8| Expensive Gifts and Amazing Discoveries

Tuesday morning I was up early and ready to get going to the airport. The flight to Olympia would take less than two hours, which I was extremely happy about. I hated flying with a passion and I always needed to be medicated before I went on board. I just hated heights with a passion and the thought of falling out of the sky was enough to make me never travel on a plane again.

Although, I did not have much of a choice, I needed to be there by the afternoon so I could discuss what the agenda would be for the following day. I packed a light bag and waited for Adriano who would be dropping me off at the airport.

"So you and Princess Iris hey," he winked as he drove through the traffic.

"Don't start with this again," I groaned, then looked to the sky and wondered why I had ever told him about what happened at the party.

"This is big news Cloud. The Princess called you handsome. That's an accomplishment in itself. Imagine one day being addressed as Prince Cloud," he teased and shook my shoulder as we stopped at a red traffic light.

"You're taking this too far. She probably won't even remember the interaction next week. I'm sure there is a long line of men just waiting to have a shot with her," I sighed and looked out the window. To be honest I really hoped she would remember. I knew realistically nothing could happen between her and I. She being a Princess and me being… well me, but I had just a small amount of hope that something could occur.

"Did you tell Ezekiel about her?"

"Yes, he did not seem too interested though," I shrugged.

"Maybe because he works with them, he knows them better. It would be strange to think of someone you work with so closely in any romantic sense."

"You have a point."

I had not told Adriano about how Ezekiel held me Saturday night. I was still trying to decipher what had happened myself. When I left that night we shared another hug and out of nowhere he had said, "I'm going to miss you next week."

I told him I would miss him too, because I would. We had grown to be close friends in the past few weeks that not seeing him for a few days would be strange. It was not like I even had his number to begin with for me to text him. Maybe I were to ask him next time.

We arrived at the airport and Adriano made sure I took my calming pills so I was not a mess by the time I boarded the plane. He gave me a bear hug and made me promise I would call him once I had landed.

Less than two hours later we landed on the tarmac runway of the airport in Olympia and I was grateful to be back on solid earth. I got a cab to the hotel I would be staying at. The benefit of working for the Royals is one always got the best rooms at the best five star hotels. I wondered why I did not travel more often. This was luxury at its finest.

When I entered my suite I immediately made my way to the bedroom. To my surprise a small black velvet box sat on the king sized bed. I tilted my head to the side in wonder. I had never received anything like this before. A small card sat on top of it and I opened it marveling once again at the paper.

'To Cloud

I got you a few things I thought you would need for your trip. Please take care of yourself. I look forward to your return home.

Miss you.

Ezekiel'

I nearly fainted when I realized who it was from. How did he even manage to get this done? I excitedly opened the box and inside was a designer 'Polo Parker' classic peak beige cap, black 'Polo Ralph Lauren' sunglasses, a bottle of sun screen lotion, a small box of expensive chocolates and a beautiful antique leather journal with the same quality paper he always wrote on.

The contents inside the box alone cost more than anything in my suitcase combined. Ezekiel must have earned a lot of money to shower me in so much gifts. Adriano and Gino had to step up their came. Ezekiel was slaying when it came to best friend role.

This was the nicest gift I had ever received on any of my trips. In fact it was the only gift I had ever received. I would have to get him something to thank him. Luckily I was here until Friday morning so I would have enough time to go gift shopping for all of my friends.

I had to leave to meet the other scientists in three hours so I took the opportunity to soak in the giant bathtub, ate a hearty lunch from room service then dressed up. I took the cap and sunglasses Ezekiel had gotten for me as well.

Just before I left my room I forgot I had to put on sunscreen since my pale skin was prone to sunburn. After quickly applying it on the exposed parts of my body I was on my way to the site they had found the new species.

Olympia had beautiful forests since it was the more country region of the country. I always loved coming here and due to its density it had enough plants to study for years. There was a team of scientists from all different universities who worked there, daily they looked for new species and monitored the habitat.

Some I had worked with during my university years and one was a professor who taught me during my first two years whilst I was studying my bachelor's degree. When I arrived Professor Ivan and his college Andrea waited for me. Professor Ivan had aged a bit since the first time I met him ten years.

He had short dirty blonde hair, a small well maintained beard, with brown eyes and round sunglasses. He was just a tad bit taller than me and always dressed in khaki chinos with colourful shirts. He had barely changed.

Andrea was just two years older than me and he was the taller one out of us three. He was originally from Bulgaria and had moved here three years ago, he looked intimidating with his tattoos and dark hair, but truly was the kindest guy I knew.

"Cloud, how lovely to see you!" Professor Ivan rushed to me and gave me a hug.

"It's been too long," I smiled and hugged Andrea as well.

"I'm glad you brought your camera. What you are about to see it going to blow your mind," Andrea stretched out his arms as if he was being blown away.

"I am so excited. From the pictures you have sent it looks beautiful."

"We suspect it may be a similar species to that of the Royal Family's tree. It is an extremely rare species to find these days so if we are correct this could help us make them more common," Professor Ivan explained as we walked through the forest.

"To repopulate them would be a break through, I have been studying the tree at the Palace during night hours and I truly believe we could. If you are correct we could create more seedlings," I smiled. Such a discovery would put our names on the map and catapult us to be one of the leading researchers in the botanical science department.

"We are hoping for the same. So far we have found three but we have a team searching for more," Andrea said.

It took us a few minutes to get to the location and when we did it was hard to ignore the small tree. It was probably one meter in height but the small blue flowers that peaked out from the leaves was a clear indicator this was something magical.

"It's beautiful," I gaped and quickly took my camera that was hanging from my neck. I took pictures of the flowers and leaves up close, then wrote down in my new journal with the pen Ezekiel had given me what I suspected it to be.

"We took a few samples of the soil surrounding it, the leaves and flowers. Including the pollen it produces and nectar. It's being processed at the lab where we will be heading afterwards." Professor was a happy man, but he looked over the moon.

"The King will be excited to hear of this. Please lead the way." If I pitched this perfectly King Adonis would be willing to give the research team extra funding so we could take research further. I just had to make sure not to mess up our meeting.

Hours later after spending three hours in the lab, having dinner with Professor Ivan and Andrea, I dragged my feet into my suite too exhausted to even take a shower. Lab work always got me terribly excited and I ended up draining myself because I could not just stop looking at the glass slides under the light microscopes.

Tomorrow we would be doing DNA tests to confirm our suspicions then test all the other matching plants they had found. It was a lot of work but most definitely worth it.

Deciding not to ruin the lovely Egyptian cotton sheets with my sweaty body I hopped into the shower despite the fact I could barely keep my eyes open. I dressed in my warm pajamas and climbed into the warm sheets. I wondered what tomorrow had in store for me.