Chapter 8 HE IS GOING HOME

• 8: He Is Going Home
• P R I N C E C A L E B
• I’m really going home.
• Those words make me so happy just thinking about it.
• Home. God, it has been so long since I wanted be back in the kingdom.
• Mixed emotions, for sure.
• There's these a lot of emotions building inside me. I mean, it's been months since I was home.
• There are many things that are filling my head and I know Father would have a lot of things to say to me. I want to him to see how changed I am now and that I am more responsible.
• Finally, I get on our private plane to finally head back home to Lindenrogue together with Thibaut. I settled on my seat as I tried to tell Lewis to get me a glass of champagne to which he obliged. I just can’t freaking believe that I am really going back after almost four months of being away and honestly, I am very anxious. Mostly because of my Father. I have never been this anxious before and it sucks to kind of feel like this.
• Of course, I am excited to go back for sure but at the same time I am terribly nervous to see my father again because he loathed me so much before I left home. Last time I saw him, he almost cursed me to death that he wanted to feed me to the lions for being a part of a humiliating sex scandal.
• Thibaut looks back at me as he fixes the buttons of his blazer as he sits down on his chair, “You look nervous younger brother.”
• I shrug, “I just don’t know how to face father that's all.”
• He chuckles, "You don't know?"
• "I mean after what happened, I don't know." I answered while shrugging my shoulders.
• “Relax." He tells me. "It isn’t the first ever scandal you got yourself into. You know father well that he cannot resist his sons or Maggie. I’m sure he was worried of you too.” Thibaut turns to me as I feel the plane about to take off.
• I can't help but laugh humorlessly, "Worried? Him worried for me? Complete none sense." I disagreed right away.
• "He did." He insists. "He's just very self-collected."
• "He just hates me."
• He sighs, "He doesn't. He loves all of us."
• I shake my head sideways, "No. You and the others but not me."
• I have always admired Thibaut’s calmness and cheerfulness because it’s his edge. It’s what he is known for and he’s always thinking about positive things which encourages other people around him. I admire Thibaut for that even though I am nothing like him. I admire the length of his calmness and it's amusing.
• “That woman, Lady Cynthia. She seems quite interesting.” He calmly changes the topic.
• I chuckle as he mentions Thia because I know she possibly caught his attention too. “She’s the coolest woman I have ever met. It's crazy. She is actually the only woman who didn’t throw herself at me because of my good looks or my wealth.” I smile as I think of her.
• “Why do you think she didn’t believe you when you were telling her you were a Prince?”
• I shake my head in response, “I honestly don’t know why. I think because of the fact that I never talked about it when I’m sober. But I really enjoyed my time with her. She’s fun to be with, carefree and she really loves her pizza with tons of cheese.” I couldn’t help but chuckle.
• “You’re really fond of her.” My head turns to Thibaut who looked gleeful. “We all thought she was someone you just casually invite over your place to have sex with and dump the next day.”
• I laughed, “She is not that kind of woman and I don’t want to treat her the way I treat other women. She looks far different from all the ladies I have met Thibaut.”
• He nods in agreement, “That’s why I was shocked why you were with her.”
• “She’s plain Jane and so simple yet she stands out the most because of her personality. She’s brave. Honest. Generous. Helpful and very kind”
• “Ah." Thibaut chimes. "Well she is a little bit feisty and somehow very courageous which is promising about her. Knowing how women would act in front of us on a daily basis.”
• I shake my head, “Filled with plasticity because they know we’re royalty.”
• Thibaut chuckles, “Even when she found out about us being the Princes of England, she was still herself though it did seem a little disrespectful at first.”
• “Forgive her. She didn’t realized it yet.”
• My brother nods and says, “I know. I understood but George clearly didn’t. Lady Cynthia looks like someone who is not afraid to tell people what she has in mind. I’m glad you have met a wonderful and interesting person in Vancouver.”
• I nod at Thibaut. “She really helped me a lot Thibs. She helped me find a cheaper apartment. She fed me foods when I ran out of cash. She invites me over her place when she cooks some meals. She would usually pay for my bus fare. She helped me get a job. She taught me how to budget my money. She made me face taking responsibilities on my own. She straightened me out a little bit which was a little refreshing. She did all of it without asking for anything in return.”
• I smile to myself and kept thinking about Cynthia but at the same time I feel pity on her too because she’s always had a hard life due to lack of money. I know that if she doesn’t work as much as she is doing, she will go homeless and she wouldn’t be able to help her mother.
• I continued to say, “That’s why I really want to return the favor and help her as much as I can. She works her ass off a lot with many part time jobs just to save money for her education and for her sick mother. I doubt she has enough funds for her education since she’s always sending money for her mother’s expensive treatment. That’s why I told her about tutoring Maggie.”
• I turned to Thibaut who was smiling at me, “What’s with that smile?”
• His mouth widens a little before pressing his lips together. “Nothing.” He chirps cheerfully.
• "It's not just nothing." I snickered. "C'mon tell me."
• He smiles at me, “Well, it’s just shocking to see you care about a woman like this."
• "What?" I chuckle humorlessly under my throat.
• "We all know you don't. I mean, you never really cared about their feelings or their welfare before. We both know you never really took any woman seriously.” He answered a straight up fact.
• “Well, she’s the nicest and most honest woman I have ever met.” I answered. "So, there is no need to hate her." I defended myself, awkwardly. I don't know why he was even making me feel awkward.
• Thibaut smirks, “Someone looks smitten.”
• "Smitten?" I chimed.
• "Yes." He nods with his teasing smirk.
• I just laughed and looked away from him with that troubling word inside the back of my head, “I just wanted to help a friend Thibaut."
• "Right." He chirps and I can still sense him teasing me.
• "It has clearly nothing to do with being smitten.” I emphasized.
• “I doubt Caleb.” He answers me.
• I paused for a while and turned back to his gaze and he was giving me his teasing look on his face with that grin plastered below his cheeks and nose, “If I was really smitten with Thia, I’d be most likely to pursue her."
• He gestured his had, "You can."
• I rolled my eyes at him, "Shut up. She's a great friend. She has the most amazing personality a woman that I would ask for.”
• Thibaut chuckles as he turns the television on, “Vancouver did really change you.”
• "Yeah. It really did."
• Thibaut hums lowly, "Or shall I say, Lady Cynthia changed you."
• I rolled my eyes at him again as soon as he looked back at me. "Enough with that non-sense."
• He laughs. "On a serious note, once we go back to the palace, I’m going to look for the person who framed you Caleb. I’ll send him to his rightful place for ruining your reputation as an honorable prince.”
• "Thank you Thibs."
• If I’m on my most honest state when I’m drunk, Thibaut’s most likely to be the kind of person who keeps his promises no matter how difficult it gets.