The Actress and the Prince

•Chapter 23•

"And here is your room," Quincy had led me through a maze of hallways to lead me to my temporary room for however long I would be staying there. Once the door was open, I just stood there, gaping at the largeness of everything. The ceiling was higher than the hallway's ceilings. The bed. Oh, my, the bed. It was like someone had tried to make a pool but instead they made a heavenly bed that could fit twenty people.

"Wow," I squealed, darting to the bed an plopping down on its softness. "This is freaking amazing."

Quincy smiled, "Logan will come to escort you in an hour."

I stopped smiling, "Escort me where?"

"To have dinner with the queen."

Talk about an awkward dinner.

A hoard of women came in after that. They attacked my hair with combs and brushes, and they attacked my face with powder and eye make-up. If I hadn't been so involved in theater, I might've been pissed. The dress made up for it.

It was a real life version of Belle's dress from Beauty and the Beast.

They had done my hair in curls, with my bangs pulled back. I actually looked...pretty. I mean, I never wore make-up unless I was in the school musical. I never wore actual make-up in actual real life. I thanked the women and they walked out quickly.

There was a knocking on the door shortly after that. I was already standing at the door, my hand hovering over the knob. I opened the door to see Logan not in a frilly prince costume, but a really nice tux which made him look so...regal.

He grinned,"Wow. You look amazing."

My face got hot. "Thanks, so do you."

He took my hand and kissed it, causing my face to heat up even more. We walked hand-in-hand down a maze of hallways. Logan navigated with ease. I took a note to ask how he still remembered his way through the palace.

After about ten minutes of walking, we came to two gigantic wooden double doors. Logan looked at me nervously. I squeezed his hand and smiled a smile of encouragement, even though I was probably just as nervous as he was.

The doors opened to reveal yet another huge room with a tall ceiling. There was a long dining table going down the length of the room. Stained-glass windows lined the walls. A beautiful woman with Logan's eyes was sitting at the head of the table facing our direction. Her lips formed a line. She had no expression on her face.

Logan led me to where his mother was sitting. I sat across from him, the queen to my right. The utensils weren't a problem. I knew that you started from the inside then made your way outwards each dish. The problem was how itchy the dress was in places that shouldn't be itchy.

"Uh, mother," Logan broke the awkward silence. "This is Jesslyn."

"I know, Logan," she replied flatly, slowly taking a sip of her drink. "I see she at least looks decent."

Would I get beheaded if I slapped this woman in the face?

Logan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "What?"

"Now if she is actually decent," the queen laughed lightly. "Now then I guess we will have to see, won't we?"

The doors burst open to three cooks, one of them being Terrence. As he set down the plates, he gave me a look that seemed to say, "I pray for you."

Once they left, we are for the majority of the time. Nobody talked. Nobody made a sound. The only movement was eating. The only sound was chewing. After the last dish, which had been brownie flambé, I was stuffed and ready to sleep in the huge bed forever.

"You may be excused," the queen stood up, pushed her chair in, then left, leaving Logan and I alone in a monster of a dining room.

Logan sighed and stared at his plate. And then he started laughing. As in full-on, pee your pants laughing. I couldn't help but laugh along. I laughed until my nonexistent abs hurt.

"That went well," I took a deep breath to calm myself down. Logan got up, which signaled for me to stand up as well.

"It could've been worse," Logan shrugged. We were walking down a hallway in which the entire left side was glass. I could see Damien the Devil Gardener outside in the garden. I stopped. The sunset was unlike anything I had ever seen.

"How so?" I asked him, keeping my eyes on the sun sinking down beneath the trees.

"She could've started talking about marriage."

I choked on my saliva.

"Uh, not that I would actually, uh, I mean, not that way, I just," Logan ran his hand through his hair, messing it up so the slicked back hair was gone, replaced by his floppy, messy hair. "Marriage isn't something people usually talk about at this age."

"Uh, yeah," I caught Damien staring at me from the corner of my eye. When I looked, he looked away. "I'm not planning on marriage any time soon."

"Do you know where your room is?" Logan asked suddenly, changing the subject abruptly. "I have to go...ah, do something."

"Sure," I lied.

He kissed my forehead and left me alone.

I spotted a cute little gazebo just a few feet away outside. I decided to to it and sit down. I didn't care if Damien was going to lecture me about my butt touching the bench. I wanted to sit there and watch the rest of the sunset.

Damien was already sitting there when I got there.

"Oh," I but my lip awkwardly. "Sorry, I'll just-"

"You're fine, Belle," he smirked. "How was your date with the Devil?"

I sat down across from him. I couldn't help but notice that Damien was attractive. Really, really attractive.

"Sufficiently awkward," I nodded. "And terrifying."

"The queen has that effect on people," Damien shrugged. "She's pretty fucking terrifying."

"Yeah," The sun was gone, but small lights hanging all around the gazebo and the garden lit up the place like Christmas. "Did you hang all these?"

"Yeah," he got up and leaned on the door frame. "And I built this. And planted all those." He gestured tithe entire large space of flowers.

"Jesus," I mumbled. "How long did it take you to do all this?"

"Most of my life," he looked at his work for a minute, then spoke again. "But it's like they say. If you love your job, you never work a day in your life."

***

WHAT BE YOUR OPINION ON DAMIEN, AKA MICHAEL?

I LIKE HIM.

A LOT.

BECAUSE WHO DOESNT LOVE MICHAEL CLIFFORD

Okay byee.