Her Runaway Prince

Chapter 10

Petro felt as if he was in a trance as he boarded the plane. He felt dizzy and his head was spinning, still unable to completely comprehend what had just happened. His mind just couldn’t wrap itself around the fact that, in a manner of mere moments, his entire life had fallen apart. In the time span of less than an hour, he’d managed to lose everything he held dear.

First came the news that his mother was deathly ill and a guilt he hadn’t felt in months overtook him. The idea that his mother was possibly on her death bed and the last conversation they’d was a fight… it was killing him. The fact that he never said goodbye before he left. The fact that he hadn’t hugged her one last time and told her that he loved her. The fact that she probably blamed herself for her only child abandoning her. The fact that he never got to tell her that he understood what she wanted from him completely, and that he wished for so long to be able to be the man that she wanted him to be.

He came to the realization that he might never get the opportunity again. His mother was in a coma and the most experienced medical experts in the country said that she might not come out of it. His mother was literally clinging to life and the last memory he had of her was her tears as he argued with her.

On top of it all, Amanda had finally found out the truth about him. Petro had imagined that moment ever since he first met her. He’d played scenarios over and over in his head. He’d tried to plan for every single reaction she could have had. He’d planned every little word he believed would have dissuaded her from leaving. He had practiced every line of flattery he would have said and every promise he would have made. Yet no amount of preparation had been able to help him when it had actually happened.

When Amanda’s brother recognized him, Petro immediately knew that it was all over. He could have sworn that he felt his heart literally shatter. He felt his soul as it tried to tear itself from its vessel, refusing to face the pain it had suddenly been encumbered with. His mind had gone completely blank. He wasn’t able to conjure up any excuses, justifications or even promises. He couldn’t and she wouldn’t allow him to. The look on her face as she tried desperately to mask her hurt behind anger was forever etched into his mind. The sound of the tears in her voice still haunted his ears, drowning out even the loud turbines of the jet as it took off. The words she said… ‘I never want to see you again’. Petro knew that those words would haunt him until the day he took his last breath. He felt so hopeless. He felt homeless. He felt so remorseful. He felt so idiotic. He felt absolutely broken.

Petro sighed as all manner of emotion and regret flooded his mind. In the time span of less than a day, he’d lost the love of his life and was most likely about to lose his mother too. At least the last exchange between Amanda and him was much better than the final exchange he shared with his mother.

I never asked to be part of this family.

His cold words were plaguing him as he imagined his mother: alone, comatose, weak and fragile.

Except, he couldn’t make out her face.

The woman that his mind was conjuring was a stranger. It wasn’t the strong and fierce woman who’d raised him. He couldn’t recognize the person he was imagining.

Suddenly the image in his mind turned to static and started to morph. Amanda made her way into his thoughts. Petro felt his heart ache with a longing as his mind recalled her soft, ebony skin. He fought back tears as he remembered the tiny, single freckle just below her left eye. He remembered how she radiated like a mythical goddess whenever he told her how beautiful she was. He remembered the glimmer of undeniable certainty in her eyes when they’d made love for the first time. He remembered her soft snoring at night and her loud yawning when she awoke. What he once fantasized about experiencing repeatedly for the entirety of his future, he suddenly realized was destined to be naught but a painful memory.

Petro stared out longingly through the little window of the plane. He gazed down at the ocean underneath him. The serene motions of the waves calmed him to the point where his facade finally crumbled. The waves cemented the realization that it was over. They taunted him, reminding him that he was now leaving behind the peaceful life he had built for himself. No. The life that Amanda and him had built for themselves. He had lost everything.

As the plane cut through the sky, Petro felt the mask slip. The mask he’d created only for himself. He tried to fight back against it, but as soon as the first tear escaped, the battle was lost. He buried his face in his hands and let out an anguished cry. Petro howled like a wounded animal as he wept, sorrow and grief finally enveloping his heart fully with a vice- like grip. Pain had won.

*****

The morning sun had started climbing above the alignment of mountain tops when the plane finally touched ground. After what felt like a million lifetimes, he’d finally returned to his motherland. Yet as his feet met the soil of his birthplace, he felt an uneasiness wash over him. He felt like a tourist who was visiting for the first time. He’d grown up there, had had nearly all of his life experiences there. He could still remember the very spot on Dakken Street where he’d had his first kiss. Yet, he felt like a complete stranger. He wasn’t home. He had lost his home.

“Hey Petty?” Manro poked Petro’s shoulder and pulled him out of his daze.

“Listen pretty boy, I’m not gonna feed you any cliche RomCom bullsh*t, alright?” Manro approached Petro and stood right beside him. They both turned their gazes forward towards the sight of the rising sun as it ignited the skyline.

How stupidly symbolic, Petro thought to himself. I’m guessing this is supposed to symbolize my new dawn? Another fresh start? Bloody horse sh*t.

“Breathtaking, isn’t it?” Manro asked as he motioned to the sunrise. Petro felt inclined to agree but simply shrugged instead.

“I know you may not have missed this place much, but you gotta admit that even you can’t help but love that view, Mr. I’d-be-a-domestic-terrorist-if-it-didn’t-involve-physical-labor.” Manro playfully punched Petro’s shoulder. For the first time since Petro’s entire ordeal, he genuinely smiled.

“Yeah, well, so there’s one thing I missed about this place. Big whoop,” Petro returned the favor by lightheartedly shoving Manro.

For only a moment, Petro forgot all about the hurt he was feeling. For a few seconds, he felt like himself again. Manro had always been the one constant in Petro’s life. The one person who would have never left nor abandoned him.

“And when you say you only missed one thing, I assume you mean me, right?” Manro winked at Petro.

“Oh don’t flatter yourself. By the second day I had completely forgotten your name. Arno, right? Or Mario?” Petro teased him. Slowly but surely Manro was helping Petro’s mindset improve, even if it was only slightly.

“Oh shut it, Charming.” Manro punched Petro’s arm again, much harder this time. “Now, as I was saying. I’ve sat through many a romantic movie in my day. Now, most times I was too busy trying to get into some babe’s undergarments to really pay close attention, but the cliches I noticed the few times I did pay attention annoyed the hell out of me. So, I’m not going to repeat them to you or bullsh*t you with some spiel about how there’s other fish in the seas. You already know all of this. You’ve gone fishing a few times and you know that most of the fish in the proverbial sea are terrible. Nor am I going to come at you with the whole ‘Go get her, bro’ shtick. What I am going to tell you is this: It fucking hurts. I may not know exactly how you feel, but I’ve seen it happen to other people enough to know it really bloody hurts. And it will continue hurting. And you should let yourself feel it. But, and I’m sorry I have to say this but it needs to be said, you should hurt on the inside only. You are royalty. Unless your mother somehow gets better, you are and will be the King.