The Princess

two

"My God Katherine, is he the entertainment?"

Jason McCann

My uncle, Ralph, as he told me to call him, avoided using a cab due to the amount of traffic that would be caused by the parade and the dozens of people on the street.

"We're gonna have to walk, but don't worry I only live 3 blocks away from here," he said dragging my suitcase behind him. "Once we get to my apartment, we have to leave to the castle immediately for the princess' birthday."

I nodded my head and continued following him. I was a bit embarrassed about acting the way I did when we met, but I didn't know him. Can you blame me? He's still a complete stranger to me. He just happens to be my uncle. It's like going to a family gathering, everyone knows you, but you have no idea who they are.

"I-I just wanted to say I'm sorry about acting like, y'know, a dick. The way I acted it was—" I started to say, but he cut me off before I could finish.

"It's fine, kid," Ralph said gruffly, continuing to walk and drag along my suitcase.

"Okay, uh-m, I-I can carry my suitcase, you know, if you don't want to anymore," I stammered, trying my hardest to be on my best behavior.

"I got it, son," he said, quickly dismissing my offer.

I had an urge keep talking and wanted to ask him questions, but I didn't want to bother him, so I kept my mouth shut. I took in the scenery of Verona.

Everything here was bold and tons of people biked or walked the streets, whereas, where I grew up, in Stratford, nothing ever seemed exciting and you barely saw people out of their houses. Stratford always had an eerie feeling to it, no matter where you went. It was always a little cold and had a weird vibe to it. Here, it all seems joyful. Maybe, I don't know, it's just the timing.

We arrived to a huge complex, where everyone bustled about and seemed to be in their own individual worlds. A small girl on the phone blindly ran into me, and carried on walking without saying sorry.

"What the hell," I muttered, while following my uncle further into the complex.

A giant fountain was placed at the center of the complex. People were scattered around it, most sitting on the surrounding benches, on their laptops and munching on a snack. Every single person seemed to have something to keep them busy.

"Welcome to the workers' quarters. Everyone who works for the royal family lives here, and since I work for the royal family and live here, you will be living here, too," Ralph said as we approached the door to his apartment.

He swiftly opened the door with his key card and went inside. As I walked in, my uncle placed my suitcase next to the couch and hurriedly went to the kitchen. The apartment was small and simple, but spacious enough for one person. There was one bedroom, one bathroom, and a balcony that overlooked the quarter.

My uncle walked back into the living room holding a white three-story cake with little pink roses on it, and placed it on the coffee table.

"We need to leave soon, but first I need you to do something," he motioned me to follow him. We walked into the bedroom, and he pulled out a red bell boy uniform with black slacks.

"You need to wear this."

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion and shook my head. "No. Why? I'm not a fucking bell boy," I retorted.

"Get rid of that attitude young man. It's not gonna work, while you live here. Since you're not a guest at her party, you need to wear this to go inside. No one will know you don't work there either because you're going in through the worker's tunnels," he explained handing me the uniform.