Chapter 3

"Sydney!" I exclaimed as I burst through the door

"In here!" she yelled from the kitchen, "I'm making us dinner, what's going on with you?"

I leaned against the cabinet, "Do you remember that guy I was dancing on what the club? The one I was talking to before you made me come home?"

"The white one?"Sydney asked me as I nodded, "What about him? I didn't know you liked a little swirl."

"Believe me, I didn't either." I let out a laugh, "Anyway, you'll never guess who it was."

Sydney looked up from cutting the chicken, "Is he like a D-list actress or something?"

"Bitch! He's the prince!" I exclaimed, "And I saw him again today during work!"

Sydney narrowed her eyes, "Like the prince-prince?"

I nodded my head.

"Buckingham Palace prince? The royal family prince?" Sydney persisted

My phone buzzed and I got a notification from Archie that was on snapchat. I flipped my phone to show Sydney.

"Shut up, you're fucking with me." Sydney dropped the spatula. She took my phone and opened up the snapchat.

"'It was lovely seeing you today, so lovely that you should come to my party on Friday. What do you say?'" Sydney read to me, "Alena! We have to go."

I snatched my phone back from her and simply typed ok.

It didn't take him too long to respond back with the address of some house in Hampstead.

"He said, 'attire is casual'. The party starts at nine which means we should get there for 10:15."

Sydney just stared at me, "You've been here for a month and the prince is Snapchatting you. I've been here for damn near three years and can't find a guy to date for more than a month."

I shrugged, "Do you think it's dumb for me to pursue him?"

Sydney waved her hand, "Don't think of it like that right now. Just think of it as a way to have fun for now."

I nodded my head, "You're right. I'm going to go take a shower and try to find an outfit that will be here in three days."

"I'll tell you when dinner is ready." Alena shouted as I walked out of the kitchen

When I got out of the shower, I clicked on Archie's story. It was the fake Amaryllis flower from the club that I gave him sitting on a table next to Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

The prince obviously had good taste and I obviously left a lasting impact on people.

These next few days couldn't come fast enough.

"Emma." I walked into her office with tea in hand, "What are you doing tonight?"

I kicked the door closed with my foot before I sat down in a pink tufted chair.

"I'm not too sure, why?" she looked up from her computer, "Alena, do you know what I was thinking about?"

I shook my head, "Enlighten me."

"You and Prince Archie seemed to have a lot of chemistry the day we went to the palace." Emma began, "It's the perfect Hollywood storyline really, an American girl and the British prince."

"That's funny because he invited me to a party tonight and I want you to come with me. My cousin/roommate is bringing her friend and I don't want it to be too awkward, you know?" I explained to her

Emma narrowed her eyes at me, "Alena we've been over this. Flatmate not roommate. Americans are so weird."

"But yes, I'll come. I have many questions though." she finally agreed

I explained to Emma how we met at the club, how I was surprised to see him on Monday, and how we'd been Snapchatting this whole week.

She was shocked but I had to make her swear to not tell anyone. I didn't want this whole thing to blow out of proportion, after all, he was the prince.

"Do you fancy him?" Emma rested her chin on her hand, "Do you have dreams about him?"

I shrugged, "I still don't know him, but you can come get ready at my apart- flat. I'll text you the address, I have to go finish some powerpoints."

"Perfect." Emma responded as I stood up, "Go finish your work Princess Alena, well I guess you'd be a duchess first."

Both of them had a nice ring to them.

Our flat was full of four girls getting to go party with the prince. At least it wasn't a Buckingham Palace cause I didn't have the outfit or social status for that.

I decided to wear a black long-sleeved bodysuit with a plaid mini skirt. I paired it with some cute black booties and some jewelry. I fluffed out my hair and before I knew it, I was in a cab heading to Hampstead.

According to Emma, Hampstead was an affluent part of town with an amazing creperie. I definitely wanted to try the creperie out for myself but we had more important business to handle right now.

We pulled up to a large brick house that had a half-moon driveway. The fact that people were walking in and out of the house with the large bass booming reminded me a lot of high school ragers.

This was basically that but with people in their twenties.

"This house is big as hell." I whispered to Sydney as we shoved our way through people

"It's the fucking Prince!" She said in response

Well, all this time I thought he lived in the palace.

I stood awkwardly to the side as Emma, Sydney, and Sydney's friend talked to guys. No one was really grabbing my attention that was usually the case when you came looking for one guy.

"I'm gonna go find something else to drink." I told my friends before I walked away but it wasn't like they could hear me over the music.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a shot of Malibu which was surprisingly popular here.

"Easy tiger." that posh accent spoke, "That shit is 21% alcohol by volume."

I turned to Archie, "I went to college in America, grew up in California, Malibu and I are close friends."

Archie smirked, "I'm more of a Bailey's or beer type of gent. I'm happy you came."

"Me too." I agreed, "How do you know all of these people?"

"College and then my friends have friends and my friends' friends have friends. I could keep going." Archie explained, "Do you want to go sit by the pool?"

I looked out the window, you could see the backyard of the house and there was no pool out there.

"Is that what you people call something else?" I looked down at his shoes, "Like you call sneakers, 'trainers'."

