The Prince

Part 40

Skye took his phone out as he approached Casey and Didi and called Hollard as instructed. Within a second a black limousine stopped in front of them with Hollard jumping out to open the passenger door. Before anybody could move Noah had hightailed it to the car hastily having a word with him. Skye was wary of whatever plan he was cooking up, especially seeing Hollard's face settle into a smile.

"Everything is as you wanted and ready for your approval, young Master," Hollard said discreetly, but loud enough for the others to hear, slightly bowing. He cast his eyes to Noah who nodded encouragingly.

"You're laying it on a bit thick today, Hollard," Skye stopped in front of him as the others filed in. "What did Noah say to you?"

"Nothing worth repeating. It seems that he gets excited very quickly," he smiled motioning for Skye to get in. 

Casey and Didi were buzzing with excitement as Hollard led them through the building, up to the fifth-floor offices where their base would be. Walking around, inspecting everything, Skye was satisfied that moving forward things would become easier, especially since he had access to everything at Dealer's.

"I hope this has your approval, young Master?" Hollard smiled, waiting for a response, while Noah's head bobbed up and down.

"That will do, Hollard," he smiled sure that Hollard's behaviour was down to something that Noah had said. "No need to go overboard, yet."

"This is only the start," he chuckled.

Walking over to Casey, Noah was unsure how to broach the subject of Skye with him. Having them to help was great, but they had Skye on such a high pedestal that working together would become problematic later on. He knew that Skye would certainly lose his cool at some point if they kept up their star-struck behaviour. All the pomp and fair was to win them over, but he may have laid it on a bit thick.

"Casey?" 

"Yes?" He looked Noah up and down again like he was a fly that needed extermination.

"Here's the thing," he scratched the back of his head uncomfortably, not sure where to begin. "Thing is, if we're going to work together, then you're going to have to get used to having Skye around the whole time."

"What's your point? Are you saying that I can't do it?" His eyes narrowed.

"No, it's nothing like that. Of course, you are better than all of us when it comes to these things, it just..." After a moment's thought, he continued.

"Okay, here's the thing. If you keep agreeing with Skye on everything, then we're not going to get very far, are we? Don't worry too much about what Skye's thinking of you, be yourself, he'll appreciate that much more," Noah could see that Casey was ready to jump down his throat after his declaration.

"How is any of this your problem? " He asked sharply, casting a glance to Skye who was talking to Tsukasa.

"I'm not saying it's a problem, Casey, but if you want to be Skye's friend, then be yourself. He doesn't care about your money, parents or inheritance, he only cares about people who are genuine and willing to make a real friendship."

He watched with abated breath as Casey thought this over, a severe scowl on his face. Seeing the scowl Noah wasn't very confident that anything he'd said had sunk in.

"Be me?" He said almost to himself before his sharp eyes flashed to Noah. "Why are you telling me all this? Not that long ago you didn't want to help us."

"It's not that I didn't want to help you, it was that Skye wasn't and isn't interested in any romantic connections right now. But we're all friends now, so we should be able to chill around each other."

"I'll think about it," Casey turned on his heel and walked to where Didi was going through one of the desk drawers.

"Okay, guys I think today was a good start. Tomorrow we can get the rest of the team in and see how this setup really works," Noah interrupted Skye and Tsukasa. "Hopefully they won't kill each other and stain the walls. You're going to have to talk to your Dad, we're going to need people full-time on the ground since we can't do it ourselves. To keep things moving while we're at school," he clarified when Skye raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Stepmother," Skye grinned. 

"Who's the rest of the team?" Tsukasa asked, drawing Noah's attention away.

"Oh, yeah. I'm going to need you to take some time out of your morning exercise routine to talk to your fans,"

"My fans?" He asked in surprise.

"Yes, Mace or Agnes or whatever her name is, the head of your fan club who's always around the track when you practice, we're going to need their help as well," his eyes scanned the room, trying to think of any other groups that could join to make the load easier.

"Are you sure we need to do that?" He asked uncomfortably. He'd never had a fan club before and couldn't understand why he'd have one now.

"Don't worry, I'll be next to you the whole time," he smiled up at Tsukasa who immediately blushed and looked away.

"Well, if you're going to be there then it won't be that bad, will it?" He grinned. 

"I'll protect you from all of them," he puffed out his chest, looking around as if trying to find a target. "Come on, there's nothing more to do here, we might as well call it a day.

Insisting that Hollard take Casey and Didi home, the three walked to the bus stop.

"If you're a prince, why are we taking the bus again?" Noah asked petulantly. 

"I'm not and did you want to drive around town the whole afternoon playing lift club, I didn't think so," he said morosely as they walked. "And why am I always in the firing line, Tsukasa also has a driver."

"Well, it's more for my parents'," he said uncomfortably, "but I could call the driver if you want?" 

"No, don't worry," Noah sighed. "Skye is going to cook something amazing tonight to celebrate the start of an epic journey."

"Epic?" Tsukasa frowned.

"Yeah, this show is guaranteed to have drama by the bucket load," he chuckled, feeling much better about their chances of winning.