I promise this is the last update of this one until everything else has something updated, lol. This one is dedicated to HEATHER because she helped me write this chapter and Lady Fiore :D

I hope you guys like this one, PLEASE vote and comment. Just click the little orange box on the side

Okay lovelies, ONWARD!

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Chapter 9

I had missed tea with the Prime Minister. This was all thanks to stupid Amelia Hardcastle and her stupid tea with stupid Ian. My Aunt Patty had told me about it afterwards and that the Prime Minister wouldn’t be able to schedule tea after the meeting again for a while. I was shaking in anger. I didn’t understand how they had expected me to be in two places at once, but all I knew was I had missed tea because I had been babysitting a twenty-three year old.

“You should calm down a little.” Christine said, looking worried as I paced across my room.

“It’s all his damn fault.” I seethed through my teeth. “I didn’t get to meet the Prime Minister. It’s all stupid Ian’s fault and his stupid girlfriend.” Christine looked genuinely frightened by my mood, but she continued to try anyway.

“Deep breaths, maybe? That usually helps me. Besides, the Prime Minister is here every week for that meeting. You’ll have plenty of chances.” She cooed and I shot her a dagger look. It wasn’t really about meeting the Prime Minister. It wasn’t even completely about Amelia and her incessant ability to irritate me. No, this was all about Ian. I wasn’t sure what exactly had me the most irritated. All I knew was he was confusing the hell out of me and I hadn’t even been here that long. “I have something to tell you.” Christine offered and I looked back at her.

“If it’s bad don’t even try that crap with me right now.” I snapped and she looked taken aback for a moment. “I’m sorry,” I sighed, and sat next to her putting my face in my hands.

“It’s okay.” I felt her hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles. “Well, the party at Lady Fiore’s…I wanted you to go with me.”

“I already knew that.” I groaned into my hands.

“Yes, there’s more. I wasn’t finished yet. She moved it to next week. Ian and Chad are also going with us.” I ran my hands through my hair and pulled out my bun letting out a sigh. “What’s really wrong, Lana?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I just feel drained for some reason.” I felt Christine pull me against her.

“You’re just overwhelmed I’m sure. It’ll get better.” She tried to comfort me and I did feel a little better.

The next day I kept my promise to little Alex. I woke up early and knocked on Alex’s door. “Hello?” came a little voice and I opened it up.

“Hey Alex, it’s me.” I said. I was still in my pajamas but so was Alex so I was sure it was okay. It was pretty early anyway. “Ready to play?”

Alex was sitting on his floor with a train set. I closed the door behind me and plopped down on the floor as well. “I love trains!” I exclaimed and he giggled.

“You’re too old to like trains.” He accused and I frowned.

“I’m not that old.” I laughed. We played with the trains for a while, and it was nice to not feel stressed about anything or worrying about appointments. I hadn’t noticed an hour had passed until the side door of the nursery opened and Regina walked in. She looked between the two of us with a smile. “How lovely. It’s nice to see Alex having someone to play with besides me.” She laughed and I joined in. “It’s actually nearly breakfast time though, so I need to be getting Alex ready.”

“Right,” I nodded, standing. I gave Alex a hug and said we’d play again soon before heading out back to my room. I had to get ready too.

“Hey there, bed head.” I heard a teasing voice and I turned to see Ian smirking at me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t feel the need to dress up to play with your little brother.” I snapped and I put up his hands in surrender.

“Hey! No need to be so snippy. What did I do?”

“What did you do?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“Yes!” He replied, honestly confused.

“If you don’t know, then it doesn’t matter.” I grumbled walking over to my room, opening my door. He walked over and followed me in, shutting the door behind me.

“Don’t get all cryptic crazy psycho girl on me, Lana!” He growled and I threw my hands up in the air.

“I don’t care! It doesn’t matter! Get out of my room!” I yelled, but he didn’t move. He leaned against my door and crossed his arms.

“Not until you tell me why you’re mad at me.” I heard the door lock click and he smirked. “I’m waiting.”

“You’re an ass. Leave me alone.”

“You must be mad. You only swear when you’re pissed off.”

“Which tends to happen a lot when you’re around.” I pointed out, going into the bathroom and starting the shower. “Now you better be gone by the time I get out.” I locked the bathroom door behind me and went into the shower.

