The Princess and the CEO

            “Why are they after you?” He nodded toward the sirens in pursuit.

            “Oh,” she said, and cast him a harried smile. “I’m the princess.”

            There was a moment of silence. Then Sebastian said, “Oh, you are?”

            “Yes. Marie Nicole Serena Angelique. Please call me Nicole.”

            “This is such good luck.”

            She looked pleased to hear that. “Really? Why?”

            “Because I’m the Pope,” Sebastian replied, flatly.

            Princess Marie Nicole Serena Angelique made a face at him. “You don’t believe me.”

            “I have a skeptical nature.”

            “You have a cynical nature.”

            “I much prefer skeptical. Do you even know where we are?” he asked, because they were now speeding along a road edged with forest, the police still in full pursuit.

            “Of course I know where we are.”

            “Of course. Forgive me, Your Highness. This has gone far enough.” Sebastian reached out, took the steering wheel firmly in hand, and pulled toward the side of the road. To his surprise, the princess let him. He jerked the steering wheel hard, expecting to meet resistance, and instead met none at all, which propelled them into a sharp right angle turn. And, as the princess did not let up on the accelerator, they headed straight into the forest.

            “Now look what you’ve done!” she shouted, dodging a tree.

            “What I’ve done?” he shouted back. “Put the damn brake on!”

            “They’ll definitely catch us then.” She swerved around a boulder.

            “They’ll catch us if we hit a tree head-on, too,” he retorted. “We’ll just be dead then.”

            “I told you to put your seatbelt-We made it!” she squealed, as she swerved onto another paved road. “Oh, that was a great idea, cutting through the forest.”

            “That wasn’t an idea-”

            “Shh! See how much time we gained.”

            “How much…What?”

            “You’ve never tried to run away before, have you?”

            “When I was 6. I got to the end of the road before deciding I wanted some cookies before I left.”

            “Really? When I was 6 I ran away for two days.”

            “Are you serious?”

            “Mmm.”

            “How did you eat?”

            “I took food with me. You have to plan ahead. I think we lost them.”

            “What?”

            “I think we lost them.”

            Sebastian turned around. He could still hear sirens in the distance but the road behind them was empty. “How did that happen?”

            “They obviously don’t have my reflexes.” She looked absurdly proud of herself, flashed him a pretty smile. She would be pretty, if she weren’t completely insane, he thought. “So, where do you want to go?”

            “I don’t want to go anywhere.”

            “Yes, you do. You want to go to the Palace d’Or. I’ll take you.”

            “I don’t want to go to the Palace d’Or,” Sebastian reiterated, stubbornly.

            “Now you’re going to sulk.”

            “I am not sulking.”

            “Hmm,” she said.

            “I am not sulking,” he glared at her.

            “You have nice eyes, you know. They’re a lot nicer when you’re not glowering.”

            “I’m not glowering.”

            “You need to become more attuned to your emotions. You are most definitely sulking and glowering.”

            “I don’t think this situation is funny.”

            “Do you have any sense of humor at all?” she grinned. “And to think that I picked you because I thought you’d be fun.”

            “You picked me?” he repeated.

            “Yes. I stood at the intersection and I considered which car to pick a ride with.”

            “There were lots of eligible men sitting at that intersection?”

            “Okay,” she conceded, with another irrepressible grin. “There was only you. But you did look like fun.”

            “I am fun,” he insisted, indignantly.

            “Could have fooled me.”

            “You hijack my car, abduct me, and then you expect me to entertain you?”

            “At the very least.”