Page 57 of Once Upon a Prince

“Really?” Ella was clearly surprised.

“I had thought about doing all of that and more for weeks. It was only when I couldn’t take it anymore and I had to talk to you about us that the idea of Buenos Aires seemed like the perfect solution. It was a bit more unorthodox to take a trip like this when we were just starting out. I had hoped we would enjoy each other’s company. I had hoped we would spend time together. I had never counted on it going as well as it did.”

“Me either,” Ella reached over and took my hand in hers.

“I never want a vacation to end but I never wanted one to less than this one. It was as much because I was having such a good time but also, I didn’t want the magic, this connection that we have to be gone. I don’t know what will happen when we get back. I hope that we can find a way to work together and be together. I want both.

“You have become too important to me to lose, both in a professional but especially in a personal manner. You matter to me, what happened between us is important to me. Seeing where this could lead is all that I care about.

“But what do you want? How do you want this to go?” I held my breath after my question. I thought I knew her well enough to know what her answer would be, but until I heard her say it, I wasn’t going to be sure.

“I want all of that, I want you, I want us. I want to see what we can be personally as we work so well professionally. We will have to figure out what that means and how it’s going to work but I’m willing to do it if you are.”

“Yes. Most definitely. Together,” I said and squeezed her hand.

Chapter 33

Ella

As much as I hated to leave Dax and have our vacation over, it felt good to ride up the elevator and know that I was home. I had always felt more comfortable around Ara and Layla than I had ever with my stepmother and sisters. It didn’t surprise me how much I looked forward to seeing my friends or how much I had grown to love the apartment and the city in the short time I had been in New York.

“She’s home!” Ara exclaimed as I opened the door.

I barely had time to put my backpack down before she was hugging me. I knew she would be waiting for me. I had texted her when we landed but I knew she would want to see me for herself.

“We missed you,” Layla said as she joined our hug.

I leaned back and looked at her. “You’re here too?”

“Of course, I am. I wasn’t going to miss seeing you on your first evening home, or hearing all about your trip myself. Ara doesn’t get to have all the fun simply because she’s your roommate.”

“It’s so good to see you.” I moved out of Ara’s embrace to give Layla a proper hug. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed my friends until I was seeing them.

“What am I? Chop liver?” Ara asked.

“Never, you’re more of a beautiful Chardonnay that needs to be savored and appreciated, in its own time,” I teased.

“Thank you, I think,” Ara said.

“Speaking of Chardonnay, we opened a bottle,” Layla said and with her arm around me pulled me toward the living room.

“This is more than just a bottle of Chardonnay,” I said as I looked at the coffee table and the charcuterie board filled with four different types of cheeses, meat, nuts, jams, and honey, along with three glasses of wine and the bottle. “Talk about a homecoming.”

“We missed you, we wanted to catch up and Ara figured if we had this out, you couldn’t say you needed to unpack and do laundry,” Layla said.

They knew me so well. I did want to get unpacked, shower, start a load of laundry, and get myself settled so I could start the next day. There was no way I was going to do any of that if they had put out such a welcoming site.

“I can do it later,” I said.

Ara sat down next to me on the couch and Layla went to the loveseat. She immediately picked up the bottle and poured us a glass. “To the fearsome threesome,” Layla said.

We clicked our glasses together and I couldn't keep the smile off my face. It was the same toast we had done countless times but it still hit me. The toast reminded me how long we had been friends, everything that we had been through, and how we would always be there for each other.

“Was Dax okay with you leaving him alone tonight?” Ara asked.

“We actually never discussed it,” I said.

“Does that mean you didn’t talk to him about what was going to happen now?” Layla asked.

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