Apology
2179 Words
Laura lead Ziva into the blood bank container where she left the prince and his friends but only found three friends with no sign of the prince.
“Ziva, this is Wade and Victor, you met Oscar the other day,” Laura said and avoided looking at Oscar who always made her blush.
“Dr Ziva Harris, it’s an honour to meet you and thank you for coming to Leap, we really appreciate your help,” Victor said charmingly, shaking her hand. Ziva was a well known haematologist but now with blood shortages, all Leap doctors knew her name as the expect helping to set their blood bank up.
“Hello, it’s a pleasure,” Ziva responded, shaking all their hands. Them leading by example and coming to donate blood and encouraging their fellow citizens to do the same had earned them few points in her critical mind. Even though she did not like them because she regarded all of them as playboys, she could at least be friendly to them.
“Richie is in there,” Oscar announced pointing at the corner office when he noticed Laura looking around. Prince Richard had intentionally gone there in order to have privacy when talking with Ziva.
“Ziva…,” Laura warned nervously when Ziva walked towards the office.
“Relax, I wont kill him,” Ziva responded without turning back to look at her friend.
Prince Richard’s friends exchanged amused looks, Oscar had already given them a briefing on Ziva’s feisty nature.
In the office, Prince Richard turned around when the door knob turned, his eyes landed on Ziva who walked in and closed the door behind her. She planned on strategically giving him a piece of her mind and did not want anyone else being witness to it. “Good day, Your Majesty,” she greeted with a neutral tone.
“Lady Ziva, thank you for coming.”
Ziva looked at him, not acknowledging his gratitude. She felt that he was just being polite.
“I know that I am the last person you want to see,” he continued, looking straight at her mysterious brown eyes.
“Yet you summon me,Your Majesty,” Ziva said with a straight face and stern voice.
“I am sorry for the statement I made yesterday. It was untrue, degrading and ill conceived,” he said sincerely. He could hardly think or sleep after he discovered how wrong he was about her. He could never be mean to anyone without feeling terrible about it afterwards.
Ziva looked at him, puzzled. She was ready for round three of her against the prince, Laura told her that he wanted to apologise but she had not believed it nor had she expected him to.
Realising that Ziva was not intending to respond, he decided to explain himself. “I acted on a misinformation that strangely evoked…,”he hesitated, the sentence not quite what he wanted to confess just yet. “I hope you find it in you to forgive me and still let me be your tour guide,” he said sincerely and looked at her expectantly.
“You were never my tour guide, Your Majesty,” Ziva objected. This man was really confused, she thought to herself. He wanted to be her tour guide the first day they met, her enemy the second day and now her guide again.
Prince Richard smiled, he expected her response. “We had concluded that by virtue of you giving away my jacket and using me as your warmed up teddy that I would be your tour guide,” he said charmingly, watching her every move.
Ziva opened and closed her mouth, words failing her. She did those things but he made her actions sound so wrong.
Noticing that she was speechless, he continued. “Many tourists would appreciate gaining access to the restricted access wanders of my country,” he suggested.
“I am sure that they would, Your Majesty, but I am not most tourist, I happen to prefer the low profile ordinary guides,” she replied, finally finding her words again.
“You are not going to make this easy for me, are you, My Lady?”
“I am just stating my preferences, Your Majesty, they really have nothing to do with you,” Ziva explained with a straight face.
Prince Richard realised that Ziva had no intentions of caving in and did what he knew was guaranteed to break the ice and get her attention.
“Your Majesty!” Ziva exclaimed, shocked by his actions. Prince Richard was kneeling in front of her, apologising. “Lady Ziva, I was wrong, please forgive me,” Prince Richard said apologetically with his eyes pleading.
Ziva looked around relieved that they were alone but someone could walk in anytime. She did not grow up in a monarch country but had traveled a lot to know that this was a bizarre, almost unheard off act on his part. She needed to get him on his feet as soon as possible.
“Please get up, Your Majesty. Prince’s, Royals, don’t kneel or beg,” she said, pleading with him.
“My people kneel and apologise when they aired, there is no reason why I shouldn’t. Isn’t that what a good leader should be, My Lady?” he asked while resonating some of her sentiments about leadership from the first time they met.
“Please get up, Your Majesty. We can discuss that when you are on your feet,” Ziva said, strangely getting nervous. An heir to the throne kneeling before her was unnerving.
“You have not forgiven me, My Lady. I will remain on my knees until you do,” he said stubbornly.
“You can’t be serious!” Ziva exclaimed in disbelief. He was being childish and it was working.
“But, I am, My Lady,” he responded, amused. He found it interesting that Ziva could speak her mind and risk punishment but got agitated by him disregarding his title and acting out of character.
“Someone might walk in,” Ziva urged him.
“Let it be,” he said stubbornly.
“Your Majesty!” Ziva exclaimed. He was being impossible.
“My Lady, your forgiveness is the only thing that would make me get up,” he said, showing no signs of getting up.
“I am a visitor here, you are probably never going to see me again once I go back home. Nothing I think about you matters at all. You have apologised, that should be enough. My forgiveness does not matter,” Ziva said, her words unsettling him.
