Make Your Move Katherine

Dinner and Awkward Silence

Oscar had insisted they take a walk around the park that surrounded their building and had even requested she not change out of his clothing and handed her a hat. She felt strange in the overlarge clothing but she knew he was waiting for Eric to return.

He was just as uncomfortable as she was.

“I have to at least change my pants,” she mumbled when she looked down at her drowning legs. The oversized hoodie would work, not the joggers though. They did a quick one-minute dash into her apartment and Oscar picked up his phone.

It gave her no pleasure to know he was uncomfortable to be alone with her too. In fact, she knew he would have preferred to dump her off on some of his Royal Guards- speaking of which- where were they? He never made a step without them.

Just what was that about in the shower anyway? Why had he entered it? Why had he hugged her? She asked him exactly that.

“Because I needed to shower, of course, why else? How was I to know you were in there?” he snickered back as they walked out of the open elevator doors.

Why indeed. Kat bought into the explanation for it made sense she thought.

The receptionist smiled widely when she saw Oscar and waved. So, the woman was used to seeing his face, Kat noted- little did the teenage twit know that he had been stalking her. The smile dropped from the teenager’s lips when she saw Kat next to him and her eyes enlarged. Kat smiled a little hoping the young girl would call her, stating she had a message for her and that would give her a chance- the smile left her own face. To what?

Escape wasn’t on her brain anymore.

An hour later, Kat had a smile on her face when the waiter placed the dishes in front of them. And just as she had when Eric had ordered pizza, she closed her eyes and took a deep whiff and released a breath. She could hardly wait for the man to finish putting the sauces in front of them and she took a sip of the sparkling water. Oscar was relaxed and smiling politely at the tall, neatly dressed man- of course he was calm, for he had been relaxed and eating properly.

She bit into the trout and sighed. Her fork found its way into the grilled scallop next then the garlic shrimp. If this is to be my last meal, I am satisfied Kat thought. On any given day she would have taken a photo to blog about but not today. Besides, she didn’t have a phone and she didn’t have freedom either.

Kat had been stuck in…Demkas…wherever that was, eating strange food. Now she was home and eating food she loved, with people she loved. She was contented when the meal was almost over with the warm delicious food in her stomach.

Strange how the thought of dying changes everything, Kat thinks as she took another sip of the water. She always preferred the peace and quiet of her own company like most people who weren’t overly extroverted but now these strangers felt like friends to her.

Death. Her eyes filled with tears as she thought of her dead father. She refused to cry and instead finished her food.

Oscar

Oscar dug into his lobster silently observing her, looking at the empty plate where his jumbo shrimp and salmon in butter sauce had been, on his side of the table- which was his order.

They never spoke even one word to each other as he signaled the waiter for the bill, leaving a hefty tip. Back in his country, leaving a tip would be frowned upon, if seen by others as witnesses would think that the waiter insisted upon it. At least that is what he had heard anyway. It was a lesson Anthony had learned, the embarrassing way when they had dined with his classmates and parents, some years back when Oscar was in high school.

As his guardian back then, Anthony had volunteered to pay the bill when they had dinner and the parents had opened their eyes in surprise when he paid the bill alone with his card, leaving no cash for the server and they had reached into their own pockets to get cash out. Nobody had explained to Anthony why they did it and Anthony had assumed they were disrespecting the staff while the others, had assumed Anthony was rude and cheap. Oscar learned about it when his classmates told him the next day at school.

So, it was another learning point for them. This was some months before he met Katherine of course, for he was certain she would have told him so, had they dined together. He shook his head, no- she was a beast. She probably would have pointed a finger at him and covered her mouth with her other hand and laugh. No- she would have just laughed loudly and pointed at him.

Frowning at the direction his thoughts were heading, he asked himself, ‘Why do I always think of her as evil?’

What is up with him and this sudden pull he felt towards her? He was literally fighting with himself for her defense- what was that scene in the shower? His frown deepened when he pulled her back onto the pavement as a bicycle almost rode into her. The teenager zoomed past, not even aware that he almost hit someone. Oscar flared his nostrils as he looked back at the kid who rode away. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head no, not even aware that the boy almost crashed into her but startled that Oscar had pulled her suddenly. He pointed to the bicycle-wheeling i***t, before guiding her back to continue on their walk, completely unaware that his hand remained on the small of her back. It was still daylight here although the sun was about to go down and Oscar was tempted to teach the boy a lesson.

Relax Oscar, he coached himself, she isn’t queen here.

"Can't you watch where you're walking?" he scolded her as he looked at his watch and calculated that it was still hours away for sunrise back home and hurried back to Katherine’s condo. Ju should be up soon. She told him to bring Katherine to her when she returns and while he didn’t question her about it- he was indeed curious.

He looked at her as she dragged herself into her place and sat heavily on the sofa. He was wondering what was bothering her, knowing it was not just her father’s death. He should ask- “Katherine-”

“When are you going to kill me?”

Kill? How did she know? He does have a betrayer on his team- Anthony he was- No Eric was here with her- Ju wanted to see her. But he wasn’t going to kill her- the dragon king however just might but he doubted. He might marry her, for Oscar wasn’t telling him they were married. Divorce was frowned upon in their countries and it was seen as a dirty deed.

Oscar figured what the Dragon King didn’t know, couldn’t hurt him. “I’m not-”

“You said you would if I-”

“And I would but here you are, safely captured,” he reassured her and she looked up at him, confusion in her violet eyes. Ah, so she actually thought he would kill her. He would if need be but not now in this instance when she ran only because she wanted to be with her father, for his burial- which she missed because of him.

Oscar might be cruel- to an extent, but taking away the right of her as a child, to be there for her father’s death was not something he was proud of. In fact, he was so riddled with guilt that he had even volunteered to go back to her home, for her to grieve like a person who had lost her parent. He had been willing to stay with her, even if it took weeks.

Of course, he couldn’t leave his country unattended for that long a period, so he had taken steps with Ju, to be back and forth, a last resort would have been leaving his cousin, Prince Yichen, the chosen regent in charge. It was not his doing but his father and the forefathers before them, as the former king felt that family should always be chosen to succeed the throne.

It was a tradition that held strong with most sovereign rule and if one wasn’t chosen, the archbishop would be taking place of regent.