"I should probably be heading to the palace. It's getting late," I said firmly, trying to hold my ground, despite the fact that I was already very anxious deep inside.
The image of the royal family was at stake here. Even though the fangirls had backed away, giving us some space, paparazzi were already gathering at the scene and I had to keep the I-have-everything-under-control-this-is-usual-stuff facade on. I just hoped that Calvin would play along, which was sadly, highly unlikely to happen.
"Oh! That's no fun. We're seeing each other like what? After 4 years, right?" Calvin spoke casually as if we used to be close back then.
"Let her be, dude. She seems no fun to me. We can find something more entertaining at the club, maybe." Another deep male voice said out of nowhere.
I looked to the left of Calvin to see who had just joined the party. It was not like I needed another friend of his to deal with. The guy, who just joined us was equally tall as Calvin with broader shoulders. He had a much lighter shade of blonde hair, decently combed back, and soothing blue eyes. I instantly noticed his sharp jawline among all his sharp features. And I was just checking out his soft, but thin lips when Melissa coughed. I could almost hear her saying "That's enough of checking out cute guys for the day, miss" in her most mocking tone.
I quickly tore my eyes off of the new guy, hoping Calvin had not noticed it. Otherwise, it would be a good addition to his list of things to make fun of me.
Patting on the other guy's shoulder in a reassuring manner, Calvin said with a smirk, "Don't worry. I know just the way to make some fun out of just about anything." This, however, did not seem to please his friend, but I had no time to think of anything else, besides getting away from there.
"If there's nothing else, we'll be going," Melissa joined at last and took hold of my hand as if sensing that I was getting nowhere with this stupid conversation with Calvin. She was perfectly right and I was glad for her interference.
"Why don't we invite the two ladies to dinner, Fabe?" Calvin directed the question to the other guy, whose name I presumed to be Fabien. Calvin was one of those people, who knew just how to ignore other people's opinions and continue his pursuit as if nothing was said against his ideas.
I groaned inwardly. This was not happening. But to my utmost horror, Fabien nodded, showing his agreement. "Did he not just 'announce' that I seemed no fun? Maybe, Mel grabbed his attention." I thought.
Knowing that the paparazzi was still in earshot, I turned to my friend.
"What do you think, Mel? It sounds like a good idea to me. After all, we're meeting after some time, aren't we?" I managed with a forced smile.
When Melissa muttered a low "sure", I saw the triumphant look on Calvin's face and I knew I was just jumping into trouble headfirst.
Calvin must have been so happy that he acted so well like a gentleman, even holding the door for us to enter the restaurant on the ground floor of the City Hotel. I noticed Fabien trailing us and I felt like prey trapped between two hellhounds. Maybe, his friend was not as bad as Calvin. His demeanor was quite different from that of the arrogant backbencher. He, in fact, looked quite a gentleman, but his words just a moment ago seemed to prove otherwise.
A waiter led us to a table in the center of the restaurant and I suspected this was all Calvin's doing so that when he humiliated me, others could enjoy the show. Melissa whispered the same thing to me as we sat down at the assigned table.
I was at a loss of what to order when the waiter handed us each a menu card and I looked sideways at Melissa with a help-me look. However, right at the moment, Calvin announced that the dinner was on him. And assuming that he would stay true to his words, I ordered the signature dish without even checking what was included. "You can now pay for all the hateful things you did to me. Of course, it's too little of a payment." I thought devilishly as the food was served.
None of us was even trying to make small talk with one another and the entire mealtime seemed to drag on awkwardly. I just hoped that other people at the restaurant would not notice any of this and that they would find their own business much more interesting. Only Calvin looked like he was enjoying, which was obvious by the way his smirk remained on his face all the time. Even Melissa was picking at her food, which was very unlike her otherwise energetic, food-loving self.
As I sipped a bit of wine to wash down the food, which I found hard to eat as it was not to my liking, I noticed Fabien watching me. I blushed instantly under his intense gaze and when our eyes met, he smiled causing his cheeks to dimple. Despite his harsh words from earlier, his warm smile managed to put me at ease and I gave a small smile in return. I found myself feeling glad that it was Fabien, who was seated directly in front of me and not Calvin.
