Recklessly Royal
Page 41
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“Welcome, Your Highness. It’s an honor to have you here today!” An older man in a pristine doctor’s coat shook my hand. He smelled faintly of bleach and I had a feeling he’d taken a lot of time to make sure he looked nice. Between that, his bow tie, and the goofy grin on his face, I was instantly charmed. “I’m Dr. McRae.”
“A pleasure.” I shook his hand. “I’m sorry to arrive on such short notice.”
“Completely understandable, ma’am.” He bobbed his head. “I was sorry to hear about your assistant.”
“Catherine, please, and thank you.” I smiled. “I think they want us to take a picture together.”
“Oh! Yes, that would be wonderful.” He turned and stood next to me, his hands held in front of him.
We smiled and looked from camera to camera, letting them all get an image or two before going inside. Thankfully there were only two photographers inside and they were more interested in official pictures of me unveiling the plaque.
“It’s over here, ma’am.” The veterinarian motioned for me to follow him. “Thank you so much for coming to do this. It’s an honor.”
A red velvet cloth covered an easel, and the staff and their families were gathered around in anticipation.
I moved so that I was standing on the opposite side of the plaque and waited, smiling at the cameras as people took my picture or video.
“I’m humbled to have Princess Catherine here today to help celebrate this huge achievement. I owe my staff and their family a million thanks for all they’ve done for the animal community.” He smiled around the room as people clapped. “Even without the plaque, I hope you all know the amount of good you’ve done this year.”
I clapped with the rest of the room, agreeing wholeheartedly with what he was saying. The amount of man-hours they had put into their community was worth more than a plaque, but at least they were being recognized.
“I’m honored to be in a room with so many kindhearted people. I know that what you’ve done to help these animals and their families was a labor of love that required a lot of sacrifice on your part. So on behalf of my family and this community, I thank you.” I tugged the cloth from the plaque in one fell swoop and rolled it up in my arms.
People oohed and aahed. People clapped. And of course there were more pictures. I posed with everyone and took the time to shake the hands of the staff. I ate little sandwiches and drank tea. Not once did I glance at my watch to check the time, despite my desire to be with my friend. By the time Tabitha finally came to rescue me, I had been at the veterinary clinic for four hours. It wasn’t that I regretted the time spent with the people and it wasn’t as if I hadn’t enjoyed talking with everyone.
But I had a friend in the hospital, with no family to keep her company. My need to get back to her was pressing on my chest by the time we got back in the car.
“That went well.” Tabitha smiled at me. “They were so glad to see you.”
I took a deep breath, trying to choose my words so that they didn’t come across wrong. “I’m glad we went, but next time, I need you to step in and get us out of there a little faster.”
“I thought you were enjoying yourself.”
“I was . . . but that’s part of my job—to spend time with people and make them feel important—because they are important. I need you to cut in and keep me on schedule. Otherwise it looks like I’m rude for leaving and I’ll be stuck there for days.”
“Maybe we could work out a signal. That way I know when you’re ready.” She chewed on her lip for a minute. “Maybe you could look at your watch.”
“No, if I do that people will think I’m counting down until I can leave. That would seem rude.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t think about this. I just knew we didn’t have anything else on the schedule.” Tabitha sat back in her seat and played with her phone. I was starting to understand why Selene disliked cell phones. Tabitha never put hers away. It was like part of her body and she couldn’t think without it.
“No, I told you that I wanted to see Selene. She’s been alone for hours now.” I frowned. “Perhaps you should put Selene time into your calendar. That way there are no questions.”
“Of course.” She nodded her head with a smile.
There were reporters outside of the hospital still, but I merely waved and pushed through the throngs. There would be no more official speeches from me today.
The staff smiled at me as I walked through the halls and one of the nurses even gave me a small wave. The fact that they were treating me like someone returning to see a family member warmed my heart. It also went a long way toward easing the tension in my shoulders. It was time to turn Princess Catherine off and just be Cathy for a little while.
“Hello?” I whispered the word quietly as I peeked into the door of Selene’s room.
“Took you long enough.” Chadwick’s voice replied.
I sighed in relief when I realized Selene hadn’t been alone this whole time. “What are you doing here?”
“We had an event in the area for the FBT and figured we would drop by to see how Selene was doing.”
“We?” I turned to look around the room and realized that David was leaning against the wall. “Hi.”
