Chapter Twenty-eight

Carol slowly placed the pencil on the table, she beamed at the creation before her. The dress that took her almost all night to design was finally finished. She smiled to herself, it seemed that she had gotten her inspiration back. It must have returned after helping Jenny with the preparations for her date, at first she could only see sketches and glimpses of it formulating in her mind but after much work and a little brainstorming, she eventually saw it clearly. Her masterpiece.

Jenny walked in diverting Carol's attention. She noticed the grin on her face and walked closer to discover the source.

"What is that?" She asked, referring to the design on the paper Carol held.

"The star of our fashion show!" She replied.

"It's beautiful!" Jenny exclaimed, stating at it in utmost awe.

"I know!"

"Wait! Didn't you mention to Lucas that you had a back up design?" She asked, shifting her gaze to Carol.

Carol hung her head in slow motion, avoiding her gaze. "I lied!" She said softly.

Jenny sighed. That was strange of her. Carol hardly lies.

"I'd figured, well why didn't you tell him?"

"I tried. You were there!" She pointed at her "It is extremely hard to say no to him when he looks at you with those dreamy eyes of his !" She complained.

"Yeah, he does have dreamy eyes, his hair is so curly and soft, his lips are so sweet and…" Jenny paused, realizing what she just said. Heat crept to her cheeks.

Carol stared at her, her eyes were widened and filled with shock. She turned away, blinked a few times and stared back at her assistant whose face turned scarlet. The room was filled with great awkward silence as the two women stared at each other, not saying a word.

Carol cleared her throat in an awkward way, breaking the silence "So, how was your date?" She asked.

"Date? What date?" Jenny stared at her, perplexed.

"The date with the neurologist, yesterday. I helped you prep for it!" She stated.

"Oh! It turned out well! We had fun" She said slowly. The guilt of lying pricked her chest.

"Well, that's good to hear!" Carol replied "When can I meet him?".

"Y-You w-want to meet him?" Jenny asked, stuttering which felt unusual for her.

Carol nodded "Yes, I want to meet the man who my assistant and closest friend is dating and congratulate him for pulling you out of your shell" She said with a smile.

Jenny was about to reply with another lie in place when they heard a knock on the door.

"Boss, it is me Jesse. I have got the suit for the wedding with me!" The voice said.

"Come in!" Carol replied.

The handle turned and the door was slightly pushed open. Jesse walked in with the suit enclosed in a white transparent plastic bag, hanging neatly on her arm.

She stood in front of Carol and held it at full length. "What do you think?" She asked.

"Whoa!" Jenny exclaimed. "You guys did a good job!".

"Thanks!" Jesse turned to Carol "We added a bit of a design on the one you made, we hope that you would like it!" She said.

Carol stood up and walked towards her direction. She peered closely and noticed a design of a golden crown entwined with the flowers and the royal seal.

"It is beautiful! You guys really outdid yourselves!" She remarked.

"Thank you boss!" Jesse replied with a smile. She handed it over to her and strutted out of the room.

"She seems to be in a hurry!" Jenny noted when Jesse left.

"Well, everyone has their hands full with the fashion show around the corner!" Carol stated, admiring the suit she held. The image of Adrian in it flashed through her mind. She found herself smiling at the thought of it.

"We need to deliver it to the Palace now that it's done!" She said, her eyes were still fixed on it.

"I would love to be the one to deliver it but, I have to meet with the designers and vet their designs!" Jenny stated.

"It's alright. I will do it!" Carol said,

"You sure?" Jenny asked, she looked at her a little surprised that she took on the job.

"Yeah! I will just hand it over to Walter and he will give it to him!" She said calmly. Deep down she hoped not to see him, too frightened of hurting him again.

"If you say so!" Saying that Jenny walked out of the office feeling conflicted about the lie she told earlier.

"I will need to talk to Lucas about this!" She said.

* * * *

"Walter! Oh hello!" The surprise in her voice wasn't missed by him. His sudden appearance frightened her.

"I apologize for frightening you. I came as soon as I got the message from your assistant!" He said in apologetic tone.

"It's alright, I came to deliver the wedding suit. If you could be so kind, can you please give it to him?" She requested, reaching out the suit to him.

Walter hesitated, the corner of his lips quirked up at a thought "On second thought, why don't you give it to His Majesty?"

