The Sultan's son

12. The birthday

In the following days, the preparations for the Queen's fortieth birthday were in full swing and Regina managed to keep away from the Prince, also because the chef had a special menu in mind and had put the cooks to work overtime, which meant she was required in the kitchen also in the afternoon. The warmth from the stove added to the summer heat and in the kitchen, during cooking, it was suffocating, but she preferred to suffer the heat and endure the chef's reproaches than crossing paths with Quarin.

“Regina, what kind of milk did you bring me? This is skimmed! Ice cream is made with whole milk! Pay attention! At-ten-tion!" Senshaw scolded, tapping her forehead repeatedly with his index finger.

"Sorry, chef," she replied.

“I must watch every movement you do! Can't relax.The ice cream must be perfect for the cake!"

She put her head down.

"Come on, don't be so blue" he added, trying to cheer her up. "Do you know what happens when I watch a scary movie with my favorite frozen dessert?"

"No, chef, and I'm afraid to ask ..."

"I scream!" He laughed. "Do you get it?"

"Actually, it's funny!" Regina laughed.

Raessa warned her: "Don't encourage him please, Regina!"

"Hey!" The chef exclaimed. "You are grounded Raessa! Leave the tomato sauce to Regina and go to peel those potatoes!"

Barka was peeling potatoes alone and suddenly stopped working, "Ohhh thank you chef, I was totally sick of peeling potatoes!"

Senshaw scolded him: “Who said you could stop? Go on, just make a little space for Raessa, you big mouth!"

He was feigning anger, and they all burst to laugh.

She loved that atmosphere of hard work and complicity.

On the day of the party, all the 30 people that lived on the boat were gathered in the dining lounge. There were even the captain and the sailormen.

Almost all the people were dressed in their best clothes. She hadn't brought elegant attire, just the blue dress she had mended herself, so she appeared in her chef's uniform, which she thought at least looked decent. They sat down for lunch and the waiters took turns with the cooks for the service. For once, she was seated at the table, enjoying her meal. Her table was very close to the royal table. Joridey could not sit still and between courses he jumped dog happily and played with the balloons and the little. Quarin and Charmant were chatting and smiling, looking more beautiful than ever. They seemed to belong to another planet, they were a splendid couple. They would have beautiful children, she considered. But while she was observing them, the Prince met her gaze and became serious, then narrowed his eyes. She felt as though he had punched her in the stomach and quickly averted her gaze.

At the moment of the toast, everyone was called around the table where chef Senshaw's ice cream cake stood. The chef himself served saucers with slices of cake to the attendees, and Regina was eager to taste it. Having contributed to its preparation, she knew it was delicious. The problem was that to get her slice she would have to pass close to Quarin and she felt intimidated. 'He won't trip me up in front of everyone, will he?' While he was distracted eating his slice, she thought it was a good opportunity to step forward. She had just gotten her saucer when she saw him frowning at her. She got a little frightened and in reaction, she lifted her chin and gave him a cold look, then swiftly turned to leave. Too fast. The slice of cake slipped off her saucer and landed on his brand-new white sneakers.

Both of them looked at the ice cream stains on the white canvas. It would have been impossible to completely remove the stains.

Regina covered her mouth with her hand, "My oh my, oh my, oh my!"

He grabbed the collar of her jacket and yanked it, “You did that on purpose! Clean it up immediately!" and dropped her abruptly.

She lost her balance and fell to her knees.

"That's enough!" the Queen intervened. “What's the matter with you Quarin? Aren't you ashamed of acting so rudely? You weren't raised this way! Apologize, now!"

"I don’t owe any apology to this one!" he replied, pissed. Then he left the lounge.

The Sultan's wife murmured, looking at her stepson: "Unbelievable!" then she asked her: "Are you ok, Regina?"

She nodded. Then the Queen took her aside.

“I apologize for my stepson's behavior, I swear I don't even recognize him anymore. Sometimes he can be such an i***t! Furthermore with a sweet girl like you... I don't understand!"

“He dislikes me, my Queen. I’m not even sure why."

“Let him be, that donkey. Call me Naisha, I wasn't born noble, you know? And since we are here, I have the opportunity to thank you personally for saving Joridey, you have been very courageous and providential."

“No, Lady Naisha, it really was nothing special. And I really think that the child would have got away with it even without my help, he was just a little scared." She smiled looking at Joridey.

