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But his face didn’t change. In fact, I don’t even think he heard me at all.
I walked into the bedroom and scrounged around until I found my dress, figuring I should probably put my shoes on as to not look so suspicious. I did happen to notice the few people standing outside of the hotel the night before, snapping pictures as we entered, but he rushed me by so fast I didn’t have time to ask. At that moment, it all started to make sense.
Milos packed his bags and talked to someone on the other end of the line about his proposal. He wasn’t paying attention to me. I left the suite and went downstairs. As I walked into the large marble waiting area, I smiled at the girls behind the desk. They whispered to each other and stared. This was more than a little awkward. As soon as I hit the curb, I jumped into the town car parked out front, and we sped off to the Caspian. The driver was a nice, older gentleman, and he helped me out of the car.
“I’ll be waiting right here for you,” he said with a kind look in his eye.
“Thank you,” I replied, patting his hand and walking into the side door that led up to the apartments.
It was the middle of the day, so most of the girls were out and about, doing what they do, and the rest were down covering the day shift at the club. It was insane how many men staggered into the Caspian in the middle of the day, looking for their next lap dance. Sometimes, I wondered what these guys did with their lives besides pay strippers and put on nice suits. As I walked through the hallway, I paused at Sveta’s door, wondering if I should seek my best friend’s advice. Either way, I couldn’t just leave without saying goodbye. I knocked on the door and peeked inside. She was sitting on her bed listening to music and sketching, something she liked to do in her spare time.
“Hey, girl,” she said, looking up from her book and pulling her headphones off. “I saw you didn’t come home last night. Mister dark and handsome took you right out of the club.”
“I know,” I said, letting out a huge breath and plopping down on the edge of the bed. “It has been nuts, and I don’t have a lot of time.”
“Is he waiting for you?” She looked excited as she pulled the curtain back and looked down at the street. “Fancy town car, you coming to the apartment to get things, a frazzled look on your face. What’s going on?”
“This guy was not who I thought he was,” I said, trying to explain quickly. “It turns out he is a prince. Like a real prince. He is getting ready to take over as king of this small country, Silesia.”
“Oh, yeah,” Sveta said, nodding her head. “I’ve been there before. It’s really beautiful.”
“Here’s the kicker,” I said, taking her hands. “He wants me to marry him and fake our whole relationship for an entire year.”
“What?!”
“Yeah, and when it’s done, he’ll pay me two hundred fifty thousand pounds,” I said dramatically.
“Holy shit,” she said, her mouth gaping. “Well, what the hell are you doing here?”
“I came to get my stuff,” I said as I looked down at my hands. “I don’t know. It all sounds so wrong. Lying to everyone. Faking a marriage. There’s just something weird about it to me.”
“You are being insane,” Sveta said, slapping my hand. “Do you know how many girls dream of living in a castle and being a princess? Hell, I still dream about that happening. You have been through so much. You owe this to yourself. Live the dream, girl. Be a motherfucking princess.”
“You know what? Maybe you're right. Maybe I am overthinking this. So what if I have to pretend to love this guy? He is handsome, sexy, and really great in bed. So it shouldn’t be that hard. And the rest of the time, I get to live like royalty.” I smiled big at Sveta, thankful for her confidence.
“You get to live as royalty,” Sveta corrected me.
“Thank you, girl,” I said. I leaned forward and hugged her tightly.
“Oh, I’m going to miss you,” she whined, squeezing me tight. “You have to write me and send me pictures.”
“I promise,” I replied, feeling a bit emotional about leaving this life behind.
I said goodbye one more time, then jogged down to my room and pulled out my backpack and dusted it off. I went through my drawers and stuffed my clothes and shoes into my bag. Then I grabbed the three thousand pounds of lingerie I had hanging in my closet, and tossing it out on the counter in the main area for the girls to pick over. They were waiting for me at the lawyer’s office, and the last thing I wanted to do was get stuck talking to Reg, trying to explain why I was quitting and where I was going.
I pulled the envelope of cash from my drawer that I had been saving, took a couple thousand pounds out, and shoved it in my pocket. The rest, I sealed up and walked to Sveta’s door, smiling as she sang loudly to herself. I pulled my backpack up on my back and slid the envelope under her door, before walking to the exit and taking one last look around. It was crazy that a drunk mom and a crazy backpacking trip brought me here with these people, and now, a real prince and a crazy marriage was taking me out. I wasn’t sad in the least to be leaving the red lights and loud music behind, but the experience was definitely something I would never forget. I kissed my hand and pressed it against the door before closing it and jogging down the steps.
When the bright sunlight hit me in the face, I took in a deep breath, knowing I was
about to do something that would change my life for the better. I handed my bag to the driver and looked at the front of the Caspian. Let’s just hope that this new choice would be for the better, with none of the worse.
Chapter 8: Milos
“Is she upstairs?”
“Yes, sir,” the driver said on the other end of the phone. “She is in her apartment gathering her things, and I am down here waiting for her.”
“Good,” I said. “When you are done, bring her to the lawyer’s office.”