Shock flashed through her eyes, her face whitened "What!".

"Yes, you can wait for him in his room, Miss Caroline!" He spoke with a warm smile.

Before Carol could protest, she found herself standing in front of a huge wooden door. She gulped as she stared at the closed door. Her grip on the suit tightened.

"You can make yourself comfortable, Miss Caroline!" He said, pushing the door open and gestured for her to walk in.

Carol reluctantly did, she stepped into the room and gasped. It looked regal and majestic like its owner.

"Wait here while I call him!" He said, closing the door behind him before she could react to what was happening.

>>>> Adrian let out a breath, this was worse than etiquette classes he took when he was younger. Trays and plates of different kinds of cakes were arranged neatly in front of him. He turned to look at Jasmine. She seemed to be enjoying it, tasting and savoring different kinds of flavors for their wedding cake, a part of him felt like she really wanted this wedding to happen more than anyone, he felt sorry for her, he wondered how she would feel if she discovered his feelings for Carol.

Adrian sighed, he wanted to be anywhere but there, even the long boring meetings with the advisors were better than this.

"What do you think of this cake, Your Highness?" A lady in a baking attire asked him, she was referring to the red velvet cake placed in front of him.

Adrian reluctantly picked up the fork beside the plate. He stabbed it, just as he was about to take a bite of it. Walter walked in diverting his attention, Adrian placed the fork on the plate as the old man approached him.

"I apologize for interrupting the cake testing, Your Majesties but I have something to report to His Majesty!" He said in a state of bow.

He leaned closer and whispered to him.

"Miss Caroline is here to see you, Your Majesty!" He said.

Adrian's eyes widened, his heart skipped a beat just by hearing her name. How long has it been since they last spoke?.

After what transpired against them, Adrian found himself earnestly yearning to see her, to hear her voice but he restrained himself, he felt like she didn't want to see him after that night. He locked himself in the Palace, not wanting to leave because he knew within himself that the first place he would rush to was wherever she was.

He couldn't contain his joy and abruptly stood up, surprising every one in the room.

"If you could excuse me, I have an important appointment at the moment!" He said. Adrian followed Walter out of the room, grinning.

Jasmine tightened her grip so hard on the innocent fork that she held, that her knuckles whitened.

"How dare he?" She seethed.

>>>> Carol's hand grazed the books on the shelf stationed at the far end of the room. All she noticed was how every book in his room were about Politics, ruling a nation, leadership. These books could bore her within seconds of opening them. She pondered on how he survived reading them.

Wondering how his childhood was. Images of a young Adrian reading the bulky books on his reading table trying to grasp every word in them, appeared in her mind, it must have been hard for him, especially since he knew the burden he had to bear from a very young age.

"You probably never had fun, did you?" She asked softly. Her hand rested on the shelf. She felt her heart call out to him.

The door was pushed open and she felt her skeleton leave her body. Adrian slowly walked in, Walter closed the door behind him and walked down the hallway, he hoped things would turn out nice for them.

Carol took a deep breath before turning to him, their eyes locked instantly and her heart raced faster. A blanket of silence fell over the room. Carol's breath quickened as he approached her.

"Hi!" He said bashfully, breaking the silence.

"Hi!" She replied softly, she felt her cheeks redden by the minute.

"I heard from Walter that you came with the wedding suit!" He said, trying to reduce the uneasiness between them.

"Yes!" She walked awkwardly to the couch it was kept and reached out for the suit. "Here it is!" She shoved it into his hands, which stunned him.

He smirked at her behavior, before diverting his attention to the suit he held. It captivated him just like the one who designed it.

"It looks amazing Carol!" he said, smiling warmly at her.

Carol's cheeks turned crimson red on hearing the comment. She cleared her throat and spoke "Now that you have received it, I will take my leave then!" She turned on her heel and headed for the door.

"Aren't you going to check how it is on me first before you leave?" He asked, she stopped mid-way. There was no way that he would allow her to leave, he missed her so much that his heart ached not seeing her for so many weeks.

She let out a breath. Why was he making things difficult for her?.

"What if there was some complications with the suit? How would you know about it?" He asked. She noticed the sense of longing and hurt in his voice, it felt like a sharp pain in her chest.

"You are right, I can't leave without seeing how it looks on you!" She turned to him with a smile, her eyes welled up with tears.