After my steaming hot shower, I dried myself and started to dry my hair with the towel, heading out into my room. I walked past my bed straight to my wardrobe and jumped when I heard, “WOAH WOAH WOAH!”

I shrieked and turned to see Ian lying back on my bed, covering his eyes and I yanked the towel around my body, falling backward against the wall. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE? GET THE HELL OUT!”

“I said I wasn’t leaving until you said why you were mad at me…but that’s okay, I think I can figure it out for myself…okay bye.” He leaped off my bed and out the door and I was left against my wall, breathing heavily, my face bright red.

I headed down to breakfast, avoiding Ian’s eyes and sat beside Christine. “Mummy, this morning Lana came and played trains with me!” Alex exclaimed excitedly. I looked over at Cassandra who was smiling at me.

“Is that right? How wonderful.”

“I heard a scream from your room earlier, Lana. Are you all right?” Christine asked. I felt my face heat up and flush.

“Oh, um, I stubbed my toe.” I covered quickly.

“Stubbed your toe? Why did you yell get out?”

“It…hurt really bad. I was yelling at the wardrobe.” I muttered quickly. I caught Ian’s gaze, and he was also blushing furiously. Christine looked between the two of us questioningly, but dropped it.

I avoided Ian for the next week or so. It wasn’t difficult. Queen Cassandra allowed Ian to go out during the day with Lady Amelia without me. I suppose she thought Amelia was enough to keep an eye on him. This left a lot more time for me to be with Christine and Chad. The three of us had taken to spending our time in the garden or just hanging around town together. The paparazzi were more than happy to see Christine and Chad around town. It was strange seeing the magazines try to guess if Chad and I were really dating or not. We refused to give any comment on the matter. It was actually fun being so secretive. We didn’t want a lot of publicity on the matter, especially because we weren’t serious. Chad decided that going to Lady Fiore’s party would be our next official date, even though we spent most of our time together.

I had barely seen Ian at all, which I suppose was fine enough. I know I had to see him soon though. We had a meeting for a benefit that was coming up, which he had to host. It came to the day of Lady Fiore’s party and I got dressed to meet Ian and his father in the king’s study to discuss the upcoming benefit raising money for medical research. I swear, someone always needed money…

I walked into the study to see both King Henry and Ian sitting, poring over some papers with my Aunt Patty and two other members of our team, Olivia and Harry. They looked up at my entrance and smiled. “Good, you’re here.” Aunt Patty patted the chair beside her and I sat, avoiding looking at Ian. The planning for the benefit went by easily enough. Amelia would accompany Ian, and they would also officially announce that they were a couple.

It was more or less, a ball. I grimaced at the thought of me dancing in front of people. Perhaps I would just be a wallflower. I was always good at that.

“Lana, you’re going to need a dress. I already have one, but it’s more dressy than you’re used to. Would you like me to come with you?” Aunt Patty offered.

“Sure, I’ll ask Christine too.” I smiled and then I caught Ian’s eye. We watched each other for a moment and I felt my face heat up from when he saw me coming out of the shower. I didn’t think I would ever get over that embarrassment.

After the meeting everyone was leaving and I started heading out the door. I felt an arm on my shoulder and I turned to see Ian. “Hey,” He started, running a hand through his hair.

“What?” I asked, looking around. The room had emptied.

“Listen, I’m really sorry about what happened and I guess we just shouldn’t ever talk about it ever again.” He gave me a big hopeful smile and I couldn’t help but smile too.

“Fine…once we never speak of it again.” I agreed.

“Understood. I will never again speak of your very sexy naked body.” My smile dropped and I slapped him.

“You’re terrible at this! Don’t tease!” I highly doubted I was “sexy”, especially completely nude.

“You’re too easy to mess with, I can’t help it.” He ruffled my hair and started to walk out, but he stopped and turned back to me. “I’ll see you at Fiore’s later, right? Amelia and I are driving separate from the rest of you.”

“So, you and Amelia are doing well then?” I asked, trying not to sound upset about it. This was ridiculous. There was nothing between Ian and me, and there never would be. Why was I letting this get to me so much? Was it just because it was Amelia? I inwardly sighed, knowing that there was a lot more to it than that. He gave me a thoughtful smile.

