The Princess's Handbook

Rule #1: Never Run

Rule #1: Never Run

As a princess, I have a lot of rules to follow. In fact, I have a whole handbook of them. One of the most important rules is to never run because it's unladylike and you're most likely to trip in the heels you wear.

"Sorry! Coming through!" I exclaimed as I ran. I probably broke that rule one too many times to count by now.

"Princess Julianna!" Someone shouted.

"Can I have an autograph?" Another said.

I was being chased by a group of people as I was in a mall.

"Oh my god! It's the princess!"

Great, more of them on my tail. Don't get me wrong, I love my people but having them freak out every time they see me and not being able to go out without bodyguards is just a royal pain. Pun intended.

"Your royal highness, wait!"

Sorry whoever you are but I have no intentions on being trampled. I risked a glance behind me and bit my lip to stop myself from swearing out loud.

I thought I was being chased by a group, turns out, it was a crowd. I regret my decision of leaving the palace without any guards. Now I'm on a marathon that I absolutely cannot lose.

I made a sharp turn at a corner in hopes of losing them. There were a few doors in front of me. One led to the emergency stairs, one to the female lavatory and another to the male lavatory. I had to be quick or else they'll catch up.

Three choices. I made up my mind almost instantly.

I entered the male lavatory and locked the entrance door. I panted heavily as I leaned back on the door. My relief was short lived though because in the same lavatory, was a guy who was zipping up his pants.

We both froze. We stared at each other with wide eyes. We broke eye contact when we heard loud footsteps outside. He opened his mouth to speak but I sprung into action and rushed towards the guy, clamping a hand around his mouth.

"Please don't make a sound." I whispered. He stared at me with wide eyes.

"Where is she?" I vaguely heard someone asked. I was aware that I was pressed up against a random stranger, my hand around his mouth and it was the male lavatory.

"She's not in the toilet." Someone else, a woman spoke.

"She couldn't be in the male one right?" A squeaky voice questioned.

"That's ridiculous, she's a proper lady not to mention a princess." I heard a laugh.

"Let's go down the stairs." A suggestion.

"Ya, let's."

I held my breath as I heard their footsteps start to leave. For a moment, I strained my ears to hear if there was anyone else outside. It seemed quiet.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. The guy that I had my hand clamped around his lips glanced at my hand. I got the message and awkwardly removed my hand.

"Sorry ." I whispered as I blushed. He didn't say anything as he proceeded to wash his hands. I did so too as I realised it was sweaty and I had it on a guy's mouth before.

After we were done, he stared at me and spoke. "Do you-"

I cut him off. "Yes, I'm the princess and I'm sorry for interrupting you while you were uhh- relieving yourself but I had no choice. I needed to hide."

The corner of his lips twitched.

"I was going to ask if you want me to check whether the coast is clear."

I blushed. Bollocks, I just blew my own cover.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks."

"No problem." He said. I only then realised he has a different accent when speaking. He sounded American.

He exited the lavatory and came back a moment later. "They're gone, you think you can make it out of the mall fine?" I hesitated. They were gone but they could be waiting for me at the entrance.

"You want me to give you a hand?" He asked.

I examined him. He wore a baseball cap and underneath it, I could see peeks of dark hair. He had bright blue green eyes and looked quite handsome.

"How?" I finally asked. He took off his cap and handed it to me. I accepted it and put it on. Then he took off the hoodie he was wearing and passed it to me. I bit my lip before taking off the jacket I wore and in turn put on his hoodie. It smelt faintly of cologne and something else. He took my jacket and exited the lavatory first and I followed closely behind. He extended a hand towards me when we were out. I glanced at him.

"I mean no disrespect nor am I trying to take advantage of you but I figure they'll take less notice of a couple than a single girl."

I finally took his hand. His hand was large and completely enveloped mine. We walked silently and we were nearing the entrance when I heard someone yelled.

"Hey! You!"

I froze, he did too. He slowly turned his head to check out the person and heaved out a sigh of relief when he saw the man who yelled, stopping a young woman who from behind looked a little like me.

I felt a tug on my hand to see my saviour looking at me. We quickly exited the mall and he didn't let go of my hand until we were a safe distance away from the mall.

"Thank you." I thanked him with a grateful smile. He returned it with a small smile of his own. "It's an honour to be of service."

I glanced around us and recognised where we are. I asked. "Do you wanna go grab a coffee? My treat as a thank you gesture of sorts for getting me out of that situation. I know a great cafe around here."

"Will you get bombarded again?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. I laughed. "Doubt it. It's a really small place at the back alleys so no one knows much about it. What do you say?"

"Lead the way, princess." He answered with a slight smile.