“This is impossible,” Bianca cried, looking at the pile of dishes left for us to do.

“It’s okay,” I said, “It won’t take us long if—”

“Don’t you dare say ‘if we work together’! The only reason I agreed to this plan of yours was because you promised me we would get the work done in half the time and then we could spend the rest of the day together… it doesn’t seem to be taking us less time at all, it seems that it is taking us longer!”

I sighed and bit back the sharp retort that had come to mind. Bianca was beautiful and fun to be around, well, that’s what I thought anyway, but working with her was turning out to be a nightmare.

“Look,” I said, “Why don’t you scamper off and do whatever it is that your sister wants you to do and then we’ll meet up again later.”

Her eyes widened with hope and then she took in the dishes still remaining and her countenance fell.

“I can’t leave you here with all this,” she said and I was surprised. I thought she would jump at the chance to get out of the kitchen and back to the top floors where her sister and the Queen worked. “You must think I’m an awful person,” she said, looking at me with big, repentant eyes, “I’m sorry about all my whining, but I had such high hopes for today. I thought we’d be an hour, max and then we could escape and my sister wouldn’t know a thing about it.”

I took pity on her and gave her a smile. “And we’ve been here for three hours,” I said, “With no end in sight. Don’t worry, I understand completely. I can’t say that I’m all that enamoured with the idea of working down here for the rest of the week, but Dom is being very strict about it.”

“I know what you mean. Katie, I mean Priscilla was surprised when I told her I was coming down here to work, but I think she was relieved as well. I can’t seem to do anything right when I’m around her. She’s always been the perfect sister who did everything right, there’s no way I can live up to that.”

We turned back to the task at hand. “Dom is very much the same,” I said, “Always so right and proper. He wasn’t always this way, but after his wife died…”

Bianca gasped and looked at him with horror. “Dom was married?” I nodded. “And his wife died?” I nodded again. “I can’t believe it,” she said, “He looks too young to be a widower.”

I shrugged and went back to scrubbing the pot in my gloved hands. “It was about five years ago now. They married right after Dom took over the job as Lord Chancellor. They were married for a couple of years but she was killed in a boating accident on the lake. They used to sail, the both of them, but I don’t think Dom’s been out on the water ever since.”

“Oh that’s awful,” she said with a sad shake of her head. She took the now scrubbed pot from my hand and rinsed the suds off it before stacking it in the dishwasher. “The poor man. No wonder he’s so uptight.”

I snorted. Uptight was an understatement when it came to my brother. “So your sister’s always been little miss perfect?”

Bianca nodded, “Yeah. Our mum died when I was a baby and she’s looked after me my whole life. I expect she thinks of me as a daughter, not a sister. She certainly tried to act like my mother most of the time. Thank goodness for Papa, though. If he didn’t spoil me every now and again I’m sure I’d be as boring and straight as Priscilla is.”

“They make a good pair, our siblings,” I said blithely as I handed off the next pot.

Bianca stopped and looked at me. “You know,” she said, “That’s a really good idea.”

“What?”

“We should get Dom and Kat—Priscilla together.”

“Isn’t she promised to someone else?”

Bianca waved away my comment. “She’s told Papa that she won’t marry him and I don’t think he will be able to get her to change her mind. My sister can be quite stubborn when she wants to be.”

“But why would we want them to get together? Won’t that just make it harder for us to see each other?”

“No,” she said with a big grin, turning to me and practically jumping up and down. “That’s the beauty of it. If we can get Dom to distract her, then she won’t be keeping tabs on me and she won’t even know we’re seeing each other.”

I stopped to watch the way her eyes danced with joy at the thought. She really was very pretty and I didn’t mind that she was a bit of a pampered princess, most of the girls in my circle were. At least with Bianca she hadn’t yet become jaded or learned to use her wiles as effectively as some of the other daughters of the realm. And I liked her, which was kind of different for me. I tolerated most of the girls, ahem, women that I dated because it was good for my reputation to be seen with them. Bianca was different though and I could actually imagine us becoming friends. Hanging out with her wasn’t a bore in the least and if I could get some alone time with her, then all the better.

“Okay, so how do we do this?”

She bit her bottom lip as she thought and I was distracted by the sight. Bianca was still young, only twenty, and I’m pretty sure she had no idea the effect she had on me and other men like me. I could tell she had been sheltered from much of court life, probably from growing up in France, and I was only too happy to be the one to introduce her to all that awaited her.

“What’s Dom doing tonight?” she asked, drawing me out of my reverie.

I shrugged, “I have no idea. There aren’t any functions or official events he needs to attend, so no doubt he’ll be sequestered in his office squinting and swearing at his computer.”

“Do you think you could convince him to ask Priscilla out on a date?”

I shook my head, “Probably not,” I said, “He doesn’t date.”