“Hi.” His eyes traveled over my body and I felt it like a hot touch. It didn’t help that the memory of what it really felt like to have his hands on me was seared into my brain.
“A pleasure.” I shook his hand. “I’m sorry to arrive on such short notice.”
“Completely understandable, ma’am.” He bobbed his head. “I was sorry to hear about your assistant.”
“Catherine, please, and thank you.” I smiled. “I think they want us to take a picture together.”
“Oh! Yes, that would be wonderful.” He turned and stood next to me, his hands held in front of him.
We smiled and looked from camera to camera, letting them all get an image or two before going inside. Thankfully there were only two photographers inside and they were more interested in official pictures of me unveiling the plaque.
“It’s over here, ma’am.” The veterinarian motioned for me to follow him. “Thank you so much for coming to do this. It’s an honor.”
A red velvet cloth covered an easel, and the staff and their families were gathered around in anticipation.
I moved so that I was standing on the opposite side of the plaque and waited, smiling at the cameras as people took my picture or video.
“I’m humbled to have Princess Catherine here today to help celebrate this huge achievement. I owe my staff and their family a million thanks for all they’ve done for the animal community.” He smiled around the room as people clapped. “Even without the plaque, I hope you all know the amount of good you’ve done this year.”
I clapped with the rest of the room, agreeing wholeheartedly with what he was saying. The amount of man-hours they had put into their community was worth more than a plaque, but at least they were being recognized.
“I’m honored to be in a room with so many kindhearted people. I know that what you’ve done to help these animals and their families was a labor of love that required a lot of sacrifice on your part. So on behalf of my family and this community, I thank you.” I tugged the cloth from the plaque in one fell swoop and rolled it up in my arms.
People oohed and aahed. People clapped. And of course there were more pictures. I posed with everyone and took the time to shake the hands of the staff. I ate little sandwiches and drank tea. Not once did I glance at my watch to check the time, despite my desire to be with my friend. By the time Tabitha finally came to rescue me, I had been at the veterinary clinic for four hours. It wasn’t that I regretted the time spent with the people and it wasn’t as if I hadn’t enjoyed talking with everyone.
But I had a friend in the hospital, with no family to keep her company. My need to get back to her was pressing on my chest by the time we got back in the car.
“That went well.” Tabitha smiled at me. “They were so glad to see you.”
I took a deep breath, trying to choose my words so that they didn’t come across wrong. “I’m glad we went, but next time, I need you to step in and get us out of there a little faster.”
“I thought you were enjoying yourself.”
“I was . . . but that’s part of my job—to spend time with people and make them feel important—because they are important. I need you to cut in and keep me on schedule. Otherwise it looks like I’m rude for leaving and I’ll be stuck there for days.”
“Maybe we could work out a signal. That way I know when you’re ready.” She chewed on her lip for a minute. “Maybe you could look at your watch.”
“No, if I do that people will think I’m counting down until I can leave. That would seem rude.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t think about this. I just knew we didn’t have anything else on the schedule.” Tabitha sat back in her seat and played with her phone. I was starting to understand why Selene disliked cell phones. Tabitha never put hers away. It was like part of her body and she couldn’t think without it.
“No, I told you that I wanted to see Selene. She’s been alone for hours now.” I frowned. “Perhaps you should put Selene time into your calendar. That way there are no questions.”
“Of course.” She nodded her head with a smile.
There were reporters outside of the hospital still, but I merely waved and pushed through the throngs. There would be no more official speeches from me today.
The staff smiled at me as I walked through the halls and one of the nurses even gave me a small wave. The fact that they were treating me like someone returning to see a family member warmed my heart. It also went a long way toward easing the tension in my shoulders. It was time to turn Princess Catherine off and just be Cathy for a little while.
“Hello?” I whispered the word quietly as I peeked into the door of Selene’s room.
“Took you long enough.” Chadwick’s voice replied.
I sighed in relief when I realized Selene hadn’t been alone this whole time. “What are you doing here?”
“We had an event in the area for the FBT and figured we would drop by to see how Selene was doing.”
“We?” I turned to look around the room and realized that David was leaning against the wall. “Hi.”
“Hi.” His eyes traveled over my body and I felt it like a hot touch. It didn’t help that the memory of what it really felt like to have his hands on me was seared into my brain.
