May I, My Love? ✔

35. t h e s u d d e n s u m m o n s

(Harmony's pov...)

Seconds, and then minutes ticked by leisurely on the clock, as I stared at the trees swaying by the wind outside. Well, there wasn't much I could do, when the class I was sitting in currently was boring me to death. Although, history is a significant subject for me, I've read about all of it myriad of times since childhood, and then heard some more from my parents, so it was all entrenched in my head. Listening to the same things over and over did nothing but give me a splitting headache.

I looked towards Lisa, who was typing away furiously on her phone. I tilted my head a little more in her direction, albeit discretely, curious about whom she was texting. I bent enough to see Matt's name on the phone, who was currently attending his psychology lessons. Though I saw his name successfully, I couldn't read the rest of the message, so I decided to ask her.

"Psst...what are y'all talking about?" I nudged her elbow and whispered to her, mindful of not being caught.

"What the... did you read my messages?!" She whisper shouted, to which I only shrugged in return.

"Don't be a baby and tell me what you were talking about. I need to know before I die of listening to the World War I for the hundredth time." I pleaded with her, my eyes showing utter sincerity which made her laugh.

"You're such a slacker. But anyways, are you down for a sleepover at my place tomorrow? Since it's a Friday." She asked me, which made me jump from joy, then wither away in sorrow.

I won't be able to see him for a day. Sure, it will be just a day, but that one hour is the only time I can find with him, so I don't think I would want to miss it. I turn to Lisa and gave her a defeated look.

"What happened now? Will you not be able to come?" She asked me impatiently.

"No, it's not that. I really do wanna come, but I will have to stay the night, so I won't be able to meet him the next morning." I told her, which earned me the exact look I had expected from her.

"Seriously? Harpy, you know we haven't done this in months, and now you're gonna get out of it using that as an excuse?! Come on girl, you see him everyday. Missing just one day in between shouldn't be such a problem." She pleaded with me.

I could see the logic in her words, but I didn't want to spend even one day away from him. There was already a limited time for us, as we weren't like other couples, but I also couldn't break Lisa's heart. It was true that we hadn't had a lot of free time to ourselves, where we could just watch movies and eat all night. And I was kind of missing it, even Matt, so I finally agreed.

"Ok then. I'll come with you tomorrow!"

"Great! That's the spirit!!"

When I got home, mother was waiting for me in my room. As I entered and saw her pacing around anxiously, I immediately assumed something bad had happened, as normally, she would have no reason to barge in my room without me being present.

"What's wrong, mother? Why do you look so pale?" I inquired hurriedly? Had something bad happened to father? It couldn't be, right?

"Oh dear, what wrong have you done? Just whatever it is, please tell me so that I can prepare myself, and handle your father too." She held me by my shoulders and looked at me with such urgency in her eyes, that it made my heart drop.

'Just what mistake was she talking about exactly?'

"What are you talking about mother? I haven't done anything that could get me into trouble!" I played dumb and pretended to be their perfect daughter when in fact, I had actually been committing some serious blunders of my life.

"His Majesty has called upon you in his chambers by six pm sharp. He said that he wants to talk to you personally. Do you, perhaps, know what this is about?" She informed me, which drained all color from my face.

His Majesty has summoned me? Already? But, how did he even come to know? Did he check the CCTVs? Did someone tell him? Did something wrong—

'No Har, you have to calm down and think about it rationally. There's no way someone must have seen you, and maybe it's just a trivial matter.'

Yeah. Its definitely infinitesimal.

With new found confidence, I turned to my mother and assured her first, "Although I'm not aware of the reason, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. I should get ready and visit him at six sharp."

Listening to me, her tensed shoulders relaxed a little. She wordlessly nodded and left me alone. As soon as she closed the door behind her, my knees gave out and I slumped to the ground in a painful heap. Truth was that until I had personally heard the reason His Majesty has summoned me, I would not be able to breathe properly. Looking at my slightly trembling fingers, I willed myself to be strong and stood up by the support of the nearby wall.

I went inside the bathroom and took a quick shower to get rid of all the sweat and tired nerves, and went inside the closet to choose an appropriate dress and hat for the meeting. After rummaging through my clothes like a mad woman, I settled on a yellow tea length dress with puffy short sleeves, and a white hat with a yellow satin ribbon tied in a beautiful bow. Pairing the simple ensemble with white kitten heels, I set out of my room to see mother waiting for me in the living room.

She stood up as soon as she noticed me getting down, and gave me a satisfied nod. She had approved, and that fact brought me a second serving of confidence. She squeezed my hand in a comforting gesture and ushered me towards the door.

'Come hell or high water, I'm ready to take anything thrown my way today. But I will not back down from my resolve, no matter what.'