The Royal Proposal

Chapter 8

Emilia Ellis

I practiced a little and thought about taking the request of my cousin's and play for her reception. Maybe, I should accept it. With that in mind, I took out my phone and email her. Yes, I emailed her instead of text because she is fond of emailing rather than texting.

" Hello Teagan,

Congratulations! One and a half weeks to go. I have received the message from Daniel from you and I'm ecstatic and delighted hearing the message. It would be an honour to play the piano in your reception. Thank you for the opportunity and I can't want to see you. Give regards to all."

Emilia Ellis,
Director, Cora NYC"

"Ms.Ellis, Master Daniel said he will have dinner later, he asked me to serve you dinner first." Zara said quietly.

"Okay." I said with a small smile. "Thank you."

She returned my smile and walked back to the kitchen.

I ate my dinner, quietly in the small round table;when Daniel ran down from the stairs. If it was me, he would have screamed and yelled about my safety.

"Now, who's running on the stairs?" I asked.

He grinned and ruffled my hair and sat down on the chair across from me and staffs scurried to put down his foods and drink.

"You seem happy." I noticed his pleased expression.

"I'm offered to exhibit my painting in London." He grinned.

"Daniel." I squeal excitedly. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks, Em." He smiled. "Though the exhibition will be beginning of next year, but it's still exciting to learn that."

"I will definitely clear my schedule to visit your exhibition in London." I said. This will be his first exhibition outside the country! I'm so happy for him. "We should celebrate this weekend at our family home! Dad and Mom will be very proud."

"Thanks, Em." He laughed.

Now, I was in a better mood than before. All my worries over the deal with a stranger was gone and I was happy for Daniel. After dinner, we both decided to call David to share the good news.

"It's so sick!" David grinned. "I'm proud of you, bro."

When I thought we were over the topic of my security.Daniel had to ruin it and brought out the topic to David. He is frightening when he is not happy. His happy face, turned grim and glared at me. I was so glad at that moment he was in LA.

"Emilia Violet Ellis." He said and I tensed. David, never calls me by my full name unless he is this angry.

"Daniel already spoke to me about this." I pinched his arm, lightly and Daniel cried out and glared at me.

"Your safety is our priority..." and there he went from happy to full on nagging. Daniel was now lying on the couch and was grinning proudly like he have achieved something.

"Should I tell Dad about this as well?"

What the f-

"I have enough." I whined. "I get it, safety is very important. I will keep them in mind, don't tell Dad."

"Good." David said.

And I sighed in relief.

"You want to tell David you went on a date as well?" Daniel stood behind me.

There we go again.

"I told you it was the server." Lie.

"You think I'm stupid." Daniel laughed wickedly. David was perplexed.

"Emilia.." he started.

"I didn't go on any dates! I promise." And you must be asking why my brothers is so frantic about me in a relationship. It has to do with a teenage old me, where I went on a date with one of the star player of the school, and things escalated from there. He was very touchy and when I asked him to refrain himself from touching me, he almost hit me. I shivered at that thought, I cried the whole way home and when David and Daniel knew about this. I never saw that guy again.

"It's not like we don't want you to go date. We just want to make sure he's nice, Em." David sighed. "One day, you will be with someone, but we want to make sure it's with the right one."

I was going to tell him, I'm older now, I can make my own decisions and I need to do things my own way to experience and learn. If they keep sheltering me like this, which they have been will not only make me feel frustrated at the end,but won't help with my problem solving skills with matters in real life. Words couldn't come out of my mouth. I was too scared to hurt his or Daniel's feelings.

"I have to go now.. take care and please take Jace with you around."

I said bye to him and I ended the call and my mood plummeted.

"I'm going to bed." I said to Daniel and he must have noticed how unhappy I was after he put me in that situation. Before he could say anything more, I walked away.

"Em." He called out and followed behind me.

"I'm tired." I said to Daniel with a small smile.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "I went overboard, didn't I?" He give me a guilty look. I don't like seeing him look like that knowing what he did was because he was worried about me.

"I'm not upset." I said to him. "I'm exhausted."

He was not sure if I was lying or being honest now. I give him a hug. "I'm not upset." And he sighed in relief.

"I don't like seeing you upset." He said.

"I know."

That night, while on bed I was thinking about the deal, I made with a total stranger. Was it because I didn't like the challenging look in his eyes? Or because I wanted adventure?. All I know for now is, I won't be seeing that guy again. Even though my heart wanted to.

I was able to avoid that guy, which I was thankful for.. after that day. The next day, when I woke up and realization dawn on me that I was stupid enough to make a deal with a stranger, I was nervous and scared. I don't know who he is or how he is as a person and made a hasty decision.

By the end of the week, I was more relaxed and now here I am sitting at the reception hall of my cousin's wedding. Tomorrow is her big day and we are here to help and check the decoration. A white piano was close to the stage. All my cousins has gathered and was excitingly sharing about their dresses and their life.

David was here. He reached this morning, he was talking to my cousins' boyfriends. While Daniel was entertaining my other cousins with his joke and I stood quietly in the corner, having no idea what to do...

I decided to practice the pieces that I will be playing for tomorrow. I decided to play three music pieces- all at the request of the bride and groom.

They wanted me to play 'All of Me' by John Legend, 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri and 'Perfect' by Ed Sheeran.

I started with A Thousand Years, the buzzing room suddenly turned quiet when I started playing the piece. My finger moved around the keys at its pace. I love music, it's a universal language. Even though, songs can be of different languages, people enjoy the music behind it. When I ended the piece, Teagan approached me with a delightful look.

"It's beautiful." She said.

"Thank you." I said very embarrassed at the attention.

"Can we hear more?" She requested.

I hesitated, but when she give me a pleading look. I couldn't help but agreed.

I played, 'Beautiful in White' by Shane Filan next and smiled when I made eye contact with my two proud brothers. It made me feel better and less nervous.

"I'm so proud of you." David said as he came forward when I stood up after I finished playing.

"Thank you for agreeing to play for us." Gerald, the groom-to-be said as he hugged Teagan from behind.

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity." I smiled.