12. Anonymous outing.

[Luke]
The upside to being an anonymous Prince was that I could go outside freely, dressed in regular clothing of course and no one would recognize me, people would pass me on the street and not even spare me a glance, except those that were checking me out.
If they knew that they'd been checking their Prince out on the street, they'd have been very mortified, but they didn't check out royalties, but they liked to do so in private or amongst themselves.
Again, except women who liked to throw themselves on royalties.
In five hundred years since my family had taken the Denmark throne, not one single royalty had ever married a commoner or another of low status, you would think that would be enough to give them a hint.
My mother had been a princess from France and she had married the heir to the Danish throne, Megan was the daughter of a late Baron and she was the person my father had chosen for me. Even though he hadn't really spoken the words, it was still there, like an unspoken rule amongst us.
I knew very well what my father expected of me in regards to Megan.
After I'd learned about Claire's new job offer, I had lost my cool and almost gone to see Bernard at his office, but I couldn't because no one could know of my intentions with Claire and even if I could walk up to him, what power did a palace guard have to demand that the CEO of a multimillion-dollar company stay away from his girl?
I certainly couldn't go to him as the Prince, the little snitch would tell Claire about it and complicate the already complicated thing.
The last straw that broke the Camel's back was the article I read in the news by accident.
There was a picture of Claire at the gala in that amazing dress I wanted to peel off of her really slowly and Bernard with his sticky fingers all around her, they wondered if she was his girlfriend and even interviewed him about it.
The little sh*t could've said no but instead, he went and insinuated that something was going on between them.
After that, I couldn't just sit still, what if there really was something going on between them?
I had to find out and that was why I left the palace in disguise to find Claire.
I was worried at first that I'd be recognized by someone but people just kept passing me by without saying anything. I wore black trousers and a black hoodie, an outfit I had not worn since my second year in college.
Liam's people tracked her down to a popular french bar in the city and within minutes I made my way there.
When I got there, I saw her through the window, she looked very beautiful and perfect. I wondered what she was doing at a very expensive bar like this since her income could not support this kind of flamboyance.
Then I saw her with a guy, he was kissing her hand and she appeared to be blushing furiously, the image before me made me sick, it was more painful than a blow to the gut.
Just how many men was she frolicking with?
She was no different from all the other women and for the third time, I'd confirmed that with my eyes.
F*ck Liam for instigating me to go after her and asking me to give her the benefit of the doubt.
F*ck her for affecting me this way and f*ck me for not being able to let her go.
I turned to leave but then I couldn't resist another peek so I turned to look at her and her brown eyes jammed mine.
They widened slightly and her mouth formed an 'O' when she saw me.
Did she recognize me? Maybe she did and maybe she didn't but I didn't want to care anymore so I just turned away and left immediately.
I needed to get off, since I'd returned to Denmark I hadn't f*cked anyone, that was probably why I wanted her so badly.
I just needed to f*ck somebody.
.
.
[Claire]
I nearly rushed out of my seat when I recognized the greenish-hazel eyes, they belonged to Jean.
Was he following me, stalking me?
Why did the thought of that excite me beyond measure?
Maybe I should just take him up on his one-night offer?
"Earth to Claire." Michele snapped his fingers in front of me and I was distracted from my thoughts.
"What were you staring at outside, not thinking about running, are ya?" Sophie chuckled and handed me a shot of vodka.
I thought I asked for a vodka tonic.
"Vodka tonic is for wussies." Michele hooted and handed me a slice of lemon after drizzling some salt on it.
I thought to tell them that I hadn't really had vodka tonic let alone undiluted vodka but I didn't, Jean still thought of me as a wanton woman and who knows what he thought now that he'd seen me at a bar getting drinks, he seemed like the type of person to misinterpret things and I did not doubt that he'd misinterpreted what he'd seen.
I downed the shot glass in one go and squeezed the lime juice into my mouth.
The sensation was very strange and unpleasant, my mouth did not like it, neither did my tongue and my throat and I was sure my brain wouldn't like it once it started working.
"Atta girl." Jack tapped my shoulder lightly and smiled.
"I don't think she's much of a drinker, but she's definitely not a prude," Michele concluded smiling.
I was barely able to speak for fear of vomiting after drinking, Sophie just smiled at me and I noticed four empty shots in front of her.
"My God, did you just drink all of that?" The shock opened my mouth and I spoke without heaving.
She smiled and nodded at me then Michele went on to tell some of their more crazier adventures.
It was still noon, if she could drink this much now, I wondered what she would do at night when she truly wanted to get wasted.
She'd probably drink the whole bottle.
"It's Jack's break time, we'll be back," Michele announced, picking up the bottle of vodka and drinking two gulps.
He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively before he left with Jack.
"They can be so nasty." Sophie laughed when they left.
I would have commented on the fact that they were probably going into the store room to have a quick roll in the hay, but I was still hung up on the fact that he'd taken the whole bottle.
"It's noon."
"Doesn't stop two horny men from getting at it."
"No, that's not what I mean, he took the whole bottle."
"Did you want to drink it, we can order another." Sophie looked very amused.
"Why are you so amused right now?" I asked.
"He was right about you." She picked up a lime, sprinkled some salt on it, and sucked it into her mouth.
Before I could reply, my phone rang and I picked it up hastily.
"Yes."
It was all I said throughout the phone call and then I rushed to my feet.
"Where are you going?" Sophie asked.
"I have an appointment," I replied.
It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the entire truth either.
Mr. Clemens was the one who called.
He was the private detective that I'd hired to help me search for my mother.
She must've relocated from the address on the letters because when I got there, the house had been sold to another family and they couldn't give me any information on her.
In my despair, I went to a police station for help and after carefully checking through hospital files and migration files, it was confirmed that she was still living in Denmark but they had no idea where she was.
A friendly police officer had recommended Mr. Clemens to me and ever since I'd been paying him to help me search for my mother.
***
"Hi, hope I didn't keep you waiting." I greeted as I sat opposite Mr. Clemens.
We usually met at a local diner in a very quiet neighborhood.
"Not at all, I ordered a chocolate milkshake for you." He said and passed it to me.
"Oh, thank you." I thanked him and immediately took a sip. I was happy to be tasting something sweet and not disgusting like the alcohol.
"I've concluded my search in Copenhagen." He said. "She's not here."
"What!" I nearly spat out the milkshake from my mouth. " I thought you invited me here to give me good news." My face fell.
"It's barely been three months of searching, you can't give up now, I told you that a search like this could take months, if not years, I have to expand the search, she's not in Copenhagen and if she is, she doesn't want to be found."
.
.
[Narrator]
Claire is silenced by this news as sadness begins to overwhelm her, she looks away from Mr. Clemens, and his phone rings.
He brings out the phone from his pocket and stares at the caller's ID.
'Mr. Hamilton'