"Ma'am, we're her" The voice took her by surprise and when she came back to it, she realized the car had come to a stop. She smiled at him when he opened the door for her. She gathered her things before getting out, the warm weather embracing her.
"Come on, we have about half an hour if we want to make it in time for dinner, Emmanuel" She made a point of looking at him when she said his name before walking toward the entrance of the building, where the last people where coming out.
"Your highness, they are closing now" he rushed to her side, taking in his surroundings, making sure there was nothing or no one that could harm her.
"I know they are closing, I asked them to" she said, giving him a full smile "And don't call me your highness again or you're fired" she said half joking half serious. But the only thing the man could think about was the fact that she could have the close down the whole thing just for her. Sure, she was a princess, but it hardly seemed fair to him, it made him kind of angry.
When they got to the entrance, she went straight to a woman in a pencil skirt and a black shirt. It was almost 8, but she looked like she'd just gotten out of her house. The woman greeted Dalia with a courtesy, before extending her arm at the bodyguard besides her. The man was wearing a full suit in summer, but he looked cool as a cucumber.
"I understand you don't have much time. What would you like to see?" she posed the question at Dalia, but the brunette looked at the man besides her.
"The Stradivari violins" he answered almost immediately, as if he had been waiting all his life for that moment. Dalia couldn't help but smile and followed the woman towards the music museum. She separated herself a little bit from the other two, reminding herself to keep close enough to the man, who kept looking back at her. After all, it was his job to keep her alive and well.
She texted Christopher to let him know where she was, also telling him she might be late for dinner, but not too late, just a few minutes. She took a picture of some of the oldest instruments and texted them to her mother, along with some pictures of her and her fiancé. Isabella replied quickly, asking about their day, what they'd done and other stuff.
She kept looking at stuff absentmindedly. She did love music, but her love of it was mostly towards the rhythms, what she could do with her body with every single one of them. She still remembered the last time she danced. It was four moths ago, before she graduated and returned to Aurum. She remembered how sore her muscles were, the adrenaline pumping through her body in an electrifying way.
When Dalia was dancing she felt like there wasn't anything in the world that could stop her. She was one with her body and mind. That had always been her escape, but once she went back to her country, the burden of all the responsibilities she had took away her time to dance, her mother kept reminding her that the country's wellbeing was more important than anything at all, so she gave it up altogether.
"It's time to leave, miss" Emmanuel said, taking her out of her thoughts. She nodded, not saying a word and walking towards the exit. She hadn't realized how much time had passed. But they were still on schedule.
"Thank you very much, Pauline. This was lovely, I hope I can return soon," She said to the perfectly dressed woman, who curtsied again, before turning to the man, smiling at him with a glint of liking in her eyes. Dalia smiled knowingly, but said nothing, returning to the car, opening the door before her bodyguard could.
"That was something else. Thank you very much for that" the man said once he was inside the car. Dalia was conflicted, still immersed in her thoughts, so she just smiled at him, keeping quiet.
She always knew what she was doing was wrong. She had talked about it numerous times with Susanna when they were in university. She knew that without her, the next person to the throne was her cousin, Emile, whom she love with all his heart, but he was not the smartest of the all. That wasn't much of an issue, due to the fact that they had a parliamentary democracy, so the title was mostly décor.
But she also knew that he decision would put her country in jeopardy, that was the main reason why she had spoken with president Macron on the first place. She was smart at politics, she knew her way around that kind of people and she knew just the right way to take care of her country, while letting it down at the same time. She knew her country needed powerful allies once she disappeared.
"You're awfully quiet, ma'am" Emmanuel's voice brought her back to reality. She needed to compose herself before he knew something was wrong.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about how beautiful this city is" she lied, forcing a smile, looking out the window and the back at him. He just nodded, waiting for her to say something more "Was it everything you expected it to be, Mr Forest?" she asked politely.
"Yes, thank you." He said, giving some thought to his next words "When I started learning to play the violin my father taught me all about Stradivari violins. When I stopped playing I figured I'd forget about them, but when we arrived I just knew I had to see them" he finished. Dalia looked outside again and then at her clock. They were 10 minutes early.
"We're on time, perfect" she said more to herself. The man stopped the car in front of the restaurant and opened the door. "It was my pleasure. I'm really glad you enjoyed it" she added before going to the entrance without looking back at the man whose life she was practically destroying.
YOU ARE READING
72 Hours
Romance"That was so corny" That was Dalia's response. He took the bracelet and locked it in her wrist "And we've been engaged since I was 5" "Yes, I know. My parents felt the need to wait until I was in love and off age to tell me" he retorted. "See. I hav...
