Chapter 16.
“So I don't wanna say what's scripted
Whether you are or aren't with it
I know what I need…” Scripted - Zayn
February, 2137
Eveline
When we got to my room I made sure to properly lock the passage and door and went back to my closet to choose an outfit while Roman stood behind me like a human shadow, so I decided to use him as an aid to picking out an outfit.
As I walked past the racks I decided I should opt for a closed and shorter dress, I found a red dress and a champagne rose and separated them turning to Roman with one in each hand and he was sitting on one of the closet stools with a relaxed expression on his face while his beautiful green eyes are shining.
“Which one do you think is prettier?" I ask curiously, shaking the dresses and he watches me curiously as he scratches his chin and blinks sometimes thinking about the choice.
“The two dresses look prettier, but I don't think either of them will look pretty for today, so you should try a lavender or black dress, miss,” he says sincerely and I nod turning to the wardrobe to put them away, chuckling a little with his sincere words.
“At least you're frank,” I mutter under my breath as I laugh and when I turn around I see he is smiling as he sprawls himself across the seat in a comfortable way.
“That's what really matters these days, miss,” he comments and gets up and comes over to me sanding me away with a hand gesture and starts brushing the dresses aside looking for some option and I let him go and sit in his old spot and wait for his big decision.
He then turns to me with a long-sleeved black dress with gold streaks on the top in his hands and when he turns it I see the back is open and the gold details frame the slit, and I smile thinking of the perfect shoe to match.
Fuck, he is good at this.
“You have good taste, Roman,” I say smiling and looking at his beautiful face and I saw him smile deeply at me so I got up to grab the dress and run to the shoe cabinet.
When I open it I see my choice is on the highest shelf and when I look over my shoulder to ask the brunette for his help he's already beside me, so I just point to the black sandal with gold accents on the back and he takes it to me.
And I'm in awe of our silent communication, even Nick didn't understand when I needed something other than that and he is terrible at choosing clothes, but my homesickness for him and Eileen only grew each day and I hoped they'd be back for the spring ball.
So with the outfit ready I call him to follow me and take just a pair of underwear to change in the bathroom and Roman are hot on my heels when we go to my bedroom.
“Feel free to read or do anything in here, and don't let anyone in, not even if it’s the King!" I say and he nods as he sits at my dresser and starts going through my things so I leave him there and go take a shower.
I wash my hair and body well and spend some time moisturizing my skin and drying and tidying my hair, I decide to leave it smooth and slightly wavy at the ends and then start to put on makeup, and when I'm putting on eyeliner Roman opens the door with everything giving me a slight scare which makes me miss my hand and scratch my face and almost fuck all my make up.
I then turn around to scold him for his demeanor but I see he's covering his eyes and I think that's so fucking cute so I wipe my face and lean back against the counter and fold my arms tight against my chest before calling out to him.
“You can look now, Rom,” I say and just then I realize the nickname slips unintentionally out of my thong and I bite back my lips feeling my cheeks heat up and he takes his hand away from his face and glares at me smiling like a fool “What’s up?” I ask and he mutters something to himself and stares back at me.
I felt my face on fire but I decided to ignore it and so did he.
“One of the servants knocked on the door and said that the dinner starts in half an hour, Eve,” he says and I smile at him in thanks and when I thought he was going outare I catch him staring at me with a frown between his brows and I slightly tilted my head to the side confused with his behavior so him start to speak again “There’s something strange on your face, let me see!” He said and walked into the bathroom and came over to me, his hands held my face gently as he studied my features and I laughed inwardly at his manners.
He then smiled when he found what was on my face and looked at me excitedly, I just smiled at him as he leaned over the counter and grabbed my eyeliner and then he pulled up the sleeves of his black uniform shirt and I could see some of his tattoos. I found myself watching a beautiful snake that curled around his wrist but soon came back to me when I felt his hands cup my face again and I stared at him.
“Can I?” He ask me while he brushed back a few strands of my hair that fell over my eyes and I just nodded and then closed my eyes feeling his fingers caressing my skin before he applied the product to my eyes.
Because we were so close I could smell the yummy vanilla and pine scent that emanated from him as well as the warmth that always radiated from his tall body, his big hands were warm against my icy skin, his rings were a stark contrast causing goose bumps to erupt from my skin, and at some point I realized that I was almost sitting on the sink and her body was pressing mine against the counter.
