34. A Sticky Situation.

[Luke]
"Are you even listening to me, Luke?" The King asked.
"Um, Yes, Yes I am, your majesty." I blurted out.
I wasn't really paying attention to him or listening to what he was saying because my mind was somewhere else.
I couldn't stop thinking about Claire.
After swimming, Claire and I had talked till it was very dark and she had to go back home. I wanted to ask her to spend the night with me but I didn't want to push it.
Spending the day with her had been one of the best things that had happened to me in a long time, when she wasn't nervous around me, she was quite funny and I enjoyed listening to her talk.
Even right now I missed the sound of her voice and I just wanted to give her a call but I couldn't since I was having breakfast with the King.
Liam had made really good progress as me to the extent that the King now seemed to be really proud and wanted to spend more time with me.
Initially, I thought he would lay off my case a bit but the reverse was the case as he only charged me with more responsibilities and he was even starting to make annoying demands.
"I asked you how you felt with the young woman." He said, dabbing his mouth with a napkin.
I stared at him in surprise because this was the first time he was asking how I felt about Megan.
"I don't understand."
"Do you love her yet?" He asked simply.
"Yeah… no." I considered lying or telling the truth but I didn't know how to go about answering his question as either of them might put me in a position I didn't want to be in.
"Well." I cleared my throat and tried again. "I'm working on it, we've only recently been spending some time together and I think it will take some time before we can talk about love."
"There are rumors of you and the young woman engaging in scandalous affairs." He frowned at me for the first time in a while.
I groaned inwardly and sighed, how was I supposed to answer him now? I didn't know what that friend of mine had done with Megan and honestly, I didn't want to know.
"It makes me proud to see the honorable man you're growing into, but at the same time you have to consider others, this rumor is not good for the girl's reputation and so to shut it down I think the two of you should get engaged immediately."
I was drinking a glass of water and when he said this I spat the water out of my mouth and started coughing loudly.
"What?" I asked him, annoyed. "You want us to get engaged because of a stupid rumor?"
"Do not take that tone with me, Luke." He glared at me and I pinched the bridge of my nose in an attempt to calm down.
"I'm sorry, your majesty but I beg you not to rush this." I pleaded with him. "Those rumors are untrue, I have never laid a finger on Megan and she is too proper a lady to allow that."
"Hmm." He hummed, tapping two fingers against his temple. "I trust you my son but I don't want you to wait anymore, you are not getting any younger, neither am I, soon you will be taking the throne and you need to be married and expecting an heir."
I wish I could just tell him that I didn't care about politics and I had no desire to rule.
"I understand, your majesty, do not talk about retiring so early, you are still in good health and you have many more years in front of you, all I ask is for some time, I agreed to work on this relationship even when I had no interest in it, the least you could do is give me what I ask."
"Fine." He sighed and dropped his cutlery gracefully on his plate. "I will give you two weeks but no more, if after two weeks you still haven't come to terms with it, the palace media will announce your engagement to Megan themselves."
"Two weeks?" I screamed in my head.
Two weeks was nothing but my hands were tied, the King had decreed a thing and I had no say in it.
"As you wish, your highness," I responded coldly and stopped eating. "If that is all, I'll take my leave now."
Without waiting for a response, I turned and started walking out of the room.
"My son." He called out and I stopped but I didn't turn around. "One day, you'll understand that all I'm doing is for your own good."
I left without giving him a backward glance, when I got out to the hall, I texted Liam to meet me in my room immediately because we had found ourselves in a very sticky situation.
He gave me two weeks, I wondered if two weeks would be enough for me to say my goodbyes to Claire.
The more time I spent with her, the more I wished things were different or that I could somehow escape my fate.
"Prince Luke." Sir Thomas cleared his throat in front of me.
"I'm sorry, Sir Thomas, I didn't see you there." I apologized.
"Of course, you had your nose stuck in your phone."He sneered.
"I was replying to an important email." I lied.
"That's good then, I will not take up any more of your time." He said and started walking away.
It was obvious that he knew I was lying, he could read me like a book and I wondered if he knew about my pretense with Megan.
"You know about the engagement, don't you?" I asked him.
"The King is a very stubborn man, and so are you." He sighed before walking away.
The man was sometimes so cryptic.
***
"You cannot let that happen." Liam looked panicked after I told him what the King decided.
"You know that my hands are tied, Liam," I said sadly.
"I know." He sighed. "But I think we should come clean and tell the truth first."
"What are you talking about?" I frowned at him.
"Megan." He started. "She needs to at least know that the man she's marrying is different from the man she's been dating."
"What is that all about, Liam?" I asked him confused. "That isn't what we agreed on."
"I'm sorry, Lu, but I think I love her." He said and I smiled.
I had a strong reason not to go through with it now, my best friend was in love.
.
.
[Claire]
I picked up my phone and dialed Jean's number. After the great day we had yesterday, I just wanted to thank him by inviting him to dinner.
Nana loved Sunday dinners, she would prepare turkey like it was thanksgiving and she would sit with my father and me at the table and we would all eat together.
Growing up, I always looked forward to this dinner because it was the only time I felt like my family was complete.
I had already invited Sophie and Michele, I wanted them to spend some time with Jean so that they could get to know him better.
I wanted the three of them to get along because they were the most important part of my life now.
"Hi," I said and winced when my voice sounded too cheery. "I wanted to invite you to dinner tonight."
There was a long pause at the other end of the receiver and my heart pounded noisily.
"Sure, I would love to." He replied and I giggled happily.
"Okay, I hope you like turkey." I chuckled before ending the call.
Tying my apron securely around my waist, I went into the kitchen and started my preparations.
Cooking wasn't a difficult task for me, I spent a lot of time with Nana in the kitchen growing up so I knew my way around.
I started with the turkey because it would take the longest to get ready and when I had it in the oven, I went on to prepare all the other side dishes.
The doorbell rang when I was turning off the stove and I went to get the door for Sophie and Michele.
"Hi, Soph." I greeted her when I opened the door, her expression was dark and she did not seem like her normal lively self.
"What's wrong, Soph?" I asked when she remained silent and unmoving. "Where's Michele?"
"He'll be late." She finally spoke and entered the house. "I'm sorry Claire but I have really bad news." She told me.
"You're scaring me." I held her arms and led her to the sofa. "Please tell me what the problem is."
"It's Jean." She finally said and I froze.
"What about Jean?" I asked her and I remembered that I had just spoken to him a few hours ago.
"He's not who he says he is."