Chapter Two

Caroline dashed into her office, out of breath as the couple stood up to leave. They stared at her wide-eyed at her sudden appearance. She wasn't looking presentable like they expected.

"Sorry, I am late!" She said between breaths.

"It's okay!" Mr Andrew's wife spoke.

Caroline tilted her head a bit, staring at them confused. Here she was thinking that they were gonna be mad at her for her tardiness but they seemed completely cool with it.

"Really?" She clasped her hands together as she approached them.

"Yes! Your assistant here..." Mr Andrew gestured to Jenny, Caroline turned to see Jenny smiling at her, she returned the smile and turned to face him "... She explained everything to us and showed us the designs, we have made our decision, right honey?" He turned to his wife beaming.

Her mouth curved into a smile "Yes, we chose the green gown out of all the dresses, since green happens to be our daughter's favorite and the gown will look gorgeous on her, so we picked it!".

"I am glad you have chosen that dress!" She smiled warmly at them.

"When will it be ready?" His wife asked.

Caroline thought for a while "a few days before her birthday it will be ready, that way she can do the fitting and if need be some adjustments might be made!" Caroline explained.

The couple exchanged looks and turned to her.

"That's great! The payment for the dress will be made after we have seen it!" His wife said.

Caroline nodded in agreement. "Sure!".

They headed straight to the door and walked out.

"It seems you did a good job with them!" Caroline said after they had gone.

Jenny waved off the compliment, shyly "I just did what I had to do! It wasn't easy dealing with them but I scaled through".

"Well, thanks for taking care of them in my absence!" She turned towards her table and sat on the chair.

"So, did you manage to find a cab to take you here?" Jenny asked, staring at her tablet.

"Nope! I had a spare tire so I got it changed with the help of a handsome stranger!" She explained with a twinkle in her eye, her cheeks flushed a little when the face of the drop dead attractive young man reappeared in her mind.

"Ohhh!" Jenny cooed at the word 'handsome' "Care to share? Did you get anything on him, like a name or something?".

Caroline shook her head disappointed "Nope! He rode away in his bike after he did his job, I doubt if I will see him again".

"That's too bad, anyway life goes on!".

Caroline pointed at her with the pen she picked up "Noted! So what's next on my schedule?".

Jenny scrolled through the screen of her tablet, reading through her appointments "Um... Your next appointment is at the palace!" She read out.

Caroline furrowed her brows as she thought "The palace? Wait, the meeting is today?".

Jenny nodded "Yup! The designs for the gowns and suits for the royal wedding are ready for the… you know 'the wedding of the year'?".

Caroline stared at her with a blank expression on her face, looking clueless.

Jenny sighed "The wedding of Prince Adrian and Princess Jasmine, You even designed one of the wedding gowns and suit!".

"Oh yeah! Right!" She snapped her fingers as the memory came back to her "I totally forgot, well we need to get going then, it is one thing to be late for a meeting with snobbish socialites and it is another thing to be late for a meeting with the royal family!" She stated, gathering her things on the table then stood up to leave.

She walked towards the door with a thoughtful Jenny behind her "I don't get it!"

Caroline chuckled as they left the office. Greeting some of the employees in the hallway as they headed towards the elevator.

"The driver is already waiting for us downstairs in the parking lot!" Jenny notified staring at her phone, the elevator door slid open and they walked in.

"You know I can drive right?" She pointed out.

"Yeah but your driving gives me a heart attack and I want to arrive at the palace alive!' Jenny said boldly.

"Hey!" Caroline exclaimed as the doors closed shut and they were taken down.

* * * *

Prince Adrian snuck into his room through the balcony. Stealthily, he jumped over the parapet and landed with a light stud on the marbled floor. Slowly, he pushed the door of the balcony open which creaked a little, walking in quietly. He had a quick change into his formal royal robe, throwing the clothes he wore including the black leather jacket onto his bed.

He stared at his reflection in the full length mirror in the room, putting the golden cufflinks with the royal seal imprinted on them on the sleeves of his shirt.

The door to the room was pushed open gently and a man in his late fifties walked in, he wore a black suit and white gloves looking the part of the royal family butler, he has being working in the palace for as long as the Prince could remember.

"Good afternoon Walter!" Adrian greeted with a smile when he saw the butler's reflection from the mirror.

Walter sighed as he walked in, he puffed out his chest as he stared at him, expressionless.

"I am glad that you have returned from your morning drive unharmed, Your Majesty!" He said with a stoic tone.

"Aahh! Yes! I just needed a bit of fresh air!" Adrian turned to face him smiling, his hands clasped behind his back whilst the older man approached him.

"Oh well, how was it?".

"It was actually kind of nice!" He said with a faint smile on his lips

"You are lucky, Her Majesty, the Queen didn't come to your room in search of you while you were away, she would have been devastated if she found out that you left the palace without proper security, not to talk of your father, the King, he would have ....".

"That's why I have you to cover up for me!" He interrupted him and patted Walter on his shoulder.

The old man sighed "The things I do for you, I am surprised that I haven't died of a heart attack by now!".

Adrian chuckled lightly "You still have a few more years before you die Walter!" He assured him.

The old man sighed again, disappointed "I know!".

"Did anyone look for me while I was away?".

"Not really, your mother has been with the princess all morning in her drawing room, enjoying each other's company and talking about the royal wedding!" Walter stated.

