The Royal Love Triangle

15: Alone Time Gone Wrong

Callie's POV

I couldn’t keep my gaze from Tessa and Marcus. I didn’t know that they were so close. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that Tess and Marcus were getting along, but I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t jealous. They were whispering and laughing together all through dinner. I really don’t know what I was going to do about it. I mean, I told Marcus how I felt about Tessa. He assured me that there wouldn’t be any competition because he was gay. Maybe I was just over thinking everything.

After dinner was dismissed, Clara informed me that I would be dancing with a bunch of different important people that my family knew. I sighed, all I wanted to do was be with Tessa. I nodded to Clara as she led me away from Gabe and into the ball room. After a few hours of dancing with strangers, I was exhausted. There was a lot of talk of politics and how I thought that I could rule the country. There were a lot of questions about Gabe and I. I was honest and gave the best answers I could. I honestly haven’t thought that far ahead yet.

I excused myself from the dance floor to head to the dining room for a drink. I was offered some champagne, which I happily accepted. I took a few sips and sat down in a nearby chair. The bubbles tickled my nose and the cool, refreshing liquid was soothing. I sighed and glanced around the room. It was quiet in here and it was nice to have a moment to myself.

“Princess Callie?” I heard someone calling my name. I sighed and chugged the rest of my champagne. As I stood up, I was greeted by Gabriel. He bowed quickly making me giggle. “I was looking all over for you. I was hoping we could share another dance before the end of the ball. It will be over anytime now…” His voice trailed off as he tried to read my face.

“Yea… sure…” I put my head down and took in a deep breath before looking back up at Gabe.

“Are you sure? There’s always my birthday ball next week to dance at. Why don’t we sneak off to a quiet room for a little while? You look like you could use a break from all of this. Besides, I really think we need to talk.”

He looked down at me and smiled. Gabe offered me his hand, which I took without a second thought. He intertwined his fingers with mine. His eyes met mine and before I knew it, he was dragging me off to another room. He kept looking behind him, I can only assume it was to make sure that no one was following us. Once we got into an empty room, he shut the door and started laughing.

“I’ve never snuck off at a function like this before.” We were out of breath, but his laugh was contagious.

We walked over to one of the couches that was in the room and sat down. He looked down at me, and I could feel like there was something that he wanted to talk about. “You said that you wanted to talk…. What about?” I gave him the best smile that I could, but I was really nervous.

“Yea… I just… well… What’s going on between you and Tessa? I mean… I’ve seen the way you look at each other…” His voice trailed off and his gaze fell to the floor.

“Right… Well before I found out that I was a princess, I had admitted my feelings to Tessa. I’ve had a crush on her for as long as I can remember. She hasn’t quite accepted the fact that she’s bi. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to be more than friends with her. But I just found out that my entire life was a lie and I’m supposed to be marrying you. I was angry at first, but then I met you.” My voice trailed off. I looked over at Gabe. I could see him trying to hide the pain and excitement from his face. “Gabe… I…” I could feel a few tears fall from my eyes.

Before I could say anything else, Gabe reached up and softly brushed the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs. He leaned in close to me and I could smell his cologne. His fingers lingered on my cheeks and he slowly moved in closer to me. I put my arms around his neck and pulled him in closer. Next thing I knew, Gabe pressed his lips against mine. His lips were soft, and I felt a spark when our lips touched. His kiss made me feel like I was wanted and loved. Was it crazy to feel that after only knowing him for a few days? Gabe pulled away and looked me in the eyes.

“I want a fair chance with you Callie. I’m not going to lie, seeing you dance with Tessa first this evening, was really hard. The moment I saw you, I felt this connection with you that I haven’t felt with anyone else.” His eyes turned towards the ground and he sighed. “I’ve had my fair share of blind dates, and they never seemed to go well. But with you, things just seem more natural.”

His cheeks flushed a slight shade of pink. I grabbed his cheeks in my hands and moved so that he was facing me. I leaned in and kissed him on the lips. He greeted me eagerly, hungrily. Gabe gabbed me and sat me down on his lap, pulling me close to him. I could feel his heart beating against his chest. His kiss grew more and more intense. He wrapped his arms around me, and I had one hand on the back of his neck and the other had a fist full of his suit jacket. I felt his hands exploring my body, I didn’t really mind at this point.

There was a knock on the door and Marcus stuck his head in. “Callie! There you are! Everyone is looking for you!” We both jumped and stood up. “What the hell are you doing?” I could see the anger rising in his eyes. His eyes moved from me to Gabe. “What’s going on here?” I could tell that he was angry. I walked over to Marcus and put my hands on his chest, trying to reassure him that everything was fine.

“Marcus, relax. I just needed a few minutes away from everything. This is still a lot for me to be taking in. Gabe was nice enough to sneak me away for a few minutes to get a break.”

I looked back at Gabe and bit my lower lip. Gabe blushed and smiled. Marcus grabbed my wrist and started dragging me out of the room.

“Let’s go Callie. Mother and Father are looking for you. She wants to make one more speech about your return before the party is over.”

I could feel Marcus glaring at Gabe. I looked back at him and mouthed ‘sorry.’ He shrugged at me and gave me a weak smiled. He straightened out his jacket and waited a few moments before following us.

Marcus stopped in the hallway with me, his hand still around my wrist. “What the hell are you doing Callie? Sneaking off at a party, with a guy you hardly know and making out with him. Even though your situation is unique is no reason to act like this. You hardly know him. I can’t believe you would do this to Tessa.”

“Do what to Tessa?” There was a familiar voice from behind me. I turned around to see Tess standing behind me. My face fell and she was looking at me expectantly. I couldn’t get myself to say anything.

“What’s going on?” Her voice was harsh. I cringed at her tone. It took everything I had to keep myself from breaking down.

“I just caught Callie and Prince Gabriel making out in a room after sneaking away from the party.” He crossed his arms over his chest. Why was he so angry about this?

I looked back up at Tessa, but she was gone. She was running down the hallway, making her way towards her room. Before I could catch her, she slammed the door in my face and locked it. I caught a quick glimpse of her tear stained face. I pounded my fist against the door a few times.

“Tessa please!” I stood there for a few moments yelling for her. She ignored me. I walked away in defeat, tears streaming down my face.

When I was walking back down the hallway, I ran into Clara. She looked like she was on a mission and her eyes lit up when she saw me. “Your highness! We’ve been looking for you everywhere! Let’s get back…” Her voice trailed off as she got closer to me and realized I was crying. She whipped out her cell phone and made a quick call informing someone that I was turning in for the night.

She quickly hung up and escorted me back to my bedroom. She shut the door and helped me out of my dress. I sat on the bed in a sports bra and shorts. I was in a daze. This really couldn’t be happening. Clara walked into my bathroom and started running me a hot bath. She grabbed me some clean clothes and towels and set them in the bathroom. When the tub filled, she shut the water off and took me into the bathroom.

“Now, take a hot bath and relax.” She smiled at me and left the room.

I was left alone with my thoughts. I kept replaying tonight’s events in my head. My heart broke remembering Tessa’s face.