Princess
Love - Chapter 22
Brian stood up and stretched. He checked himself over in the mirror
and nodded.
"I'll do." He said and walked out and went to his cousin's room to tell
him about AJ.
"Yeah?" Kevin swung open the door and looked at his cousin.
"Who.. sharp!" He said and Brian smiled.
"I just thought I would tell you that AJ vanished." Brian said and turned
around.
"God! He is strange, is he still in this country at least?" Kevin asked
and Brian shrugged his shoulders.
"Who knows!? He better call soon though." Brian said and Kevin nodded and
shut the door.
Brian walked over to Elizabeth's room and took a deep breath. He
knocked once and she opened the door a second later. He smiled at
her and she looked at him in bewilderment.
"Hi..." She said and looked him up and down. He was wearing a navy
blue suit and Elizabeth was only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.
"Hi. Get dressed, we are going out." He said and smiled. The whole
time that they had been in London they hadn't spent anytime together.
"Where?" She asked and smiled. He was a handsome young man and she could
understand why there were so many girls after him. But most of all,
he had a gentle personality and was fun-loving.
"It's a surprise, but dress formal." Brian instructed and she nodded.
She closed the door and got out a white lace dress that she put on.
She left her blonde curls hanging around her shoulders and put on some
nice gold jewelry. She opened the door and he smiled at her.
He extended his arm and he wrapped hers around it. They walked down the
hall and into the elevator. Everyone stared at them in awe, not because
of Brian's familiar face but because of the handsome couple they made.
Brian helped her into the rented car and he drove her through some backroads.
"Did I mention that my father is having a little get together tomorrow?"
Elizabeth said and Brian shook his head.
"No, but-" He smiled. "Thanks for telling me." He said, quickly.
He almost gave it away.
"Your welcome." She smiled.
"That was weird you know, the day that I saw you on that bridge." Brian
said out of the blue.
"Huh?" She looked at him.
"I saw you on the bridge a little after your husband died. I didn't
even know it was you until I got back home.
"Huh!? I didn't even know you knew it was me." She laughed.
"Of course, I couldn't forget someone like you." Brian smiled and pulled
up a long road. "Close your eyes." He said and smiled at her and
she nodded and closed her eyes. "No peaking!" He ordered and she giggled.
"Brian, I am glad that I am with you."
"I know... we haven't spent much time together." Brian said quietly and
turned up the radio. "How that caught fast." He laughed and she giggled.
"You are my fire." She sang and slapped her mouth shut and she giggled.
"Well, I never want to hear you say that you want it that way." He laughed
and turned the radio off. "You know; after you record a song you
barely even want to listen to it again. You get sick of it that fast."
"I would never get sick of any of your songs, they are all wonderful."
"You will if you hang out with me long enough." He said and pulled up the
driveway.
"Well, I guess I will just have to deal then." She smiled. "Can I open
them now?" She asked.
"Nope, not yet." He said and drove around the curve. He got out of
the car and went around to her seat and opened the door. "Still keep
your eyes closed." Brian said and took her hands and lifted her out of
the car. He shut the door and led her up the steps and to the front
door. He knocked once and silently someone opened the door.
"Where are we?" She asked and he squeezed her hand.
"One more minute." He said and led her down the hallway and into the huge
ballroom. The lights were out and there was not a sound coming from the
room, Elizabeth still had no idea where she was. "Okay!" He said
and she opened her eyes. The room was black and she didn't see or
hear anything.
A second later someone flipped the switch and everyone yelled
"SURPRISE!" And she stared at them in amazement.
Cousins, aunts, uncles and friends she hadn't seen in years stood in front
of her, was well as her father who smiled at her. She ran to him
and gave him a big hug.
"I can't believe this!" She said and smiled at everyone. Kevin, Kim,
Howie, Valerie, Jen and Nick were all standing there and smiled at her.
"It was his idea." Her father pointed to Brian and they all smiled.
They danced well into the night and eventually everyone left, except for
Elizabeth and Brian. Mr. O'Donnell had insisted that they stay and
talk to him for awhile. They went up to the sitting room and had
coffee as they got to know each other.
"What do you do for a living, Mr. Littrell?" Mr. O'Donnell asked.
"I am a singer." Brian said and looked at Elizabeth who was sitting next
to him. They smiled.
"Oh, really." He paused, wondering if he was one of those struggling singers.
"Yeah, my friends that came here tonight are also in my group. One
of them couldn't come tonight though." Brian said.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Elizabeth looked at her father in confusion.
He didn't sound intrested in what Brian did for a living.
"You may have heard of my group before, the Backstreet Boys...?" Brian
said, waiting to see if it rung a bell, and it did. Elizabeth's father
brightened.
"WOW! Really?" He laughed. "I sure do know you. May I ask what
your relationship with Elizabeth is?" He asked and Brian nodded.
"We are close, but I am here on business and we haven't spent much time
together. I look forward to spending more time with her when we get
home." Brian said and smiled at Elizabeth.
"And where might home be?" Mr. O'Donnell asked, turning more serious.
"The States." Brian looked at Mr. O'Donnell and wondered what he thought
Brian was going to say.
"Oh."
"Daddy, I'm not going to live here." Elizabeth said pointedly.
"I know... as long as my daughter is happy that is all I care about." He
stood up and stretched. "I am going to sleep now, I will see you
in the morning, right?" He asked and the couple nodded.
"Yes, but we will have to leave tomorrow morning." Brian said and shook
Mr. O'Donnell's hand. He left the room and Brian looked at Elizabeth.
"Let's go to the backyard!" She exclaimed and Brian wondered what was so
interesting there. He nodded and she grabbed his hand and led him
down the stairs and to the back of the house. She threw the french
doors open and revealed a magnificent beach.
"Wow... now that is a nice backyard!" He said and she ran ahead of him.
He took off his jacket and followed her through the sand. She tripped
and landed in a pile of giggles in the white sand. Brian ran to her
and fell next to her.
He looked at her for a long moment and smiled, she could see the look on
his face from the moon that was shining down on them and the light that
the waves gave off. Elizabeth was reminded of the day that they stood
on the bridge.
"When I was a little girl, back home in California, I thought no one would
love me." She began to speak in a little voice next to Brian, who propped
himself up on his elbow. "And sometimes I still do. When I
married Sean I knew it was out of duty from him more than it was of love.
We did love each other, when we first met, but it didn't last long.
He was a Prince and a Prince had jobs to do and not enough time to spend
with his wife. The one thing I regret is that I never bore him an
heir."
"Don't regret anything, you are hear with me and I will always be with
you." Brian said and inched closer to her. She looked at his sparkling
eyes and nodded. He put his hand on her cheek and she remembered
the warmth it gave off. He tilted his head and kissed her gently
on the lips and slowly backed away. She inched back in and kissed
him back. Maybe she didn't have to worry anymore, maybe she had really
found someone that could mean something to her...