Romance: My Italian Prince, Undercover Love: Sweet Romantic Comedy (6 page)

The loudspeaker began to crackle again, she could hear cheering sounds, and random applauds from passengers in the commercial section. Oh, that’s right. Alex didn’t know she was in first class. She quickly got up and peeked out from behind the draped textile fabric hanging as a curtain between the first-class section and the regular passengers. She couldn’t see him.
 

She could see an older man being led to his seat with a helping hand from a flight attendant. But no Alex in sight. Passengers around her cheered and applauded as the man was buckled up. The flight attendant suddenly saw her face looking out from behind the curtain.

“Something wrong Madame?”

“No, no, I’m just looking for the last minute passenger. I think he’s come to find me.”

“Oh, in that case. I’ll take you to him,” With no time to protest the stewardess reached for her arm and pulled her out from her hiding behind the curtain, pushed her along the tiny space between rows of seats.
 

“Here you go. Is he a relative of yours?”

Vanessa had no idea what to say, she just stared at the old man who by now sat neatly packed in his seat looking at her with expectancy in his eyes.

“Can I help you dear?” The old man smiled up at her.

“Oh no, I’m sorry it’s been a mistake. I thought you were someone else.”

The disappointment was so harsh her eyes were tearing up. She couldn't help herself.

“Oh, don’t be upset, dear. Everyone can make mistakes. I for one should know.” He laughed a little. I just went to the wrong gate, I’m lucky someone found me and helped me onboard.”

Vanessa tried hard to blink her tears away as she with heavy steps got back to her seat. She waved to the flight attendant and ordered another double of...anything alcoholic, drank it all in one go and dimed out the lights. She needed to face reality, this wasn’t a bad dream she could wake up from.

Chapter 7

“So look.” Vanessa spread a magazine cover out on the bed for Kat to see. “Isn’t this crazy?”

Two weeks had gone since Vanessa jumped on a flight back to New York and she and Kat were laying on the bed in Kat’s giant open floor apartment in Manhattan reading gossip magazines. It was almost as it used to be in the old days when they’d shared an apartment in Brooklyn. Except that in those days, they’d been lolling on an old second hand bedspread covered in cigarette burns and smelled of incense sticks. Today they were instead lolling on a white leather Deluxe Danish design Lounge Sofa bed with chromed legs.

Kat was Vanessa's oldest and best friend in the world and she was ridiculously rich. She lived in the up-scaled artsy neighborhood of Tribeca. Ever since her Grandfather who was the founder of the world famous and also one of the oldest Toy Stores in the United States, FAO Schwarz, had died her family had had inherited tons of money and was now New York Socialite Elite. Kat could have been Queen Bee in school and very posh but she was pretty much the opposite of that. Down to earth and headstrong going her on way which meant coloring her hair purple, work at an tattoo parlor and travel the world to ride on dolphins and hanging out with yoga gurus. Or something like that, Vanessa had only listened halfheartedly when Kat began describing her life-changing moments after learning how to breathe from her belly. Vanessa was allergic to any kind of self-help and considered all this yoga and breathing retreats as new-age hippie talk.

“It is crazy.” Kat answered after eyeing the article Vanessa had shown her. “But the craziest part of it all is that you actually bought this magazine! It’s in Hebrew for god’s sake. Since when do you read Hebrew?”

“I don’t need to read the words, I just look at the pictures.” Vanessa explained slowly as for a child.

“Yeah, yeah I know what you’re going to say, A picture says more than a thousand words, you told me that when you googled all those Finnish gossip sites online,” Kat’s brows crumpled.

“Exactly, that’s the point. I need to be on top of things here, don’t you see that. I have to keep updated on Alex so I won’t land in a state of shock if he suddenly decides to reach out to me”

Kat didn't’ seem to understand this at all. “But doesn't all these magazines from around the world cost you a lot of money?”

“Money?” Vanessa echoed incredulously. “Kat, how can you even relate this to a money issue? This is investing in my future.”

“How can spend a fortune on international gossip magazines be investing in your future? Vanessa, I mean it, you need to let this go. You need to let Alex go. Get over him.”

Vanessa stared at her, perplexed. Hadn't she been following what she was saying?

“I am getting over him, this is instead of therapy. You for one should see that it's a good thing going outside the box to find inner peace. That’s what you do when breathing with whales and all that stuff. And for you knowledge I have been budgeting around these costs and it is actually really a good saving compared to seeing a therapist.”

“Mm,” Kat didn’t seem convinced but Vanessa ignored her.

She had done a thorough budgeting on her spending’s and she had to admit that she was a tiny, tiny bit over her credit card limit by now, but when it came to health care one couldn’t count nickels.

“Please explain that budgeting of your for me Vanessa because I don’t really see this adding up?”

“Well, it’s not complicated, look here” Vanessa pointed at a sheet with graphs she just pulled out from under a pile of coffee stained Spanish
!Hola!
.

“I can see only one graph here and its titled Medicine and Health-care? And if that’s the real number I see, you’re in deep trouble Green!”

