The Prince's Temporary Wife

Plan A

I watched him falter. I watched him smile. I watched the love going back in his eyes.

The love I've never seen he felt for me.

The love I'll never have.

I suddenly feel like a limited edition purchased at a store. It pained me that I only lasted this long.

And I knew that. I knew he wasn't going to choose me wholeheartedly.

He's forced to stick with me. He's forced to love me. Just as he was forced to marry me.

I watched him push me aside, I feel the eagerness of his fingers. With a force, I tumble backwards, almost falling into the sand if not for the car. I bit my lip in utter sadness.

I wasn't going to cry. I don't even feel like it.

I breathed in deep. I just couldn't take my eyes off them.

He ran across the sand. Daphne was smiling so widely at him, tears falling down her eyes. She was angelic, her beauty radiant in the sun. Compared to mine, I was rustic.

But despite all the comparisons of how miserable I was unlike her, I managed a smile. Not too little, not too big. Not too sad, not too happy.

They say, when you love someone, set them free.

I don't even love Chrome. I'm only in the boundaries of like. But do I really? That's the question nothing in me answers.

I get the idea that I wasn't going to like what they were going to do, so I turned around and walked away. I turned around from the pain, from the truth.

He is never mine. He will never be.

I walked away from them as they both pulled themselves into a hug. And God knows what's next.

All this was ending.

I never even had the chance to introduce Chrome to my best friends who I haven't seen so long.

******

My phone rings and I picked up. Joanna was on the other end and she said, "I'm almost there, wait for me."

"Okay, I will. But the coffee is getting cold."

"Okay, okay," she says, "I'm here."

She pushes the front doors of the cafe I worked at, smiling.

"Oh my God, I've missed you!" She runs to me arms wide open. She squealed as she embraced me.

"Oh Joanna!" I say, tightening the hug. We both unlocked each other, staring at our faces.

"And look at Miss So Rich right now. I bet you're getting preggy!"

I gasped, slappinh her playfully on the shoulder, "Shut up. I am going to be a virgin until I die."

"But aren't you married to the Chrome Ashfield, the hottest and most handsome CEO slash model in the world?" She pronounced every word with a sparkle in her eyes.

"I'm not married." I corrected her. If there was someone trustworthy, it would be her. I always give her the keys to my secrets. Her face falls into a confused array. I sighed, almost feeling the tears coming. I bit my lips, holding the quiver of my body in. But my hands were shaking profusely.

She knew that I was not okay.

Silence was said as she embraced my again, patting my back. I exploded into tears, like a volcano, shouting on her shoulder. And she just listens.

"I-I-I...It's all fake---and I---lied to everyone."

"Tell me the whole story so I could understand everything."

She lead me to a seat by the seniors area so that the outside world wouldn't see me wracking my heart out. It was five in the afternoon and the door was closed. We were closed.

I told her the story. Mucus dripping from my nostrils. I was like a kid.

"What a complete jerk," she commented, "he is."

"And I liked that jerk. How dumb was I?" I laughed amidst the tears in my utter ignorance.

"Really dumb. But hello, who wouldn't have fallen with Chrome Ashfield?"

"Uh me?" I smiled at her, she rolled her eyes, "Before I, you know, got to know him. In fact he's kind of a shocking type of guy."

She giggled, leaning forward, "Oh really? Tell me all the complete details of how shocking he is."

"Uh, one of it is his smiles. I loved how they show up so unexpectedly. There's his kindness too, like out of the blue he just comforts you. I think his laugh is really something sudden because he doesn't seem such a happy guy. Next is his chivalry. He saved me once from a car accident. And..."

"And what?"

"His punishments. I never thought that kisses were forms of punishments," I sigh, "He's just so beautiful. So handsome. His height, hus silhoutte, his shadow, his stride, his arms, his legs, his chest, his brows, his hair, his, um, abs? There's his neck too and his slender fingers. Oh, his eyes. There like mood rings! They change color depending on his moods," I paused wondering why Joanna's eyes were kind of blank, "Did I get it bad?"

"Really bad," she said, shaking her head. "A kiss for a punishment? That guy's a genius!"

"What?" I asked her back, who's side is she on?

"I bet he's a great kisser!"

"Come on, Jo, I'm not in the state to tell you about the fantasies I'm having!"

"Okay, okay, chill girl!" She laughed, putting her palms up. "I know he's a jerk for ditching you after all he said about moving on."

"We made a deal and he failed me." I looked past her towards the door, the sunlight streaming with an orange color. "He still loves her after all this time."

"If she's as perfect as you said she is, no doubt Chrome fell all over again. She's the one. His one."

"Then what am I supposed to do with this mess? I shouldn't have led myself on. I shouldn't have made that rebound deal."

"No one could ever resist taking a chance on the guy we're talking about, he's Chrome Ashfield! Girls love Chrome Ashfield." She stirred her cold coffee, sipping on her cup.

I sighed again, "This is the sign God is giving me that it's hopeless to like, or even love someone like Chrome Ashfield."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"Don't tell me you're quitting without even trying?"

"I tried okay! But all my efforts are gone. She's the one, as you said. His one."

"So you're going to tell his father that the contract is done. And you'll move on, forgetting anything that involved him."

"Yes, I will."

"Then I think, you're gonna need ato plan."

"What plan?"

"How do you suppose to convince his father that you and Chrome are not meant to be?"

"..."

"That's why you'll need that guy, over there." She tilts her head to her right, directing the door. And my eyes trail, landing on the most familiar grey eyes. My eyes widen, my mouth dropiing open. He waves, opening the door.

Again, the prince comes to the rescue.