"GET OUT!"
After kicking an egotistical, rude (albeit gorgeous) jerk out of her store, Cassie thinks she's seen the last of him.
Too bad he's a prince.
And that she's his maid.
I felt a firm pair of hands on my back push me forward, and I fell toward the water.
I screamed, and crashed into the pool.
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Instantly, I was surrounded by water, filling my nose and mouth. I shot up and began sputtering and taking in desperate gulps of air, my nose stinging from the water and my body aching from the awkward position I had fallen in. Everything was soaked: my hair, my dress, my shoes.
Tasha and Madeline sniggered as they stared at me.
"Whoops." Madeline smirked. "I accidentally brushed you. Wait! Oh no!" she cried with false concern. "Your makeup is running all over! Did you not wear waterproof mascara?"
Sure enough, I wiped underneath my eyes to find black smudges. I swam toward the nearest ladder, weighed down by the heavy fabrics, and Luke was immediately there at the top to help me up out of the water.
"Oh, Cassie. I can't believe they did that to you." Somehow, the sorrow on his face made me feel better. I would have hugged him if I wasn't soaking wet. I stared down at my now-bare feet and watched as water dripped down everywhere. I looked across the pool to see Prince Coleman's reaction, and he was watching me.
It made me angry.
However, I plastered on my most polite smile, and walked over to Madeline.
"I'm sorry, little maid. You have to understand it was an accident." It was so fake.
"Of course, Lady Madeline." I smiled sweetly. "A lady of your standing would never do something so petty. And besides, accidents happen." I looked down at my feet, looking as defeated as I possibly could.
"Glad to hear it. Now, be good. We wouldn't want more accidents to happen," she hissed.
I looked up, making my eyes vulnerable. "Of course." I watched as she turned to Tasha with a triumphant grin, twirling her salon-worthy hair. And then I walked behind her, and pushed her as hard as I could into the water, doing my best to make sure she landed on Tasha.
I didn't even care if I was fired at this point. I was soaking wet and miserable.
Madeline's high pitched scream was music to my ears as she crashed on top of Tasha and into the water, soaking her precious hair and makeup. She splashed upward and screamed yet again.
"WHOOPS!" I screamed aggressively. I heard Prince Coleman laughing.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Madeline screeched, her makeup ruined and her hair soaked.
"Oh no!" I cried. "You didn't wear your waterproof mascara!"
Madeline swam right to the edge of the pool and began climbing out. "You'll pay for this!"
"Touch me and another 'accident' might happen to your phone!" I threatened.
Her eyes widened, and she retreated back into the water. "Coleman!" She shrieked. "DO SOMETHING!"
The Prince began to move out of the water, and I started speed-walking back to the entrance of the mansion, away from him.
"Cassie..." Prince Coleman started softly as he caught up to me.
"Don't talk to me!" I snarled, stampeding on ahead without glancing his way.
"Listen—"
"I'm not sorry! And I won't apologize!" I snapped. I flung open the door leading inside and marched through, but he quickly followed.
"You can't just go around and—"
I turned on him, and glared. "Just go ahead and fire me, Prince Coleman! What are you waiting for? I'll go and pack my things. Oh, and you guys can keep the dress since your lovely little girls there decided to RUIN IT!" I was screaming very unattractively.
"Cassie." His voice was still abnormally gentle. "I'm not going to fire you."
"Really? Then I quit!"
I turned around and began storming off when he caught my arm.
"Don't touch me!" I snatched my arm away.
"You're not really going to quit, are you?" he asked.
"I don't see why not." I puffed up my chest. "I'm cold and wet and miserable and was the brunt of everyone's jokes and insults! Any sane person would quit!"
"Why don't you take the rest of the day off? Take a shower?" He tried to reason with me.
"The only showers we maids have is the communal shower room thing, and it's closed in the middle of the day because we're supposed to be working! And no one told me I was going to be pushed into a pool!"
"That's was wrong of Madeline and Tasha," Prince Coleman said.
"You're hardly blameless, you know!" I protested. "All those mean things you said to me...I'm sure they thought you would find it oh so hilarious when they shoved me in!"
"Hey, this isn't my fault!"
"It doesn't even matter anymore. I'm going home. To Embryia. This whole thing was just one massive mistake!" I started walking away again, when Prince Coleman called out to me.
"You aren't going to leave."
"Why, are you going to force me to be your servant forever?"
"No. Because you're better than that." He stepped forward, dripping even more water onto the marble floor below us. "You're more resilient than you think, Cassie. Are you just going to go ahead and quit? Run home? No. I don't think so."
"Sometimes it's better to stop before you waste a lot of time."
"But won't you always wonder, what if?"
Those words weakened my resolve to fly home.
"Do you always want to wonder what would have happened had you stayed a while longer?" asked Prince Coleman.
I thought of Ethan, and Luke, and all the new places I had yet to see and new things I had yet to do. If I left now, I would always wonder what if.
For once, Prince Coleman was right.
"As for the shower thing," started the Prince. "I have a remedy. You'll just use mine."
