Chapter thirteen

It was a breezy day and Tiana and Jack sat down in Kelly's-a popular restaurant in KU which serves International dishes-- waiting for their order of two bowls of ramen.

"Trust me you're gonna love it," Jack told her and she nodded her head.

"Still chocolate will be better." She said and he sighed.

"Ramen has more nutritional value than chocolate." He winked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"No one cares about that." She hissed her words out and he chuckled.

"Yes, I do, if not for ramen I shouldn't have gotten this fit." He flexed his arm and Tiana noticed how to fit he was. "When I was in Japan, I ate ramen every day."

"You've been to Japan?" Tiana asked.

"Yes, I stayed there for a while. I am Japanese."

Tiana was shocked, she never expected Jack to be Japanese, and he does not look Japanese at all.

"Really? You are Japanese?" She asked him again to be sure that it was not her ears that were deceiving her.

He nodded.

"Why are you this surprised?"

"I never expected you to be Japanese, you don't look like Japanese at all, I thought you are Utopian."

"Actually, I am a Japanese Utopian, My dad was a Utopian while my mom was Japanese." He said smiling.

"Even though, you don't look Japanese at all..." Then Tiana noticed that Jack used the past tense in his sentence. "I'm so sorry about this." Tiana lowered her voice.

"It's fine." He placed his hand on her shoulder. The waiter brought the two bowls of ramen.

Jack picked up the chopsticks and then he noticed that Tiana was not picking hers.

"What's wrong?" He asked with concern.

"Uhmm." Tiana chewed her cheeks. "I don't know how to use a chopstick."

Jack chuckled. "Okay, I am going to teach you how to use it."

He stood up and walked to where she was. He held her hands and she cringed from his touch.

He directed her as she took the strands of noodles into her mouth.

"It's so good." She said with her mouth filled with noodles. "But chocolate is better."

Jack raised his hands into the air. "You win."

They both laughed and they spent the resting of their day eating ramen.

It was a sunny afternoon in Paris when Amelia heard a knock on her apartment's door.

She sluggishly walked to the door and opened it. Russell was standing on her doorpost and he had this blunt expression on her face.

"His Royal Highness, Prince Chad said I should pick you up." He said with a dry tone and Amelia rolled her eyes.

"Why?"

"It's a surprise. Are you coming or not?" He said bluntly.

"Okay, fine I am coming, but just give me some time to prepare." She said and sighed.

"I will be waiting in the car." With that, he left. She closed the door and started wondering what the surprise was.

'What is he up to now? I know it would be something ridiculous,' she said to herself.

She put on a simple black top and jeans trousers and she applied a little make-up before she left the house.

She jumped when she saw Russell leaning on the car, he always had this intimidating and scary aura.

"Are you ready?" He asked with a low voice and she nodded. He opened the car door for her and she stepped in.

The drive was long and silent, no matter how many times Amelia tried to start a conversation with Russell it does not hold, he always ends it absurdly or did not reply to her.

They arrived at a forty-storey building, Russell drove into it and then pressed a button, the ground parted and a driveway was formed inside the ground Russell drove into it, Amelia had never seen anything like that before. The driveway led to an underground parking lot, Russell parked the car and Amelia wondered what they were doing there.

When she got out of the car and look around the parking lot she was amazed at how well-designed and beautiful the parking lot was.

'I have never seen a parking lot this beautiful,' she said to herself, 'if a parking lot is this beautiful I wonder how the main building will be.'

While she was still admiring the underground parking lot, Chad showed up, he was in a black three pieces suit and he had this smirk on his face.

"How is this place, Amelia?" He said as he walked towards her and his voice echoed throughout the parking lot.

"It's nice." She told him and he came in front of her, she shut her eyes.

He leaned towards her and whispered, "It is all yours."

"You are joking right?" Her eyes were wide open now.

"Does it look like I am joking? Your brand needed a new building right? And I got one for you just for a few million dollars." He sighed. "You know there is a very high demand for your brand products."

Amelia started wondering how rich he was for him to buy this building in a matter of days or how influential he was to make top world models model for her, not to talk of attending one of the biggest fashion shows without being invited but yet still treated as the most honoured guest.

She came to realize that the position you hold in society and how rich you are mattered in this world.

"Are you serious?"

Chad nodded. "That fashion show gave your brand the publicity it needs."

"I am still wondering how you got Vanessa to model for my brand."

"Oh, you do not need to worry about that, she is just one of my pets." He said and chuckled evilly. Amelia did not understand what he meant or know why he was laughing but soon she was going to understand. "Say let me show you around this place."

"Okay, I'd love that."

He slid his hand into hers but she removed them quickly.

"No, hands touching." She glared at him and he laughed.

"Are you shy?" He grinned and she hissed.

", No, I am not." She shut her eyes.

"Are you sure? Or you are over excited again cause I can see it all over your face."

"Yes I am, you don't know what this means to me." She took in a deep breath, "thank you very much."

"For what? I am obliged to do this, I signed your contract, and even though it wasn't my intention I still have to do what I am supposed to do."

She tried to avoid eye contact with him when she remembered how she made him sign her papers but his stare was so intense and she felt the urge just to glance at him.

They walked to the building's hallway and there were so many doors in it and the tiled floor was shiny, everything was shiny, the floor, the ceiling, the doors, the paints, they were all glittering.

