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Everything has to start somewhere!
It was, indeed...
At that moment, when it was only about a year after the first female President - Mrs. Ellen Claremont - was elected, Alex accompanied her attending the Melbourne Climate Conference. To clarify, this, was the first public appearance of Alex Claremont-Diaz as the First Son of the United States.
It’s not that hard for a young man filled with energy, owning that vivid vibe, to blend in and charm everyone in the room on the first night party, including those who paid very close attention to every one of his tiny movements. Despite all that confidence, all that smooth talk with all those influential people, deep down his spine ran a chill of stress, the tense traps under the fancy suit, all the weight on his shoulder seem to mumble, “Do not fuck up the First Family reputation”.
The numbness on his left hand from holding the champagne glass for too long made Alex wonder if only he could go out to get some air… somehow…
“Alex…”
His mom’s voice found its way into Alex’s absent mind. Of course, she wanted to introduce him to some of today’s big names. The conversation was carried on for a while until his sight caught into the sky-blue eyes across the room.
He maintained the conversation with the total capacity of his mouth. Still, Alex’s mind and eyes seemed to wander off to where the owner of the sky-blue eyes was.
That slight distraction, Madame President instantly noticed that in her son’s eyes. When the conversation slowly headed to the conclusion, she softly turned to him.
“That, is the little Prince of the British Royal Family, as I remembered, he’s somewhat around your age. Wanna come around and say hello?”
Little… Prince?
Henry… isn’t he?
It would be very impolite to come around and say hello to someone you don’t even know their name, right?
Alex thought so, too; after doing a quick information recap about the Prince, he brushed up the tension on his shoulder and waltzed his way to Henry, thinking he might not be the only one who felt a bit… lonely in this ballroom.
“Hello!”
“Good evening!”
Alex smiled as he shared a handshake with the Prince, admiring the cuteness of the particular someone’s hand.
But then that smile slowly faded from his face as the confusion and hurt filled Henry’s blue eyes.
‘What’s that? My cold hand chilled him off? Or the sweaty handshake?? Body odour???’
Someone clearly got overwhelmed by his own disastrous thoughts…
Henry’s expression of confusion and discomfort seriously made Alex question himself as if he’d use a butter knife to enjoy the delicious main course on a well-served dining table.
“I need to get out of here.”
Somehow, all the noise from that crowded ballroom got blocked from Alex’s head, and thunder rumbled through the First Son’s ears.
‘The hell did I do wrong? Why did he look at me like I have head lice? What with that “Get me out of here”??? $£^)(*_)£%^&%’
Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz could not recall how on earth he got back to his hotel room safely. For the record, only three years later, he, on the floor, straight up questioning the poor Prince of the British Royal Family about his poor manner that night.
What a night to remember…
*-*-*
Still, here we were, in the ballroom filled with false modesty, tight schedule as expected from Prince Henry, nothing new or seemed to be out of place. Looking at all the familiar faces wandering the room, all the most powerful faces of the world are visible right here, right now. Just another day of etiquette.
People approached Henry with all the expected formalities, greetings and giving their condolences to his father - Mr Arthur Fox, who unfortunately lost their battle with cancer and passed away a few months ago. God bless the talented man and his young son. The little Prince is still curling up, trying to heal the emptiness that death carved into his heart while trying his best to parade around the world, fulfilling his duty.
Professional courtesy has always been programmed in his blood, trained and got better day by day as every other Royal child since the day they were born. Honestly, it’s not hard for Henry to nail down his emotions when encountering unpleasant or even unwelcomed topics.
That was undoubtedly true until a delicate silhouette fell into his eye from across the ballroom.
‘What a beautiful oak wood colour reflecting from his eyes…’
In that instant of thought of the one and only Henry Hanover-Stuart-Fox, his sky-blue eyes got covered by a grey cloud of doubt.
‘Calm down, Henry, what in the world did you think of?’
When he thought he had his cool back and was ready to carry on with the night, his heart entered a race and refused to keep the speed under the limit.
Like how Bond and Blofeld could not pass by one another without giving the other a dead stare, his untamed heart was at war with his stubborn mind, trying to keep things in order.
Henry subtly gauged the man with skin like bronze and his tangled - in an orderly manner - dark hair, thinking how on Earth this God-like man got lost in this swamp of mortals. The slightly crooked bowtie looked like a butterfly teasing the man’s forbidden fruit. The perfect lips, always smiling, enhancing the straight nose bridge and the manly eyebrows.
Henry’s apple started to feel his necktie was too tight, and an urge to loosen up his shirt rose, but not now.
And indeed, not here.
For a moment, his heart lost it when the haunted silhouette started making his way, toward him.
“Hello!”
“Good evening!”
A hand reached out for a hand. The warmth surrounding Henry’s hand made him feel relaxed and, at the same time, nostalgic.
Only a few months ago, there was also a dearest person; his warm hands held Henry’s, gave him strength and encouragement…
But now…
Henry’s heart felt like it’d been tied up with thorn ropes; his mind got attacked by hurtful feelings, the feeling he thought was quieted down after some time. His blue sky got swamped with storm clouds. He tried hard to cover the overwhelming pain growling, but it was useless.
“I’m sorry…” Henry mumbled. “I need to get out of here…”
Before anyone noticed the difference, the bodyguard quickly escorted the Prince out of the room. Henry hoped that his disappearance did not cause any problems to anyone or at least not stir up anyone’s attention.
Everyone, except for one!
Henry George Edward James Hanover-Stuart-Fox, after sitting in the back of his car for a while, long enough to calm down, realised what he did was sooooo out of the training programme.
‘Definitely, something was wrong with that man… how dare he bring out all of… that??? More important, how did you let him???’
Sometimes, that intense feeling called “love” really cuts a man loose, acting way out of his character, don’t you think?
For our charming Prince Henry, Alex Claremont-Diaz became his own forbidden library; no one is allowed to enter or even know about its existence.
Oh, what a night…
./.