Holy Christ, Roman.
He seemed to be taking longer than expected and as I took a deep breaths feeling my body on fire at his proximity I found myself wondering where he had learned to apply makeup so well and also trying to understand why I felt so attracted to him, I had a fiancé and shouldn't that mean I had to devote myself to him? Love him and respect him? I really don’t know anymore.
“I’m done, Eve,” he said and when I open my eyes the first thing I saw in front of me were his golden-green irises glowing with desire and lust and the eyeliner in his hands, he watched me carefully and I bit my lip again thanking me for not being lipstick, he followed the movement and bit his own lips, the tension in the room growing by the second.
I grabbed the sink behind me tightly trying to control myself and he continued to stare at me with the same eyes and as he bent over to leave the makeup item on the counter I closed my eyes and took a deep breath feeling a strand of his hair tickle my cheek.
I’m going to pass out.
When he moved i opened my eyes and saw that he was straightening his hair and even though my fiance was under the same roof as me I wasn't even considering to meet him and don’t want too, I just wanted this moment to last and to kiss this men in front of me but maybe i shouldn't disrespect him and my fiancé.
I close my eyes and take deep breaths trying to control my thoughts and collect myself, when I opened my eyes again he are staring deeply in my eyes and I grip the counter again, so to break the silence I think that if I made conversation it will be better than that tension flying in the air.
“Where did you learn to do that?” I ask and turn around so I don’t need to look directly at him while I decide to apply my red lipstick and try to don’t lose my mind.
“I help my sister to do hers sometimes or my mothers too, it’s interesting and I like to do the eyeliner for her, she say that she is jealous of my talent with the eyeliner,” he said and I chuckle slightly when I saw the difference in my eyeliner to his I’m my left eye.
“I will join the club with them, I’m jealous too, Rom! Look at this, you didn’t shake anytime, how it’s possible?” I said while I scoff in disbelief really looking at my makeup.
“I don’t know, but I’m happy that you like it!” He said smiling to me in the mirror and I laughed and smiled too.
“Thank you, really, I've been fighting with this little thing for almost half an hour,” I said laughing and he nodded and I saw this same shine in his eyes but he looked away and rubbed his neck in embarrassment and I saw his cheeks start to heat up.
So cute.
“It’s nothing Eve, I will let you finish your makeup in peace, I’m in the bedroom if you needs me,” he said and wal out and I’m smiling like an idiot looking at my face in the mirror and feeling the ghost of his fingers on my skin burning his path in it, so I breath deeply and continue my work.
When I'm done with my makeup, I go to the closet and on the way I notice he's reading one of my poem books and I smile as I go into the closet to change, he didn’t notice because he is lost in the history his reading.
So when I'm practically done, I apply perfume and go back to the bedroom to choose my jewelry, opting for a gold set with onyx stones. I put on the earrings and bracelet without difficulty but I end up fumbling with the necklace and when I look to the side I see that he is still focused on reading and I'm sorry to interrupt him but he notices my gaze and looks up, so I smile awkwardly and shake the necklace slightly at him.
“Can you help me?" I ask and he nods as he closes the book and gets up to come over to me.
I then hand him the necklace and turn my back to him and lift my hair leaving my neck and back exposed, he then puts the necklace on me and when he finishes I feel his fingers lightly brush the back of my neck, which gives me shivers and I almost tilt my head back.
"Thank you," I say quickly and let my hair fall on my back again turning to face him who is watching my every move intently, "Will you follow me to the dining room?" I ask and he nods, his eyes never leaving mine while he lowered the sleeves of the blouse hiding the tattoos and putting the gun holsters and the coat in place.
So I wait while he puts on his uniform coat and then when he extends his arm I link mine with his and we leave the room and walk down the hall calmly as we head up the stairs.
The palace was decorated in golden and earthy tones which gave an air of grandeur to the corridors which were lit by large chandeliers, the floor was marble and large Persian tapestries covered all the way to the stairs.
There were famous paintings on the walls and some handmade by artists many years ago, and each one was fascinating, especially the Van Gogh that grandma will get so many years ago as a wedding gift from a foreign head of state I didn't know, and since I was little because I was surrounded by so much art I became interested in painters and started to study on my own what a few years later became a hobby of mine.
I usually used the palace old greenhouse to plant medicinal and ornamental plants I had been collecting, and with great secrecy Scott had helped me build a small studio in the back of the greenhouse where I painted when I needed to let go of royal obligations.
