Maid For You 2

Chapter 54

Sunday night I sat sprawled on my bed. After Nikolas and I said our goodbyes, I had made my way to a store to stock up on crappy snacks in order to avoid the dining hall drama that weekend. I didn't want to feel everyone's eyes on me. I had spent the past day and a half holed up in my room eating chips and cookies and consoling myself after Prince Coleman's rejection. I tried to convince myself that I never really liked him, though in my heart I knew that wasn't true.

At that particular moment I wore a large white t-shirt about five sizes too large adorned with paint splashes and pizza grease paired with a pair of leggings with a small hole above my left knee. My hair was thrown up in some ratchet knot-bun-ponytail thing. I sat on my belly staring at my laptop playing a sappy romcom while I struggled to reach the last few pringles at the bottom of the long cylinder container.

I heard a couple knocks at me door. I chose to ignore it. Whoever it was would certainly go away.

The knocks came again.

Are you freaking kidding me? I'm in the middle of a depressing binge-fest thing! I audibly groaned, paused my movie, pushed myself of the bed, and bringing my pringle can with me, I yelped "what?!" as I swung open the door.

I immediately felt very self-conscious. Luke stood in the doorframe wearing his crisp butler uniform with his hair perfectly styled and his face contorted into a surprised expression. I hastily adjusted my shirt to try and conceal my bra strap and did my best to plaster a smile on my makeup-less, greasy face.

"Luke. What uh, what are you doing here?" I asked nervously. At least my toes and nails were still painted nicely from the Autumn Festival.

He smiled a little wryly. "Why? Are you expecting company?"

"Ha ha, very funny," I said.

His funny smile faded, and he donned a more serious look. "Um, listen, can I talk with you?"

I glanced back at my gross room with clothes sprawled on the floor and a rumpled bed. I looked back at Luke. "Only if you dare." I opened the door wider for him, and he stepped in. He walked over towards my bed, and his eye caught on my computer screen.

"'Ten Things I Hate About You?'" he asked.

"Uh, yeah..." I started, rushing over to snap the laptop shut. I took a seat on the side of the bed and patted a spot next to me for Luke to sit down. I was suddenly hyper aware of my sour-cream pringle breath as he sat next to me. I tried to tuck the loose strands of hair behind my ears—as if that was going to solve anything.

"So..." Luke started. "Um, well, uh, how was the Autumn Festival?"

"Oh, it was good, you know," I said. "I got to wear some nice dresses. I get to keep them too, which is really cool."

"Oh that's neat."

"Yeah."

Silence.

"So," he continued. "Prince Nikolas? I didn't see that choice coming."

"Why? Did you think I'd choose Prince Coleman or something?" I asked, laughing a little harder than I should have. "Never!"

"I mean, I did, kind of."

"I just chose Nikolas because I wanted to annoy the crap out of Prince Coleman!" His name was poison. If I had to utter his name, I would be sure to shove every bit of distaste I felt for him in his cursed named.

"I see. I must admit, I'm surprised that you are going to the Winter Ball with Prince Nikolas. I can't believe he asked you!"

"I was surprised too," I said. "But Prince Nikolas thought it would foster good relations to ask Queen Klara's Queen Maiden, yada yada," I shrugged, choosing to omit telling Luke his other reason.

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time."

"Yep."

Silence.

"Um, I—" Luke started to speak, but froze. "Well, I'd better let you be," he finished, standing up.

"Wait," I said, grabbing his wrist for a second. "What did you come here to talk about?"

"Oh, that. Well, I came to, you know, ask about your time as Queen Maiden," he said.

"Really?" I curled my lip.

"Um..." Luke hastily sat down again. "Well, actually, technically, no."

I had a hunch about what he was here to talk about.

Luke scratched the back of his neck. "Look," he started. "I, um, I talked to Becca."

"Oh."

"Yeah. She told me what she told you. I'm so—!" I saw him clench his fists, but he took a deep breath. However, his voice still held tension. "I'm so frustrated with her. With everyone, really. I'll be honest with you." He looked at me. "What happened in the past was hard. It sucked, and I was sad for a bit." He stared at the ground bitterly. "But...but I wish everyone would stop treating me like I'm broken!"

I'd never seen this emotion from Luke before—frustration and even anger.

"Because I'm not," He continued. "I'm not some hopeless little child that needs to be protected and cushioned by my friends. It was wrong of Becca to confront you and give you a 'talking to.' I don't blame you for feeling nervous—I mean, according to Becca, any little thing might set me off into some spiral of despair!"

"I'm sure she was only trying to help," I peeped.

He sighed. "I know. I know she was trying to help but it really wasn't her place." He turned to face me again. "Look, I—I'm sorry if she scared you. I know that we're really only just starting to, well, you know, go on dates and things, and I don't want to pressure you or make you feel like you have to marry me or else I'll die of a broken heart or something. Because I do like you, Cassie, but I'm not a child. I'm not about to drop down on one knee at this exact moment because of my broken past or whatever nonsense Becca was spewing. I mean, these things take time. We still have a lot to learn about each other and there is obviously no guarantee we are going to get married or anything. And that's okay. I just know that I like you and I'd like to get the chance to see you again. And—and by see I mean going on dates, and such. And I know that things are weird and—"

"Luke," I interrupted him. His eyes widened. "I'm sorry I panicked. I like you too."

He smiled hopefully. "You do?"

"I do." I nodded. "So let's go out."

Author's Note:
Well well well, we've reached the end of Maid For You 2. Thank you so much for reading this whole book! Fear not, this is not the end. Maid For You 3 begins on May 1, 2020. I really appreciate you all and miss you all! By the time you're reading this, I'll be in Germany. 🇩🇪 Thank you for your support.

~Kayla