Doctors and Dresses

The rest of the day passed as easily as it could in the heat. Fortunately there were a few battery powered fans to use to cool off. Despite the fact that everyone working all had separate jobs, the quarters were tight. No matter what angle a person was at, he or she could easily find someone else. This proved to be a problem for Francine and her friends, Dakota and Jacob. She was careful not to spend too much time with them and to work on her job, but it was hard to ignore that she could just look it up and see them. After awhile it became a game to look hard enough at a person until he or she looked up. Then that morphed into trying to make people laugh with just a look. After that was noted as a failure, they just kept the game between the three of them. The distraction was much needed, and very amusing, however it prevented Francine from making the necessary progress.

At the end of the day everyone was anxious to get back to base. The new volunteers weren’t used to the hard labour and were ready to collapse. Harry was anxious to get back to have dinner, he was starving. Plus he craved a nice cold shower.

The charity didn’t have much money to spurge on expensive hotel rooms. In all actuality Cape Town was thriving with business and education. It was the surrounding area that was in trouble. So while the charity was actually based in the town, the manual labor was done about an hour away. Each night the volunteers would ride home and stay the night in private hostel-like rooms. There was a limit to four per room. Each person had their own bunk and a drawer for clothes. Francine had bunked with a group of three previously. They had just left at the end of the last shift and Francine had pulled a lot of strings to get her friends in the room. The last bunk was up for grabs.

“Okay guys, you’re bunking with me!” Francine grabbed her two friends by the arms and dragged them to their room.

“I thought the lady said it was random selection?” Asked Jacob.

“Yeah, but I have some special connections.”

“Frannie! Did you use your name?” Dakota inquired, shocked.

“Of course not! I’ve just been here like three weeks. I asked, nicely,” She emphasized as response to Dakota’s look. “The rooms aren’t the greatest-”

“Holy crap!” Dakota interrupted, “It’s like a freshman dorm in here, but with bunk beds!”

“Fitz, calm down. It’s not like we’re living here. We just spend approximately nine hours here for sleeping. Besides, you two can take first pick. Minus the fact that my bunk is under the window.” Francine smiled, she had wanted the bunk under the window since the first day she got here. At first it was occupied, and when the person left she snatched it up before the new recruits came in.

Dakota didn’t waste any time picking the bunk above Francine. When Jacob had a look of betrayal on his face she walked over to him and admitted, “I never went to sleep away camp, I don’t have siblings, I need my first bunk bed experience to be with a person like Frannie!” She reasoned, and gave her boyfriend a much needed kiss.

“Are you asking for two weeks of celibacy?” Jacob teased.

“Ew! You two are rotten! I didn’t need to hear that! Oh God, does anyone have the power to make me forget what I just heard?” Francine was rubbing her ears, trying to make the traumatizing comment go away, “And by the way, there will be no sex in my room!”

“No sex?” Asked a foreign voice.

The three of them turned around and saw Prince Harry standing in the doorway with his lone bag. He had a smug expression pasted on his face.

Francine quickly picked up the joke, “Of course.”

Harry was deeply amused by the conversation. Part of the reason was the topic, but mostly because he was having this talk with Francine. “What are we running here? A monk place?”

Jacob took this opportunity to jump in, “From what I heard, you’re a god, no? And I’m sure a holy god like you would appreciate our choice of no sex in order to follow the holy law.”

With that the group relaxed and became comfortable around each other. In no time the four of them were beside themselves laughing. With an hour of free time the topic of discusson flowed freely and effortlessly. At one point they were joking about the Kardashians from America, and the next they were talking about school. When Jacob made a reference to the upcoming football season and his desire to catch a game, the room got feisty. With two Manchester United fans and one Arsenal fan, the conversation would get heated.

“No, Arsenal is a pile of rubbish!” Dakota shouted.

“Tell that to our unbeaten season!” Harry retorted.

“That was years ago! No one gives a rat’s ass! And the why the hell would you call yourselves the Gooners?”

“Because we’re brilliant. Bloody brilliant!”

“Yeah, well our team had David Beckham!” Jacob chimed in.

“Well so does Los Angeles Galaxy and they aren’t doing too fantastically!”

“Yeah but that isn’t the problem!” Dakota shouted, “The problem is that you’re a sore loser and we have 11 FA Cup titles!”

“The Arsenals met The Queen!”

“Foul!” Jacob jumped up pointing at Harry, “Foul! The Queen is your grandmother so no point for you!”

Harry flashed a vicious face, “We aren’t counting points!”

“If we were,” Dakota pointed, “We’d be winning.”

