This place was your average American bar with an upscale twist. A long bar with about eight people behind it lined one entire wall. There was an area with about six pool tables and another room just for dart throwing. The center of the room was reserved for dancing, judging by the couples that stood there swaying. Secluded booths lined the wall across from the bar and we were shown to the last one, all the way in the back.
Or table was decked out and set with a few covered dishes and a bucket of beer. The smells from the platters caused my stomach to growl and I was almost embarrassed, except I remembered I hadn't had lunch and breakfast had been quick. So I took my seat and waited for any signal that it was going to eat.
I took my seat as Cornell spoke to the waiter. I looked around at the people here. None of them looked royal in the least. Everyone was in jeans and tennis shoes. A couple stood near the pool tables, playing a game but flirting. A group of women sat at the bar having shots. Parallel to the pool tables, some guys were watching a sport. A soft rock song was coming from a jukebox nearby. The entire scene was so laid back that I felt my shoulders relax.
I looked at Cornell as Carter walked away. An Ice cold bud light sat in front of me along with a glass of water. I was still wanting to see what was on the menu.
"So, what do you think?" Cornell asked, arms outstretched.
I smiled and rolled my eyes, taking a si of the beer and sighing. I think the last time I tasted beer was my graduation night. "I think this is going to be a favorite place of mine. Very American, and the beer...how did you know? God, I missed beer. I'm so tired of wine."
"I figured as much," Cornell replied with a smirk. "I wanted to give you a taste of home. I hope you don't mind that I ordered ahead."
"I don't mind at all, as long as I get to eat."
"I promised you food."
"You did, and I'm dying of anticipation."
Cornell laughed and said, "Well, I'll not keep waiting any longer."
He proceeded to lift each dish, explaining what they were. There was French fried covered in gravy, shrimp in butter sauce, a fried chicken covered in cheese and vegetables, onion and cucumber salad, and moo ping, which was like barbecue. I tasted each dish, liking the next one better than the last and before I knew it, we were eating and chatting like old friends.
I learned he had two sisters and Jeremiah and that they couldn't wait to meet me. He told me about his parents and how they met and how he was raised. Unlike me, he knew what his future held, and he never tried to take it for granted. Cornell had also spent a lot of his youth in LaCresha, every summer until he was an adult. He was very close to my grandma.
"Enough about me," he said, his eyes full of curiosity. "Tell me about Princess Victoria."
I blanched and searched for a reply, coming up short. Compared to him, I felt like nothing. I knew I was a princess, but even knowing I didn't feel like one. Cornell, though, fit the bill of prince very well. He was so handsome it hurt to look at him. It was like each figure was hand-carved by God into perfection. His skin was blessed with love from the sun, giving him a forever tan with eyes the color of the sea. He was charismatic and funny, and people liked him. I was even starting to genuinely like him. But Princess Victoria was a child princess in the body of a young woman. I had a lot of growing to do.
"There's not much I can tell you about Princess Victoria," I replied. "I'm still getting to know her myself."
Cornell nodded his head in understanding, reaching forward to lace his fingers with mine. I didn't resist, and I found it put me at ease. "Then tell me about Vikki."
"Vikki is your average girl with average friends and an average parent. I didn't know about this side of me until a few months ago and honestly, my first response was to refuse. The Queen can be very persuasive when she wants to. So here I am, learning to be a princess when I'd rather be anywhere else. I liked my average life, I knew what to expect there, and I knew the rules. Here I'm not sure of anything and I learn the rules as I fuck up." Cornell stayed quiet, silently urging me to continue, and like I waterfall I overflowed.
"I don't know if I'll be a good queen or princess and I keep trying to do everything right and it just never works out. I miss home. I miss my friends and I miss my mom. Lord, I miss my mom. What I wouldn't give for one of her hugs right now." I realized I was crying when a tear hit the plate in front of me. It dint make a sound and yet I heard it. That was when I also realized that I had ruined our date by getting in my fee-fees again.
"Sorry."
"Why?"
"You must be thinking I'm a crybaby, huh? Every time I'm around you, I'm crying like a punk."
"You're a princess and my fiancee," Cornell replied, "you can cry if you want to."
I laughed, wiping at my eyes, and he followed suit, before bringing my hand to his lips and placing a gentle kiss in the palm of my hand. "I know how you feel Vikki, and please believe me when I say It will not always be like this. One day you will wake up and it will all make sense. You will know what your next move is before you make it. You will know what the next person is going o do before they do. You are where you are, and I think you will make one hell of a queen. You will be the people's queen."
Lord, he was a perfect being. Pudding. I was practically pudding for him right now. The mood shift took me off guard, but Cornell had a way of doing that to me. How did he always know what to say? Did they teach that in prince school?
"What are you thinking?" He asked.
The truth.. yeah, I would never tell him how perfect he was, or maybe I'd leave that for another time. Right now I said, "I was just wondering what a guy like you is doing with a girl like me?"
"I'm doing whatever the girl desires."
Well damn, warm pudding. I briefly wondered if that was a thing before dismissing that thought. Cornell and warm pudding. Well shit. "Whatever she desires?"
"Within reason," he replied with a smirk. "For now, I believe I promised you a dance."
"You did."
"Well, I don't plan to mess up my perfect record today. You will find that I am very good at keeping my promises."
I bet he was. I followed him to the makeshift dance floor and became wrapped up in him. our bodies didn't touch as we swayed. Cornell had laced our fingers and positioned our fisted hands between us. His other hand rested on the small of my back, my other hand on his shoulder. I watched him watch me. His eyes were searching. For what, I did not know.
"What are you thinking?" I asked, returning his question from earlier.
"I was just wondering what you had planned for the next sixty years?"
I frowned, even though I knew it did nothing to hide my smile. "Sixty years, seems so far away, a lot can happen between now and then, but to answer your question I guess the normal stuff. Meet a nice guy, get married, have some babies. Run a country to the best of my ability and, of course, take over the world. How about you any plans for world domination?"
"We are kindred spirits, sweetheart. All of that was on the bucket list. Add in a few dogs and our paths would totally match."
"I love dogs."
"I love babies. I want five kids."
"Five?" I laughed nervously. More from picturing all the different ways we could have five kids. "Where would we have time to rule a country and take over the world?"
"We'd have to get creative." He answered, unlinking our hands to place mine on the back of his neck, his other arm pulling me close where finally we touched. "I can be very creative. The car, the plane, a secluded space on the side of the road. The garden shed or the bathroom. All places on my list to mark you as mine."
I miss stepped and thought warm wet pudding. I was breathless as he rained kisses across my forehead and down to my ear. I wondered if I would survive if he kept talking like that. And kissing me because he was kissing everywhere but my mouth and if he didn't, soon I was going to die.
"See baby," he murmured against my ear. "We fit."
Damn, right we did. "Well, I guess you're mine too," I managed.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."