Her Runaway Prince

Chapter 11

Amanda was feeling extremely emotional that day for some reason. Well, not some reason, she knew exactly why, she just hated what the cause was. She was missing Petro and she hated it. And she hated him for making her fall in love with him. And she hated herself for allowing it to happen in the first place. And she hated her brother for letting her find out the truth. And once again she was right back to hating Petro for lying to her in the first place. She just felt like she hated everything and everyone.

It had been just over three months since she’d last seen Petro, yet she still remembered it so vividly. She remembered every word, every emotion she’d felt. She remembered all the hurt and shame that her heart had succumbed to. She remembered how she’d chased Petro away and the sincere look of sadness on his face. Why? She couldn’t figure out any answer for that question that accurately fit her point of view. Why look so sad over me? He could have any girl he wants. Why act so hurt just because some small town girl doesn’t want to be used by a prince that could never even understand me?

Yet, as she recollected back on all their shared memories, she started to realize that she may not be entirely correct. He had understood her, or at least tried to. Either that or he was a damn dedicated actor. She recalled the first time they’d worked in the garden. He seemed to loathe it, yet still helped her out without her needing to persuade him. And with time, it became an activity that she could see he genuinely enjoyed. But why lie to her in the first place? Wouldn’t a prince believe that any girl would swoon at his feet upon hearing of his prestigious title?

Then she remembered the one thing from that final day that both perturbed and confused her the most. When she’d opened the door to tell him off one more time, she saw him standing with a ring in his hand. She didn’t know how she was able to make it out but she knew. And then she watched as he threw it into the woods.

Why? Just. Why? Was she perhaps wrong about everything? Did she overreact? In fact, did she perhaps react much too quickly without even thinking everything through? No. If that were the case, if she was in fact wrong, then he would have been back by now. Although, I did sort of tell him I never wanted to see him again. She sighed and closed her eyes. She hated admitting it and she hated him for making her feel it, but she honestly missed him.

As fate would have it, all her questions were about to be answered.

She heard the bell ring and she lifted her head to greet her new patron. Suddenly, she felt as if she was dreaming. It had to be a dream. Or a nightmare.

In the doorframe stood Petro, wearing a blue suit that nearly perfectly matched his eyes.

“Peter?” She asked, still not believing what she was seeing.

“Petro, actually. As I’m sure you remember. May I come in?” He replied warmly, with a touch of well-hidden nerves in his voice.

“Yes, how could I forget. Excuse me, Petro. I’m just not used to learning people’s actual names until they trick me into falling in love with them,” she replied bitterly.

“Amanda, please give me the chance you didn’t that day. Give me the chance to explain.”

“What are you doing back here anyways? Shouldn’t you be off somewhere racing cars or banging the president’s daughter or something?”

“I’m here to talk to you. Please, just give me the chance.”

Amanda sighed softly. She told herself she shouldn’t, but what they’d had just felt so real that she relented.

“Fine, Petro. Explain,” she coldly told him.

“Before I came here, I was a different person. I was a spoiled, entitled and selfish man-child. I hated being a prince. I always have. I never wanted to be king. I never wanted to be royalty. When you carry that sort of title, nobody ever truly sees you for who you actually are. All they see is somebody they can use. And I let them use me. Paying for the parties, the drugs, the booze. Wrecking car after car after car. Because I didn’t care. I didn’t care if I lived or died or anything. I hated the life I was born into. I hated the life I was living. I hated the fake friends. The I’ll-happily-let-you-do-whatever-you-want-to-me-if-you-buy-me-nice-clothes girlfriends. Yet, I couldn’t stop indulging myself in it. Until one night when my mother gave me an ultimatum. Shape up, be better, find a wife or be stripped of my wealth and title. I was faced with an impossible decision. Pretend to be someone I’m not and make a lifelong commitment to a partner who would basically feel nothing for me, or be stripped of the money I had used to enable myself to bury the feelings. Then, I realized there was a third option. I could just run away. Escape. Start a new life. Be free from my title and my lineage. That’s why I came here. Because I needed a fresh start,” he explained to her in great length.

Amanda could sense the sincerity in his voice. She could see the tears he was holding back. Still, he’d betrayed her trust.

“Why did you lie to me though, Petro? What reason did I give you not to trust me?” she asked, her voice much softer. She was back to a few months ago. Once again she was conflicted, her mind telling her that she should have just chased him away the moment he’d entered, but her heart urging her to forgive him and run into his arms.

“At first, it was because I didn’t want anybody knowing who I was. My mother would have set out a massive reward for any information, which she did, and I didn’t want my new life to be so short-lived. Then, you smiled at me. It was the most real smile I had ever seen before. You started to care for me. You even started to develop feelings for me. You didn’t know my title, didn’t know just how wealthy I am. Hell, you didn’t even know that I’m fluent in 11 different languages. All you knew was who I really am. And I got addicted to that. I became addicted to that security. I got hooked on how real it all felt. And that made me terrified. I was so scared that telling you the truth would change things. Yet, I still wanted to tell you. And I tried so many times… But I just couldn’t. And then, one day, I decided that I could. But before I could, somebody else did it for me and all my worse fears were realized,” he concluded, tears freely rolling down his cheek.

Amanda felt her heart melt. Here they were once again. Him a troubled soul and an aching heart. Her feeling herself falling fast for him and not knowing what to do with her emotions. She sighed softly.

“Petro, there’s something you should know too…” she told him in a guilt-ridden voice.

“Yes?” he asked nervously.

Amanda stood up from behind her desk and turned so that her side was facing Petro. She put her hand over the bump in her belly. Petro took a few seconds to register what he was seeing.

“Is that… Are you…”

“Pregnant? Yeah, just a little bit.”

Amanda waited for him to turn around and run off, screaming something about how no pu*sy was worth that. She waited for him to finally give up the game. Instead, a broad smile spread across his face. He started crying properly, but with tears of joy. In that very instant Amanda knew that she’d been wrong.

“You’re… happy?” she asked him.

“Happy? I’m floating in the damn clouds. The love of my life is carrying my child? Oh lord.” He was practically weeping now. Amanda’s heart sank. She had been wrong. He did actually love her. And she wasn’t going to let her mistake or his mistake ruin what they could have.