“No you wouldn’t, Francine!” Harry looked over to her, the only one who was silently laughing in her bunk and resisted to comment on anything, “Who’s winning?”

She raised up her hands in surrender, “I’m not in this. You three should sort this out on your own.”

“She likes Liverpool,” Dakota smirked.

“I do not! That is a lie, and you know it! I only saw them play once! It was a one time thing and it was only because my dad got tickets for one game, and I attended. Sue me!”

“Maybe I will,” Harry joked, “Under the grounds of standing behind a horrible team.”

“Oh sure, what would you do to me? Lock me up in the Buckingham cellars?”

Harry crossed his arms over his chest and scrunched his eyebrows, “Maybe I will. You don’t know how much power I have.”

“And you don’t know how much power I have.”

“Well, I have an army.”

“Of what?” Francine said with a taunting voice.

“Girls! They’ll fight by my side no matter what! Apparently, I’m very appealing.”

“Uh huh, sure.”

Suddenly the conversation couldn’t be taken seriously and the group was howling with laughter. Harry couldn’t remember a time that he had this much fun. Sure, his life was filled with great friends and plenty of laughs, but he hasn’t laughed like this in such a long time.

Francine rolled over on her bunk and glanced at the clock. The discussion had lasted into the middle of the dinning hour.

“Guys! We only a half hour to eat! The good food is probably gone already!”

Jacob, always the optimistic, “There’s ought to be something left.”

Francine flashed him a face of doubt, “Not likely.”

☤ ☤ ☤ ☤

Francine was right, of course. The majority of the food was long ago eaten, and what was left was room temperature. The food was set up in a buffet style, and the dinning tables were scattered across the room. At some point Dakota and Jacob sat down in the sea of people, leaving Harry and Francine to themselves.

“What is this?” Harry pointed at a grey, crumb like concoction.

“It’s meatloaf.”

“How in the world is that edible?”

“It’s not that awful. Just because it wasn’t made by a palace chef doesn’t mean that it isn’t good.”

Harry stuck out his tongue and forked the food onto his plate. He didn’t want Francine to think that he was a complete snob. In actuality, he was humble as opposed to some other aristocrats. The two had a moment of complete eye contact until he found an empty table in the corner of his eye and went for it. Francine, seeing him take off, put a cookie on her plate and rushed to catch up to him.

“So,” She nodded towards the two guys off to the side at a table near the one they just sat at, “Who are those two?”

“My protection officers.” He just shrugged. He was used to having two grown ups with guns strapped to their hips by his side. It was a strange form of comfort to have them with him.

“Do they go with you everywhere?” She asked while slurping her noodles.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m no heir to the thrown, I’m just the spare-”

“Harry,” She placed her hand on his. Forgetting all formalities as she continued, “You are not just a spare. You are Diana’s son. I think if you got hurt or killed it would be like losing her all over again. They criticize you now, but it’s just because they need something to munch popcorn over.” She gave him a smile. Francine felt like she stepped over a line, but she couldn’t stand when a person thought poorly of himself or herself. It was something she struggled with, and she tried to make sure that no one else did the same.

“It’s Wills they appreciate.”

“And he married some brunette, big whoop.”

“Hey that brunette happens to be my sister-in-law.”

“Yeah, and this redheaded spare happens to be my friend.” Harry felt honored. He wasn’t really talked to like this anymore. He appreciated it.

“Thanks. So what brought you here?”

“Myself, I guess.” She pursed her lips, “I do really like to help people, and I’ve always wanted to spend time in Africa. I’ve never spent time in Africa before.”

“How are you liking it?”

“I love it. It’s sad that in two weeks I leave.”

“They said you were a veteran? How long have you been here?”

“Three weeks,” She answered nonchalantly.

Harry’s eyes widened. What he’d give to be here for about a month. His volunteer endeavors lasted less than a week for the most part because of his military career. Of course he adored his career, the men that which he trains beside. He wouldn’t give up the military unless he absolutely had to, but to be able to volunteer like this would be a dream.

“Long time,” He finally commented.

“Yeah, but not long enough. I just wish I could do more!” Francine looked at him straight in the eyes. “But I just don’t have the money. My pa, he does what he can. We just need more people to be aware of this.”

“What if we could do that?” Harry looked up, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He got this rushing feeling he always felt when he had a good idea.

“Do what?”

“Make people more aware. Just think of it! We can fundraise. Get the word out.”

Francine’s mind started racing with the possibilities, “A concert! And a run, I can fundraise at school-”

“And I can help out at the base.”

“Harry this is brilliant. Bloody brilliant.”

They both inched closer in the table. Francine started writing down ideas on the napkin, and Harry was planning how he could get his family involved.