A Princess For Christmas (Of The Dreams We Seek)

Three

Avni felt the seat beside her dip and Callahan enter the car. She told herself even if she needed to fulfil the request of his sister, still she needed to maintain her distance from her brother. Because last thing she wanted was to be a victim of any Prince's wrath. 

She is too young to die. Or beheaded or... Her eyes suddenly met his and she found his blue eyes looking into hers for some reason. She wanted to look away, look down or anywhere just not into his intensified gaze but she felt that it was quite impossible into her situation. 

She cannot just do it. Avni had lost her mobility, and the control of her body. She had become a prisoner in her own body, now all she can do is sit and wait for it to happen to her, anything that was about to happen to her seeing the angry gaze which kept her rooted to this place.

"I don't know why Miss Avni, everyone is your fan, including my little sister, I don't quiet get it." Her thoughts again gone to the strange request of the Princess. "How can I know why someone is smitten by me your highness? It depends upon their perspective of how they decipher my actions. I simply do what I love to." 

He put his finger on his chin stroking it lightly and then asked her "Which is?" In a rather serious tone, as if he was very much interested in knowing all about her life's works and her goals. As if he was equally interested in buying whatever she was selling. 

But his body language told a whole different story. He was not being honest with her. And she never did like the dishonest person.

"Just left of here and you will see the gates" Avni told even before Callahan can ask her the way to her house. "You guessed that I was about to ask you the address to your palace?" He asked in surprise. 

"It is just a small mansion not a royal palace Your highness. It is not like you are going to stay there just to see how the life outside the royal palace feels" She muttered as the gates to her house neared. The guard unlocked the door and the river moved further in to parked in her driveway. "You think just because I am a prince, I stay cooped up inside the four walls of my palace, barking orders on my unsuspecting subjects?" Now he was very amused. 

"No, but you don't live like normal people do Your highness. Have you spent doing any work that doesn't involve acquiring something for your benefit, or bribing someone to do your biddings?" He was now very amused. "You think being a ruler means doing everything I wish to? Or making people do what I want to?" He asked 

"Mostly yes" He smiled "You don't know first thing about being a royal. And you are still living in a fairy-tale world where arrogant rich prince exists." He told opening up his side of the door and getting out holding his hand for to take. She took his hand "So, you are telling me, you are not the rich, arrogant prince from the stories and you don't go around creating scandals for your royal advisors to manage?" she asked genuinely interested in his affairs. 

"No Miss Avni, I am not a playboy prince I am just a prince, who happens to care about his reputation and his people and about keeping his country safe, and people happy. People expect that from me." Her next phrase surprised him a he straightened her. "What do you expect from yourself Your highness?" She moved back after saying that and then she bowed walking towards her house.

"Miss Avni" He called halting her in way halfway from the door. "This is not how we Royal's say their farewell." She turned around looking at him. He wasn't in his Princely attire at all, rather than he was dressed as straight out of the pages of some high-end magazine, but he was poised and was well aware of what he was doing and he seemed to be very much confident about it. 

He stopped a few inches from her. He took her right hand in his and kissed the back of her palm. "Until we meet again, Miss Avni. Take good care of yourself." He said looking at her. 

"Arrogant and so full of himself" Avni thought as his car back up leaving her there thinking about this very strange encounter with a very charming and arrogant Prince. Little did she knew that her innocent question was something that was lingering on to his mind as he made his way back to the hotel.

Avni walked towards her house gripping the wall tightly as she feels the world revolve around her once again. All she needed was good night sleep. She told herself this, after eating she will rest and she will get herself ready for work tomorrow morning.

 As she reached home, she saw her mother was conversing with her friends from her college. "Ma, I am home." Avni announced and all the eyes were on her. "How was the trip with the handsome stranger?" She realized it now, she never asked for his name ever. 

Just that he was a prince. It hit her, she met the Royal family and she insulted the prince in front of the queen. Now she is doomed. "How can you do this Avni? Haven't you realized you are putting the foundation itself at risk?" She asked herself as her friends looked at her thinking why on earth, she was talking to herself. 

They wondered whether she turned into a lunatic all of a sudden talking to herself. Then her eyes darted towards her friends who were looking at her worriedly.

"Is something on my face?" Avni asked finally. "Avni beta, go and change, otherwise food will get cold." But food was the last thing on her mind. She needed to apologize to the royal family. Avni wasn't like this, but that Prince seems to bring out the worst in her. 

She tried to brush her hairs into submission. And think about not throwing her brush at the charming Prince every time she reminded of the incidents from today. She barely managed to sit through the conversation of her mother, father the four friends who were occupying the table. 

"Such a nice boy, he himself offered to take her home, who does that for a total stranger?" Her mother praised him. And Avni stabbed her plate with a fork imagining it to be the prince and that felt so nice. "Must be a very nice boy then, Avni beta eat your food. It is getting cold" Her father said looking at Avni.

 "I saw him driving Avni Home, he is rather handsome" One of her friends say "and arrogant, how come only I see that side of his?" Asked Avni to herself shaking her head. There is no point in making them realize that until they want to do it by himself. 

"Does anyone here know that they are not the Royal Advisors but they are the Royal family?" I asked and all of them stopped eating looking at her. Then Sneha, one of her friends burst out laughing. 

"You mean you didn't know they were the Prince and the Queen?" She was the last one to know. Maybe that rude arrogant Prince is right, Life isn't a fairy tale.

She was gone through the brochure and the instruction manual provided by the Foundation. Surely enough, it says the Royal family, and Royal advisors.

 For some reason her brain omitted those words, or maybe she didn't paid attention to it in her haste of finishing the things faster. But now she was the one who was at fault since she cannot just comprehend what he must be thinking about her. 

He is a Prince, a real life living breathing Prince. She has no choice but to apologize to him. There isn't any other way. Well except for if she doesn't apologize at his face. Her sister does follow her posts, she can follow it too. 

With the idea graced into her mind, she took her laptop out and begin writing her blog post. She will then have one less thing to care less about and that something is creating an international incident with some royals she had met for the first time in her life. 

That night she written and deleted her content or at least ten time. And at last she thought she had enough of it. So, she in her haste sent it in a draft, rather than accidently it was sent to a mail of a very unlikely person whose email she checked few days ago. 

As Avni slept her little words got carried away converted into ones and Zeros running through the circuitry in waves in form of signals caught by the right person's connection. As Callahan was trying to sleep thinking about what Avni said his phone beeped. 

He picked it up and saw the email from a very unlikely source. He opened it up and inside it was written.

If you accidently created a possibility of a conflict with some international members of the circle even though you were trying to just defend something you think was right. I don't know what to do now, any of you can you suggest what to do in such situation? 

Word Cunt: 1600 Words