Rooftop

~Prince Randall~

In my shorts, I dragged my feet on the smooth tiles as I walked to the kitchen to get some cookies. I remembered what happened in the morning with Daciana and I broke into laughter again.

‘She should have seen the look on her face.’ I thought as I kept laughing.

Getting to the kitchen, one of the older maids hastily rushed up to me before I could reach the cookie tray.

“Prince Randall, you could have rang us. What do you need?” She asked, with her head bowed.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Mrs Thompson. I wanted to take a stroll anyway.” I answered, walking past her to the tray of cookies.

She hastily passed me a plate and I put about five cookies on them. I also reached for the juice in the fridge before heading out of the kitchen.

When I got to my room, I stared at her door and furrowed my brows. I took a peek at my wristwatch and saw it was getting late already.

‘It’s almost 8 pm and she isn’t back. Does she plan on sleeping over at his house for the after-birthday party?’ I thought, letting out a scoff.

I entered my room and shut the door behind me. I settled on my bed, placed the plate of cookies next to me, and picked up my PC.

I searched for a nice series to start on N*****x and was about to play it when I heard footsteps approaching.

I stopped what I was doing so I could hear the footsteps clearly. ‘Is she back?’ I wondered, and just then there was a knock on my door.

“She’s back!” I yelled in my head as I almost broke into laughter. I got out of bed and walked majestically to the door, thinking of more annoying things to say to her.

I opened the door and was about to lean against the door when I realized that she wasn’t the one, but her mother, the Queen.

“Her majesty?” I asked in confusion. It was rare for the King or Queen to knock on my door. Not even the maids knock on my door, they call the telephone instead.

Only Daciana, the spoiled Princess dares to knock on my door.

“Am I safe?” I asked with my eyes narrowed as I noticed her countenance.

“I need your help, Prince Randall.” She muttered, making me even more curious.

“Well, that’s weird. And how can I help you, My Queen?” I asked sarcastically.

“I’m serious, Prince Randall. I just got a call that your sister is in a bar across town, drowning herself in alcohol. I kept wondering why she stayed out so late and never returned my calls. Something must have happened at Carl’s. I need you to go fetch her for me.”

“What? Whatever happened at Carl's is none of my business. Why me?” I asked in awe.

“Because the Queen can’t be seen in a bar. I’d have gone to get her myself. Please, Randall. I would have sent some guards, but then this would only raise the people’s suspicions, and we can’t pull attention to ourselves, at least not like this.” She added, and I heaved a sigh, contemplating whether to do the Queen a favor or just let the girl suffer.

“So…”

“Fine. I’ll go get her, but you owe me, Her Majesty.”

“Yes. I know. Please hurry. We can’t afford to let her get out of that bar. It’s the Off The Wall bar.”

“I know. It’s the only bar across town.” I muttered as I sluggishly walked to my closet to pick a vintage shirt.

“Drunk Daciana. Sounds fun.” I mumbled with another smirk. I hastily put on my shirt and palm slippers and headed out of the palace.

“Prince Randall, should I get the car ready?” My driver asked as he saw me making my way out of the palace.

“No, Oliver, I’d rather go alone. Thank you.” I answered, heading out.

I started walking down the tarred road, hoping to see a taxi pass by. I walked for more than five minutes before I could see cars moving.

“I should have said yes to Oliver.” I thought in regret.

“Taxi!” I waved down one and hopped in. “Off The Wall,” I uttered, and immediately we took off.

‘She better not act stupid when I get there.’ I thought. ‘Why would she drink anyway? She looks like someone who has never tasted alcohol. What did that guy do to her?’

‘Or the mate checking didn’t go well.’ I thought again and broke into laughter.

“That must be it!” I snapped, causing the driver to look at me.

“Are you alright, Prince Randall?” He asked, and I quickly put on a frown.

“I’m fine, thank you. Just keep driving.” I responded, and he focused on the road again.

‘She’s heartbroken. I knew it.’ I further said to myself, laughing inside of me.

“Prince Randall, we’re here.”

I looked out of the window and I saw we were already in front of the bar.

“How much?” I asked, and he shook his head.

“You don’t have to pay, Prince Randall.” He responded, and I lifted my brows in awe.

“For real? I mean I would pay.” I insisted, and he shook his head.

“It’s okay. It’s not a far distance. See you some other time, my Prince.” He uttered and didn’t hesitate to zoom off.

‘That is the first time anyone has been nice to me. I guess coming to get this girl wasn’t a bad idea at all.’

I walked into the bar, ignoring the stares I got from the women around me. It wasn’t the time to hunt for hoes. I had serious business.

