Stand By Me Darling
Chapter 52: Not A Fairy-tale

Chapter 52: Not A Fairy-tale

"Drag me..?" Arthur heard the weird words coming out of her mouth. She never talked like this before.

She’s a princess; born and brought up as a princess who thought that no one is equal to her.

She never bragged openly but the way she conducted herself exuded confidence and assertion.

What happened to her?

"Honey, I’ll never be dragged by you, trust me. If anything, you’ll propel me to the stars. At least that’s what you’ve done till now," Arthur refused to believe she actually believes what she says.

So she is ill and has some anxiety attacks. And how did it affect her overall achievements in any way? She left the country with nothing in her hand and now without even accepting a cent from her grandfather or anyone else, she is the COO of a firm earning seven digits per year.

She should be saying all these just to push me away! This...

Talia rubbed her temples with her index fingers as she looked at Arthur sitting leisurely with one of his arms behind the chair he was sitting.

"Ugh! You don’t even understand what I am saying, Fred! What do you know about me? Nothing..."

"Then let’s spend more time together. Let’s get to know each other more... Why should we break our relationship?"

"Because I don’t want to! Do you even realise it Fred? Do you even like it here? This city filled to the brim with people... This little apartment the size of a matchbox with more match boxes stacked above and beneath.... No clean air, no chirping birds just the noise of automobile horns and... "

" Come back to Esteria! I know you miss that place... That is Your home! Iris, come home with me... "

His voice was smooth like a good wine and his appearance was like a marble statue as he looked at her with gentle eyes.

’Come home with me, he says... Who in their right mind will be able to refuse him? ’

’Do I miss Esteria..?’

Talia closed her eyes and the images of her homeland popped up in her memory. Those pure misty air and the greenery...The loveliest spring flowers, the smell of hawthorn... the loveliest people who’d not think twice to give up their life for loyalty and principles...

’Absolutely!’

"Fred, don’t be stubborn. It’s not healthy to hold on to one person for the entire life. Go out for a drink, find some women, chat with them, sleep with them, enjoy life... You might find someone more interesting than me, a normal woman who will..."

"Normal, huh?" Arthur snorted and stood up with his body stiff with anger and the chair toppled on the floor.

He was really angry that she keeps on trying to push him away. And these kind of words hurt him more than when she screamed at him.

"What’s with you and normalcy? What’s wrong with you? Why can’t I like you? Do you think of yourself as some unhinged lunatic? I definitely don’t think so!" he gritted his teeth seeing her looking to the side down at the floor.

"I should sleep around with women? Am I your Cyrus? I’m me! I don’t like other women and I only like you. Is it that hard for you to understand? Or is that you are feeling guilty that you were with..., " he stopped himself from going further knowing he went too far.

" Why did you stop, Fred? "Talia stood up chuckling slightly. There was a sting in her heart that she cannot get over it probably this whole lifetime. She knew these kind of words will come out of his mouth someday.

He was celibate for her and she wasn’t. If the roles were reversed, she’d have said the same thing but would have put it more harshly! Both are similar in that aspect.

’If only I realised how much I love Fred from the beginning and there will be a day he’d be standing in front of me asking me to come home with him, I wouldn’t have even let another man’s shadow fall on me.

But I didn’t and I made some stupid choices. And I did learn that Fred is the only one I love by those stupid choices too. So, I should be grateful for that. I cannot change the past and it will follow me through the rest of my life and I’ve got to deal with it.’

But she could understand he meant it in a different way.

"Iris... That’s not what I meant..." Arthur really didn’t mean it that way.

" I know, Fred... I’m not stupid to not know that. I was with three other men and it is a fact no one can change. And also that’s not why I’m asking you to try and date other women. Just listen to me Fred..." she walked closer to him and he held her hand.

