To Be A Bougainvillea

Chapter 21

"How ya doin', Missy?" 

Aurelia nearly screamed out of her skin when Marco Hudson tipped back his chauffeur hat and winked at her from the rear view mirror. 

"What are you doing here?" She breathed out, erratically. 

"Why, I'm driving you to your destination, m'am." He said, abruptly swerving as another car overcame them. 

"But you're not my chauffeur." She clutched onto her seat as he took a messy turn, nearly hitting a van. 

"Today I am." He sped through a red light, causing other vehicles to loudly honk at him simultaneously. 

"Do you even know how to drive?" She exclaimed, watching passengers curse him through their open windows. 

"I'm a junior doctor. Of course I know how to drive." He missed another red light. 

"Your logic bewilders me." Aurelia tightened her seat belt, "I'm assuming you're playing my chauffeur today because you know where I'm heading?" 

Marco smiled. "Aren't you a clever one? Say, you sure do look fancy. I feel under-dressed compared to you." 

Aurelia fiddled with the edge of her fur wrap. "I told my maid, 'Juno, dress me in curtains and tablecloths so I can blend in with the furniture' but instead she clothed me in such a lovely dress. It's ridiculous." 

"Exactly. It's not like you're meeting the Emperor or something." Their eyes met through the rear view mirror before both of them cracked up in laughter. 

"So what will you be doing whilst I perform, Mister Hudson?" She asked, eagerly, "Pray tell, could this be the beginning of the revolution?" 

"Not quite." He uttered, lightly, "I want to reach a peace with them before the overthrowing them with democracy." 

"I see. But, if you can't reach a peace, we'll just grab some pistols and challenge them all to duels-" She made a gesture of shooting someone in the distance, "Then we'll have our names plated in the hall of fame as the two greatest revolutionaries; Aurelia Gwendolynn Lacy Princeton and Marco Hudson." 

"Why do I sound poor next to you?" 

"It's not just you. I have that affect on everyone." Aurelia mused. A while later, she glanced through her window and said, "Great. We're here." 

"No need to sound so ominous, Missy." He drove past the valet and into the velvet pathway leading to the magnificent palace on top of the hill. "Shoot. I think we were meant to park in the valet." He snaked into a hedge that had a large sign - DO NOT PARK HERE - in bold. 

"Park here." Aurelia ordered. 

"It specifically says not to." 

"Screw the sign. I have money." Once the car was halted, Aurelia climbed out and slammed the door shut before looking up at the huge, majestic palace. 

"Not all that, is it?" Marco coughed as he joined her side. 

She swept her eyes over the palace that had been specially hand built and decorated with rare jewels from the countries the Takashima clan had colonised. 

"Yeah, I've seen better." She strolled away from the grassy patch and onto the cobbled pathway, noting how there were no guards around, "The security is horrible as well. And why is there no welcoming committee for me?" 

"Maybe they forgot about you." 

"I highly doubt that."

It didn't take long for them to realise that it wasn't the palace; It was them. They had driven through the backside which is why everything felt so deserted. When they finally made it to the front, four guards suddenly cornered them, their spears looking life-threateningly sharp.