“Okay,” she said, lapsing into silence while she thought things through, “Do you think you could convince him to run into her accidentally and then delay her so we could have a picnic?”

“Maybe,” I said slowly.

“Perfect,” she said with a grin.

As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get Priscilla out of my mind. I was baffled at how she had turned on me so readily with no provocation. I had simply been offering my help and she had taken it the absolute wrong way. I know I’d made a song and dance about her when she first came to the Palace as one of the Queen’s Ladies in Waiting, but things were different now, weren’t they?

I sighed and sat back from my desk. No they weren’t. I hadn’t let up on her as she learned her role and I had taken great delight in correcting her mistakes and rubbing her nose in it. No wonder she thought I was trying to undermine her, because up until last night, I had been.

I don’t know why I had taken such a dislike to her so quickly. Maybe I had felt threatened by her access to the Queen and thought my job was in jeopardy. I had worked closely with the Prince as he had apprenticed with his father and it was a devastating loss when they both died. We, all of the staff within the Palace, were reeling when Alyssa first came home and none of us knew what would happen. There had been no precedent for a female heir and things looked very unstable for a while. But then Alyssa had shown her true character and everyone had felt relief that she was as much her father’s child as the Prince had been.

Priscilla had worked closely with me as we’d combed through the constitution to find any statutes that could strengthen the Crown Princess’ case and we had spent many a late night pouring over dusty texts in the library. She had shown her worth to me then, but yet I continued to marginalise her. It was glaringly obvious that I was at fault for her animosity towards me and now, when my feelings towards her had changed, I was left wondering why.

Idiot.

The door of my office flew open and Louis walked in with a wide smile on his face. “Dom,” he said and I immediately became wary.

“Louis,” I replied cautiously, “Have you finished with the Majordomo for the day.”

“I have,” he replied and as he moved into the office I noticed he wasn’t alone. “Bianca here has offered to help me out.”

I raised an eyebrow at that and pursed my lips. Bianca had not struck me as the type to willingly do manual labour.

“Really?” I asked, “And how does Lady Beaumonde feel about that?”

“Oh, she’s quite happy to get me out of her hair, I expect,” Bianca replied not cowed by my growl.

“We’re actually here to ask a favour,” Louis said and my gaze snapped to his. “You see, Bianca has been working so hard to help me and I feel it’s only right that I reward her for her kindness. Without her assistance I would still be in the bowels of the Palace scrubbing dirty pots and pans, so I thought it might be nice for us to share a picnic this evening.”

“A picnic,” I asked, not quite sure where the favour came into it.

“Yes,” Louis replied with a carefree smile, “I spoke to the Majordomo and he assured me that it would be perfectly within reason to ask Chef to prepare a basket for us… no six thousand dollar wines or caviar, I promise.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, “And what part is it that you want me to play?”

“Well, you see, Lord Chancellor,” Bianca said, stepping forward, “It’s my sister. Priscilla is a little… overprotective of me and we were hoping that maybe if you could keep her distracted for a couple of hours then Louis and I could have our picnic and she’d be none the wiser.”

“Distract her how, exactly?”

“Work?” Louis asked but Bianca shook her head.

“No, I had something else in mind,” she replied and I saw a mischievous glint in her eye that I didn’t quite know how to take. “I happen to know that Priscilla is heading into town soon. There is a small theatre that is having a John Hughes festival.”

“John Hughes?” I asked, puzzled.

“He’s some director or filmmaker or something. He made a whole lot of movies in the eighties. Anyway, Priscilla absolutely adores those movies and this little theatre is playing his movies all month. Tonight I think it’s ‘The Breakfast Club’ or something.”

“And you want me to what? Ask her out on a date?”

Bianca chuckled, “No, of course not. I just thought that maybe if you happen to be walking past the theatre when she got there and accidentally run into her…”

“And then when it was finished, you could grab a bite to eat at one of the cafe’s in town,” Louis added.

I looked between both of them, knowing that I was being played, but… the idea had merit. Maybe I could meet up with her for my own agenda. My behaviour towards her up to now has been appalling and I really needed to make amends. Maybe by approaching her outside of work, it would soften her towards me.

“And what do I get out of his arrangement?” I asked.

“My everlasting gratefulness?” Louis replied and I shook my head.

“The knowledge that you are doing a good deed?” Bianca said and I curled my lip in distaste.

“A night on the town with a beautiful woman,” Louis tried again.

I sighed. “I’ll take you not causing any more strife in the Palace,” I said resignedly.

“Deal,” Louis said, sticking out his hand to shake on it.

I shook his hand and Bianca did a little skip, clasping her hands together under her chin in delight. She looked like a five year old told she was getting a pony for Christmas.

“She will be leaving the Palace in about half an hour,” Bianca said quickly, “Don’t be late!”

As the two of them left my office I suddenly had a rash of nerves. What had I just agreed to?