“You are too modest my dear. So what are your plans for tonight? Will you go out with the others? We are in Sanremo, it is a very charming place, especially in the evening, there is the Casino and some beautiful clubs."

"I haven't decided, Your Majesty"

"Naisha" she corrected her.

"I... I don't know if I'll be able to call you that, it seems disrespectful, even in front of the other staff members, you know?"

"Don't worry about that, dear."

"I'll try. Anyway, best wishes and, if I may, you look at least 10 years younger!"

“Eh, I wish, my dear! If my look is acceptable I owe it to our tailor Jacques, who is also an excellent make-up artist. Otherwise, I'd look like a dried prune!"

"What? No!" Regina vehemently disagreed.

Dried prune? This woman didn't have a single wrinkle! And she was gorgeous, she looked like an actress ... despite that, she had a way of putting people at ease. Regina understood well why the Sultan was so in love with her.

Just then, Barska arrived. "Good afternoon and happy birthday, my Queen" he bowed.

“Good afternoon Barska. Did you come to fetch Regina?"

"With your permission, Your Majesty."

"Granted!" she smiled.

"Thank you." he replied, taking Regina arm in arm. “Then let me take this girl away. We have all decided that she MUST come with us tonight, and we are planning what to do."

“Of course. Go out! Enjoy yourselves!"

They decided to go out to dinner and then dance.

Barska had everything planned: "The Prince and his girlfriend are going to the casino, we are heading to the Nothern Lair, the trendiest nightclub in the area! It is also frequented by multi-billionaires! I can't wait to see your cute little booty shaking, Regina!"

She liked to dance, but she didn't like having eyes on her, much less the ones of Barska, who she was founding a bit slimy now.

"I don't think so. If no one comes back to the yacht after dinner, I'd better not come."

“Of course, Regina, there will certainly be someone in the group who will want to return. For example, I really think I won't come to dance, I don't like discos, and I'm already tired…. " Raessa assured her.

"I don't even have anything to wear ..."

"Well, I can lend you something" Raessa said.

"But you are as tall as a Viking ... we are not the same size!"

"Let's try, shall we? Maybe I have something that fits you."

Iris was as small as Regina, but she didn’t make any offer. 'I don't think if she had an outfit to lend me she would' thought Regina.

As expected, none of Raessa's dresses suited Regina, so she was forced to put on the blue dress from her first day on the boat. She would have liked to pull her hair up in a bun, but the badly done seam would have been visible, so she had to let her hair loose. 'Too bad, if we’re going dancing I'll die of heat' she thought.

When she reached the small group of staff who wanted to go ashore, she was greeted by a long whistle of approval from Barska. "Today I'll have to chase the men off you, Regina!"

Iris also addressed her: "Well, Regina, enjoy your last day of leisure, the real job is waiting for you tomorrow, we have the whole salon to clean!" and smiled a little, a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Raessa intervened: "I don't understand why you waitstaff think that kitchen work is relaxing, we bust our asses, both cooking and cleaning, do you know how much grease we remove from the surfaces every day?"

"Figures! We are the ones who make miles going back and forth with the buckets!"

Barska interrupted them: “Ladies, let's leave the discussions behind and set off, ok? I've made a reservation at the pizzeria for 7 PM!"

They walked on foot towards the restaurant, and were passed by the Prince's black Mercedes, driven by one of his bodyguards, followed by a smoke-colored Maserati Ghibli. The Maserati stopped near them, the passenger window rolled down and the Sultan looked out. "Hello everyone, have fun and enjoy the evening!" and after receiving greetings from the staff, the car drove off.

The pizzeria was nice, the pizza was excellent and everyone was having a good time. An acquaintance of Raessa's brother had also approached their table, and he chatted more with Raessa than with her brother. They hadn't seen each other for a long time and wanted to catch up. When everyone had finished dinner, Regina was already feeling sleepy and said: "Guys, who's coming back to the boat with me?"

"Come on Regina!" Barska said, “Don't be a spoilsport! Let's go to the disco!"

“No, I already have an appointment, with my bed. I cannot wait to see it!"

"Regina, I told you that maybe I would go back to the ship right away but I met Stefan, we haven't seen each other in ages, and he's coming with us to the disco too, come on, join us, it's not safe to go back alone. I promise you that we won't stay out late” Raessa tried to convince her.

Actually, she didn't feel like walking all way to the harbor alone, it was dark, and she wasn’t familiar with the area. So she reluctantly followed them.