“Yeah. I mean, she’s really pretty and smart. We get along well. I would say it’s going very well.” I nodded and gave him a smile before leaving the room with a quiet “later”. I didn’t want to talk to him about Amelia.

Christine had left me to get ready on my own this time. I picked out something we had gotten while shopping. It was pretty enough, a blue silk cocktail dress with a sheer black overlay, finished with a black bow in the center. After taking a shower and picking out my dress I looked in the mirror at my hair and frowned. I had no idea what to do with it. I decided to start on my makeup and just worry about my hair afterwards. After I finished with my face I looked to my hair and my breath caught in my throat. It had dried on its own…and it looked…good? My hair curled at the ends naturally, strangely parted to the side and full of volume. I tilted my head to the side and smiled. I actually liked it natural for once…I ran a brush through it to smooth it a little and left it just so. I got dressed and looked at my reflection feeling pretty proud of myself. I wasn’t a knockout like when Christine took care of me, but I looked natural and pretty. I decided I liked it, grabbed my purse and walked out the door. I bumped into Chad who had been waiting.

“Oh, wow.” He said, looking me up and down. “You look amazing. I love your hair like that.” He kissed my cheek. “Ready to go? Christine’s waiting for us downstairs.”

“Oh, Ian already left then?” I asked, looping my arm through Chad’s as we headed down.

“Yeah, he went to go pick up Amelia not too long ago. I can’t wait until you meet Fiore, she’s quite the girl.” He said with a chuckle. “She’s not going to be too happy about Amelia coming though…”

“Why not? And, quite the girl?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked at me confused for a second before realization crossed his face.

“Oh no! No! Fiore is like my little sister. She basically grew up with Ian, Christine, and I. She’s definitely like our crazy little sister. And as for Amelia, Ian and I had never really met her before. However, being in the debutante crowd with their titles, Fiore and Amelia had no choice but to know each other. They clashed pretty badly from what I’ve heard. I know Amelia had done a few things to Fiore that she hasn’t forgiven her for, like embarrassing her countless times…” Chad shook his head. “Anyway, let’s just say they’re not friends.” I nodded understandingly.

“Oh my god! Lana! I love your hair like that! It looks like beach hair only better!” Christine giggled as Chad and I walked over to her. She was wearing a white BCBG dress paired with her favorite burberry tan trench. I was always amazed at her fashion, she never ceased to surprise me.

“Thank you, I had no idea what to do with it…so I didn’t do anything. I guess my laziness worked in my favor for once.” I added with a laugh. We headed into the car and were off to meet Lady Fiore. I had no idea what was in store.

We pulled up to the manor where Lady Fiore lived. It was already getting dark and I looked out skeptically. “So, what exactly is Lady Fiore like?”

Christine let out a sigh with a slight smile spreading across her lips. “I love that girl.” was all she said. We walked out of the car and I looked over to see Ian walking in with Amelia, their arms joined. I let out a snort and jumped when I felt Chad’s arm wrap around my waist. I looked up at him to see he was smiling.

“What’s the matter? You seem tense, Lana.” He asked, a worried expression crossing his face.

“I’m fine.” I assured him. “Just nervous about meeting Lady Fiore. I’ve heard stories…”

“Oh, she’s fun. Don’t worry about it. I told you, she’s my crazy little sister.” Chad said with a knowing smile.

“So, I thought this was a small cocktail party…” I started, looking around at the numerous guests who were filing into the huge manor. Music was pulsing from the house like a club. I looked back to Chad, confused.

“A small cocktail party? Who told you that?” I looked accusingly at Christine who shrugged and smiled innocently.

“How else would I have gotten you to let me go? Besides, for Fiore this is small.” She explained and I let out a growl which transformed into a yelp when Chad poked my side.

“Calm down, Lana. We’re going to have some fun, and Fiore never lets press anywhere near her house.”

“That makes me feel a little better. Plus, she’s like family, right?”

“Exactly!” We followed her into the huge house and there was a scream of glee, a flash of blonde hair, and then suddenly Chad was thrown back away from me. I looked back to see him tackled to the ground by a girl with dark blonde hair, light skin, in a short black and grey burberry dress paired with dark pantyhose and tall black pumps. I needed to stop being surprised when I was outdone in the fashion department.

