Fleeing Lennox and the palace gave me a rush.
This was the most alive I had felt in a while.
“We really appreciate the extra hands.” Debra, a woman in her early forties with curly brown hair and curvy figure, motioned me to follow her through the shelter. On several weekends during school, I had volunteered at their adoption fairs. They were the top no-kill shelter, always trying to get pets homes, which was my goal for all shelters. “I must admit, I wasn’t really expecting you… I mean, with you being…” She blushed, walking faster down the hallway.
“You mean since I’m dating the Prince of Great Victoria.” I smiled, watching her cheeks turn a deep crimson.
“Yeah. I would think you would be far too busy to come here. I mean, you are everywhere. A celebrity now.”
“Celebrity?” I chuckled. “Not even close.”
“Do you even know how much you are being talked about?” She peered at me. “Telly, papers, internet. I mean everywhere.”
“I’m still me,” I responded. “And never too busy to help animals. They are my first love. They will always come first.”
She nodded, but her expression pinched like she didn’t believe me. “Well, as you probably saw, today we need help bathing and trimming the dogs, getting them to their best. Nothing would be better than getting them all adopted.”
“I’m here to help where you need me.”
“Okay, I’ll start you on washing duty with Kyle, Sarah, Travis, and Poppy.” She walked me into a room, the smell of wet dog and soap filling my nose. Music played steadily behind the random dog barks and the chatting between the group.
On the right and left walls were large built-in wash sinks for the dogs with hose facets and shelves of soap and towels. Across from me were glass doors, opening out onto a small patio with fake grass. They probably let the dogs play and dry off out there on warm sunny days. Blow-dryers, combs, and trimming devices were stocked in rolling carts around the room.
“Hey guys, you have another hand.” Debra gestured to me. “This is—”
“Fucking hell.” A blonde girl washing a Yorkshire terrier stood up, blinking at me.
“Poppy.” Debra frowned.
“Blimey… Do you bloody know who you are?” Poppy’s mouth dropped open. All four of them stared at me in awe.
“Some days, I wonder.” I smiled, trying to ease the focus off me.
“Y-you’re… I was just reading about you!” She held up her mobile.
“She’s here to volunteer, just like you.” Debra’s stern tone told Poppy to curb herself. “The animals are the celebrities here.”
That word was making my brain twist up. Celebrities were movie actors, sports stars, musicians—people who had talent and skills, not some girl who happened to go to the same school as the Prince of Great Victoria.
Most definitely not awkward, shy me.
“Yeah. But…” Poppy wasn’t quite ready to let it go.
“Could you help Spencer get a station set up?”
“I will!” Both Poppy and a guy around my age raised their hands.
“Thank you, Travis.” Debra’s slight to Poppy was not lost on her. She huffed, glaring as Debra left the room.
Travis wasn’t tall or built, but he was a good-looking boy with a mop of brown hair that he kept shaggy like he thought he could be mistaken for a boy band member.
“Spencer, right?”
“Yeah.” I kept it short, wanting to just get to helping the animals.
“Wow, so you are really dating the prince, eh?”
“That’s what the papers are saying.” I grabbed a mobile cart and dragged it to an available sink.
“Ha! Funny.” He snorted, raking his fingers through his thick hair. “So, you’re like close to the royals?”
“Dude, arsehole, she’s boning one of them!” Poppy exclaimed from her station. “You are a total moron.”
“Where do we get the next dog to be washed?” Ignoring Travis, I glanced around to the other two workers.
“The ones still waiting are playing in the room there.” Sarah pointed to a door next to my station.
“Thank you.” I nodded, heading for the room, muffled barking and yipping coming from the other side.
Travis trailed after me as I ventured into the large dog playroom. “What I meant was you are good friends with the Princess, then.”
Ah.
Eloise.
Staying silent, my hands went out for the dogs running up to me, jumping, barking, and nudging my leg for attention. I cooed and pet all I could reach.
“She’s so hot… I was just wondering—”
“No.” Blunt and ruthless, I cut him down, my attention on a dog hiding in the corner, its fuzzy body shaking. His coat was dirty and matted, but you could see with a little TLC he would be the cutest thing in the world. “Not a chance.”
My legs moved across the room to him, pretending I didn’t hear Travis call me a bitch under his breath. “Hey, little dude.” I went up slowly to the little mixed breed, his huge dark eyes watching me, flinching like I might hit him. “It’s okay.” I spoke slowly and quietly, coaxing him to come to me first. They were the reason I was here, not helping band-boy Travis get laid. Plus, if he only knew the real Eloise, he’d piss himself… right before she annihilated him.
Slowly with treats, the little guy slunk out for me to pick him up.
“You are a sweet boy.” He was frozen in my arms, terrified to move or do something that might cause retaliation.
There was no doubt he had been beaten, which made me want to find whoever did it and do even more than that to them. Snuggling him into my arms, I took him back to the sink, speaking to him in a steady, calm voice, petting and reassuring him with love.
The group talked around me, Poppy trying to engage me in chat about the royals or how Theo and I met, but I kept quiet, concentrating fully on the dog. Bath time for animals could be extremely stressful, and the little guy under my stream was so scared I had to put all my energy on him. Finishing his bath, I wrapped a towel around him, picking him up. His sweet little face stared up at me, then he licked my cheek, melting my heart into a pool of goo.
I was in love.
Click. Click. Click.
My head snapped up to the noise, my brain not understanding the familiar sound in these surroundings.
Horror widened my eyes when I took in four or five men with cameras crawling over the fence of the shelter, their long-lens cameras peering through the glass doors, their fingers stabbing at the buttons, filling their memory cards with pictures of me.
The puppy in my arms sensed the change in me, his form going rigid.
“Oh my god!” Sarah pointed, startling the dogs.
The room exploded with panicked barks as the animals reacted, while more and more paparazzi scaled the fence, each wanting their shot of me, like they were catching me doing something seedy.
The room exploded in pandemonium, some dogs leaping out of the sinks, running for the door, growling and barking as others yipped and ran in circles around our feet. The volunteers tried to round them up, their yells and panic only adding to the chaos. The scared little guy in my hands wiggled out of my arms, running under the sink and cowering in the corner. All the trust we had built… gone.