"Oh! What about father?".

Walter thought for a minute "The last time I saw him was in his study, he was with his advisors!" He stated "I would have to remind you about the meeting you have with two ladies from CM Designs, they are arriving at the Palace later this afternoon for your measurements for the suit you will wear on your wedding day".

Adrian nodded slowly as he absorbed what he was being told "Sure! I will be in my study just in case you need me for anything!".

Walter bowed politely and left the room.

Adrian exhaled deeply and began walking towards a door in the room which connected to his study, the other door creaked a little drawing his attention, he turned only to see the upper part of Walter's body.

"Um… Your Highness, if I may suggest, can you freshen up a bit before you meet the women?" He asked with pleading eyes.

Adrian chuckled slightly "Of course I will, I just have to do something first!".

"Okay!" The old man nodded before finally leaving, closing the door quietly behind him.

Adrian pushed the door to his study open and ambulated in, shutting it behind him.

Bookcases were located at every corner of the room, it was well ventilated and the lighting was moderate. The table located at the center of the room had piles of documents on each side. He strolled casually towards it and sat on the chair. It was back to business for him.

Adrian picked up one of the documents and was about reading it when the memory of the woman he helped earlier that morning recalled in his mind. She was a beautiful woman no doubt about it, the way she stared at him made him chortle. It felt like she had never seen a man before. She looked adorable when she smiled. He hoped to see her again, even though it was a very high chance for them to meet again in this large country.

He sighed deeply, as he pushed back any thoughts of her from his mind. He was getting married in a few months time and now wasn't the time to be infatuated with a woman he just met a few hours ago.

* * * *

Caroline gaped in awe, admiring the beautiful majestic building in front of her as the car drove into the palace. There were rows of roses of different colors at the entrance of the building. The car came to a stop at the entrance and she walked out of it still awestruck at how amazing the palace looked. Jenny stepped out of the car and stood beside her, her eyes were glued to the screen of her tablet. The driver drove off leaving them behind.

Guards were stationed at every inch of the palace. Their faces wore a blank expression, The royal family didn't joke with their security one bit.

"Jenny, how can't you be amazed at the palace?" Caroline asked, turning to her.

"I have seen pictures of the Palace eversince I was a little kid, so seeing it now doesn't make a difference from the pictures!" She said dryly without even glancing at her.

Caroline rolled her eyes. Jenny sucks the fun out of things sometimes especially whenever she is in business mode. That's when she is a bore.

The door which led to the inside of the palace opened and Walter stepped out of it, climbing down the stairs heading towards them.

"Good afternoon ladies! I am Walter and I work for the Royal family!" He said.

"Hi, I am Caroline and this is my assistant Jenny!" She replied, extending her hand to him to shake.

He stared at it for a moment before shaking it.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, would you please come with me inside the palace?".

Caroline smiled.

"He seems nice!" Jenny said.

"Yeah!" She replied trying to hide the excitement she felt about entering the palace for the first time in forever.

They walked behind him as he led them into the large brightened lobby with marble flooring, She was greeted with the smell of freshly cultivated flowers, it was adorned with different types of beautiful flowers at every covering of it, there were orchids, roses, dandelions and other species she didn't know existed. A bunch of attractive paintings were hung on every part of the wall.

Caroline couldn't help herself and took a couple of pictures of the lobby. Walter ignored her enthusiastic behavior and continued walking, he has seen people like her lots of time, her behavior wasn't a surprise to him, he headed towards the flight of stairs at one end of the lobby.

"This place is beautiful!" She said in admiration.

"Yes it is, the palace is one of the most beautiful sceneries in the Country!" He stated.

"What is the most beautiful?" Jenny asked curiously.

"The palace garden!" He made a turn to the right which led to a hallway whilst they followed him, both ladies wondering how the garden looked like for it to be the most beautiful.

He pushed open a door and gestured for them to walk in, they hesitated before entering the room.

It was a well furnished room with pictures and paintings of past Kings and Queens hung at every corner of the walls. Carol smiled as she stared at the pictures. She can still remember being taught the history of the nation including the names of the past Royal families in her history class back in high school. Her eyes stopped at the last picture in the room. It was the picture of the present royal family. The Prince looked so oddly familiar in the picture like she had met him before but that was impossible. The news about him was that he hardly got out of the Palace and the odds of her meeting him was highly impossible. Maybe he looked familiar because she might have seen him on television a couple of times, that could be the only possible explanation. She kicked those thoughts out of her mind and continued admiring the room.

"Wait here while I call the Prince!" Walter said and walked away.

Carol sat down on one of the couch in the room with Jenny beside her.

To kill time, She took out her phone from her purse and began taking selfies with the pictures behind her making silly faces, Jenny ignored her boss as she studied the designs in her tablet.

"Okay, let's see, I have checked all the designs for the Prince, from what we know about him, I think this royal blue suit you designed fits him perfectly, what do you think Carol?" She looked up from the tablet and stared at her absentminded boss.

Sighing, she shook her head slightly and continued scrolling through the designs.

Carol was about to take her sixth selfie when the door was propelled open and Adrian walked in with Walter behind him. She quickly stopped and composed herself before standing up alongside Jenny.

She was about to greet him but gasped in shock as she stared at the dumbfounded Prince.

"You!" She said awestruck.