There are so many different scenarios and situations you can possibly find yourself in. There is just too much to worry about in life that you do not need more uncertain variables and circumstances. Being surprised is an emotion experienced by everyone as a consequence of being put in an unexpected event.
I belonged to the latter group, the ones who hated surprises. After the biggest surprise in my life, I had promised myself to be prepared for every possible, plausible situation I could endure in my lifetime. This was not even remotely close to anything I was expecting to experience. Sure, I had been surprised before, but at this moment in time surprised was not even adequate enough to describe what I was feeling. I was more flabbergasted, to be completely honest. The huge bombshell my father just dropped had all his children on their feet and protests at the tip of our tongue.
"You want us to what?!" I practically screamed at my father.
"To repeat once more, Adelaide, I need you and Liam to be His Royal Highness, Prince Leopold's bodyguards." My father replied over the shouts, complaints, and protests.
To rewind a bit; When I entered my father's study, I sat on one of the chairs opposite him with his heavy, old, wooden desk in between us. To my right, Charles was sitting comfortably with his legs crossed. Liam was on a black, leather chesterfield sofa that was situated next to the bookshelves on the left side of the room. We were peacefully sitting in his study making small talk with one another when my father said Liam and I were to be the Prince's bodyguard. He had said this as it were a normal thing, like as one was talking about the weather.
"Details will be discussed on Friday evening. Their Royal Highnesses have invited us over for dinner. The decision is final. I want you all to be on your best behavior and the dress appropriately in semi-formal." My father said, his tone decisive and final.
This throws a wrench into my plans. I was hoping for a simple senior year and on the first day of school so much has happened already. Babysitting a spoiled prince is really not my idea of simplicity.
"If these two are involved in this, then why am I here? Why am I joining the dinner?" Charles asked, the irritation in his voice obvious.
I rolled my eyes. Charles probably had another bimbo waiting for him in his house. He always does.
"You will accept the invitation from the Royal Family because you are part of THIS family. As for your former question, that is another matter." My father's demeanor changed. He placed his arms on his desk and leaned forward.
Everyone was now at the edge of their seats. The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Everyone's full attention was on my father. Whatever he had to discuss with all three of us must be very important.
"Someone has been embezzling money from the company. Right now, the embezzled amount is around the millions." My father said with a sigh.
Again, we erupted from our seats. Questions, complaints, threats, and reactions were spat out chaotically. We talked over each other. No one could understand what the others were saying.
This was all too much. This was the cherry on top of the sundae. The day has not even ended yet and I want to scream. All of the events today seem to be getting worse and worse. I need to get out of this room before something else happens.
The chaos had died down a little and everyone was now taking turns speaking. Someone mentioned something about staying late to find possible solutions to the problem. At this point, I was not paying attention to whatever was being said.
"Do whatever you need to do. This barely concerns me right now. I can wait for Liam for a ride home when you are done." I said to no one in particular.
I turned around and headed for the door. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and sent a quick text to Sunshine.
*I am at the Isla Estate right now. How long will it take you to get here?*
I pocketed my phone knowing Sunshine lives 10 minutes away. I headed for the one place in the whole estate that calms me down.