4 4| Friends or Acquaintances

"Why is the Royal Family asking me about you?" Gino burst into my lab looking frantic. His hair was a mess and he glared at me so ferociously I wondered how I was not on fire.

"What do you mean?" I frowned as I put the test tube back in the centrifuge.

"I just got a call from Prince Apollo asking me about the botanical scientist, It was so random. It was like you just appeared on their radar. That's never a good thing if they suddenly ask about you," he stressed and pulled out a lab chair then sat in front of me. "I hope you didn't do whatever dumb shit Adriano told you want to do."

I pursed my lips and looked to the ceiling hoping his nerving stare would finally stop. "I might have. Just a little."

"Are you stupid!" he gaped and leaned back in his chair. "You're going to get yourself fired."

""For thinking Ezekiel was a ghost. I think it is perfectly natural. Even he understood," I defended.

"You told him!"

"It sort of slipped," I chuckled and covered my face, "He was very understanding."

"It was nice knowing you. I promise I will help you find a job," he climbed off his chair and left the lab before I could even answer. I had no idea why he was stressing so much, surely Ezekiel must have just casually mentioned it. I was sure after working with the Royals for so long, they must have had some sort of friendly relationship.

Maybe Prince Apollo was just asking about me, because of pure interest. Who knew maybe they were even friends? Oh who was I kidding? I was so getting fired. What if I had somehow offended Ezekiel and he went to complain to the Royals? But surely he was not that kind of person. He was so friendly I could not imagine him snitching on me for thinking there was a ghost on Royal grounds.

Was it even a crime to think so? I was simply trying to help. They should have knighted me for trying to help a lost soul instead of possibly firing me. Just as my thoughts were getting out of control there was a knock on the door. With trembling hands I called out come in. Imagine my shock when Prince Apollo and ten Royal guards walked in.

It was my first seeing Prince Apollo in the flesh and I had to admit television did not do him justice. Sure, we all knew he was handsome, but he made my cute face look like a joke. He was tall; six foot one to be exact, his had more of a surfer's body, with board shoulders and a slimmer waist.

He had a chiselled diamond shaped jawline with high cheekbones, his skin was tanned and I figured it was due to the amount of hours he spent in the sun. It was well known he loved being out by the sea. He had slightly tinted pink lips. His eyes were a greyish-green colour with thick, dark blonde trimmed eyebrows.

I always thought he looked like the physical Greek god Apollo with his curly ash blonde hair that just reached the nap of his neck. He was known to be the more mischievous one out of the Royal siblings, but never anything controversial. King Adonis was not only his brother, but also his best friend so he would have never done anything to compromise his brother's position.

My training kicked in and I bowed curtly as he approached me. "Prince Apollo, it is a honour." I had to wait for him to respond before I was allowed to look back up.

"Cloud Belmont, lovely meeting you. My apologies for not meeting you sooner, you must understand my position as Prince leaves me with little free time on my hands," he smiled.

I stood straight, but made sure not to make direct eye contact, it was extremely improper to do that unless you knew the Royal family personally. "I fully understand my Prince. How may I help you?"

"We are throwing a party for all our employees to get to know them better. It was advised the King were to get to know his staff better to ensure loyalty. You have done such an excellent job taking care of our families' treasured tree that I felt it was important to invite you personally. We have all been impressed by your extraordinary work I wanted to meet you before the event," his teeth were so white I was surprised my retinas were still intact.

A royal guard handed me the invite and I was amazed paper could ever look so gold. "Thank you, this means a lot to me."

"Of course. Take care Mr. Belmont, King Adonis and Princess Iris all look forward to meeting you," he nodded.

"I look forward to it," I smiled. He turned around after that and walked out as the guards followed him robotically. I had been so distracted by the Prince that I forgot to look at the guards to see if any of them looked like Ezekiel or looked at me like they had recognised me.

I was still so amazed the Prince himself made the journey from the Palace all the way to my lab just to invite me I did not notice Gino standing by my doorway.

"Did he fire you?" he seemed worried by my shocked facial expression.

"No. He invited me to a party their hosting," I handed him the envelope too afraid to ruin the beautiful paper.

