Princely

“Miss Andrews, I have an assignment for you,” my editor came up to me with a sheaf of papers in his hands. He shoved them in my arms and the turned and waddled off. I scowled. What if I didn’t want the assignment? I inwardly laughed at my own folly. Who cares what I want? If I wanted to keep my job, I would have to take the assignment.

My eyes widened as I caught a glance of the top page. It was an itinerary of a flight to Atlanta, London, and then South Africa. As I shuffled through the rest of the pages, I landed on the description. Prince Harry of Wales was going on a charity mission trip and had invited some press along. The other pages held maps, pictures of the town I was going to be staying in, a recommended supply list, and even an etiquette guide. I tossed that aside, figuring if I said “sir and “ma’am” I would be fine.

“What’s that?” my friend rested her arms on the wall of my cubicle.

“My next assignment,” I replied, grinning. I couldn’t believe I was given this assignment? Why was I given this assignment?

“And that would be…” she drawled.

“A mission trip to South Africa.”

“Mission trip? But you’re not even that religious,” she stated.

I shook my head. “I’m not doing the mission trip, I’m reporting on one. Prince Harry is doing it.”

“Prince Harry? As in England’s Prince Harry?” she gaped. She resembled a fish quite remarkably when she did that.

“Is there any other?” I questioned. She just gave me a look.

“He’s so handsome.” she sighed, a distant look in her eyes.

“I wouldn’t know,” I shrugged.

She snapped her head towards me. “You don’t even know what he looks like?” She made it sound like it was the biggest sin in the world. I stared at her. “Promise me you’ll look him up before you go.”

“I’ll try,” I lied. I knew I wouldn’t do it. I barely had enough time to pack as it was. Plus I had to get all of the equipment on the list and find someone to watch my house….

“Earth to Kalasin. Hello, is anybody there? Kalasin! Kalasin Andrews!” I was brought back to reality by a hand being waved in front of my face.

“Sorry, did you say something?”

“I told you not to fall in love with the British Prince. He’s a total player. And he’s mine,” she warned. That made no sense at all. If he was a player he wouldn’t belong to anybody…

“Fat chance of that happening. He’s probably a stuck-up rich kid who’s never worked a day in his life,” I muttered as she walked off.

“Kalasin Andrews! See me before you leave!” my boss’ voice ordered from his office. “Lazy ass too lazy to walk a few feet,” I grumbled, putting all of the papers in my bag and walking across the room to my boss’ office.

He looked up and motioned for me to come in. He beckoned for me to sit down, though I’d rather not, seeing as how the hard chair reminded me all too much of high school again. Grudgingly I sat down after receiving a warning glance from my boss.

“Miss Andrews, I am giving you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here, I’d advise you not to ruin it.” Well that’s the start to a great pep talk. “On this trip, I want you to try and get close to the prince, become his best friend, find out his stories. I want updates as often as possible.

“Sir, I’m not going to spy on him for you. I’m not going to write untruthful or twisted stories,” I warned. He might be a snob, but I had some dignity and no one deserved that.

“Of course not, of course not,” he flicked his hand as if it was absurd of me to think that. “Just do some fun interviews, the stuff you young people like. Use your discretion.” I knew a dismissal when I heard one. Why did I have a feeling that this assignment was going to be a lot more difficult than he’s making it seem…