31. The Private Date.

[Liam]
"First date one thousand percent successful." I smiled when I looked into my phone and saw the text from Luke.
I was glad that his date had gone successful and he had enjoyed it, I was feeling very tense for my private date with Megan tomorrow, Luke and I had already planned everything out, nothing could go wrong, except if the media somehow gets wind of it and publishes images of Luke's face which would be my face then things could get complicated.
"Is it a girl that has you thinking like that, Liam?" My father asked me from his seat on the couch.
"Is it obvious?" I asked him, I might not be able to tell him the entire truth because I knew that he would not support me on that but I didn't want to lie entirely to him.
"Yeah, Son, your mother was like that too, she made me so serious and I thought hard like you're doing now." He said.
I couldn't remember anything about my mother, but I always liked it when he told me about her. It made me feel weirdly closer to her and it made me feel like I knew a path of her.
"Yeah, was she confusing as h*ll as well?" I asked him.
"Language boy." He scolded. "But yes, she kept giving me different signals, sometimes I thought she loved me and other times I felt like she hated me, it was almost as if she couldn't make up her mind, the day she agreed to marry me was the happiest day of my life, it was also the most shocking day of my life too." He said, smiling sadly.
He loved her very much and sometimes I felt guilty for taking her away from him but anytime I brought that up he would shush me, they both had a choice to save me or to save her and they both chose me, It wasn't my fault that she wasn't here, if there was anyone to blame it was fate and the universe.
"You see, my boy, when a woman treats you like sh*t, it's mostly because she secretly loves you." He said and I smiled at him.
"What are you still doing up, old man, you should be in bed," I told him and he frowned at me before getting up from the couch.
"Am not an old man." He said. "And don't think too much about the girl, she already loves you." He said and I nodded at him.
I hoped he was right though but even if she loved me, it wouldn't exactly be me, it would be the Prince she was falling in love with. If she knew the real me, she might not even want to be associated with me.
***
The next morning, I woke up earlier than usual, said my goodbyes to my father, and left for the palace immediately. I didn't really have work to do since it was the weekend.
I was really looking forward to our date when I rushed into Luke's room.
"You're smiling?" I looked at him in shock.
Luke was not a morning person and he always had a scowl on his face every morning but today, he was smiling.
"She texted me." He said his smile was getting broader. "She sent me a very sweet text." He said and I stared at him with jealousy.
"Can I see?" I teased him and he shot me a sharp look.
"No," he said, shaking his head and he got out of bed. "You ready for your private date, Mr." He asked me, tapping my shoulders.
"Of course I am." I smiled when my phone beeped and I checked it to see a text from Megan. "She's asking if we are still on for today, she has to sneak out of a photoshoot but she'll be there," I told him happily.
"Of course, you're still on, though I think you need to go with the hat and shades, I don't want to risk anything." He said and I nodded.
It would affect both of us if my picture impersonating him ever got out to the public.
I hid in the bathroom when the maids came in to do their jobs and I came out when they left. I got ready, slicked my hair back with the black gel, I put on Luke's sweater and some trousers then I used the contact lenses.
I put on the hat and shades and I was good to go.
Luke ruffled his hair and put on a hat cause there was no way his dark hair could pass off as my light ones without dyeing them.
He wore my clothes and we left the palace together, then he dropped off somewhere and I continued my journey to the lakeside where Megan and I were to have a mid-afternoon picnic.
***
The staff that followed me prepared the place as I waited for Megan. I had Luke's security scan for any cameras and any sign of the press. I also charged them with collecting the phones of every worker that was helping to set up the picnic.
I wasn't taking any chances.
Megan walked in with her bodyguard a while later and I had to refrain myself from hugging her, she looked so young and beautiful without any makeup and she wore a very nice sundress and large sun-blocking hats.
"I'm glad you could make it, my lady." I stood up to greet her.
"Thanks for having me, your highness." She curtsied before me and I offered her a seat beside me.
"Let's drop all the formalities now, it's just you and me here," I told her and I asked the guards and staff to give us some privacy. "Call me Lia–Luke." I pretended to choke when I almost said my name.
"Alright, Luke, thanks for inviting me here." She told me and I smiled at her.
She talked very little, she mostly responded to questions I asked and she barely asked any of her own.
I frowned when she barely touched the good, only taking the greens and leaving the others.
I wish I knew what to say, what to do to help her and get her to open up to me but she just gave me automatic answers no matter the questions I asked.
"Do you still remember your father?" I asked her and she turned to look at me slowly, her pretty blue eyes met my fake hazel ones and she studied me slowly.
"Why now?" She asked me.
"Huh?"
"Why now?" She repeated. "After so many years of rejecting me, being rude and cold to me for something that wasn't in my power, why are you being nice to me now?" She asked and I saw fire in her eyes.
I smiled at her for a while enjoying her anger display and the fire in her eyes before I replied to her.
"It's different now, I'm different now," I told her the truth but I knew she wouldn't get it.
"You say that now, but you may act differently tomorrow." She argued and frowned at me.
"What can I do to assure you that I won't, I know that I have really bad mood swings and sometimes my temper is unbearable but I always try to fix my mistakes, I know that you're aware of the pressures of living with expectations, I'm not making excuses for myself but I just want you to see things from my perspective." I took her hands in mine at this point and the fire in her eyes began to lessen.
"I w–want to believe you." She told me looking in my eyes.
"Then do," I told her and pulled her into my arms.
The rest of the picnic went well and I managed to get her to eat more food. We spent quality time with each other until Luke's assistant, Mr. Franz informed me that Luke had somewhere else to be.
"I'm sorry, fair Megan, but I have to go," I announced sadly, I didn't want to leave just yet.
"I understand." She said lowering her eyes and I knew that it was because she didn't want me to see the disappointment in her eyes.
"I promise you, we'll do this some other time," I told her and lifted her chin up to face me.
My eyes darted from her lips to her eyes and I felt like kissing her very strongly. She licked her lips in preparation for the kiss and I lost it. I leaned down to taste her pink lips when my phone rang, disrupting the moment.
"This better be good," I told Luke, disappointed that I'd been unable to kiss Megan.
"The next thing on my schedule is a ribbon handing ceremony, ask Megan to go with you and you both can have more time together." He said and I smiled.
"Thanks," I said hurriedly and cut the call.
"I have a ribbon handing ceremony, will you accompany me, my lady?" I asked Megan, smiling at her.
"As your date?" She asked me and my smile widened.
"Of course."