“Of course it’s been booked under medical treatment. That’s what it counts as. Regarding the numbers, it’s correct and perhaps a bit much but as I’ve told you. One should never cut down on your health care, right!”

Vanessa could see that Kat was about to raise another objection, so she carried on hurriedly.

“And anyway, all this therapy has made me feel much better so I think I might be able to clean up at home and go through that pale of mail that you been buggering me about.“

Vanessa smiled. She knew that would make Kat pleased. Ever since she had got home, Vanessa had been in such a state she had let her apartment flood with half-eaten take-away Chinese food compartments and pizza boxes. She knew she had been a slob but she hadn’t had the strength to clean. But when she’d come home late last night after staying with Kat for the weekend, she had to climb a mountain of unopened mail in the hallway and realized she had to end her mourning period and get a hold of herself.

“Ooh.” Kat perked up, that's’ great. Let’s go over to your place right now and I’ll help you clean.”

On their way to Vanessa's apartment, they popped in at her mum and dad's
Organic food Deli
to stock up on cleaning products.

“Hi, mum”

“Vanessa! Kat!” Vanessa’s mom exclaimed when they entered the small boutique space. “Just in time!”

In time for what?
Vanessa had the time to think before she saw what her mom meant.

Behind the take-away disk, her Aunt Steffie and uncle Marty popped out their heads.

“Vanessa! We’ve missed you!” Aunt Steffie gave her a hug.

“How was Europe?”

“Great, thanks, even though I only visited France and Monaco, Aunty Steffie.

“That’s what I told you, there are 34 different countries in Europe, you have to specify,” Uncle Marty quickly replied to his wife. 

Vanessa smiled at her mom's sister and her husband. She was sure this had been a heated discussion for a while, as the two of them always seemed to nagger at each other, but in the end, they were one of the most loving couples she knew.

“Marty, don’t be a smart head, I was with you when you looked it up on the computer. I had to help you with that google-thingy, remember.” Aunt Steffi gave her husband a small but loving pat on his head.

“Anyway, Vanessa, what did you say, it was all good over there?”

“Yeah, I guess it was at least in the parts of France and Monaco I visited,” Vanessa replied with a smile.

“Really?” Aunt Steffie clicked her tongue disbelievingly.

“But the people over there, all those tiny waists, and French manicures?

“And drugs,” Uncle Marty puts in ponderously.

“Exactly!” Vanessa laughed.

“I’m just glad that you’re back here in one piece,” Aunt Steffi gave her another hug.

“Do you stay for dinner?” her mom asked.

“Oh, no I’m sorry we’re cleaning up my apartment.”

“Oh I see,” Her mum sounded disappointed and Vanessa felt a flinch of guilt. She knew she had been absent ever since she came back to NY and her mom really needed her help to take care of her dad.

“I’m sorry mom, another time. How’s dad?”

“Not good Vanessa, not good. We’ll have to start to think about that care-center for real soon. I don’t know for how much longer I can put up with this.”

“But Mrs. Green isn’t there any help you could get at home?” Kat suggested.

“I guess dear, but it’s all expenses, expenses and with the deli and all I don’t know if we can handle that extra.” Mom sounded so sad Vanessa had to hug her.

“Oh, mom! It will be all right, I will come up with something, don’t you worry. I’ll never put you or dad down you knows that!”

“I know Vanessa, but you seem to have drifted away from us since you met that prince of yours.”

“Well, as a matter of fact, he’s not my prince. He never was and he never will be. It’s all over. Vanessa sounded so convinced when she said it Kat looked at her in surprise and nodded approvingly.

“Exactly! So don’t you worry. I’ll have your daughter under sharp surveillance, she’s not going anywhere.”

“Oh, great Kat. So now you're my babysitter?”

“Don’t you think you need one?” Kat replied happily.

“‘hmm, maybe...” Vanessa felt outnumbered when she looked at the faces around the room, everyone eyeing her with concern.

“Damn right you are! And now, grab that cleaning wipes and let’s get your place in order.”

Kat could be somewhat demanding when she put that side to, and Vanessa knew it wasn’t any idea to protest. She took the bag of cleaning products her mom had put together for her and hugged her family goodbye.

“See you real soon mom I promise! Give dad a hug from me.”

To say that Vanessa had neglected her apartment since she came back from France was an understatement. When she and Kat opened the door, a huge pile of unopened mail fell over them.

“Ouch!” Kat screamed when a cartonage envelope the size of an old-school phone book landed on her foot.

“How can someone in this era of email and text messages have so much mail?” Kat looked in disbelief at the mountain of envelopes flooding the floor.

Vanessa didn’t answer. She stood leaning at the wall for support panting for breath.

“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

With a shaking finger, Vanessa pointed at the large envelope that just had hit Kat.

Kat reached for it and eyed it carefully. “It doesn’t have a sender address? But it looks important. Is it what I think it is?”

“It must be, look at the sigil! Vanessa could only breathe with small heavy puffs and now she even felt dizzy.