They both stood and Chad chuckled. “Nice to see you too Fiore.” Then she shocked me by punching his arm very hard.

“You left for Paris without even one little goodbye. Just a teensy little goodbye, that’s all Fiore asks for and what do you give me? Nada! That earns you pain and suffering.” She punched him again and he rubbed his arm, pouting.

“Pweeez forgive me.” He outstretched his arms and she let out a sigh before giving him a short hug and then pushed him back.

“Who’s this?” She asked turning to me. I stepped back in fear and she laughed. “I like her already.”

“This is Lana,” Chad started and he pulled me over to him.

“Oh, this is the Lana I’ve heard so much about. I like her. She’s pretty. Don’t know why she’s with you, but to each his own…” She said flippantly and I had to fight my smile. For being a Lady, she was quite outspoken. I was suddenly very glad I wasn’t her advisor.

“Have you seen Ian?” Fiore asked Chad and he nodded.

“I think he just got here with…Amelia.” He muttered the name, but Fiore had definitely heard it just fine.

“WHAT?” She roared and she looked at me accusingly. “You’re his advisor! How could you let him date a cow? Princes don’t date cows!” She yelled at me and I put up my hands.

“I have no say in that! Don’t kill me!” I squeaked and Fiore frowned, looking over to Chad and Christine.

“And you two. You let this happen?” They both looked frightened for a moment as she shook her head in shame. “I thought better of you two.” She said sadly with a sigh.

Suddenly, the mood was changed when she smiled and dragged us over to the drink table, shoving cups into our hands followed by shoving us onto the dance floor. I was stiff at first, but loosened up as I drank and Chad pulled me against him. Being with Chad was so natural and fun. I was glad he had come with us.

I caught sight of Ian and Amelia dancing as well. She was wearing a very short white dress and Ian was wearing a dark blue shirt and…I paused…were those jeans? They looked…good. I had to look away so I didn’t stare.

Eventually we moved over to the side to rest and were shortly joined by Christine and Fiore, out of breath. “This is amazing.” I finally commented, looking around. It was like a club, only I felt far more comfortable and safe. “Do you do this often? I would really rather have Ian and Christine partying here with you than out at clubs.”

Fiore nodded. “Of course I do. I try to do this at least once a month.” I laughed and shook my head. “You’re enjoying yourself then?”

“Yes, actually. I have to admit that this is really great. It’s nice not to have the paparazzi to worry about here.”

Just as I said that, there was a camera flash from the window which made us all look over. “Hold on just one second.” Fiore said, heading over to the wall. She grabbed an antique sword off the shelf and ran out the door. I was in shock, but everyone else acted as if this was normal. There was a yell of outrage from outside and then a loud yelp, followed by silence. Fiore walked back inside and placed the sword back on the shelf, turning back to us. “False alarm. It was just a camera phone. He promised not to press charges.”

“Why would he press charges?” I asked, a little frightened.

“He won’t. It was just a small poke. He’ll be fine. The bleeding will stop soon.” My mouth fell open, but Fiore waved it off. “My personal attendants are seeing to him right now. He’s fine.” She continued on with our previous conversation as if nothing had happened and I looked over at Chad in shock. He looked more amused than anything else and only pulled me closer to his side, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

I looked over to see Ian and Amelia in a corner, speaking with their bodies closer than I liked. I started to gulp down my drink. Fiore saw me watching and I felt an arm on my shoulder. “You hate her too, don’t you?” She whispered in my ear and I almost choked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” I gasped, clearing my throat.

“Don’t play politician right now. If you hate her you hate her, just admit it.” She looked in their direction for a minute, a thoughtful expression on her face. “This is going to be fun. I’ll be right back.”

When I turned to ask her what she meant, she was already gone. I was scared.

“Oh no, what’s she up to now?” Chad muttered. I shrugged, looking around to see where she had gotten to. Chad turned me to face him and brought his face close to mine. “Are you enjoying yourself?” He asked and I smiled.

“Yes. You never fail to charm me.” I admitted. He kissed my nose and then traveled down to my lips. He pulled me against him and deepened the kiss, moving down my face to my neck.