"You got personally invited. Shit Cloud that's amazing," he gently opened up the Kings seal and handed me the letter inside. There was nothing different on the letter compared to what Gino had received earlier from the general Royal messenger which was a bit of a disappointment, but the fact Prince Apollo had delivered had me nervous. What would they want to meet me for? Maybe they wanted me to venture overseas! Finally what I had been waiting for my whole life.

"I can't believe this huge event is in three days. What does one even where to these events?" I asked Gino hours later as we left the office.

"It said formal attire so I guess we are going to need to get suits," he sighed. He was better equip when it came to that department, I mostly owned jeans, shirts and jerseys. Hoodies were for when I felt like being a bit fancy.

"I'm going to look like such an idiot," I groaned and covered my face, "I'm strangely small. I will just look like a child drowning in material."

"Cloud you're not small. Arsenio and I, are just really tall. You could gain some weight though," he pinched my waist causing me to giggle. I was extremely ticklish. I was not skinny, I just thought I was lean unlike Arsenio and Gino who loved lifting weights. They liked being physically strong, when I found no use in it when the heaviest thing I carried each day was a microscope, and I handled that fairly well.

"I think I'm fine. I'll just have to go to a tailor to make whatever I buy fit better," I sighed. Not only did I have to stress about going to a tailor, but I also had a night shift again. "Can we go to the supermarket quickly? I want to get a few things."

"Sure." I figured since Ezekiel loved the fruit salad from yesterday I might as well get another two for him and me. Gino on the other hand would not asking me about Ezekiel. When we met up with Adriano at my apartment it felt like I was getting ambushed by them both. "Can you two stop? It's getting a bit annoying."

"You don't like humans, besides us of course," Adriano chuckled as Gino winked.

"And that does not mean I will meet other humans in the future that I also like or at least tolerate," I rolled my eyes as I dug through my closet looking for one of my jerseys.

"We are just saying maybe you should be more open to our ideas," Gino held up his hands in efforts to calm me down.

"What ideas? That you guys think I have this strange little crush on Ezekiel. Grow up," I huffed then finally found the navy blue jersey I had been searching for. I walked to the mirror and tried to calm my hair, but its wavy nature was making it difficult. Over the years I had left a parting on the left side allowing my hair to just sort of grow in whatever direction it pleased. I found it funny since at times it literally looked like a cloud but I was never the type to have a clean trimmed haircut. I just looked terribly stiff.

"You're getting a bit defensive Cloud, why is that?" Adriano chuckled. He and Gino were sitting on my bed continuously speaking rubbish.

"I'm not doing this with you. I'm leaving. Lock up if you decide to leave," I tossed my apartment keys to Gino who easily caught them.

"Do you need a ride?" Adriano asked.

"Nope I feel like walking today," I shrugged then grabbed my bags. I just prayed they did not burn my place down. After a relaxing walk I arrived at the palace and went over to the new part of the garden I would be working on. Ezekiel surprisingly was not there. I was so used to meeting him here that it felt strange to not see the wall of a man.

I set up my station, then started working. After an hour I figured tonight I would not be having my now trusted assistant. I went over to the Royal Family Tree in hopes maybe I would find him lingering there but nothing. I had no idea why it bothered me he was not here. It was not like we were friends or anything. Simple acquaintances.

As I looked at the tree with my small flashlight I noticed something hanging from one of the branches. It looked to be a small fold paper. I reached out for it and was amazing at the quality of it. I had no idea who provided the royals with their stationary, but I needed the supplier's name.

The folded note was attached to a small yarn string that hung from one of the branches, I gently tugged it off and opened the note.

'Dear Cloud

I am currently out of the country and hope you find this note in time. I will only be back in two days. I look forward to our nightly banter on Friday and please do bring a fruit salad. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Yours truly

Ezekiel.'

I had no idea why my heart was beating as fast as I read the note. Maybe it was because it had been so long since I had received something genuinely hand written that I was a bit amazed. A small spread on my lips when I realized he liked the fruit salad. That meant I had made a good choice by buying them today. I would let Gino and Adriano eat them, since they would not be too fresh by Friday.

I secretly put the note in my pocket keeping it safe from the prying eyes of my best friends. I finished my last few minutes of research then packed up. The walk back home was not eventful but I could not stop smiling. It was natural to look forward to seeing a friend. Was Ezekiel a friend? I had no idea. Friends left each other notes therefore we must have been.

I had a new friend.