He beamed at her. Joy surged through him hearing that she decided to stay even if it was for a few minutes.

He walked towards the walk-in closet with a smile on his face, Adrian couldn't wait to see her expression when he wore it. Carol noticed his excitement, tears rolled down her cheeks, she quickly wiped them away.

'Now was not the time to get emotional' She scolded herself.

>>>> "Walter, where is Adrian?" Queen Elena asked, she cornered him in the middle of the garden before he could take some steps further, "I heard from Jasmine that he left the cake testing appointment for another appointment, so where is he?".

Walter hesitated before he spoke "His Majesty's wedding suit just arrived and I had to inform him about it. I am sure he will return!" His voice was as apathetic as ever.

A smile appeared on her lips "That's splendid, I finally get to see his suit!" She said in a cheerful manner.

Walter sighed, he had to think of a way to prevent her from meeting Adrian and Carol together.

"Your Highness, may I suggest that you wait a while longer before you meet him!" He pleaded.

Her forehead creased as she stared at him. It was unlike Walter to suggest something as trivial as that.

"Is there a reason why I cannot see him?" She demanded, he felt like she could see right through him.

Walter let out a sigh "No, Your Highness!" He replied softly.

"Thank you, I will be on my way to meet him then!" She held her chin high and walked past him.

Walter let out a breath as soon as she left. He hoped that Miss Caroline had already gone.

* * * *

Adrian walked out stately from the closet, Carol's voice hitched in her throat as she stared at the regal figure, it seemed like time stood still as he approached her, she felt butterflies in her stomach with every step he took. He looked better than she ever imagined.

The suit hugged him nicely, his broad shoulders were conspicuous in the suit, it added an ethereal look to his grandeur. He had a splendor appearance which enticed her.

Adrian halted in front of her with a smile on his face.

"What do you think?"

"You look so handsome and incredible in it!" She said breathlessly.

Adrian beamed at the compliment. Carol's eyes wandered on every corner of the suit. Her face lit up just by staring at it. She wanted to touch it, to feel the material on him but restrained herself, it won't be professional of her.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

She nodded "Yes, I like it very much. It suits you!".

"You really like it?" He asked again.

"Yes, I really do!" She replied, she was still enthralled on how perfect it looked on him and didn't heed much attention to the questions he asked.

"Do you love me, Carol?" He asked suddenly throwing her off guard, his eyes were fixed on her.

"Yes I…" she paused. Realization dawned on her. She looked at him, her eyes searched his, they looked forloned, melancholic. Her heart broke on seeing him like this.

"Carol, do you love me?" He asked again, his voice was low and deep. With every step he took closer to her, she drew herself back.

"Adrian,I…" she couldn't bring herself to answer the question. Her heart raced so fast, she was scared that he could hear it.

"Why can't you answer the question?" He asked, she sensed the hurt in his voice.

"Adrian…" her voice was shaky as she spoke, she couldn't utter another word.

"I love you Carol!" He said finally, "it was hard for me these past few weeks. I couldn't see you, I couldn't call you, I couldn't hear your voice any longer because I thought that you didn't want to have anything to do with me. You claim not to have feelings for me but yet your actions and the way you look at me says something entirely different!" His eyes welled up with tears as he spoke.

Carol wanted to reach out to him. She wanted so badly to tell him that she really loved him, that she loved him so much and it pained her more than he could ever know not to express how she feels about him. She felt her back touch the bookshelf. She was cornered. She wanted to leave but her feet felt stuck to the ground.

"I love you Caroline Martinez, I love you so much that it is hard to breath without you. A day without seeing you is torture to me!" Tears rolled down his cheeks as he spoke. Carol's hand reached out to his face, she slowly wiped the tears. Seeing him in this state broke her, it hurt her more when she knew that she was the one who caused him this much pain.

Adrian caressed his cheek in her hand, they were warm and soothing. He stared at her with love in his eyes, she had a small smile on her lips as he leaned closer to her. He tilted her chin up and she slowly closed her eyes as he inched closer. Their lips were only inches apart.

The door was pushed open, breaking them apart. The Queen walked in, a smile plastered on her face.

"Adrian, I heard that you…!" She paused, her smile slowly fading away at the sight.

"Am I interrupting something?" She asked. Her gaze shifted from her flustered son to the whitened kitten.