1. Incidental Meeting.
[Claire]
Thursday,
Boston, Massachusetts,
The USA.
"Dear child, can't I change your mind, please don't do this." Nana tried to convince the child she had raised to stay but she was not having it.
"No nana, I can't believe he lied to me about her, he told me she was dead," Claire screamed and kept shoving clothes into her bag.
She had decided that she was leaving home and never coming back again.
Claire was her father's child in every sense, she had lived her life to please him ever since she was born, she had even studied what he wanted her to so that one day she could take over his company, she just wanted to make her father happy and proud especially since he had raised her by himself after her mother's death or so she thought?
She had even agreed to marry Ivan, a man she didn't love and felt absolutely nothing for because it would please him.
Claire was a twenty-two year old young woman, she had beautiful flawless skin and she was a natural redhead. She would be considered as beautiful by people but most of the time she did not feel that way.
She had a thirty-inch waist that she wished could be lesser, her bust was also on the big side and her backside, let's just say she could not be referred to as skinny, she was what you would call slim thick but she hated that, she wished she was skinny so that she would look as smart as her father's secretaries and she even worked out, but she could not just ever go below a size twelve.
She had brown eyes which she could not tell where she got from because her father had green eyes and her mother had blue eyes or the mother her father had conjured up for her.
Claire had never met her mother, her father told her that her mother had died during childbirth and there had been a lot of pictures of her mother in her family's photo album, only the woman in those photos was her mother as much as she was a blonde.
She had come to learn of her father's deceit and she was truly saddened by it, her father had lied to her about her mother, not only were the photos fake, but her mother was alive and she was in Denmark.
"Young miss, please don't do this, your father will be very cross." A young maid tried to stop Claire but she just ignored her.
At this point, she could care less about her father's anger, the man had lied to her all her life and she wanted answers, no she needed answers but she didn't want answers from her father, she needed them from her mother.
She was going to travel to Denmark to search for her mother, all she had was an old picture and an old address but she wanted to take her chances.
She had found a letter from her mother while going through her father's documents. Her mother wanted to meet her. Her mother was begging her father to let her meet her daughter but the man had not responded and he probably must have changed address because the letters stopped coming when she was six years old.
She had not yet formulated a plan but she intended to just wing it.
"Please let go, Nana." Claire pleaded and then she hugged the older woman.
"Be safe child." The woman said and drew the sign of the cross on her forehead.
As Claire got into her car and drove away, she turned back to give the woman a last glance and she knew that the woman would cover for her for as long as she could.
.
.
[Luke]
Friday,
Copenhagen,
Denmark.
"Come on Liam, it's just for two events, two events only." Luke pleaded, he had been trying to convince his friend to take his place for a long while.
"Just two?"Liam asked, dropping his shoulders. "You better not let me regret this."
"You won't, I promise, I'll even be there but I'll be in disguise," Luke said and hugged his friend.
"Remind me again why you can't just attend the parade and the charity ball yourself?" Liam asked, frowning.
"Oh, come on, Liam, don't go backward, you know I hate the attention at parades, and don't even get me started with the charity event, I'll prefer attending with a snake than Megan at my side."
"Do you hate her that much?" Liam asked, surprised.
"No, I don't hate her, Megan is a beautiful woman but she just doesn't understand me, she just wants something I'm not ready for right now and she's too clingy." Luke sighed and sat down on his bed. "Look, I just got back, I just need a litt5 time away from the spotlight."
"Fine, I'm here for you," Liam said and hugged his friend. " I have to get going, I'll see you before the parade."
"Okay, bye." Luke smiled and lay down on his bed.
He was glad that he had gotten out of the parade and the charity ball but he would still have to attend under some guise, maybe he would go as a tourist, he didn't know yet.
Luke spent the few hours he had left preparing for the parade that was scheduled to take place in a few hours, he never really liked the royal life because of the lack of privacy but he was born into it and there was no escape for him.
"Sorry man, no can do," Liam said, pushing his way into Luke's room, carrying a palace guard's uniform and a hat.
"What's wrong?" Luke asked in panic, he was already happy that he had gotten a way out of the parade and he didn't want to be let down.
"I've been asked to fill in for a guard," Liam said and Luke frowned.
"Wait, is that even part of your job?" He asked.
"Not exactly, but I have to do what I have to do," Liam said and set the uniform on a chair. "Looks like you have to do this one buddy."
"No, I can be the guard," Luke announced.
"Are you unwell?" His friend asked, confused.
"No, I'm fine, I need a guise anyway, I can replace you in the palace guards and you can sit on the carriage and wave your hands to all," He said trying to convince Liam to still take his place. "All you have to do is sit and smile for the camera."
"Fine, fine." He said and he passed the uniform to me.
Luke started first by ruffling his hair and sleeking Liam's hair back with gel, then he went on to get a little tan and helped Liam get rid of his tan.
The final part was to trade outfits and he smiled as he handed over the Prince's uniform to Liam and took the palace guard's uniform.
.
.
[Claire]
Friday,
Copenhagen,
Denmark
I arrived in Denmark as clueless as I was when I left the states. I was so mad at my father I just wanted to leave before he found me. My friend Sarah came with me to the airport and she took my car and my phone with her.
I took as much money as I could hold and I also took my credit cards. I was happy that they were in my name and not my father's but I knew that he could still have them traced, so I didn't plan on using them unless it was absolutely necessary.
Copenhagen was a very beautiful place, her father had never really had business in Denmark so Claire had never been to the country before.
It was so beautiful and bright and there were so many colors, so many people on the road, but there was traffic, the road ahead seemed totally blocked.
"Excuse me, is there something going on?" She asked hoping that the taxi driver understood English because she couldn't speak Danish.
"Yes ma'am, there's a parade going on today, the Prince has just returned from the states." He announced proudly and she smiled, he must be so proud of his country.
"Okay, that's nice, do you think we can watch?" She asked and she saw the man's eye brighten through the mirror.
"Of course, it's just up ahead but I am afraid I have to work, I've got a family to feed." He sighed and grabbed the steering wheel tightly.
"You know what, let's pack and enjoy the show for a while then we'll come back, leave the meter running, I'll pay all I owe." She said and the man smiled happily.
The driver quickly packed the car and then they got down and jogged forward to the center of the parade, they were able to get to the front after squeezing past a lot of people and Claire's eyes widened as she took in the culture before her.
It was absolutely beautiful, this was her mother's culture, these were her mother's people and this was her mother's home she taught as she watched the parade, a tear slipped from her eye and she hurriedly cleaned it off before she caused any drama.
After a while, she began to feel uncomfortable as the crowd increased and the people began pushing and pulling. She tried to maintain her ground but then the crowd pushed and she fell through the barricade that had been placed to keep the people out.
She winced from the pain as she got up slowly, she thanked her luck that she had been the only one to fall through the barricade because she could have been crushed if more people had fallen through.
She cursed her luck as she looked up, there was an empty horse without a rider heading straight for her and she didn't think she could move away in time.
She closed her eyes and just waited for the deed to be done.
"Miss, please open your eyes." A voice said and she opened first one eye then the other.
"Am I dead?" She asked, looking into the beautiful face of a man.
"Nope, you're fine, just on a horse." He said and then she screamed.
The stranger just laughed and said, "You're welcome.