Acting Royal #Wattys2017

Chapter 51

6 months later

Jenny collapsed down on the couch and curled up in a ball, she was exhausted.

"See you in two hours," Emma said pushing the prams out.

"Make it five hours please... or maybe a day, or..." she didn't even finish her sentence, she fell asleep. She and Emma did this regularly to give the other one a break. Having a seven-month-old was a killer. Having a seven-month-old who hated sleeping and loved crawling into every dangerous place she could fine, was a major killer.

But her eyes must have only been closed for a few minutes when she jumped up. Fuck! She hated this. Being so exhausted, but not being able to sleep because her anxiety levels were sky high. No one told her that when you become a mother you become anxious- always wondering where your baby is and what it's doing, and what it's about to choke on or break or fall down...

She sat up. She was wide-awake now and she was thirsty. She got up and walked outside. Anton and Emma's house was situated behind the shop and she walked through the small garden which looked like a child's wonderland, they had a big playpen there with every toy imaginable in it and they would dump the kids in there and sit on the veranda and drink wine in one of those rare moments of relaxation.

She walked into the shop and straight to the fridge at the back and grabbed a Coke. Anton was behind the counter.

"Couldn't sleep again?" He asked

"Nope." She said sliding up to him.

"Here, do a crossword, that should help you fall asleep." He slid the magazine over to her and she smiled at him. The first time she'd seen him after coming back had been awkward. Emma had insisted that they all get-together and talk it out. But after five minutes of serious "sorry's" some tears and more sorry's, they all just started talking like old friends again. And now she felt totally comfortable with him in her life once more.

Jenny took the magazine in her hands and looked at it.

"Another word for 'the material a house is built with'... Oh God, you're right this sucks." She flipped the magazine closed and gasped.

"What?" Anton asked looking at her with concern.

She felt sick just looking at it. His face was plastered across the front of the magazine with the headlines, "Royal scandals; adultery and murder!"

"What?" Anton asked again looking at her. "You're worrying me."

Jenny started flipping trough the magazine as fast as she could, her fingers were shaking. Her palms were sweaty and it was making the pages stick together.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," she said trying to pull them apart.

"Jenny?" Anton was on his feet now.

Jenny found the page and started reading. With each word she started shaking more and more.

"Queen Sophia caught in affair scandal..." She looked at the photo and there it was, a voyeuristic picture of her and another man on a yacht.

"Heart broken Zayn, shocked at his wife's betrayal..." And there he was... she sighed. God he was still so fucking gorgeous. He was seated at a table holding his head, it was another voyeuristic picture and the caption read, "Prince crying over his wife's affair."

Her eyes moved to another picture of him. This time he was looking directly into the camera, his green eyes made even brighter by the son. Looking at him like this, was like looking straight into her own daughter's face. Her heart started beating hard in her chest and each breath she took caught in her throat.

She continued to read, vaguely aware that Anton was tapping her shoulder now.

"Murderous plot unveiled as King is believed to have been poisoned by another member of the royal family, Amir who is now behind bars awaiting trial..."

"Oh my God," Jenny's hand flew over her mouth. She kept reading.

"With murderous plots and divorce scandals the royal family is reeling..."

Divorce? Zayn was getting divorced and Amir was going to prison. She looked up and held Anton's gaze for a few seconds before she started to cry. She didn't even know why she was crying. It's not like he was going to come running back to her now.

But she was. And she couldn't stop it.