Say Goodbye (a Selection story)

Chapter Five

Maxon
I sit at my desk and stare and the abundance of paperwork in front of me. Father finally decided to let me do more to prepare me for being king, but it's mainly been doing more of his paperwork.
        I rub my eyes to try to get them to wake up. Only one more report sheet to go over come on. I start to power through the report sheet when I hear a soft knock on the door. I look up and see Kriss walk in. I smile.
"Hello, my dear. What are you doing up so late?" I ask.
"I never heard you go into your room so I figured you were still up working. I thought you might want some company," Kriss says.
         My smile widens. Kriss always is thinking of me and trying to make my life easier if she can. Quite the opposite of my almost wife America. Dodged a bullet with that girl.
         "I would really hate to keep you up, darling. We have a big day tomorrow and you'll need your sleep," I say.
         Kriss walks over to my desk, looking a little nervous now. 
         "About that, we are supposed to finalize the guest tomorrow and all the previous Selected are usually invited and...well, I noticed that a certain Selected was not on the list," she says.
         I sigh, "America," I wince a little as I say her name. I used to be desperately in love with that girl until she cheated on my with her ex. Well I thought she cheated. She told me at the engagement party that it wasn't true, that her ex was in love with someone else. I didn't believe it at first, but I looked into it and found out she was right. And I sent him to New Asia in the heat of my anger; I found myself checking the deceased list for his name more often than I liked.
          "She was a Selected. I know things went south at the end there but I still feel like she deserves to be there," Kriss says.
          "Deserves to be there? She doesn't deserve anything," I say with anger.
          "Maxon, you know she didn't do what you thought she did."
          "Not at that moment!" I say standing up. I begin to pace, "How do I not know that at some point she wasn't sneaking off and kissing him in some dark hallway at night? She didn't even think to tell me that he was even here! For all I know they were together the whole time and America just decided that I was a better option! So she wasn't cheating when I saw them together! I'm sure she cheated a hundred times before that!"
           I look over at Kriss and see a scared look on her face. She's never seen me yell like that before.
          I walk over to her and take her hand. "Kriss, my dear, I'm sorry. It's just, that girl...she infuriates me," I apologize.
         "No need to apologize. It wasn't right what she did, or didn't do. She should've told you about him," Kriss says in a soft, gently voice.
          "I love you, Kriss Ambers," I say.
          "Pretty soon its going to be Schreave," she says with a smile.
         I pull her face to mine and kiss her softy. I don't know how I didn't fall in love with this girl sooner.
        "Why don't you just leave that report for the morning and go to bed. You need more sleep. I can tell you haven't been getting much," she says, "We can decide what to about America tomorrow, too." I just nod my head in response.
       We walk hand in hand as we head to the prince and princess suits. They are right next to each other which is nice. I like knowing that my future wife is always close to me.
       Kriss gives me a quick kiss before she goes into her room. "Goodnight, my love," she says.
       "Goodnight," I say.
        The night ends up being a sleepless one. Thoughts of America keep swirling around in my head. There's no doubt that I hate that girl, but all the good things about her keep creeping their way back into my head. Her fire red hair, the way she could play the violin, her attitude, the way she looked in blue, how much she smiled when she saw her family, the way she kissed me....
       I sigh and roll over for the hundredth time. No matter how hard I try, no matter how much I hate her, America Singer will always be in my head. She'll always be my first love. She's never truly going to leave me...and I hate her even more for that.