"So how did you enjoy the time that I was not around to bother you?" Calvin asked out of the blue. He had already finished the main course and was enjoying his wine then. I noticed that his habit of leaving the beverage for later has not changed.
"You are wise to think like that. I'm actually surprised that you know you were a pain in the a**." I replied in a low voice, keeping a perfectly polite smile on my face all the same to hide the harshness of my words.
Fabien let out a snicker, which he tried to turn into a cough, but I was certain that Calvin noticed it. I knew that Melissa must be cheering silently. I was acting in a way so unfitting for a princess, but I felt proud for standing up for myself.
"Feisty, aren't you?" Calvin smirked as if he was unaffected. However, he seemed to have intended the comment to be more for his ears than for ours.
Silence fell over us again as we waited for dessert to be served. I was sipping on the rest of my glass of red wine when Fabien's leg brushed against mine, sending sweet chills down my spine. I coughed and spit back some alcohol into the glass in a very indignifying manner, which grabbed the attention of Calvin. I saw him giving me a penetrating stare that I was forced to suspect that he has noticed my deeply flushed cheeks and how flustered I felt inside.
Even though I knew it was risky to annoy Calvin by showing interest in his friend, who just snickered at him, I could not help but steal a few glances at Fabien. Brushing his leg against mine could well be unintentional, but I felt as if he must also have felt something by the way he blushed when our eyes met once right afterward. However, he did not look my way again. Despite knowing that it was childish and silly, I felt a slight tinge of disappointment.
"Just so you know, my cuz is too good for even a princess. It's not like I'm hinting anything here." Calvin said smugly, throwing a glance my way. I could see the fire blazing in his eyes, despite his attempt to look cool.
Was he talking about Fabien just now? So the nice guy was his cousin after all. "Another Beaufort then." I sighed, earning another stare from Calvin. He looked pissed, which I could only understand as his way of showing how much he loathed me.
I wanted to make some excuse to leave, but I did not trust myself to speak. Even though Calvin did not openly say that he caught me looking at Fabien, I knew he must have noticed it and I was beyond embarrassed. It seemed that Beauforts were my weakness. I would have laughed at my own silliness if I was in a different company.
"Well, I guess we should go now, Ava. You have lessons tomorrow morning, don't you?" Melissa broke the silence just in time. She was always so good at saying the right thing whenever I was in an uncomfortable situation with Calvin back when we were high schoolers and I was glad she still had that talent.
I nodded to her, trying not to look too pleased.
Fabien looked at me uncomfortably as if he was guilty of the awkwardness, which he had not wanted to be a part of. Then he, smacking Calvin playfully on shoulder in an attempt to break the ice, suggested, "Shall we see off the ladies then, bro?"
Calvin ignored him without so much as raising his head to acknowledge, which only increased the tension. I quickly put the napkin on the table and stood up to leave with Melissa, but Fabien offered to see us off to our cars. I declined him politely, but when he insisted, I blushed.
On our way to the parking lot, Fabien stopped me by grabbing my wrist.
"Huh?" I asked taken aback as I looked up at him. I noticed Melissa, walking a bit further ahead before stopping as if to give us some space.
"I am sorry about earlier. I saw that you were somewhat uneasy around my cousin. I was only trying to talk him into letting you leave." Fabien said, sounding unsure about how to say what he wanted to say.
I assumed that he was talking about the first few words he spoke in front of me.
"It's okay," I said as I did not know what else to say.
"Calvin acts like all hard and badass, but he's not that much of a bad person if you get to know him better," Fabien explained. It was so sweet of him to defend his cousin this way all the while trying to make me feel better as well and it made me smile even though I did not intend to let my emotions show.
As we resumed heading back to the cars, Melissa was all giggly. She was even bold to throw knowing smiles at me, which I tried hard to ignore.