" If you are with me, you’ll have to walk on eggshells with every word you speak with me. Some words might actually hurt me and some words might not. But you will be weary being with me and talking with me will soon become a risk for you to take. Like last night, you were jealous and acted that way but I had a hallucination and you ended up blaming yourself for hurting me. You will lose your peace of mind, Fred. I don’t want that for you. Please, understand... "

Talia looked at Fred and their eyes met. She could see the various emotions swirling in his eyes. He seemed to be digesting the facts.

" Fred, as I said previously... Esteria is a place filled with my nightmares. And being there will only bring pain. You know how that feels. You’ve said so yourself why you never crossed the creek after getting pointed by the gun and after you saw what happened the day I crossed the creek. That’s how I feel about Esteria. I don’t want to go back there," her voice shook a bit and he hugged her.

" You don’t have to go back there. I can stay here. We can be together here."

Talia heard what he said and her heart swayed a bit. That really would be wonderful.

" Fred... " she got out of his embrace and patted his arms that were strong and well defined even through the fabric.

" You’ll regret it if you go against your wishes and preferences,Fred. I know you will not like this place. You will bottle up your discomfort living here each day and one day you will feel that you were the one who put in a lot for our relationship to work, that I lost nothing and gained a lot while you were the one who had to put up with everything. And that will lead for you to hate me. I’ve seen many couple breaking up even after having kids, bringing up something happened years ago and... I don’t want that for us... "

" But I love you, "Fred said with a sigh.

Why is what she says makes sense and seems stupid all at the same time?

"Love is not enough, Fred! Especially between us... We have a lots of... Our families,our past... It all will be like landmines that might blow up any moment down the road. Our life is not a fairy tale, Fred! Even if it is a fairy tale it would be like the Grimm’s fairytale. Or it would be Shakespearean...Jordan was right! We are Romeo and Juliet. We will only have a bad ending...," she looked at her phone on the kitchen counter as it rang.

It was a call from an unknown number and Arthur who was about to reply to her frowned as he could recognise the number.

"Who is this?" Talia picked up the phone but before she answered, the call ended leaving a missed call.

"Did he just purposefully make a missed call?" Talia’s eyebrows got raised in surprise and Arthur got her phone from her hand to dial back.

"It’s Prince Edward," he said as he was about to press the dial button and Talia grabbed back her phone from his hand.

"Why should I call back? Is the Royal Family that impoverished to even make a call?" she snorted while Arthur just looked blankly at her. In their country maybe only she can act this brazen with the Royal family and get away with it.

At the same time she received a text message.

[ HRH Prince Edward expects a call from Lady Talia]

" Keep on "expecting" , you f*cking dipsh*t!" she screamed at her phone and threw the phone on the kitchen counter and pointing her index finger at Fred insinuating that he is not allowed to touch her phone, she walked off to her bedroom.

"Talia, I think he requires your call..." he walked behind her and she turned at him,

"He can require whatever he wants. He will not get anything from me! And Arthur, have some dignity... He does not rule you! Your father is still the President"

She seemed really disgusted and was rubbing her hand on her clothes as if she was getting rid of slime.

Is she that disgusted by receiving his call?

"I thought you don’t cuss," he mumbled.

"Yeah! I still don’t cuss in front of anyone’s face. Well, who am I kidding? He might be the exception! And those words... You taught me those... Don’t act so noble now."

She closed her door and came out dressed for work. Arthur was sitting on the couch and she walked straight over and sat on his lap and pulled out his wallet from his pocket.

" What are you doing? " he pushed her away reflexively. He was just now thinking about everything she said and now she is acting like they are close and sitting on my lap?

Talia as if expecting that to happen, staggered a bit but stood up without falling and opened his wallet while he tried to grab it.

"Give that back!"

Talia dodged his hands, "You tore my clothes yesterday. You should pay for my new clothes!"

She said while running to the kitchen and opened it. Arthur didn’t fight with her anymore. He did ruin her clothes.

Talia always wanted to have a look at his wallet and she was glad to see it. Back in high school he always hid his wallet from her. This is the first time she was opening his wallet.

What came to her view first was a picture. It was old but was well-maintained as expected of him.