The Lowly Highness

“HEY, honey,” Mary Grace said sweetly after she answered her phone. “How are you? Have you eaten your lunch?”

She couldn’t contain her excitement. Mary Grace and her boyfriend have plans tonight, and she has prepared a surprise for him. When she saw that he’s calling, her chest hammered erratically because she’s been waiting for his calls for almost three hours.

“Mary Grace, I can’t make it tonight,” Adrian said on the other line without a hint of hesitation. “I’m sorry, I’ve got other plans. I hope you understand, honey…”

Mary Grace felt her world suddenly stopped orbiting. She bit her lower lip before she spoke. “O-of course, I understand, honey. I’ll wait for you at home. I love you…”

“Okay, thank you,” Adrian said and dropped the call without responding to her ‘I love you’.

Mary Grace sighed. “He’s always busy…” She dropped her phone on the desk loudly. “ She doesn’t have time for me—”

“Hey Mary Grace, are you busy?” Jenny tapped her tensed shoulders.

From her clipboard, Mary Grace looked up at her colleague with furrowed brows. “Why?”

“Can you fill in for me tonight?” she asked in a hopeful tone. “My boyfriend invited me to their family dinner. And guess what? He told me that he’s going to introduce me to his parents!”

Mary Grace forced herself to smile. “That’s good news,” she said in a neutral tone. “But I’m sorry, Jen. I can’t fill your duty tonight. I also have an important plan with my boyfriend.”

The smile on Jenny’s face vanished. “Can you reschedule it tomorrow?” she asked and held her hand. “Please, Mary Grace?”

Mary Grace pressed her lips together. “I’m sorry, Jen. Not now, I can’t—”

“How could you refuse me, Mary Grace?” Jenny’s voice suddenly raised. “I thought we’re friends? I always cover up for your late, and this is what I will get in return?”

Mary Grace knotted her forehead. She couldn’t believe what she’s hearing from her colleague. “Wait, Jenny. As far as I know, I was the one that always covers your late arrival at work—”

“Enough! I don’t want to hear your excuses, Mary Grace,” she hissed. “I don’t need your explanation. How could you become a nurse if you can’t give favors to your colleagues in need?”

“What?” Mary Grace frowned. “Are you serious? You know what, Jenny, you’re just letting yourself be carried away by your emotions—”

“No, no,” she protested, shaking her head. “You’re not a real friend. You’re a fake!” she said and walked out of the nurse’s headquarters.

Mary Grace was left dumbfounded. She raked her fingers through her hair. “What happened to her?” she sighed. “Does she have anger management?” She sighed and picked up her pen, but a few seconds later, she felt as if she was going to cry. “Now, I had a misunderstanding with my friend just to set our dinner, but in the end, he’ll just cancel it.”

Mary Grace and her boyfriend have been living together for five four years, but they’ve been in a relationship for eight years. It was almost a decade. They were in college when they decided to live together. Because Mary Grace was technically an orphan since she was in high school, being with a man who promised to give her a complete family is what she yearned for.

But when Adrian started working in an architecture firm last year, he became busy and seldom went home. Mary Grace understands it because she knew that being a licensed engineer requires a lot of time with your building team. But what she doesn’t know is that it also requires multiple overnights to the point that he didn’t go home for seven days straight.

“I miss you, Adrian…” Mary Grace murmured while staring at his picture on her phone’s wallpaper. “Did you miss me?”

“He didn’t miss you.” Mateo, the only colleague that she considered her friend, entered the nurse headquarters with a pile of clipboards in his hand. “What did you do to lunatic Jenny? She’s in a terrible mood now.”

Mary Grace made a ‘tss’ sound. “She asked me to fill in for her again,” she said irritably.

“And you refused?” He asked. And, when she nodded, Mateo laughed. “That’s good. She abused your kindness. Well, it was also your fault because you let her used you all the time.”

Mary Grace waved her hand. “I don’t like the sound of the term that you used,” she said and sighed again. “But, my plans tonight are canceled. I should tell her that I’m available now.”

“You will not do that, Mary Grace,” Mateo took the clipboard from her desk and checked it. “Finish your rounds as early as possible.”

She took the clipboard from her. “Who are you to tell me what I’m going to do?”

“I’m the man who is better than your boyfriend,” Mateo laughed. “Let’s have some beers and celebrate your 108th heartbreak from your boyfriend.”

Mary Grace looked away from Mateo. “I’m not heartbroken,” she said, even if she knew that what she really felt right now…

After her duty at the hospital, Mary Grace decided to go home and changed clothes first before meeting with Mateo. On her way home, she sent a message to Adrian asking his permission if she could grab some beers with Mateo tonight. Adrian knew Mateo because they have met on her birthday last March, and Mary Grace can say that Adrian is okay with Mateo.

It took ten minutes before she received Adrian’s reply with a one-word response. Mary Grace heaved a sigh as she typed her answer, but she hesitated to hit the send button.

“Is he even reading my messages?” she asked herself. “Maybe not because he was so busy—Ouch!”

Because of the impact, Mary Grace dropped her phone on the road. When she looked where it was, a car came fast and ran over her latest model of android phone, scattering its pieces on the road. Mary Grace couldn’t help but watch its pieces broken.

“Oops, I’m sorry…” A soft and cold male voice spoke behind her. “I-I didn’t see you.”

Mary Grace drew her brows together and prepared her glare for the man that bumped with her. She propped her hand on her waist and turned to face him, but then, she paused and looked at him closely with a knotted forehead.

“Uh… It’s fine,” she said as she started to think if she’s looking at an angel or a Greek God because this man is too handsome to be real!

***