Her Runaway Prince

“Thank you, Manny. I hope you’ll be safe.”

“Same to you, brother. I hope this new life will treat you well. Here, take this phone. I’m the only one who has the number, so if I ever need you, I’ll just phone. That way we can still talk now and then.” Manro smiled as he handed the phone to Petro who gladly took it and started walking off as Manro began ascending with the chopper.

Petro started walking into the woods until he could no longer see the private plane. The realization kicked him in the guts that it had finally happened. His old life was no more. He was starting a new chapter, and he was going to live out this new life by his own rules.

He wandered through the forest, shivering from the cold. The cold air was certainly not something he’d been expecting. Yet he couldn’t stop himself from admiring the snow covering the trees and earth. Where he was from, it seldom snowed. And it was never that much. Even the air smelled different.

He felt as if everything was already better. Except, he also realized that he had no idea where he was going. He felt like kicking himself when he thought about the fact that he may be lost.

Petro tried to keep himself from panicking but the anxiety still crept up on him. Had he just run away from home only to freeze to death in some wilderness? He kept going forward and tried to dissuade the thoughts that started to torture him, but they persisted.

Idiot. Sure Petro, don’t pack anything. Not like jackets ever helped anyone.

Finally, after what felt like hours, he saw lights in the distance. He felt all his stress wash away as he saw the first signs of civilization. He picked up his pace and hurried towards the guiding lights.

He came out from the trees and saw what was guiding him. In the middle of the forest stood a small cottage. There was a sign that read “Amanda’s Forest Home: Bed & Breakfast”. He realized civilization may be further than he thought, but he was so cold that he was willing to take whatever he could get.

He approached the cottage and entered through the door.

A woman came in from a room off to the side, a book in her hand.

“Hi, welcome!” she exclaimed with an air of hospitality and jubilance to her voice. Her voice immediately had a soothing effect on Petro. The atmosphere of the cottage somehow made the wounded prince feel so welcomed.

Petro moved closer to introduce himself when he remembered what Manro had told him on their way here. That he shouldn’t use his real name. So, thinking quickly, he Americanized his two names to form his new identity.

“Hi there, I’m Peter Michaels. What a lovely little place,” Petro smiled as he reached out his hand. Amanda took his hand in hers and gave him a hearty handshake. Petro didn’t know what it was but he immediately felt an attraction to the woman that he’d never felt before. Something about her immediately drew him in. Maybe it was her beautiful ebony skin, maybe it was her long black hair, maybe it was her kind voice or even the soft touch of her palm against his. Petro couldn’t figure it out but he immediately knew that something was different. Maybe he was just looking for some kind of comfort and thought that she could provide it. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew that his life was only going to get better from this point on. And knew that she had a massive part to play in it, and he was excited to see what that part was. Hope had finally awoken inside him.

“Nice to meet you Peter, I’m Amanda. Amanda Douglas. Welcome to my humble abode,” she smiled warmly at him.

“What brings you to my neck of the woods?” she asked him as she walked him to the fireplace as if she could tell he was freezing cold and needed some heat.

“Well, to be honest with you, I’ve never been here before. And I may have gotten lost.” He chuckled softly. Petro sat down on one of the couches in front of the fire. He reached his hands out towards it and started trying to warm himself up.

“Well, it’s never a good idea to get lost in these woods in winter, so next time, make sure you have a map.” She laughed softly and Petro smiled at her.

The heat that radiated from the fire felt amazing against his cold skin. His shivering had started to subside as he felt himself warming up. He felt so at home already.

“Well, I have plenty of rooms available. So you’re welcome to stay the night.” Amanda motioned towards a hall that was lined with doors.

“I would love to, but unfortunately I still have to exchange my money. I don’t have any dollars at the moment. So I just came hoping to catch a small break from the cold,” he admitted to her.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Consider it a favor,” she smiled and stood up to get a room key.

“Really? Are you sure?” Petro asked quizzically.

“Of course, can’t exactly let you go out and freeze to death,” she chuckled as she handed him the key.

Petro took it and felt a warmth in him awaken, a warmth he had never felt before.