Balogun

DONT TOUCH ME

"Your body is telling me a completely different story from your eyes"
-Prince Murewa

xXx

At eight a.m. the next morning, Abike made her way to Prince Murewa's room to start her duty. She didn't know what to expect, but if she followed Mrs. Jamila's instructions carefully, she should be okay.

To be honest, she didn't think she would encounter the Prince very often, especially after learning about his daily schedule.

According to what Mrs. Jamila had told her, the Prince trained every morning at six. By nine, he and his friend, Sir Jamal, would train privately till eleven a.m. By eleven thirty, the Prince would be back in his room, where he expects his breakfast to be waiting. He would eat, then rest, and be out for his evening training at three p.m.

By six-thirty, he would be back in his room, where he stays till five a.m the next morning and the cycle repeats itself. No wonder he was always mad and rude, Abike shook her head. If she lived such a monotonous and boring life, she would be constantly angry too.

All she had to do was keep the room clean when he was absent, and she wouldn't have to encounter him when he was present. She had it all figured out.

By the time she reached his door, she was in a better mood. Mrs. Jamila had told her he always left his door unlocked, and she confirmed it when she turned the knob and the door slid open. She stepped curiously into the room, unsure of what to expect, but pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

There was no jarring display of wealth and luxury, as befitting an influential Prince of such a powerful dynasty. The room was ordinary. Very ordinary.

Her room back in Amu had more life than this. The Prince's room had a huge bed that took up one corner of the room, one single-seater couch that looked lonely, a long, dusty mirror, and then the library. The moment Abike sighted the shelf full of books, she shut the door and floated wondrously towards it.

"Wow." Laughter bubbled from her throat as she ran excited fingers down the spine of each book on the middle shelf. Books had always been her escape, and she could see her week turning out great with this collection.

Quickly, she walked around the room to confirm there was nothing to clean. The tiled floor was spotless and nothing was out of place. She peeked quickly into the bathroom, nod impressively at the neat tub and closet, then returned to the bookshelf.

As she browsed for a book to read, Abike thought, I might just like this Prince. By the time she settled on a book, it was 08:15 a.m. She had about three hours to read and get out of here. It was about to be a beautiful week.

***

"Fuck!!" Jamal dropped to the ground, a sweaty mess. He watched his friend, Prince Murewa, do ten more push-ups before dropping down beside him, his breath heavy. "You are pushing the limits today, Murewa. What's the problem?"

"You find my zealousness a problem?" The Prince turned to look at him, his face serious, as usual.

"I heard there was a misunderstanding at the Throne Room meeting yesterday. What happened?"

Murewa jumped to his feet and began to load up the bag with their training supplies. "The Ministers want to use the Amu Kingdom for other purposes."

"What?" Jamal sat up. "They don't get to decide that."

"My point," Murewa answered tightly and Jamal decided to drop the subject for now. He knew the Prince well enough to know he was still fuming. Stressing the subject would only rile him up.