Getting into the bar, I began to look for her amongst the crowd. My eyes scanned the couches at the corners, maybe she’d have fallen asleep on one of them, but I couldn’t find her.

I looked at those dancing to the not-so-loud music, and she wasn’t there either. Then I looked at the front bar and there she was, gulping another shot.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I muttered as I made my way to where she sat.

Just as I was approaching her, I noticed a man trying to gain her attention by buying her another drink, and she seemed not to mind.

‘Really? Why would he offer her another drink? She can hardly keep her eyes open.’

I rushed up to them and before she could gulp down the drink, I grabbed her hand.

“That’s enough,” I uttered. The man was about to talk back to me, but when he saw my face and realized who I was, he walked away.

“That’s what I thought,” I mumbled, diverting my attention to her. She just kept staring at my face with her eyes almost closed. I bet she was trying to figure out who I was.

“Let’s go home. You’ve done enough havoc.” I grabbed her hand and tried to get her off the chair but she snatched her hand away from mine.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do, Prince Randall.”

“Oh…”

‘She knows it’s me. Even better.’

“Listen, I never wanted to come here before. I just had to help your worried mother. Now, get up, or she’d have to come and fetch you herself.” I replied, grabbing her wrist again, this time, more firmly than I first did.

Surprisingly, she let me. She staggered forward and almost fell but I hastily stopped her with my chest.

“Hey woman, watch it,” I uttered angrily.

I wrapped her hand around my neck and held her by the waist so she wouldn’t fall again. We slowly made our way out, and when we got out, I let out a breath of relief.

“Now, let’s find you a taxi,” I said and was about to move closer to the road when I heard a sound from her that made me stop.

I creased my brows and lowered my head so I could see her face. “Bruh! Are you crying?!” I asked in laughter.

She wrapped her arms around me all of a sudden, and my eyes widened. “I don’t want to go home.” She mumbled as she kept weeping on my chest.

“So you want to sleep on the streets? Trust me, I’d be so happy to help.” I answered.

She raised her head and looked into my eyes. “Take me to the Dunstable rooftop, please.”

“And now she wants to commit suicide.” I rolled my eyes.

“Listen, I’m not going to take you to a rooftop with this state of yours! If you want to commit suicide, you can go alone. I told your mom I’ll bring you back home.”

“Please… Prince Randall.” She further begged me, still soaking my shirt with her tears.

“Fine! Enough! You’re going to ruin my shirt. Stop crying and I'll take you there.” I uttered, and she nodded, sniffing hard.

“Okay.” She mumbled.

“Gosh, I should’ve said no,” I mumbled as we started walking down the street, heading to the rooftop.

This time, she was walking next to me, and I was watching her closely, ready to grab her anytime she almost fell.

“I trust her. I trusted Trisha and she hurt me so badly! Would you believe it if I told you that she had always liked Carl? She was so happy when her name appeared.”

“I would believe it. I always said you wouldn’t find a mate, but you thought I was wicked.” I scoffed, and she laughed out loud.

“You know, I’ve always known that I was cursed! Everyone hates me, Carl! Trisha! You! And even the Moon Goddess!”

“I mean, you’re very right about me, but can you keep your damn voice down?! No one is supposed to know that the Princess acts like a maniac when drunk.” I answered, looking around to make sure no one was watching or taking pictures.

“I hate my life!” She yelled out of nowhere and started running.

“F**k! Woman! Stop yelling!” I yelled, running after her.

Getting to the rooftop, she ran to the edge of the building and smiled widely. She looked up and raised her hands like she was trying to touch the sky.

“The sky is so beautiful tonight. Look at the stars.” She uttered with a large smile.

“Move away from the edge, okay? You’re drunk! Do I have to remind you of that all the goddamn time?!” I answered in frustration.

“Why? Wouldn’t it be better if I just ended it? I mean, you’d be happy, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, that’s right. But then I wouldn’t have anyone to piss off. Now, move away from the edge.” I added, moving closer to her.

“No, I like it here.” She laughed and started turning so she could look at me. “My life isn’t worth it. When I’m dead, at least I know I’m not a disappointment to myself and anyone.” Her smile slowly faded, and I fearfully watched her raise her hands in the air again.

“Hey! That’s enough! Get down from there!” I snapped at her, causing her to flinch.

Suddenly, her leg slipped.

My eyes widened and my heart skipped as I watched her stagger. “Daciana!” I called out as I grabbed her hands immediately.

In the process, I pulled her off the edge and her whole weight was on me. I lost my balance and we both fell to the ground.

My eyes fell tightly shut as my back hit the floor and when she landed on me, I felt something on my lips. I hastily opened my eyes and to my greatest bewilderment, I found her lips on mine.

“What the hell?!!”