Maybe Tomorrow

Chapter 3 - Charlotte

"I am happy you could join me, Lord Onassis," I say to the man next to me, turning my head just a little to smile at him before focusing back on the path in front of us.

"Your Majesty, I should be thanking you for even wanting me to join you," he chuckles from beside me, the sound carrying between us.

We are now on our morning stroll which I asked him to in the tea room just hours ago. It was not a spontaneous decision as I have already made plans on who I am going to ask and for what in the next few weeks to get to know him and his family well. More walks, more teas, some attendance at balls I am hosting, even horse riding is an option if any one of them is willing to put up with me. Of course I am not planning on doing one activity a day. We will see how the situation progresses naturally and what I decide to do on the set day.

"I think it is only natural for me to want to know my guest. Or guests in this case."

"Ouch," he falsely winces as he clutches at his chest with one hand, pretending it hurts. "Here I was thinking you have already warmed your soul to me. But I am only one of many you want to have private walks with," he plays into the hurt character, his tone adding much more depth into his little act.

I have to chuckle at his theatrics, looking at him with smile-squinted eyes. "It would be rude of me to not treat my guests equally, wouldn't it?"

"That is only for you to decide, Your Majesty. Personally, I believe you could have very much not wanted to get to know me if you didn't get a good impression of me upon the first meeting." He shrugs his shoulders, straightening himself when he links his hands behind his back. "And if I may ask, am I on your good list as of now?" he asks while turning his body only slightly to face me, a mischievous lift of the corner of his lips giving away his teasing mood.

"Let me think this through." I put a finger on my chin, pretending to be deeply lost in my thoughts. "You haven't done anything to upset me so far so you are written on my good list. For now. Many weren't able to last even this short time and I sent them on their way back to their homeland the same day they arrived," I inform him, letting my hands rest in the same position as his.

"They must have done something terrible then."

"Some of them had quite...strong opinions which they shared openly and I did not agree with them. And it is not difficult to separate the good gentlemen from bad ones. It is possible to divide them from each other just when you look at them in a room full of people. I am sure you can agree with me on this."

"Yes, Your Majesty. I can confirm sometimes it is simple to recognize the bad ones. Although some hide so well among us and will only reveal themselves when you don't expect them to."

His words are like an arrow to my heart as I remember all the times the same has happened to me. As a queen it can happen often if you don't look into people closely. From conversing with them to asking the closest ones around them. It is the only way to look under all the layers of their skin and even then you can miss some things.

"You sound like you know the feeling well, Lord Onassis."

"I feel that every one of us has had that happen to them, Your Majesty. And when it did happen to me I truly wasn't expecting it."

Looking at the side of his face, he seemed as if he wasn't too comfortable with the direction our conversation was heading so I decided to ask some light questions about Greece and his home which he looked grateful for, pulling me closer into his life so I can see if I have reasons to send him and his family away.

He talks about how his father was a role model for him in terms of managing and leading the place. Apparently, he and his father were quite close and it was a shock when he died of a heart failure at a still considerably young age as he was only in his fiftieth year of life. It made me think of my own father and how I didn't have such a bad relationship with him either. Not the best, not the worst. I still loved him very much because he was my father until the very end and nothing would or will ever change that. I carry on his legacy through my eyes.