Chapter Three
May’s POV
“What’s your name and what do you do, my darling?” The Queen asked.
We were currently sitting in the dining area, with the Queen at the head of the table, I was sitting on her left-hand side while Nicholas or Aslam, practically confused about what to call him right now, was sitting on her right, directly opposite me while throwing daggers at me with his eyes, which was making me feel sick to the stomach.
“I guess Nicholas didn’t tell you much about me,” I said, trying to play along with the situation and that didn’t turn out good as Nicholas nearly broke the plate with the spoon in his hand.
“Nicholas never tells anybody anything about himself. He only informed us yesterday that his fiancée will be here today. He’s too cold for a man and I hope he’s not like that with you, darling?” I smiled awkwardly back, thoroughly not ready to continue the stunt that I’d started.
Seven years ago, he was like that too. Secretive, cold, monstrous, and evil and he made sure I regretted ever dating him.
“He’s like that with me as well,” I said, biting my tongue hard.
“Their father is not really cold though his brother, Richard is a little bit cold and yes, rude but Nicholas is a good boy, he just doesn’t know how to express his emotions” The Queen explained.
“I’m right here, Queen mother” he responded, through gritted teeth.
The Queen started laughing while I laughed awkwardly with her.
You know, those types of laughs where you skip like a cracked disk just to make the person laughing with you do not feel alone. Exactly!
“You’re so funny, Nicholas. Of course, I know you’re there. I’m just trying to get to know your fiancée better as much as I’m trying to know you as well”
Confusion took over my senses as I tried figuring out why the Queen mother would want to know her own son better.
“Has he ever told you he loved you?” The Queen mother asked me, making me super uncomfortable. I looked over at Nicholas for help, but he was busy drinking from the cup of water in his hands while looking elsewhere but at me.
I wanted to tell her that he had told me he loved me seven years ago before I knew he was telling lies.
“That’s kind of too personal, ma’am,” I said the next thing that came to mind.
“Don’t call me that, my dear. Call me Tiffany” she asked.
“Okay, Tiffany” I replied.
“So, tell me, what’s your name?” She asked.
“I’m May, May Weatherfield”
“May is such an interesting name. Where did you grow up?”
“Chicago but I moved to the town next to yours when I got a job opportunity to lecture at one of the universities there” I replied.
“How old are you? You don’t look that old to be a lecturer my dear”
“I’m twenty-four actually and I no longer lecture at the university because I was overthrown by those who had better degrees and yeah, more certificates than the one I had. I was employed when the university was first founded but as time went on, more brilliant lecturers turned up”
“Ooh, that’s so sad, my darling. What do you do now?” She asked.
“I write books on online publishing platforms and I work at a coffee shop. Both are enough for me to keep going each and every day” I narrated, earning a sad look from the Queen.
“Do not worry about that life anymore, my dear. I’m ready to give you the life that you always wanted”
“You can’t be sure what she needs, it might be an old man with some cash” Nicholas chipped in, passing his snarky comment at me, his voice laced with annoyance and every one of his words dripping with hatred.
“Don’t be so mean to your fiancée, Nicholas. Give the poor girl some respect. I knew you were cold, but I never saw you as someone who disrespected people this much, Nicholas. If you guys are fighting over something, all you have to do is solve it amicable among yourselves. Couples tend….”
Interrupting the Queen, Nicholas dragged his chair out, making a screeching noise as he stood up ready to leave the dining table.
“The food hadn’t yet been served, Nicholas,” The Queen said.
“I lost my appetite” looking over at me, he says, “I’ll see you upstairs”
I swallowed a gulp of water forcefully down my throat in fear of what was to come. I’ve tried explaining to everyone about what was going on exactly, but no one cares to listen.
“He’s so disrespectful” The Queen lamented once he was out of sight.
“Has he ever told you our deepest secrets? Anything about our family” She asked
“None. We don’t really talk that much” I replied, breathing heavily through another lie.
“You both are the weirdest couples ever seen”
I wanted so much to tell her that this whole thing, this whole situation was a mistake that I don’t even understand myself. I didn’t ask to be here, and I don’t want to be here.
“The thing is…” As soon as I decided to start talking, Bella walked in with a tray of food and two other maids in pink and white uniform were right behind her, interrupting me.
“Where’s Prince Nicholas?” Bella asked. Looking around for him.
“He went upstairs to his room; you should take his food to him” The Queen suggested.
“I doubt that Queen mother. Sir Nicholas doesn’t like to eat in his room. He says it’s unhygienic. Maybe he’ll still come downstairs for the food”
The surprise on the Queen’s face made it obvious that she didn’t know anything about what Bella had said. It came to her as a surprise just as much as this whole situation is new to me.
The table was set, and I started eating, picking the food in tiny bits before placing it in my mouth and using water to gulp it down. It was difficult to swallow as I was scared of whether I'd be poisoned or not.
I mean nobody would blame them for killing an imposter like me. A confused imposter who doesn’t even know what she’s doing or why she’s doing it. I decided to tell the Queen the truth after dinner.
After dinner, Bella returned with a small pouch of drugs. The pouch contained about ten sets of drugs. The Queen started picking them up each, some one pill, others two or three. Once I saw this, I decided against my decision and stood up to excuse myself.
“Goodnight Tiffany,” I said with a smile on my face.
“Goodnight Darling. I’ll see you by morning”
“Goodnight Bella”
“Goodnight May”
I made my way up the room and stood for a while before knocking.
“Come in” Nicholas replied from inside.
He was sitting in the bed with his back against the head of the bed and his head lying on it. A document was in his lap and he was wearing round glasses that made him look cute.
I almost smiled at my words.
He looked up and when he saw that it was me, anger suddenly crept into his eyes and he glared at me for minutes.
“Are you ready to tell me why you are here?” He asked, placed the document on the small stool that I almost bumped into earlier today.
“If I try to explain, would you listen and not cut me off mid talking?” I asked.
He scrutinized me with his green and blue eyes before nodding. “If you keep your words short”
“I’ll try as much as possible to make this short” I began my story. “I needed a job and a friend recommended me to this place, I called a line given to me and someone told me to come here, ask for Nicholas and I’ll get the job. I came here and once I told Bella that I was here to see Nicholas, she dragged me in with a smile on her face, called the Queen down to meet me, brought me into this room, and stopped me from saying anything to explain that I’m not who they think I am” I explained as short as I could.
He didn’t say anything for a while.
“I don’t believe you. By tomorrow, be ready to leave this place” He switched off the lamp and used the remote to switch off the light in the room.
I stood still in the darkness, confused about what was going on. I brought out my phone from my pocket and used its light to trace out the couch before I plopped into it and laid my head on it to sleep for the night.
It was only after I looked at my phone that I realized that I have a message from Declan. He wanted to know if I was in town. I quickly replied with a yes and switched the phone off, ready to sleep.
“What did you say your name was?” Nicholas suddenly asked, startling me.
“May” I replied softly.
Your cute baby doll! I said but this time it was in my head.