Ricky And Jackie

2. Jackie

Jackson buckles his daughter on her seat and takes place at the driver seat. He starts the engine and we're off to my job.
"Thanks for the ride, by the way." I thank him.
"Huhum, now tell me who the guy in Lids was."
"I don't know! I just bumped into him!"
"But he knows your name -"
"Thanks to you, who shouted it in the entire store!"
"Right. Sorry."
I giggle at his antics. Jackson always has been too protective of my person.
"If that can help you in your big brother task, his name's Ricky."
My brother nods. "I'll make sure he doesn't bother you."
"He doesn't bother me, I just met him!"
"Yeah well, we never know, maybe he found you attractive."
I snort. "Pfft, ya right, he'll think otherwise once he steps on the beach. And the nigga probably likes white girls like the rest of them."
"Hey, my girlfriend is black!"
"What color is your baby?"
He rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything. He probably forgot our own mother is blonde, but I'll just stick to winning this argument today.

He drops me in the back of the hotel where I work and drives off to our place while I hurry inside. I quickly change in my uniform, pin my name tag and rush to the lobby. Jeffrey, my colleague, is already at the front desk. Fortunately, there's no customer yet.
"Hey Jeff!"
"Hey Jackie!" He flashes his dimple smile and subtly points to two customers waiting by the door. The man wears a suit despite the heat and the woman in a tailor. "You'll never guess who they are."
People sleeping in hotels are too fun to secretly mess with. We've seen it all, in here.
"Hum, businessman and wife waiting for their chauffeur?"
"Nope."
"Come on Jeff, tell me!"
"They are... the king and queen of a Caribbean Island. Can't remember the name..."
"Must be Hispaniola."
"Yes! There you go! And they're actually waiting for their kids. Watch out, I heard the three of them are drop-dead gorgeous.
"Three kids?"
"Two girls and one guy. Look out for the boy, Mary told me the girls were either too young or too old for me. But you know what's even better?"
Mary is another one of our colleagues whom I had just replaced.
"What?"
"None of them have brown eyes. But they're black!"
"The three of them? Are you sure?"
"Sure like I'm single. Mary told me the older one has green eyes, the younger hazel ones while the guy has blue eyes."
"So cool! He's like a younger Michael Ealy."
"So Mary says. Think you have a chance with him?"
"Nah, I would have to see him first. But a prince? Sounds pretty out of my league to me."

He gets interrupted by the doors sliding open to an entire hockey team.
"Great, groans Jeffrey, I'll take it. You go and mop the floor before their Majesties come back."
"On it!"
I go get the mop and start cleaning the floor - which, really, is a waste of time when there's an entire team dirtying the floor at the same time. Once the lobby is finally clear, I finish my chore in a matter of minutes. Right when I'm done, I can hear people approaching even though they're outside. The royal siblings are about to make their entrance.

I return behind the desk with Jeffrey, who seems beyond thrilled to welcome the royals, while I'm rather anxious. He gives me a reassuring smile before turning back to the front doors.

I quickly duck under the counter when they step in. Jeffrey's foot won't leave me alone.
"What's wrong with you, girl?" he hisses.
"I met this guy! I met the prince!"
Blue eyes. I should've clicked right away, but no. If I had a tiny chance back at the store, they were down to crumbs now. A prince. I should've known better than to crush on a prince!
"They're gone now, get up and work!" tells me Jeffrey.
I quickly get up, only to freeze when I realize the prince and the rest of his family are pretty much still in the lobby and Prince Ricky is pretty much staring at me.

My. Life. Is. Over.

The hottest guy in the universe seems as confused as I am to see me here. His older sister grabs him by the arm and drags him to the elevator. Thank girl for stopping my suffering.
"I thought they were gone?"
"They were about to", Jeffrey defends himself.
I sigh and grab the mop and bucket to store them. I almost have a heart attack when someone suddenly pushes me in the cleaning storage and gets in himself.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." he apologizes.
The prince?
"Do you need anything, your majesty?" I politely ask.
"You forgot my name already? I told you to call me Ricky." He insists.
"Well if you excuse me, Ricky, I got work to do."
"Wait, hum, me and my siblings were wondering..."
"huhum?"
"If you could make us visit Oakland whenever you can?"
"The hotel doesn't offer guided visits."
He rolls his eyes at me.
"Jackie, just a casual visit around. We're bored out of our minds in here."
I think about it. Hanging out with the royals?
"Fine, but nobody here can know about it."
"We understand. Just give me your number."
I give in and we switch phone numbers.
"Thanks a lot Jackie! Oh, and you don't have to hide when you see me.
There's nothing wrong with your pretty face."
And he leaves me wondering if I just dreamed his last sentence.