Archie laughed, "Funny, but no. Follow me."

We walked further down the hall that was blocked off. He moved the gate and led me to an indoor pool area that was at the end of the hall.

"I lived in a pretty affluent area and I have never seen an indoor pool at a house before." I commented, "And a hot tub."

Archie shrugged, "It doesn't get that warm here and if you put it indoors and heat it up, you can use it year-round. Plus there's a hot tub."

We sat at the edge of the pool and put our feet in.

"Where are you from again?" Archie asked me

"I was born in Dallas, Texas, we lived there until I was three. We moved to Beverly Hills when I was four because my Dad got a job there." I answered his question, "I don't really remember Texas."

Archie nodded his head slowly, "Texas is the big one, right?"

I nodded my head, "I forget that I'm in a different country sometimes."

"How could you possibly?" Archie spoke in a pretty convincing American accent

My eyes got wide, "That was pretty good! I'm impressed."

"I go to California pretty often. You ever been to Coachella?" he asked me

I looked at him, "But of course. I went every year from ages fifteen to twenty then college got in the way."

"Where'd you go to college?" he questioned me

I crossed my legs, "I just think it's funny that you're asking me all of these questions when you could easily get secret service to do a background check."

He grinned, "I prefer to do things the old-fashioned way, now back to college."

"I went to Columbia in New York for undergrad, now I'm working on my masters online." I explained to him, "I remember you mentioned college, where did you go?"

"I just think it's funny that you're asking me all of these questions when you could easily do a Google search." Archie shot back

I gently hit his arm, "You're so funny."

"I went to Oxford for four years." He answered my question before taking a sip of his beer

"What did you study?" I asked him as I stared into his eyes. They were so gorgeous and captivating.

"International Relations, I planned to go to law school, but I had to serve in the military for a few years. Dear ole Papa thought I need structure in my life, obviously didn't work too well." Archie laughed to himself, "I was athletic so it worked out I suppose."

"Did you play sports at Oxford? I think it's so cool you went there. That's like the Ivy League of the United Kingdom." I proceeded to . say

Archie grinned, "I played basketball, polo, golf, and I dabbled in tennis. You went to a real Ivy League, but I digress."

"Yeah but Oxford is like nine hundred years old and Columbia is two hundred." I compared them, "I guess that's the US vs. America in general."

"Basically. Why'd you move here?" Archie put down his beer can, "America seems fun."

"I got a really good job offer for Burberry. I'm an ENTJ and a type seven so I always need something new." I explained to him

Archie looked away and rubbed his neck, "That's funny. My mother was an ENTJ and a type seven. Both of you would've had a lot in common."

Truth be told, after the whole Snapchat ordeal, I did Google Archie. I remember seeing a death date next to his mother's name. I completely forgot that she died a while ago from breast cancer. I guess that was why he always had on a pink bracelet.

"I'm an ENFP and a type eight." he informed me, "So I'm very self-driven and maybe a little too spontaneous sometimes."

"We're basically the same. Very independent, strong-willed, don't like being controlled. You're probably more outgoing than I am." I reflected on

Archie stood up and began walking around the pool, "I didn't take my Adderall today, can you tell I have ADHD?"

I smiled into the palm of my hand, "Please don't fall you, you just chugged a beer."

"Like I said, I'm very athletic." Archie reminded me, "How long are you going to be in London?"

"I have a five year Visa so I guess until that expires. I don't really plan." I watched as he walked around the pool, carefully placing one foot in front of the other

He looked up at me, "How many siblings do you have?"

"Two. An older brother who is twenty-six named Aaron and a younger sister named Aubrey, she's sixteen." I responded as I got up and started to walk behind him, "And you?"

"Three younger sisters, imagine that upbringing." Archie laughed, "Matilda is twenty-three, Victoria is nineteen, and then there's Alexandra who is fifteen. "

"Did you know all of their names end in A?" I pointed out to Archie

He shook his head, "I didn't actually. Did you know I'm the same age as your older brother?"

"Did you know on December eleventh I'll be the same age as your oldest sister?" I asked him

Archie turned around, "I suppose I have to get you a birthday present now."

He looked me in my eyes, "Mine isn't until July so don't stress, you still have a while."

I gave him a smile, "Damn if only I had your number to learn what you like."

Archie bit his lip, "My Snapchat wasn't enough for you, huh?"

I shook my head, "Nope."

He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and handed it to me. I typed in my number and he looked at it funny.

"You still have an American phone number?" he questioned me

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm working on it."

My phone buzzed with a text from Archie. I put his number into my contacts and looked up.

"I hope you make good use out of it." he winked

"I most definitely will." I assured him

I'd known this guy personally for all of four days and I was falling this hard for him. My hormones need to chill the hell out.

"Come on, you can come to meet my close friends." he took my hand and led me out of the pool area and we went back to the party.

I got to meet his best friends Christian and Leo. They all met in what they called 'year eight'. I could see how they were friends. Christian and Archie were very similar - both very wild and spontaneous - Leo was more practical but Christian and Archie would definitely talk him into things.

Hearing all of their stories from over the years and comparing the spellings of English vs. American words was so much fun.

God, that entire night was fun.

I was so happy I went.