I stood around the corner, trying to look casual. I was leaning one shoulder against the old brick veneer of the the theatre, one leg crossed casually over the other, my arms folded and my sunglasses on. The sun hadn’t yet set and it was warm for April, but it had been a nice day and standing there I realised that it had been a long time since I’d stood still long enough to notice. The last five years had been all about work, all about moving forward and not giving myself enough down time to look back. Looking back was bad. Looking back led to remembering and I’d really rather not remember.

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and turned my head so I could see around the corner. Priscilla was there. She was standing still on the sidewalk out the front of the theatre and was digging through her handbag - a giant of a thing, so big in fact I was worried she would fall into it and disappear. It was the perfect opportunity for me to ‘bump’ into her, literally. I straightened and walked towards her, trying to look like I hadn’t noticed her just in case she looked up and saw me, but as I got closer, she seemed even more intent on what she was looking for in her bag, frustrated even. I angled myself towards her and as I walked passed, I brushed her shoulder, the connection zapping me like a static shock.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said and she looked up at me, her eyes dazed as if she didn’t quite know where she was. “Priscilla?”

“Lord Chancellor,” she replied and I could see she was still trying to find her equilibrium.

“Are you okay?” I ask, genuinely concerned about her.

She shook herself and gave me a polite smile, “Yes, I’m fine. I just seem to have misplaced my wallet.”

“Oh,” I replied, “Did you need it for something in particular?”

She sighed and looked up at the theatre marquee. I followed her gaze to see ’The Breakfast Club’ spelled out in big letters with the showtimes and surrounded by flashing bare bulbs like an old fashioned movie theatre.

“I was going to the movies,” she said, hooking her bag back on her shoulder and looking around dejectedly. “But it looks like that’s not going to happen now.”

“The Breakfast Club?”

She nodded.

“I can’t say I’ve ever seen it,” I mused, “What if we go together?”

“Oh, I couldn’t—”

“I’m not doing anything else,” I said, “And it’s been an absolute age since I watched a movie.”

“Do you even know what ‘The Breakfast Club’ is about?”

“Not a clue,” I said with an easy smile.

“You’re willing to watch a movie with me that you know nothing about?”

“I’m not often very spontaneous,” I said, “But sometimes I like to shake things up. Come on, is it such a bad movie that you’re embarrassed to watch it with me?”

She chuckled and shook her head in wonderment. “It’s an early 1980s teen movie about a group of kids who get stuck in detention. It’s a cult classic, but maybe not your taste.”

“Are you saying I’m not cultured?” I asked in mock indignation.

She laughed again and I really liked the sound of it. I really liked this lighter side of her and I wanted to get to know her better, to see more of this part of her.

“Besides,” I went on, “I owe you an apology.”

She looked up at me and quirked an eyebrow.

“I have been a bit of an ogre towards you over the last few months and it was completely out of line. I can be a little possessive about my work, but that’s no excuse for such poor manners. Let me make it up to you by taking you to the movies and then dinner after.”

She sucked the corner of her lip in her mouth as she searched my gaze. I waited, hoping that she would see my genuine desire to spend time with her. Whatever she saw, it must have satisfied her because she made her decision.

“Okay,” she said.

I exhaled a breath that I didn’t know I was holding and smiled down at her. I offered her my arm and she curled her hand through the crook of my elbow. We turned towards the theatre and I urged her forward.

“Two tickets for ‘The Breakfast Club’,” I said to the attendant.

He nodded and processed the sale, handing us our tickets. We moved into the theatre proper and I was surprised to see the large snack bar lit up brightly and the smell of salty, buttery popcorn permeating the air. It really had been a long time since I’d been to the movies.

I walked us up to the counter and ordered the largest box of popcorn they had and two sodas.

“Oh, Dom, no you don’t have to—”

“Of course I do,” I replied with a grin, “You want some Maltesers or Jaffas as well?”

She grinned up at me and my breath caught in my throat. I don’t think I had ever seen her so… open, relaxed. It suited her.

“Maltesers,” she said, pulling me back from wherever my mind had been zapped to with her smile.

“Maltesers as well,” I said the snack bar assistant. If she wanted chocolate covered balls of malt, then who was I to stand in her way?

We gathered our plunder and headed for the screening room. I really wanted to put my hand on her back, it was an overwhelming desire, but my hands were full with popcorn and drinks, Priscilla carried the Maltesers.

“Where shall we sit?” I asked as we stood and looked at the tiers of available seats.

“In the back row, of course,” Priscilla said, leading the way up the stairs.

We settled in our seats, the rest of the room practically empty, and I took a moment to relax. It had been so long since I just sat and did nothing, it felt weird, but in a good way. And I couldn’t actually remember the last time I was on a date with a beautiful woman or any woman for that matter. Not that this was a date, of course, but still… it kind of was. The lights dimmed and the curtain across the screen opened and I settled in, determined to enjoy myself.