Oddly Familiar

"I agree to all your terms and conditions, however I have a proposition." Mr. Gonzalez began. 

"If it is within my ability." Prince Elijah replied. 

"We leave the royal families out of this. What's your thought on this? If you agree then it's a green light from our side." 

Prince Elijah nodded without a second thought and not a single board member objected. The two parties signed the contract without delay and the meeting concluded here. 

Soon everyone went back to their work station as the three of us walked Mr Gonzalez and his assistant outside. 

Mr Robert and Prince Elijah took the assistant for some final paperworks. I was left in his office with Mr Gonzalez who was comfortably sitting in front of me whereas I was the opposite. 'Now's my perfect chance' I thought to myself.

"Mr Gonzalez."

"Yes, Miss Hayley." 

"Sorry to bother you with this but it seemed like you had something to say to me the last time we met…"

"Oh right, it's nothing. Don't worry about it, you just looked oddly familiar that's all but turns out I was wrong." He replied without delay and the room once again fell into total silence. 

*Gonzalez inner thoughts!* 

It wasn't that he was ignoring this girl on purpose but now his mind was full of conflict and resolution. 

"Since this girl is here, that crazy old man should be in this city as well. How could I have missed it." Gonzalez reasoned to himself as he rubbed his chin, he seemed to do that a lot when deep in thought. Now that he looked closely at her; it's no mistake that this is the girl he had been searching for; for half a decade. He had lost multiple sleep over her, unwillingly of course. And it seemed now she had gotten herself tangled up in an even bigger mess; none other than Prince Elijah and him being an expert at reading people he could tell instantly that Prince Elijah was infatuated by her. Which was definitely not good, however, as long as she did not get in the way he would hold no regards for her and leave her alone. 

He was now convinced that silly old man was right under his nose this whole time.

*

The trio came back seemingly pleased with today's outcome. Even Prince Elijah who hardly shows his emotion appeared to be in a good mood. 

"Nice doing business with you Elijah, let's shake hands for our upcoming success." Mr Gonzalez stood up and offered his hand. 

"To you too, David." Prince Elijah agreed and they shook hands ending their encounter. 

Mr Robert walked the two men out and left the two of us inside Prince Elijah's office. We settled down into our seats as Prince Elijah finally began explaining to me about the annual royal ball.The topic he had originally invited me to discuss or at least that's what I had thought until the earlier business meeting with Mr Gonzalez. 

*

It was expected of every member of the royal family to attend, including any and all their relatives. Prince Elijah was of course no exception, he would be the most anticipated member to attend. Failing to attend would cause the royal wrath of his majesty the king himself; most often it included extra royal responsibilities for a whole month. It may seem like nothing but those responsibilities included working with the most unflattering, cunning ministers and no one wanted to be near them. Especially, when they could have leisure instead; thus the royal ball became a burden to the princes instead of a party. This also doesn't mean no one enjoyed them because every year the ball was grander than the previous year and because of this the high society ladies would jump with joy if they were lucky enough to receive an invitation. Some nobles took this opportunity to officially introduce their daughters into the high society and therefore increased their chance of meeting able young men with similar or higher social standing. It is safe to say it was a great joy for some; especially for those that wanted to flaunt their wealth and increase their social status. Of course to someone like Hayley this was a new concept, something that only occurred in movies or books but she was about to find out... 

*

When Prince Elijah finished explaining I was overwhelmed and rather unsure if I really did want to go. There were so many rules to follow, so many faces to remember and most of all; I would be completely lost among all those higher ups that will be there. First of all I could not start up a conversation if my life depended on it and even if I did stick myself next to Prince Elijah someone was bound to want to question me. And I definitely didn't want anyone to think I was incapable of doing my job properly, being his personal assistant would allow me to face such challenges and I shouldn't shy away from this. I rationalised in my head. 

"No need to be so alarmed. It's just a simple ball, it happens every year." Prince Elijah said after noticing how quiet I had suddenly gotten. 

"You said so yourself that you can take anyone, right?" I asked. 

"That's correct."

"How about you ask someone else to be your date, I mean you are Prince Elijah. I'm sure you won't have any problem finding someone…" I casually replied back hoping for him to change his mind. However he had something else in mind.