Infamous Desire(2)

Together, we peruse the headlines with dread. I expected the usual ones: ‘OUT TO GET HIS MONEY AND A PRINCESS TITLE’. ‘AMERICAN LASS SNARES HANDSOME BILLIONAIRE PRINCE’.

Well, they are all there.

And more.

My stomach clenches as I see two sub-headlines:

‘HOTEL MAID HAD SEX WITH THE PRINCE IN A PUBLIC RESTROOM,’ SAYS HER ROOMMATE, DEANNA SMITH.

‘HOTEL MAID QUITE THE SLUT WITH THE GUESTS,’ SAYS HER CO-WORKER, CASSANDRA PELICANO.

I must have blanched, because Alex says, “Liz, are you all right?”

The room spins a little, and suddenly, Alex is propping me up and I’m leaning against his shoulder. Deanna’s face blurs into Cassandra’s, their mouths opening and closing without sound.

Oh shit.

“No,” I say weakly, “I don’t think I’m OK.”

I’m definitely not OK.

In fact, I think I’m going to be sick.

I can take the name-calling from anonymous reporters. Even Alex’s relatives, who have every right to think I’m not good enough for their son or brother or cousin or whomever. But Deanna? And Cassandra?

How could they do this to me?

How?

“Liz,” Alex’s urgent voice filters through my head, “it doesn’t mean anything. They could have been misquoted.”

“That’s a very real possibility,” Madame Fournier says in a kinder tone.

I don’t honestly think anyone could have misquoted something like that without being sued. What Deanna said was true, of course. I did have sex with Alex the very first I met him in a public restroom. But I told her all that in confidence. Did she have to blurb it out to the press for her fifteen seconds of fame?

Worse still is Cassandra Pelicano’s statement. I have never, ever behaved the slut with any of the guests at the hotel I worked at. I have never behaved the slut in my college either. I haven’t even dated regularly until I met Alex.

I feel betrayed in the worst possible way. What have I ever done to either of them?

My knees buckle and Alex catches me.

“Here, Liz, sit down.”

I hear the scrape of a parlor chair being pulled and my buttocks are suddenly slammed upon its soft padded seat. My head still whirls.

“Don’t mind them, OK?” he says urgently. “Don’t mind them.”

Easy for you to say. You’re not branded the slut for sleeping around. You’re a prince. It just makes you cool.

It’s different for girls.

Someone shoves a glass of water into my hand.

“Drink, Liz,” Alex says. I can feel his warmth beside me.

Jasper was right. The best thing I could have done was go home before any of the headlines hit and forget any of it ever happened.

But I love love love Alex fiercely. With my entire body and soul.

“What do you suggest, Madame Fournier?” I hear Alex say. His voice is sober, all businesslike.

“That’s what I’m here for as the top Public Relations consultant in this country. We need to rebrand the two of you to become Moldavia’s biggest export.”





Chapter Two


I cry my heart out that night. I cry huge tears that roll down from my cheeks to my pillow. I cry for all the innocence I have lost and all the friends I thought I had.

Alex is beside me in bed, naked. Normally, this would engender that fluttery, hollowing feeling down there, between my legs, but tonight, I am just too upset. I have turned away from him because I don’t want him to see my puffy red face.

“Why don’t you give them both a call?” he murmurs, lifting a strand of my hair.

I shake my head miserably. I don’t think I can talk to or face either one of them again. What’s worse is that deep down inside of me, I believe they are capable of doing it. It may not even be for vindictive or vicious reasons, but simply a chance to bask in the spotlight. Deanna always had that ‘I want all the attention’ streak in her, and besides, I really did leave her in a co-rental payment lurch when I upped and ran away with Alex.

As for Cassandra, she always did like gossiping about other people, and I don’t mean that in the best of ways.#p#分页标题#e#

“How’s your father?” I ask.

He sighs. “He’s stabilized somewhat, but he’s still in intensive care. Apparently three quarters of his heart muscle has been destroyed and they had to put in a pacemaker just to keep his heart beating.”

Oh my God. That’s awful. Here I am, sunk in my own petty problems and here is Alex, having a very real problem of his own.

I turn my tear-sloshed face to him.

“Oh Alex, I’m so sorry.”

I open my arms to him and he comes gladly to them. We wrap ourselves in a fierce horizontal hug –full-bodied, skin to skin at every contact point, body heat permeating our every fiber. A pang of love fleets through my chest.