“It matters to me,” he said decisively.
“Fine! Happy? Please get up now,” Ziva instructed as if talking to a child. If the prince was acting like a child, she will treat him like one.
“I need you to mean it,” he said stubbornly, enjoying himself.
Ziva sighed, this man was impossible. “Prince Richard of Leap, you are forgiven,”she said.
“Thank you, My Lady. Now about the tour guide,” he said and still not showing any signs of getting up.
“Keep your word and stand up first,” Ziva instructed.
“I will only know that I am truly forgiven when you are not trying to avoid me and let me be your guide,” he said with a grin.
“That’s manipulative, Your Majesty!” Ziva exclaimed.
“Not as bad as being bullied off your cozy warm jacket on a freezing night,” he said with a beaming smile.
“Okay, one day. Nothing extra, I hate spotlights and I am not getting caught on camera with you,” Ziva said, conceding.
“Deal,” Prince Richard said getting up, pleased with his accomplishment.
Ziva sighed with relief when he got up. Taking the cloth from the nearby chair, she cleaned the dirt from his knees. Somehow, people finding out about him kneeling in front of her terrified her. Prince Richard watched her amused, he found her fascinating and challenging, traits he had just discovered that he actually liked.
“When would you like your guide to show you around, My Lady?” he asked charmingly his blue eyes meeting her brown ones.
“When I have time, Your Majesty, and that is strictly when the country’s blood bank is stable and running smoothly,”she said, knowing too well that day would be when she had to return home.
“How long do you suppose that would take, My Lady?” he asked reading through her.
“That depends on a lot of variables, laboratory capacity, blood donors, staff and so on. Anything from two to three months but could be longer,” she said in earnest.
Prince Richard smiled, he knew that she was only in Leap for three months. Ziva clearly did not know how far reaching his influence went. If she wanted the blood bank stable and running smoothly, he will make certain that it did in half the time it normally took. She did not realise it yet but he was certain that he will be her tour guide and sooner than she thinks. “I will see you soon, My Lady,” he said before leaving.
In the official vehicle driving back to their homes, the three friends waited patiently for the prince to say something but he showed no signs of opening up until Wade decided to break the silence.
“Dr Harris, huh?” he said.
“What about her?”Prince Richard asked with a straight face. He was wondering how long it would take for his inevitable interrogation to happen.
“Is she perhaps a gem we ought to interrogate?” Victor asked mischievously.
“Do I look like Oscar to you?” Prince Richard asked, intentionally deflating the attention to Oscar but his strategy failed.
“Worse actually,” Wade said. “At least Oscar has insight into his heart matters, you don’t, while your actions speak volumes,” he added.
“What actions?” Prince Richard asked, acting naive.
“The out of character reaction when you were jealous about her being with the trillionaire i***t,” Victor said.
“Volunteering all of us as blood donors to impress her,”Oscar added.
“Forgetting your title, kneeling and begging for forgiveness,” Wade said.
“You were watching,” Prince Richard said, recalling the tiny security camera feature Wade always attaches to his button when meeting crowds. It was a compromise for him to not have bodyguards around him all the time.
“Your security is our concern,” Wade responded.
“Because a visiting doctor we invited to assist us set up our blood bank could turn out to be dangerous?” Prince Richard said sarcastically.
“She could turn out to be a spy, serial killer, prince killer etcetera,” Wade responded.
“You are being paranoid, I’m starting to worry about you,” Prince Richard said. Wade really worried too much, he interacted with crowds a lot and nothing ever happened to him.
“You are falling for the trillionaire’s fiancé and in denial,” Wade hit back.
“Ex fiancé,” Prince Richard corrected sternly and soon regretted it.
“That’s all you heard from that sentence?” Victor asked amused.
“What else was I supposed to hear?” Prince Richard asked, faking ignorance.
“The part about you being in denial,” Oscar responded.
“I have not denied anything,” he said stubbornly.
“You have not admitted anything either,” Wade pointed it out to him.
“Correct,” Prince Richard said with a straight face, giving them nothing, intentionally frustrating them.
“You are being obstructive,”Oscar said, sulking.
“Denial shall eventually be followed by acceptance,” Victor told him.
“And I should understand that?” he asked amused, frustrating them more.
“This means she’s a gem alright. The one we shall put through every process Richie here trained us so well throughout the years for,” Wade said, making his conclusion.
“Now I pity her,” Victor said, knowing too well what that entailed. Over the years, Prince Richard ruthlessly weighed and tested them and any girl they liked and introduced to him, they all looked forward to doing the same to the one he likes.
“I look forward to it, but perhaps you should get yourself a bodyguard when you decide to because I don’t see her taking anything you throw at her laying down,” Prince Richard said, warning while daring him.
“You just confirmed it,” Victor said, excitedly. That was as close to a confirmation that their friend liked Ziva they were ever going to get.
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Prince Richard said innocently.
“Off course you don’t,” Wade responded sarcastically and started planning for the day the prince brings Ziva to them.
- Writer
