The next day was raining. The weather was miserable for fall. The trolley was packed. I was drenched during my short walk to work. I dropped my coat and gloves on the rack to let them dry. In the back, the girls were bringing out pans from the chef and starting the morning inventory. I went to work where I overheard two girls gossiping.
Una and Tessa were twins and pride themselves to look exactly like Elites. Tall, with blond hair and pale skin. They even bought color contacts to match the king's eyes.
The Elites didn't like sticking out too much and often bought contacts too if they were low ranking enough.
"Yes, I did hear. Could you believe this?" Una said.
"I'm so excited, I heard his father is putting him in charge of some super-secret project. That's why he's here," Tessa said.
"I heard the researches were all failing and he's super smart and going to fix them all," Una said. "He has to be incredibly smart. Out of five older brothers he's the one the King made his heir."
Tessa sighed, "I can't believe it, the Prince is working here. I don't care what anyone says I would become a Pet this minute if I could be his Pet. I bet he would treat me like a real princess. Real champagne from crystal glasses."
Their little sister, Ivy, spoke up. "They say he's gorgeous. Out of all five brothers, he's the most handsome."
"I've seen prince AΓ»guste. He can't be cuter than him," Una said.
"I swear that's what they said," Ivy said.
They fell silent and I realized all three of their eyes were on me. The three of them where our Hostesses so they wore long dresses that resembled a maid uniform with a black shirt and white silk underneath. Their chest wasn't on a showcase like mine and was covered with a frilly white fabric and puffy sleeves. Instead of a bowtie like me, they had bow collars with their gold pins.
The higher your status the more clothes you get to wear.
I pretended not to notice as I started checking the liquor bottles and coffee grounds. It was always a race to see if coffee or liquor would run out first.
"Riley?" Una, the oldest said. "You met the prince already?"
I blushed. "What?!?" I shouted, "Where did you hear that?"
Ivy lit up with excitement. She looked more like me, shorter with straight black hair down to her waist. "You served him and the Elites in the VIP room with Nora. Tell us! Was he dreamy? Is he cuter then prince AΓ»guste?"
"Oh," My heart slowed back down and I went back to counting liquor bottles. "I didn't get a chance to look at him. Elites all kind of look alike after a while."
"What?" Tessa seemed angry that I would say that. "Are you blind or just dumb? The Prince is working in the same building as us why are you not excited?"
"Don't you want an Upper Class or Elite to take care of you for the rest of your life? Or do you want to work with men grabbing your ass all day until you're old and wrinkled and you're out on your ass?" Una said.
I turned to Tessa and Una. The tall blondes were bullies if you let them be. "Pets get thrown aside just as well and can be treated worse then animal if the Elite wanted. Being a Pet to royalty doesn't make it better because it sounds more romantic."
Both of them stared at me. Ivy was shaking her whole body from how hard she was shaking her head. "But it's the Prince! Imagine waking up to your own servants and freshly baked croissants every morning. And aged wine with every meal! Instead of this crappy box wine."
"You're not actually becoming a princess when you become a prince's Pet."
"Don't act like they wouldn't treat you better then you are living now," Ivy said.
"The King and his children are much kinder to their servants and Pets then the rest of the Elites are. If we nailed the Prince our whole family would be set for life." Una said.
I shook my head. "The King also has more influence than the other Elites. He's been trying for years to bring the tensions down between the classes. Do you think he wants his families' indiscretions public? He wants people to think that the royal family is nice so we act as good slaves and pay his taxes without a problem."
Ivy was red in the face. "You... You don't know anything!" And ran off.
Both Una and Tessa yelled at me for making their sister cry.
"GIRLS, schedule change!" Mr. Enzo rushed into the room. "While the prince is here we need a personal server for him. Una, you will take the first three hours, Tessa, then Riley."
"Me?" I asked.
"You are a hostess now. Enjoy your new promotion." His smile looked sickening as he stared at me.
Una gasped at the news and started fixing her dress and hair.
Tessa looked horrified, "Mr. Enzo! Why am I after Una? Why does she get to go first?"
Mr. Enzo didn't even look at her, "If you have a problem you can walk."
"UUGH," Tessa shouted and stormed out.
"Looks like I have the first chance to meet the Prince." Una strutted her hips and shoulders side to side. "Too bad you don't even get a chance to meet him before I become the Prince's Pet."
Tessa came to a stop and screamed again. She ran at her sister. I jumped out of the way as they fell into the bar table screaming at each other and saying "don't you dare mess up my hair!"
Mr. Enzo ran over to stop them. "If you keep this up I'll send Riley first and Ivy instead!"
He looked at me, "Go up there and wait on the prince since these two would rather fight then do their jobs."
Both the sisters shot me murderous looks. I shook my head. I wasn't going first.
Tessa bit her lips. "FINE! Una can go first." She must have realized having her sister go before me was better than nothing. But she still glared at me.
I sighed, I knew the prince would be causing me trouble like this.
Una whispered at me while she walked by me, "Ivy wants to be the romanced princess to the prince but there's no Elite that likes girls with black hair like you." She teased.
Tessa did the same when she walked by, "Your hair is as nasty as you are. Since you don't want to be a proper Pet enjoy working in the slums working on the street."
I slammed my tray down at turned towards both of them but they hurried off.
I stood outside the VIP room, now the grand office, and lightly knocked on the door.
There was silence then Tessa opened the door. She saw me and looked at me with the same anger as earlier. She turned and curtsied to the Prince and walked past me. My chest was rising, as I was about to face the prince again after last night. I walked in and followed the same procedure of greeting the prince but he hadn't even looked up from his notes.
I walked over to stand near him but not close enough to distract him. I had to borrow Ivy's uniform to work here. She was closer to looking like me than her sisters. Which was lucky for me because Una wouldn't let me near her clothes.
I looked at Alaric. It felt weird to even think of him by his name. He was writing in a large ledger with a gold pen. His expression was blank when he worked. His hair had fallen over one of his eyes and while it didn't bother him it made him look so cute.
He wrote for a while and I started looking around the room. He had a large collection of books brought over when he moved in. The build-in fireplace was lit and felt great next to the stormy weather that hadn't let up all day.