And as we went through the hallways and floors one by one I felt the weight of the decisions I would have to make fall on my shoulders at once which made me stop for a moment halfway down the stairs to the ground floor and Roman did the same a few steps below me and looked up confused his green eyes studying me with turmoil.
"Is everything alright, Eve?" He asked worriedly and I imagined that my facial expression was clearly showing my torments and tried in vain to improve it.
"I think so, suddenly the weight of everything that is happening finally fell on me and I realized that from the moment I enter that room nothing will be the same as before and however determined I am there is a part of me that doesn't want to do that,” I say and squeeze his arm involuntarily and he walks up the steps until he's in front of me and takes my hands gently and I realize how small they are compared to his.
I feel him rubs the back of my hand in small circles and I look to him for some kind of comfort.
“As hard as reality is, at one time or another you will have to accept it, and unfortunately this time it won't be as sweet and light as it needs to be, but you'll get through it,” he said and I took a good look deep into his green eyes finding the comfort I so needed and something else that glowed within them but I couldn't identify "Now, lift your head and let's go down to the salon to meet your fiancé," he said and didn’t look me in the eye and I realized that the last word came out in a hostile tone than his usual calm tone but surely it must have been because he was concerned for my well being.
We went down the last flight and continued straight to the dining hall at the end of the corridor where there was a lot of movement outside of servants, guards and servants coming and going. Roman then led me through the crowd as I bid everyone good night who smiled excitedly at me, barely knowing that it was all my father's great invention, but just by receiving so many smiles and congratulations the situation became bearable, after all, I was doing it for all my subjects and I couldn't abandon the ship now.
Then we walked into the hall and I saw my entire family sitting at the table talking while they were served, my father dressed in a simple gray suit talking to a woman with red hair and very light blue eyes who was wearing a beautiful navy blue dress adorned with gemstones, that dress suited her well and Mom exchanged a word or two with her excitedly and I saw that she was wearing a beautiful golden dress that highlighted her black hair and the family necklace rested peacefully in her neck.
I felt pretty simple having chosen a shorter, dark colored dress and simple lighter jewelry for dinner, but my brother was very similar to me when choosing clothes, his suit was dark in color and the only thing that called out more attention was his red tie otherwise he looked bored but when he saw me he grinned and called me to sit at the table.
Just then our guests saw me standing there arm in arm with my bodyguard and the red-haired woman grinned and stood up, but as she came towards me I noticed another chair creaked against the marble floor of the hall and when I looked to the side I saw that facing my brother a boy about his age stood up, he wore a well-cut navy blue suit and he was not as tall as the men in my family and my own guards, he was of medium height, blond hair and blue eyes like his mother's, but his had a darker glow, like something was hidden behind them, his face was pretty, very pretty even, but something about him looked a little bit off.
“It's a pleasure to meet you, princess!" I heard the redhead say and turned towards her realizing she was just inches away from me bowing.
I smiled awkwardly and stared at her properly as I returned the greeting and took a closer look at her face, noticing that she had the same dark gleam in her eyes as her son, but unfortunately I couldn't tell what it was.
Not yet.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am!" I said and felt my parents move closer and involuntarily my grip on Roman's arm tightened, only then did I remember he was still there beside me holding me upright.
"Darling as I said earlier this is your fiance Nathan Smith and this is your future mother-in-law, the president of MacQuoid, Mrs. Scarlet Smith!" My dad said happily and I smiled robotically and felt happier knowing who she really was and seeing all her bearing and posture I understood her firm expression and her eyes that intimidated me even if I didn't want to.
“It's a pleasure I'm Eveline Taylor” I say and smile at her getting a smile back while I rub my fingers against Roman coat and feel him rub my back where his hands rests against my naked waist.
Thank god he’s still here.
The situation despite being under control was getting more and more tedious and when my brother appeared in the middle of the circle to make conversation with the guests I mentally thanked him and gave him a grateful look as he led everyone back to the table, and Roman did the even with me but as he was pulling out my chair I noticed my fiance's appraising gaze towards my guard and frowned in confusion.
Roman was walking away, but I grabbed him by the sleeve and asked him to bend down, and when he did I whispered in his ear "Don't move out of my line of sight as because I think I'll need you soon," I said and when I was done I held up my I look at him and saw his neutral face as he just nods and retreats to the wall in the other side of the room.