"Your designs are nice, I love them, you have my praise," he complimented and she blushed. "Maybe you should be my new stylist."

"Your kidding right?"

"No, I am not. You didn't even notice the clothing I am putting on." He said and face palmed himself. She stopped walking and she looked at the clothing he was wearing, she was surprised that he was wearing one of the clothes she made, it was unbelievable--Prince Chad wearing what she made! She felt butterflies in her stomach.

"I made these," she said still shocked.

"I know and I like it." He said smiling.

"But how did you get it?"

"It's a long story." He said and sighed.

"If someone told me some weeks ago that you'd be wearing what I made I would doubt it with everything I got."

"But here we are, your brand is about to be the biggest in the world," he grinned. "Or we could make it the biggest in history."

"I am so fortunate."

"So you're to be my royal stylist right?" He said winking at her but she remained silent and when he noticed that she was about to say no, he added. "Don't think of saying no, unless you want to continue being my driver."

"That is just cruel of you to impose me like that."

"Have you forgotten who you are speaking to?"

"I haven't your highness," she smiled wickedly, "but it comes with a price."

"Interesting. What is the price you speak of?"

"A million dollars per style of cloth," she insisted and Chad could not help but laugh out loudly.

"Not even the richest man in the world would agree to such a ridiculous price."

"Then you are not ready for me to be your stylist." She winked at him and he laughed.

"You are so crafty, you remind me of my brother."

"You mean Prince Calvin your brother is crafty?"

"Very."

"Besides, your assistant Russell is so," she looked around to make sure that Russell was not near them and then whispered, "--weird."

"Uhm, I will be leaving Paris tomorrow," Chad told her.

"Why are you leaving tomorrow? I thought you would stay longer?"

"Well, I want to attend to some matters back in KU and I even thought you'd be very happy that I would be leaving."

"I'm happy that you trust me, but at least I have to show some concern."

"You are very funny," He said while they work in a large room. "This will be where all your brand clothes, shoes and bags and so on will be made."

The room was filled with a lot of sewing machines and mannequins, Amelia walked around the room admiring every corner of it.

"It's so big and beautiful," she said. "I love it."

"Since we are now business partners let me share some ideas with you. Very nice ideas that can give you a lot of money." Chad told her and she became suddenly interested when he told her it could her a lot of money.

"Tell me." She came to him smiling.

"Rich people like to buy ridiculous expensive stuff that is not really important, they just buy it to show that they are rich or something like that. Like my uncle bought a Gucci umbrella for four thousand dollars and my aunty bought Versace socks for eight thousand dollars and my siblings spend a lot of money buying things they don't really need, so instead of focusing only on clothing you can focus on other things--things that rich people like."

"What do rich people like?"

"They like anything that would make them look rich." He smirked at her.

"I have a perfect idea." She said rubbing her hands together and cackling like an evil maniac.

"But first we still have to get many people's attention--we have to get the world's attention."

"How are we going to get the world's attention?"

"Have you forgotten who you are working with? Don't worry it would be as easy as stealing candy from a baby, we've already gotten the attention of people in this part of the world so we are almost there, and I have the perfect idea to make everyone know about your brand."

"Did you attend business school?" Amelia asked when she noticed how business-smart Chad was.

"Yes, I did, I mean all Royals are expected to learn commerce," Chad sighed. "It's quite boring being a royal."

"How is it boring? You are rich, you have servants who help you with almost everything, you are popular, you live in a nice house, and you enjoy the protection of being a royal. Now tell me what is boring about all of this?" She said placing her hands on her hips demanding an answer.

"All of this makes being a royal boring, I was home-schooled when I was young, I had few friends, I couldn't go out as much as I want to, I had to live by some royal standards and ideologies, and everywhere I went I was being followed, even as we are talking now eyes are watching us, I can't just live freely as a normal person does."

"At least anything you want you always get it, you have nice food to eat, you have a nice home and you were always being protected, some people do not have any of these they are craving to have just one of these. You are a royal, the heir to the throne of the most powerful kingdom on the earth, I'd be very happy if I were you.."

"You'd be happy if you were me? Do you think all of this doesn't come with a price? Can you pay the price that I did?"

"What price does all of this come with? And what price did you pay?" Amelia asked him with curiosity but there was no way he could let her know the price his family paid.

"You are returning to KU tomorrow right?"

"How did you know?" She asked surprised. "You've been stalking me." She hit his shoulder with her hand. He grabbed her hand and she cringed, she tried to remove her hand from his grip but as she tried to do so, he tighten his grip on her hand.

"Remember what I said, no touching of hands." She said still struggling to remove her hand from his grip.

"Why are you always uncomfortable anytime you are close to me?" He came closer to her and she started hyperventilating. "Are you scared of me? I don't bite, trust me." He grinned.

"Why would I be scared of you?" She said laughing awkwardly. "You are not scary at all so no need for me to be scared of you."

He stopped grabbing her hands and she stepped away from him.

"You are too close to me," she complained at the closeness between him and her and his grin got wider.

"How close should I be to be too close to you?" He muttered. "And how far should I be to be far from you?"

"At least three feet distance is okay, I can manage a foot but you are less than eight inches close to me." She said stepping back but he was always coming closer to her.

"Really?" He chuckled and stopped approaching her. She became relieved when she saw that he was not coming close to her again. "What are we? Are we even friends?"

She nodded her head no. "We are not even close to being friends."