a royal romance

chapter four

a royal romance
chapter four
{samantha lee ashbury}
—

1 week later (first day of the trip)

     we got off the plane about forty-five minutes ago. lauren obviously decided to come with me after all because she was so set on meeting the prince. now, my whole class was heading to the hotel to unpack. mr.williams said we could do whatever we wanted for the rest of the day as long as we took two other people.

"so, what do you guys wanna do after the hotel?", grace said. "i really don't care, sam and i have been dreaming about this day since the day we met. i'm just glad we're here.",lauren said resting her head back on her seat. luckily, grace and lauren were getting along quite well and i could see us all being great friends, they had a lot in common but in a way i could feel i was being left out unintentionally ever since they met.

"um, maybe we could just grab some food? i'm pretty hungry... " i whisper.

"ooh! ooh! i hear the tower bridge is pretty neat! we should go there!" lauren says over me. "yeah, that could be so much fun!!" grace squeals.

"you know.. i kinda wanted to do something a little more laid back today ." i say. "oh, come on sam! you're no fun! you have to come with us. pleaasssseeee." grace stares at me with big eyes and begs like a dog. "ugh, fine okay. i guess so..." i mumble. "yay!!" they both cheer in unison as i stare out the window.

***

"hotel, sweet, hotel." i say plopping on top of the big hotel bed. "uh-uh, honey. get up and get changed we're going to the tower bridge." grace says grabbing my wrist and pulling me up. i groan. "oh come on sam, you'll regret it if you don't go." laur says putting her hands on her hips and pouting at me.

    "okay." i say walking away into the bathroom. i wash my face and apply my daily makeup. then i straightened my hair getting rid of the curls from the day before. i head over to my luggage and grab a simple red dress with a light black jacket in case it got cold. i quickly put my outfit on and head out the door with the girls.

we quickly advise the professor where we're going and call an uber to take us to the tower bridge. "where to?" the driver asks. "tower bridge,please." grace and laur say together with huge smiles. luckily, since our hotel was kind of in the center of london we got there fairly quickly. "here we are!" the driver says. we pay him the small fee and start exploring the tower bridge.

       "it's so huge.." grace says in awe. "i've never seen anything like this, it's beautiful." i say. we spend about twenty minutes walking around the bridge in awe when we start to hear very loud music approaching us. "what is that?!?!" my screams barely audible over the music. "i think there was supposed to be a parade today for the prince! that might be it!!" lauren yells with a face of excitement. grace automatically speaks up and suggest that they go to the parade. before i even get a chance to react, both of them are off sprinting into the oncoming royal parade.

i should have known better. i knew i shouldn't have come in the first place. now i'm stranded in the middle of a foreign country with nowhere to go or any idea on how to get back to the hotel. i take a deep breath in and look at my surroundings. there are a few gift shops and cafés which are all completely packed due to the parade. off to my right i see a small pub which is moderately full and i decide to go in there. besides, it wasn't to early to drink and i could use a couple shots anyways.

i enter the small tavern and sit on a bar stool next to a young man. i give him a small smile and wave the bartender over.

"hello, how can i help you?" he says. "can i get a glass of a godfather, please?" i say lowering my head.

"alright m'am, i'll need to see an ID please." he says. it's just then i realize that i've left my purse along with my wallet at the hotel. great. "i,uh—." i'm interrupted by the young man sitting next to me.

    "she's with me, i'm paying. she's with me." he says to the bartender across from him. "oh. oh! yes, yes of course. i'm so sorry sir. i'll be back right away,aiden." he says scurrying off into the back. both of us enter a fit of laughter until we can't breathe.

     "how, how did you do that?" i ask chuckling wiping a tear away from my eye. "i come here regularly and let's just say i'm a big tipper so the employees here basically worship me.my name is aiden by the way." he laughs taking a sip of his drink. "nice to meet you. samantha." i say.

we continue making small talk throughout the next few hours and it begins getting a bit late. "so, you're not from here are you?" he asks. "actually, no. i live back in texas, i'm just here for a school trip." i respond. "well if you ever need anyone to show you around..." he flirts slowly sliding his hand up my thigh.

     i remove his hand from my leg and get up. "thank you, my friends should be waiting for me, i think i should go." i say. as much as i would love to be in a relationship with a guy, it's just not what i needed, not right now. i begin to walk away when i feel a tight grip on my wrist.

     "are you sure you want to go right now? can't you stay a bit longer?" he slurs over his words clearly drunk. "no, i really should get back to my hotel." i say and try to pull away. he harshly pulls me closer to him and places his hands onto my hips. "please? for me? not even a few m-more drinks?" he stutters.

      "no." i push away with force but he won't budge. "let me go." i say firmly. he continues to keep hold of me and will not release me. out of the corner of my eye i see a man get up and walk closer to us. "let her go, she clearly doesn't wanna be around you anymore mate. give it up." his voice beams.

    "what are you gonna do about it rich boy?" he replies. before i know it the man standing beside begins to throw punches at aiden until he's on the floor. aiden begins to fight back and suddenly a whole fight has broken out. the man pushes him back so that aiden is pressed up against the bar and both of them spit inaudible words at each other . "go home. you're drunk and only causing trouble." he says to aiden.

aiden refuses and picks up a bottle from behind him aiming it at the man's head. he dodges it and i suddenly see it coming towards me. before i know it, i feel the top of my forehead wet with blood and fall back onto the floor.

***

"miss? miss? are you alright?" i hear a voice echoing beside me. i flutter my eyes open and see the blurry figure of a guy hovering over me. my sight naturally comes back and i begin to regain my senses.

     "what happened?" i answer trying to get up. i slowly sit up and and feel the dry blood above my eyebrow. "you're fine, don't worry. the bar already called the police, they took him away for the night." the man said. "who are you? i don't understand.. what time is it? i should be back at the hotel by now..." i respond speeding through my thoughts.

a few seconds later his face suddenly starts to become familiar. i realize that the man standing beside me isn't any ordinary man... it's the prince.