Olivia Sparks

The tea was still steaming when Natalia Vasiliev left Olivia's office after receiving the custom-made solution for her nail extension.

Shifting her sight from the untouched teacup, Olivia kept her stare at the doc.u.ment on the table.

Natalia's signature hasn't dried up yet, and the ink glimmered as the sunlight filtered through the window.

Subconsciously, Olivia smiled, happy that she didn't need to use as much force as she anticipated on Natalia Vasiliev to get the doc.u.ments signed.

It was the thinnest doc.u.ment that Olivia had in file to date but it felt as if she conquered the world with it. It was a five-page doc.u.ment ensuring that Natalia Vasiliev wouldn't pull something as nasty as burning the painting or stealing from Olivia's apartment.

At first, all Olivia wanted to do was blackmail Natalia into signing the doc.u.ment by showing the latter the footage of her heinous act—infiltrating the restricted access room of the Cultural Center, and burning Xandra's painting thereafter. 

It was the incriminating footage that Natalia wanted to steal from Olivia. However, her woman's intuition told Olivia that such means wouldn't scare Natalia. 

With the help of her gal pals, they studied Natalia's routine and pinpointed one activity that she frequently did in a week—nail art.

Who would have thought the princess of Vuono had a penchant for nail art and would frequently get her nail art changed after a day or two?

After finding out Natalia's obsession with her nails, Olivia and Emily thought it would be nice to play with Natalia's head by giving her the scare of her life—waking up with ugly nails.

Olivia snorted one more time upon remembering how Natalia fainted. That image was gold. They did amazing with Natalia's nails ah! How could she faint on that?

Olivia's reverie was cut short when a soft rap on the door echoed in her office.

"Come in," she said. To her surprise, Secretary Gail was holding a box in her hands. "And those are from?"

"From…" Secretary Gail trailed off. She flipped the card sitting on top open and read, "His Highness, Prince Maxen of Nisia."

Suppressing a smile that threatened to escape her lips, Olivia stood up and received the present from Secretary Gail. "You may leave. Thank you," Olivia said. When the door gingerly closed, Olivia pulled the ribbons apart and lifted the box open with wide eyes. Her hazel pools glistened as her eyes laid upon the black leather jacket neatly folded inside the box.

'Roses are red, Violets are blue. This is a leather jacket for you.'

"Are you kidding me?" Olivia uttered. She could not believe that she finished reading Maxen's letter without breaking into a peal of mocking laughter. Can't he get more creative next time?

Biting her bottom lip, Olivia locked her office door and sauntered towards the loo inside her office to change.

It was almost two in the afternoon when all the doc.u.ments she needed to sign were handed back to Secretary Gail for filing.

Walking out of her London office, heads turned towards Olivia as she owned the hallways, walking with her eyes straight ahead and chin held up high.

"Okay, back to work children," Secretary Gail barked. She snapped her fingers to get everyone's attention away from the door as soon as Olivia stepped out of the office.

Employees scrambled and heads burrowed back to their desks.

Down in the lobby, Olivia paused as soon as she stepped out of the elevator car. She looked left and right, scanning the place, but saw not a soul in sight. She thought maybe it was downtime and people were up in their offices.

Sauntering out of the lobby, Olivia's hand flew to her c.h.e.s.t, shocked when a bouquet randomly popped out of nowhere.

"Maaax," she exhaled his name. "Thank you. This is lovely," she said, accepting Maxen's beautifully curated bouquet. "I'm glad you didn't steal flowers today."

Maxen snorted at Olivia's comment. He rubbed the skin above his eyebrows and admitted, "Well, I can't steal flowers from Buckingham Palace, so I have to ask the Queen for a little favor."

"Maxen!" Olivia's eyes grew large. She held the bouquet up, about to hit Maxen with it, but realized they were in public. "Stop mooching flowers from other people," she angrily whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Maxen asked.

"Who's whispering?"

"You."

Olivia tilted her head to the side. "Me?" She scanned the area one more time and realized not a soul was in sight.

Slowly, a kaleidoscope of butterflies was released from a cage inside of her stomach, sending a fluttering feeling in her heart.

"Max, is this even legal? Did you have this area secured?"

"For ten minutes, yes." Maxen flashed a boyish grin, one the Olivia knew belonged only to her and nobody else. "Wanted to pick up my wife from work, so I had to pull some strings."

"Quick. Let's take a photo." Olivia fished her phone out from her purse. Hand in hand, she took a photo of her and Maxen, posting it in her social media account.

"No caption?" Maxen wondered out loud after seeing that Olivia posted the photo on a whim and didn't even bother writing a caption.

Biting her bottom lip but failing big time, a big smile curved Olivia's lips. "Captions can wait. Let's go before we make the headlines," Olivia said, pulling Maxen by the arm but stopped short when she couldn't find a car.

Seeing her confusion, Maxen intertwined their hands and said, "This way." They were not far from the street.

Right in a corner, a cafe racer bike shined in all its glory.

"Fancy ride," Olivia commented, running her fingertips on the curve of the bike's seat.

Maxen picked up a helmet and wore it on Olivia's head, snapping the lock before picking up his own.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING?" Olivia tried to speak as loud as she could, afraid that Maxen wouldn't hear her because of the helmet. To her surprise, she heard Maxen's voice loud and clear through a speaker inside the helmet.

"Just a quick ride outside the city."

"Fancy ride. Fancy helmet. Thank you very much." This time, Olivia spoke using her normal voice, another smile curving her lips. She wondered just how many more surprises she would receive after.

Looking over his shoulders, Maxen grasped Olivia's hands and wrapped it around his waist. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ride or die, baby. Ride or die."

Maxen let out a hearty laugh. He bumped his head against Olivia's, clearly amused at her reply.

Revving up the engine, Maxen and Olivia rode out into what should be a busy street in London had Maxen not closed the entire block.

Olivia shook her head upon seeing a barricade of police down the block. And as they rode farther away, the police cars disbursed, finally letting movements flow in the once empty street.

They were silent the entire ride, enjoying the passing view of endless greeneries and asphalt.

An hour in their ride, the skies turned gray, and heavy, dark clouds hovered them.

"I think it's going to rain, Maxen," Olivia softly spoke, clinging for her dear life on Maxen as she hugged him tighter.

Suddenly, tiny droplets of rain drizzled in the sky, sliding down their leather jackets and drenching their shoes.

Maxen hissed. "We're almost at their destination." He planted a hand over Olivia's, hoping his touch would calm her down.

"Gooooo. Throttle this baby up. I don't want to get fried by lightning." 

In a second, Maxen bid as told, zipping down the road like a thunderbolt, but even as he broke the miles, the sky cried, sending a heavy shower of rain on Earth.

Reaching up to their location deep in the forest, Jack welcomed a soaking wet Maxen and Olivia with a towel in hand, which Maxen completely ignored.

"Thank you," Maxen said. He then scooped Olivia off the floor, carrying her bridal style up into the loft.

Peeking through the banister, Maxen smiled at Jack and winked at him. "We will see you tomorrow, Jack. Thank you for your service." He didn't want to shoo the man away, but this cabin was his and Olivia's private space for the night.

With a curt nod, Jack bowed his head and placed the towels on the coffee table. He scanned the room one last time just to make sure he missed nothing that the royals would use for the night.

Upon ticking all the boxes in his checklist, Jack picked up his hat and jacket from the coat rack. 

He wanted to get out as fast as he could, knowing what was about to go down inside the cabin, but decided to add more wood in the fireplace, just in case.

Regretting his decision, Jack almost burned his hand when a mewl reverberated inside the cabin.