“Ack!” I startled.
“Oopsie! I’m such a klutz. So accident prone!” Renata feigned embarrassment.
That trifling little bitch. Accident, my ass,I thought.
A staff member rushed over, a swath of cloth napkins in her hands. I wiped the wine from my chest but really needed to find a bathroom to clean up what had seeped down my cleavage and was now threatening the longevity of the tape holding my boobs in place. I tried to dab the wine from the bodice of my dress but made zero progress. I looked up at Prince Oliver.
“I’m so sorry. If you’ll excuse me, I need to find the ladies’ room and see if I can get this out.”
“Of course. It’s the first door on the right in the corridor,” the prince answered, looking apologetic.
I excused myself and located the washroom, which held two stalls with thick wooden doors, across from which sat a large marble vanity. I turned on the sink and grabbed a hand towel from the neighboring basket, trying to remember if hot or cold water was better for removing stains. After wiping up the pool of wine from my cleavage, I started to rub at the large purple spot on the front of my gown.
“You really should dab at the stain. Rubbing it like that will just push it further into the fabric. Club soda can also help,” a soft voice said from behind me.
I jumped, knocking over a bottle of hand soap on the counter. On a velvet settee next to the door sat a beautiful girl with soft, cornsilk hair. Her dress was a stunning lavender that fell loosely around her shoulders. I had been so flustered that I completely missed her whenI came in.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said, crossing the room.
“No, you’re fine. I just didn’t realize anyone else was in here. Thank you. I’ll dab it and try to track down some club soda.”
“Rough night?” she asked, handing me a fresh towel.
“It wasn’t going too bad until that red-headed mean girl decided to dump her wine on me ‘accidentally,’” I answered, placing air quotes around the word “accidentally.”
“Ah, you must be talking about Renata.” Her eyes flickered knowingly.
“Yep. That’s the one.” I rolled my eyes so hard I saw my brain.
“Here, let me help you.” She took one of the towels and started dabbing at my dress. “I’m Adelaide, by the way.” Another fellow suitor, though thankfully this one seemed far kinder than Renata.
“Hi Adelaide, I’m Bernadette. But please, call me Birdie.”
“Oh, you’re the American, right?” Her green eyes lit with excitement. “I mean, of course you are, with your accent. But, well, you know.”
I knew exactly what she meant. “Yeah, that’s me.”
“What a way to welcome you to Wexstone and into this ridiculous ‘competition.’” She rolled her eyes and grinned at me. “As if these things weren’t awful enough to begin with, you add Renata and her puppets, Ginny and Gemma, into the mix. They’re the absolute worst.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to see that,” I said with a sigh.
“They’ve always been atrocious human beings.”
“I take it you’ve been around the royal court for a while?”
“Oh, no,” she said, straightening up. “I’m not from a royal house, but yeah, I’m a part of all of…this.” She waved her hand around, gesturing vaguely. “But I went to school with them when we were in primary. They were just as awful then. And part of the reason why I’m hiding out in the bathroom instead of mingling and talking to everyone out there.” She sighed.
There was a knock at the door. Adelaide and I looked at each other like we had been caught doing something wrong. A second passed and we both started giggling. Adelaide walked to the door and opened it. It was Knox, holding a crystal glass filled with fizzy liquid.
“Ms. Hamilton? The prince sent me here with this, he thought it might help with the stain.” He handed over the glass of club soda. “Ms. Levy.” He nodded to Adelaide.
“Oh,” I stammered as Adelaide took the cup, setting it on the countertop next to the sink. “Please tell him I said thank you so much.” It truly was so thoughtful of him. Through all the chaos of the evening, he had thought to have Knox bring me this.
“You good?” he asked, nodding to my dress.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s just a little spill. Accidents happen, right?” I smiled, thinking of trying to get the tahini sauce out of his flannel shirt.
“Okay. If you need anything else, just let me know.”
