Bad Boy Blues(6)

As soon as I sit down, Mrs. S walks in and Tina leans over to whisper, “Right on time. Who would’ve thought?”

I’m kind of famous or infamous for being late so I just flip her the bird under the table; I’ve been busted before for doing it in plain sight.

Tina simply giggles.

Mrs. S takes her seat at the head of the table and everyone falls silent. There’s coffee and tea and cookies in the middle – courtesy of Maggie and her staff – and together with the long dining table and straight spines and serious faces, this could be a scene from Downton Abbey.

“Good morning, everyone,” Mrs. S greets us, looking around, her eyes stopping on me. “Very glad to see everyone in here and on time.”

I smile. Though it might have looked like a grimace.

“So, today, we have a little change of plans.”

Mrs. S is smiling and I don’t have a very good feeling about this. If she’s happy, then that means something is wrong. She’s never happy and neither does she let anyone else be happy. Namely, me.

“Today’s a special day.” She keeps smiling and my frown gets bigger. “To celebrate this unplanned but special occasion, Mr. and Mrs. Prince are having a party. I know that it’s a little short notice but I want most of you in the ballroom. I want every inch of that place clean and polished before the decorators get here. I’ve assigned some of you to work with them and I don’t want any mistakes or complaints, got it?”

She pins everyone with a glare until we all nod.

“Tonight has to go smoothly. It’s probably the most important event you’ll ever work on here at The Pleiades. Well, one of the most important ones, at least.”

Okay, she’s killing us and she knows it. Her eyes are gleeful and filled with joy. I’ve never seen her like this before, all excited and cheerful. And she isn’t even telling us about her so-called special day.

“Isn’t any of you going to ask me what’s the occasion?”

“Will you fire us if we do?” I mutter under my breath and Tina snorts.

Mrs. S glares in our direction but thankfully, Leslie, one of the girls on the staff, asks her about it.

Mrs. S turns her attention away and smiles. “Today’s the day that I, among some others who have been working here for decades, have been eagerly waiting for.” At this, Maggie and a few other senior staff members beam. “I’m so very pleased to say that tonight’s party is in honor of the Prince who’s returning to The Pleiades after three years. Our very own, Master Zach.”

Master Zach.

I can see her mouth moving but I can’t hear her. Her voice seems to be coming out of a tunnel or from somewhere deep down and far away.

Suddenly, all I can do is feel.

The racing heart, the savage butterflies in my belly. The tightness in my chest.

Shakily, I run my eyes around. Everyone is calm and focused. Mrs. S is still talking but all I can hear is his name.

Zach.

He’s back.

It was him, wasn’t it?

I saw him last night, or rather, caught a glimpse of him before he disappeared. It wasn’t a dream or my imagination.

I didn’t make him up.

Oh God.

“I’m sorry. What’d you just say?” I burst out, loudly and effectively bringing all the eyes in the room to me.

Mrs. S stares at me. Hard.

I know she doesn’t like to be interrupted, especially when she’s giving out instructions left and right. But fuck it.

“How long have you worked here, Cleopatra?” she asks, instead.

I take a deep breath. It doesn’t help. I’m still as shaken up as I was the moment I heard his name.

“Listen, I know I’m being rude and everything and you hate being interrupted but you don’t understand.” I clear my throat and slide to the edge of my seat. “Did you just say that Zach is coming back because I think you did. And that’s just impossible, right? Because last I checked, he left. Abruptly. And I thought that he wasn’t coming back. I thought that maybe his parents finally cut all ties with him. You know, because he was just so… out of control. I mean…” I wave my hand in the air and I have a feeling that I’m waving them a little too fast. “I never bought the whole going to Oxford scenario.”

I air-quote going to Oxford. “I never believed that he went to Oxford. But that’s okay. I don’t care about that. What I care about is…” I thread my fingers together on the table, digging my elbows into the wood and leaning forward. “What did you just say?”

My legs are jiggling and I hate that just the thought of him returning has reduced me to this.

This jittery, shaky, mess of a girl.

Angry and violent.

A girl who couldn’t decide if she wanted to hide to avoid confrontation and getting sent into detention yet again or punch him in the face like she did when she was ten and he was twelve.

“Cleopatra, I don’t know what’s gotten into you today. But I’m going to overlook it because you’ve been dealing with a lot. Although I will say this – if you don’t get your erratic behavior under control and see someone…”

There it is.

“I’ll have no hesitation in letting you go. Is that clear?”

Beside me, I feel Tina’s grimace. I can even feel Maggie shaking her head.