Her Runaway Prince

 He was very handsome, very intelligent, and very kind.

Once again, Amanda’s over-active imaginative mind was telling her that something was wrong, something was off, but she ignored her mind and rather focused on the warmth of his personality, the kindness with which he spoke, and the way his eyes softened and warmed whenever he rested his gaze on her.

He came back to the booth, holding a tray of drinks up high. “Whoa, ten out of ten for not spilling that.” Amanda applauded politely, and he set the tray down and bowed. She laughed softly as he slid into the booth across from her.

“Why thank you. So, anyways, let me present to you what we have on the menu tonight. Our starter tonight is two shots of bubblegum tequila each. Following that is our main course, Jack on the rocks. For dessert we each have a shot of chocolate liqueur, and an order of French fries are on their way. All on me, the gentleman, of course.” He smiled proudly, and Amanda was awestruck.

Tequila meant bad decisions.

Two shots of tequila meant very bad decisions.

She sighed and took the shot glass in between her small, dainty fingers, holding it up high to admire the blue color. “You know, this stuff makes a person sick and gives bad hangovers.” She sniffed at it, and Peter took his and held it up as well.

“Well then, I hope my boss is giving me tomorrow off, because I’m going to call in sick. A toast, to friendship and new beginnings.”

Amanda held her glass against his, clinking it together. “A toast, to new experiences.” And both their faces scrunched up momentarily when they swallowed the liquid, and both laughed afterwards.

*****

“Okay, sho- so, tell me. All about you, Amanda,” Petro asked, trying his best to not let his accent become even heavier due to his slight intoxication. He was leaning over the table, holding Amanda’s hand in his gently, careful to not cross any lines yet.

“Nobody has asked me that in a while,” she half-whined. Their eyes met, blue meeting brown, the ocean meeting the earth. “But,” she sighed. “I guess I can be a bit self-involved for once.” She smiled at him and rubbed her smaller thumb over his larger thumb. “My life, or rather, my past…it’s kind of messed up.” She took another sip of her drink, and a deep breath, like she was trying to mentally prepare herself for this speech.

“I’m all ears, lovely,” he said with such a warm smile that she momentarily forgot what he’d asked her and was focused for too long on the gentle and barely noticeable laugh lines at the corners of his eyes, but she shook her head and focused on the task at hand.

“I was…in a bad relationship before.” Her heart warmed when she saw the sadness that dominated his face, his sympathy reaching over to her from only a facial expression. “I think I forced myself to love him a lot more than he loved me. We got serious too young, and we were so stupid. But that’s how most tragic love stories start, you know? Trying to get away from it all, trying to get away from it together, and then you end up running away in different directions because how can you run together if you, as an individual, barely know where you’re heading in life?

“We were so in love, and it was good at the start. The honeymoon phase was lovely, and he made me feel so special. However, after a while, I guess…I just started to annoy him? I ranted a lot, rambled, babbled, you know me. I talk a lot of nonsense, and he just…started getting annoyed with it. He would tell me to shut up, blatantly saying shut up as if I was worth absolutely nothing in his eyes. That’s when I started suppressing my thoughts, my fantasies, forcing myself to focus on my work instead, because that was safer.”

Peter once again took Amanda’s hand in his and smiled assuredly, reassuring her that it was okay to let go with him. “Go on, Amanda, I’m listening.” Amanda bit her bottom lip for a few seconds before continuing with her story.

“I…I became pregnant. He was happy. Or at least, I think he pretended to be. But he became distant, he became different. He wasn’t home as much as I needed him to be, he wasn’t home as much as he was supposed to be. I may be a dreamer, but I’m not stupid. I knew he was sleeping around. Didn’t help when I caught him in the act. But, I stayed with him, because, well… I didn’t want my child to grow up without a father. Well, as you can see, I’m childless.” The dam behind her eyes started to run over, the emotion becoming too much and the heartbreak of the memories of her painful past making her throat feel constricted, like her oesophagus was swelling up. “I had a miscarriage. He left me. My mother, who had forced me into a job as a legal secretary, basically wrote me off as well. It was…in those few months I lost everything. I lost everything that I ever imagined would be special to me, and I was so lost and depressed. Peter, I never thought I’d ever come back from that.” She was full-out crying, wiping her drunken tears with the sleeve of her shirt, sniffling and hiccuping. And before she knew it, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from beside her and pulled her into his embrace.

She drowned her tears out by burying her face in his chest, sniffling and choking back cries and creating a large wet spot on his shirt, but he didn’t seem to mind. He continued to stroke her hair, whispering sweet nothings until she finally calmed down. Even when she was calmed down, he wouldn’t let go of her.

“You didn’t lose everything. Look at that cottage, which your nana left you. You two must have been close?” he questioned, and she chuckled.

“I was basically raised in that little cottage. I know this town’s people so well, and I know the tourists so well. Everyone here seems to have a soft spot for me, and everyone was so supportive when I took over Nana’s BnB. To be honest, I sometimes have no idea what I’m doing there, but the town is always quick to help if need be.” She traced the wet patch on Peter’s shirt with her index finger, feeling the warmth of his body radiating from beneath the white cotton fabric.

“And you said something about your mother…she sounds controlling. I can identify with that. My mother…” Petro sighed, once again tensing up a bit, the way he always did whenever they talked about his past. “It sometimes feels like I’m a marionette, her little puppet, whom she can toy with as she pleases.”

Amanda sat back, her eyes widening as she watched his face. “My goodness! My mother is exactly the same! She really dislikes my over-active imagination, and so she forced me to go into the most boring and plain job ever: legal secretary. It was the last place I’d have wanted to be.” Amanda sighed deeply, resting her chin in her hand and gazing off with a small pout.