“No, you were right. I came in, clipboard blazing, and tried to be a superhero. But you don’t need a superhero.”
“I don’t know, I don’t think I’d turn Captain America away.” I smiled.
“Well, it looks like you already have a knight in shining armor.” Tabitha wiggled her eyebrows.
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “I don’t know about that.”
“Well, he could save this damsel any day.” She held up her hands when I turned quickly to look at her. “Just saying that he would look good riding in on a white horse.”
“David would look good riding in on a donkey.”
She tittered loudly, which made me laugh. She had a horrible laugh, but it felt honest and sincere. “I think you’re right. You should snap that up.”
“We’ll see.” I looked back out the window. We were almost back to the hotel and I still needed to do some work before bed.
Her phone beeped and I could hear her clicking away in response. I wanted to ask her who she was talking with, but there was no polite way to approach that subject. And in all honesty, it could have absolutely nothing to do with me. She could be talking to her family, canceling plans with her family or a significant other.
“I should have asked before now, but do you need time to handle anything back at the palace? You had to leave on really short notice.” I offered an apologetic smile. “I don’t even know if you have any family or children.”
“No children.” She smiled. “And my boyfriend understands that this is my job. If he didn’t understand, he wouldn’t be my boyfriend.”
“I can understand that.” I nodded my head. “But if you need to catch up on anything, I’ll be fine. I can manage on my own.”
“Of course you can!” She sat up straighter. “But I really am okay. Everything that I was working on in the office is being handled by one of the other assistants. Being ready for the unexpected is part of our job.” She leaned forward conspiratorially. “In fact, we’ve all gotten kind of stale. It’s good to shake it up a little from time to time. Though I wish it hadn’t been at Selene’s expense.”
“Too bad she didn’t just go on vacation, huh?”
“I don’t think she’s ever gone on vacation, has she?” Tabitha widened her eyes. “I’ve only been working with her for a couple of years, but I can’t remember her taking off more than a weekend.”
“You’re right. Which is probably why she’s in a hospital from a heart attack right now.”
Once we were to the hotel, we made our way back up to the room in companionable silence. Max was sound asleep and snoring on the couch when we opened the door. Knowing that he was probably exhausted from his day in the limelight, I made a quiet sign to Tabitha, who smiled and mouthed good night before disappearing back out the door. I wasn’t sure where her room was located, but it was probably nearby.
I took my shoes off and went to the kitchen to grab a snack and get something to drink. The fridge wasn’t stocked the way it would be at home, but there were a few things like fruit and cheese on a covered dish. I ignored the soda and opted for water instead. Quietly I padded back across the giant room and sat in the big armchair next to Max. The television was going and the news was showing a story about a wounded soldier who had returned home just in time to see his twin daughters being born. It was a bittersweet story but at least it had a happy ending.
The next story almost made me spit my grape across the room. The stupid title at the bottom of the screen said, “Royal Love,” and the story started out with an image of Sam and Alex running around on a beach. Those jerks had found the island and were using aircraft to video my brother’s honeymoon. I leaned forward and glared at the smiling reporter as she joked about the fun the two seemed to be having on their getaway. Getaway. Like it wasn’t their honeymoon, but just a random trip that didn’t matter.
Oh, then they showed Samantha in her wedding dress, smiling for the cameras. She was gorgeous and it would have made my heart swell if it hadn’t been used by the very reporter I had told Tabitha to not allow into the wedding. Had he just stolen the picture or bought the rights? It figured that he would be the one hounding them on their honeymoon. Speaking of that, there was now a picture of them kissing on the beach, and I blanched.
“Blech.” I turned the channel. No matter how old I got, no matter how much I adored Sam, Alex was still my brother and I didn’t want to see him playing grabby-ass with anyone.
The next channel was some type of soap opera and I watched for a minute as the actress slapped some man wearing a tuxedo. Heh. I’ve wanted to do that before. I picked up a piece of cheese from the tray I had brought with me and looked it over. It smelled off so I set it to the side and stuck to the fruit.