Dinner went smoothly while my parents made room for guests and my brother and I chatted between us, Jordan looked a little fidgety in his seat and as I took a sip of my wine I turned to him subtly.
“What do you have Jojo?” I asked using our childhood nickname and he took a long sip of wine, his blue eyes flashing angrily in my fiance's direction which made me frown at him.
Jordan then turned to me, his beautiful brown hair falling in pretty waves across his forehead, but not as pretty as Roman's, and when I found myself thinking about him I turned to look for him across the room and saw him leaning against the wall behind Nathan’s chair who was talking to my mom excitedly, he saw me looking and winked at me softly and I laughed before turning my attention back to my brother.
"I know this little shit, and our dad is so crazy to think I'm going to let him get close to you!" He said annoyed and clenched his hands into fists and I touched his arm and he looked at me and his expression softened as he touched my hand.
“What do you know about him, Jojo?” I asked confused and he took a deep breath before telling me.
“His reputation with girls isn't the best, and there are terrible rumors about him, and our dad is crazy enough to ignore them," he said, still full of anger as he curled his free hand into a tight fist and I rest my glass of wine away to try to calm him down while I hold his hand again, the two of us trapped in our own world "When he told me the candidate's name I didn't believe it, we had a big fight about it but he insisted on the mistake, but I didn't tell mom to not overwhelm her but she already wanted to kill him unknowingly nothing, if you look at her now you'll see her contempt,” he said and I risked a glance in my mother's direction.
She was smiling happily and talking to the boy just like my father, but when I noticed the pucker at the corner of her mouth and her fidgety hands playing with the fabric of her dress, I realized that Mom was holding back so she wouldn't thrown my fiancé out of the window and keep up appearances before she sent all that farce through the air.
"She's very close to pulling the president's son out of the room by the ears and tearing him apart if he makes any more comments about how he admires the laws our brilliant father passed on women's work in our country and the other measures he's been passing, I'm about to throw up dinner myself,” I say and my brother grins and I follow along turning my attention to him.
“Be careful with him Vee, and that guard who brought you, I know he's not Nick and I don't know him but you seem to trust him so don't ever leave him when you're with Nathan and that goes for when you're alone too, stay close to someone until I can do something with this bastard to get him out of here,” he said using my kid nickname too and I just nodded and wished that whatever he knew about the blond haired boy was just rumors that at one time or another I would have to accept fate and marry him, and I hoped he would at least be respectable.
The rest of dinner went the same way, at some point I laid my head on Jordan's shoulder and he stroked my hair as the guests chatted with each other and we both exchanged jokes and old stories between us and I finally managed to kill the missing I had for him that I didn't even know I was keeping.
Mom, seeing us, smiled and I remembered her words from yesterday afternoon, how happy we were making her. My dad watched us for a brief moment but ignored us. Mom, tired of the theater, excused herself and called us to get sweets from the sideboard at the back of the hall.
And we had fun picking out sweets, Jordan got a strawberry tart, I got a nice chocolate cake and Mommy got a piece of blueberry pie, we ate standing up while Mommy asked if grandma is okay so softly and I said she was fine, Jordan said he wanted to go with me next time and i promised to take him.
And when we finished the sweets and were ready to go to our rooms my dad stood up and I saw out of the corner of his eye all the guards come to stand by, including Roman who looked at me curiously and my brother looked at us curiously.
“Let's show them around the property dear,” my dad said and I relaxed beside my brother thinking we would all go together after what he told me but he continued his speech “And Eveline, what do you think to show your fiance while talking? To get to know each other better!" He said excitedly and the president smiled openly in a delighted way and when I looked at the blonde he was smiling at me in a very happy way.
Jordan tensed beside me and I stared at him for help.
“I'll go with her,” he said without thinking and my dad gave him an irritated look and I saw the president's smile falter a little as my mom stopped beside my dad, oblivious to everything there.
“Honey, come with us and let her go with him and the guard, if they go to the garden at least they'll have someone from security on their side," Mom said and my brother, not wanting to create a scene, agreed and kissed my forehead before going with them and leave me alone with the boy and the guards.
I smiled at him falsely and held out my arm, which he took tightly and then when I saw we were walking out of the room but I felt Roman's presence hot behind us, always a step behind like my shadow, Nathan didn't seemed to notice and even without seeing him I knew he was there and that reassured me, at least for the time being.