A Guide to Charming Royals

Chapter Nine: LEILA

I don't want to call myself an errand girl, but the truth is that's what I've become at this point. Sometimes I'm doing something for my family, other times it's friends and even employees. Take for example now, I've been sent to Mel's house to drop off some of her belongings because I used to pick her up and drop her home if we ever had shifts together. Apparently, I'm the only one who knows where she lives.

Warm wind billows past me, ruffling the plastic bag in my hand containing her shirts and warehouse shoes she wore for receiving when we got boxes of supplies every month. Usually, the items of an ex-employee would be thrown out, but Mel was the supervisor's beloved, so I've been forced to drop them off at her house.

I ring the doorbell but no one answers. It would be easy to leave the bag next to the door and walk away, but if someone steals her items and Mel complains to my supervisor... Let's just say I don't want to get fired. But there's no way I'm coming back. So, I head down the porch steps, and over to the next door neighbours, the ones Mel talked about often because her daughter once dated the neighbour's son.

The soles of my shoes crush flowers as I walk across the lawn. Oops.

Seconds after the doorbell echoes inside the house, the door is pulled open and a middle-aged woman greets me.

"Hi," I say, pushing the bag in front of me. I shuffle side to side on my feet. I should've prepared a speech for this. "Uhm, so you see, I work with the woman who used to live next door, and I was told to come drop off some of her items since she no longer works there, but she's not home so could I give you the items to give to her?"

She stares at me for a long moment, as though I've said something wrong. I meet her gaze, eyebrows raised expectantly. Finally, she says, "Oh, Mel's gone."

"How gone?" I ask, then shake my head. "I mean, where?"

The woman shrugs. "I don't know. Her house is on sale, she moved away a while ago."

I look to where she points, realizing that the sign posted on her lawn that I thought was for elections—who knows what elections are happening at this time—is actually a 'for sale' sign.

From the inside, someone calls, "Mom, I'm going out. Will be back later."

The person appears soon after, a boy probably in his teenage years. He's short but cute. "Hi," he says, looking at me before he slips past his mom and out the door.

"Wait, Roxas, you know where Eira and her family moved to?"

He twirls a keychain around his finger. "No idea."

The woman gives me a look that says, she tried her best. So, I smile and step back. "Alright, thanks for your time then."

I return to my car, dropping the bag in the passenger seat as I consider what I should do next. As options are running through my head, a car slows down next to me, and when the driver honks, I roll down my window, and realize it's Roxas.

He nods in acknowledgement. "So, I had to act low key in front of my mom so she doesn't think I'm obsessed with Eira or something, but they moved to Australia."

"Australia?" I echo. "How do you know?"

"Eira told me... indirectly. I heard her talking to someone on the phone. Like the week before they moved they used to be visited by this creepy guy in this shady car and he'd always wear this black leather jacket that had a snake on one of the sleeves. He was too young to be Mrs. Castile's boyfriend but I'm pretty sure they had a thing going on and that's why they moved away because Mr. Castile found out."

"Oh," I say, because I'm not sure what else to say. I didn't ask for this life story. "I guess I'll take Mel's belongings back to work."

He leans over his seat and out the passenger seat. I lock my doors. "You can give them to me. I'm going to visit Eira soon."