Bound By The Crown

Chapter Thirty One

"That to-do list will drown you eventually," Rose giggles next to me.

I groan in agreement, ticking off the box next to the task I've just completed. I would have sighed with a sense of relief but that's not happening. Trailing my finger down the entirety of the page, I flip it over to see the other side completely covered in tasks left to do.

"I'm not even halfway through," I say with mortification coming through in my words.

Rose resumes her habit of peering over my shoulder, perusing the list and humming over some of the tasks I've noted down.

"I can help with some of them," She muses as she steps back, just in time too as I spin around, missing her face by inches and nearly smacking heads with her.

"You can?" I ask with wide eyes, eager for even a few tasks to be checked off. "There's so much to do and such little time. If you could even do like three of these things, I'll pay for your lunch."

That seems to do the trick with the way the wide, almost creepy grin, that takes over Rose's face. Her red lipstick smudges slightly at the corners as she takes the notepad from me, tearing one of the pages.

"I'll do this, I expect a big lunch."

"You'll get the works!" I promise excitedly as she rounds my desk, taking a seat across from me. She's already taking out her phone, ready to place the calls required.

We work on our own respective lists for a few minutes, the only sound coming from the tapping of our fingers on the keyboard of our laptops.

"Lis," I'm pulled out of my concentration by Rose. Looking up, her dark eyes are already focused on me as she glances from me and then back down to the list.

"I hope you have another list for the ball thing."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Rose stares at me in wild disbelief, as if I've just said something utterly out of the ordinary.

"Your dress? Are you buying one? Wearing an old one? Although I'm not sure if you have one lying around. Have you been to a ball before?" Every word that leaves her mouth has me frowning deeper and deeper.

Slowly, I raise a finger to myself, wondering what the hell she's on about.

"Me? Why would I need a dress? I'm just helping the Prince with how he has to conduct himself and what he says etc. I'm not some event coordinator that has to be there with him. He'll have Samantha there. Haven't you seen the list? I'm working alongside everyone but I'm most certainly not going to be there personally."

Rose pouts at my words, smudging her lipstick ever further but not caring much as she wipes her fingers along the edges of her lips.

"But why not? If you're not invited, invite yourself."

I let out a laugh at her words, shaking my head. "Why would I do that?"

"Because of the movies?? The aesthetic? There are so many reasons why you should go. If I were in your position, I'd be working solely on that."

I shake my head at the woman, the one who's supposed to be keeping an eye on me. "Say that in front of our boss and you'll be in the same situation as me."

"Ugh, that sucks. It would be such a fairytale moment."

I snicker at Rose's wistful expression before tapping my paper against the notepad. "Calm down there Cinderella. It's nine in the morning and the only prince charming I'm going to be seeing past twelve is the delivery man from the Chinese restaurant."

I'm awarded with a peal of laughter from my coworker. The woman goes to speak up but gets cut off by a sharp, forceful knock on my door. We both share a startled look but I clear my throat.