Deep blue water colors

My mouth feels watering. I suddenly notice a blob of saliva on the insides of my mouth, which causes me to swallow it all at once. It must be because of the Cuban cigar or maybe on staring at the prince for too long. Most people drool at the sight of something delicious or appetizing. But why is my mouth getting all filled up with saliva from the site of the prince?

“Jamie…...” I hear the familiar call of my name. It suddenly feels like I know who has that voice. And yes, the call of the name feels familiar. It takes a tap on one of my fingers for me to recollect myself up again. I look straight into the green eyes of the man calling my name. I feel guilty for daydreaming about him. He must be used to me doing this a lot.

“Charlie,” I say.

“I have been calling your name Jamie. You seemed so lost. Are you okay?”

“Oh, sure, I am. I am sorry for zooming all off on you like that. It just happens,” I say, trying to defend my unpleasant act.

“It's fine, CSP. Remember, you never seem to surprise me with any of your actions.”

“For real, Charlie, I am sorry. I just got carried away for a bit.” He doesn’t say anything anymore. But from the look on his face, I can sense his thinking of something.

Charlie seems to wonder why I keep turning my face to look towards the door. I do not intend to do it, but I find myself looking towards the prince's direction, even when I do not want to.

Charlie decides to turn his back on me, figuring out why I am looking towards the door. On seeing the prince, he doesn’t hesitate to speak up immediately.

“Wow! The crown prince comes here too. This is so cool. Hey Jamie! Isn’t that the prince who came to visit your cake shop the other day?

I do not answer Charlie. But then I also stare at the direction of the prince for the third time. Charlie seems to feel uncomfortable because he immediately asks me if I want to continue eating here. I can immediately sense it from his body language that he is uncomfortable.

“Jamie, do you want to eat somewhere else. We could check some other cool place out if you are not comfortable with the prince around you.”

Charlie is quite good at reading my mind because how the hell does he know I am uncomfortable with me being in the same room with Frederick.

“Why would I want to leave a cool place like this, Charlie?” You have already paid a ton of money. I wouldn’t want that to go to waste. And I like this place.”

“Are you sure,”

“Why would you think I don’t like it here?”

“I mean…,” he says, almost stammering. I know he wants to say something, but then he doesn’t say any more.

“Tell me, Charlie.”

“I know you told me the other day. Your father works at the royal palace. I figured you wouldn’t be comfortable being in the same room with the prince. I don’t want you to feel obligated to say hi to him or something.”

“I told you that my father works at the royal palace.”

“Oh, you did. A couple of weeks ago.” I have a puzzled look on my face. Making me realize how much I must have told Charlie. I seem to really be comfortable around him to tell him that. I never talk about family to friends.

I knew Charlie was sweet, but I never did think that he would be this considerate. Even though I am enjoying this place at the very minute. I very much want to leave if this would make him comfortable. We can find someplace to hang out, but then I cannot just leave this place without trying out their beautiful cuisine. From what I saw earlier, Charlie has already paid for my dish.

“Can I ask the waiter to wrap up my dish for me? I wouldn’t want it to go to waste.”

“It’s fine, Jamie. We can always come back here to try it out another time.”

“Nooo! I want it wrapped up, Charlie.”

“Alright, then. Cute smarty pants.”

I do not object to him calling me that anymore. After all, I am getting used to it.

“How about I use the restroom first before leaving here.”

“Oh, sure,” I say with my eyes. Looking towards one of the paintings inside the aquarium. Once again, it calls to me.

“See you in a bit CSP.”

“Oh, sure.”

When Charlie takes his leave to use the bathroom, I stand up from my seat, heading towards the beautiful blue aquarium. From the look of it, it looks so divine—this must-have cost a fortune to be put up here. From what I see, the designer took his time in designing the aquarium. A beautiful set of paintings is embedded inside the aquarium. Making it seem to move when the fishes move with the flow of the water. The blue ocean deep painting once again calls me, just like the lady's painting in red I had seen in the royal palace. This Causes me to let my hands on the glass walls of the aquarium.

“My dad has something like this at his office.”

I fidget immediately on hearing the voice of Charlie.

“How long have you been standing here?”

“Just a couple of minutes. Enough to see how lost you are with these paintings. You never told me you are a lover of art.”

“I am?”

“Ohh, I have seen you a lot of times staring at paintings of art. Why do you love them so much? Did you want to be a painter?”

“Ohhh, Charlie. Nothing serious. I love art.”

“Okay, how about we take a drive towards MacDonald’s and order some cheeseburger and then drive to someplace quiet,” Charlie says.

“Now that’s more like it. I would love that.”

As we both work towards the exit of the door. For a second, I think the prince would turn over to stare at me. But then he is all face up looking at Princess Charlene with a warm smile on her face. From her whole attire tonight, she looks gracefully beautiful. I certainly do not know why I am troubled. But then I want to leave this place.

As I walk out of the beautiful restaurant, I cannot help but think about the cold look on the prince's face when he saw me smoking the Cuban cigar. Maybe he would tell father. Oh crap! I am an adult; I can smoke anything I want. I bit my lip, knowing I care about what the prince thinks of me. Why do I care?”

Standing at the entrance of the restaurant, Charlie seems to be talking to someone on the phone.

“I won’t be coming home soon. I told you not to send any more money. You can’t bribe me,” I hear him say. The discussion on his face must be so serious because his face is all looking toned.

I am beginning to catch a bit of a cold. Causing me to cover myself with my hands. But then my mind sways away to what happened a few minutes ago. A few minutes ago to when Charlie had asked me why I loved staring at art so much. I must be doing it a lot these days for the prince, and now Charlie to notice it. My chest suddenly feels a bit heavy on remembering her. The only woman who can make my heart beat so fast. The only woman I have loved except gran. Even if she abandoned me, how could I not love her? She was the first person ever to make me fall in love with art. She would hold the brushes on my fingers, helping me to blend the colors on the canvas. And then she would call my name.

“Common baby jay. You can do it.” mother made me fall into art. It was her profession. She painted everything beautiful, dark, and twisted. Even if it’s been years since she left me, lily, and father, how could I ever forget her? And even when I tried to forget her, whenever I saw a painting, they called me into eleven years into the past. Holding onto her brushes and mixing out a wild set of watercolors.