Part 7. Prince Tristan

Jane relieved a sigh as she stepped inside the class, trying not to cry at the throbbing pain in her ankle. On her way, she bumped into the door. She did not wake up on the right side of the bed, anyway. And with all the students in the campus staring at her as if she was from other planet did not help at all. What was wrong with her outfit anyway? 

The medical student picked a red scoop neck and washed blue jeans, pairing them some sneakers. A lazy attempt but that’s the least she could do with the time running out. Jane was aware that she was eight minutes late, and the lecture has started already, so she instantly searched for her friend in the crowd. 

It took her a minute to find because Astrid decided to wear a funky hat to the college. During the lecture. Now that’s the reason people should stare at him! Why were they behind her anyway? Her eyes raked over his Big Bang Theory shirt, and she tried not to frown as he was wearing a Leonard character one. Was he actively trying to get himself beaten up? Who even wears Leonards shirt when Sheldon exist? Clearly, he has lost it. 

Making her way to where he sat, she sneaked beside him quietly trying not to annoy the students in the front row. Jane was always clumsy, so it wasn’t a surprise when she bumped into another student, shoving his laptop in the process. He was quick to grab his laptop and steady himself, glaring at her. She apologised.

“You’re late,” Astrid mumbled, not tearing his eyes away from his laptop.

“Slept in,” She grunted, trying to understand the words he was typing in. He was a monster when it came to typing, not even staring at the screen sometimes. It scared her more than she would admit. Jane took her sweet time into setting up her laptop.

She met Astrid Heinz during her first week in the college. He had this huge thick glasses and refused to talk with anyone. Funny enough, he was wearing a thick leather jacket which made him stand out in the crowd. Also, he looked more relaxed than anyone of them combined in the class. Jane thought he was just shy and nervous like her, but that was her biggest mistake because he sat next to her, and they hit it off. Astrid wanted to study microbiology, but somehow he got stuck with medical because of his parents. He didn’t complain, though. 

Her friend was not even looking up, busy taking notes in his laptop. Jane stared at the whiteboard, the DNA structure staring back at her. She had to study that later because she missed the first half anyway.

“Be honest. Slept in or too busy having sex?” Astrid kept a straight face as he asked her. 

Jane tried not to let it show on her face, “Who would I even be having sex with, Ash?” 

“Well, off the top of my head, maybe the handsome stranger from Floral Liquor?”

The bartender groaned, nudging at her friend “I hate that you and Krista are friends. Why must you gossip about my non-existent sex life?” 

When Jane took Astrid to work, she introduced him to her coworker, Krista which she thought was a decent thing to do. Only if she knew, both of them were insane together. They went to the same high school, which made things even crazy—small world. 

Long story short, they all have a WhatsApp group solely dedicated to talking about Jane’s non-existent love life. She still doesn’t understand why she’s the butt of the joke!

“From what I hear he’s handsome, and you both met twice so the non-existent part might change” Astrid wriggled his brows. 

How much did Krista tell him anyway? She sighed, thinking about it. She slept with Tristan a day before, but it felt like everyone was interested in it. What was so raunchy about one night stand with a stranger? 

Exhaling a breath she turned towards Astrid, “It was a one night stand. I’m not going to see him anymore.”

She felt dejected to mumble out loud. Even though Tristan made it clear that it was nothing but one night of fun, she hoped for more. Was it silly? He was smart, incredibly gorgeous and above all, funny. So she might be describing her ideal person.

Astrid made a face. “That sucks! I was hoping you might have finally found the one!”

“Nice joke” Jane snorted. Yeah, she didn’t see that happening anytime time. Her entire one year was spent with disasters for date, and the guys she liked weren’t interested in dating. It was useless. 

“One day” Astrid whispered, getting back to his notes and she hummed. Maybe one day. 

***

The middle of the week is not usually packed, but surprisingly it was. Krista kept pulling Jane, trying to talk about something important but they stopped at the glare from Chuck. He was loitering around, making sure everything was in place.

As it’s the start of term, Jane noticed that the students were prominent among their other members. But who in the right mind would have time to take a night off in the middle of the week? Certainly not her. Most of them were second-year students; she envied them. Jane knew some of them from her campus, but it didn’t phase her one bit. They were all staring at the bar even though they had drinks in their hands. She had no idea what was going on. 

Jane wished she could get blackout drunk and slam her body into the bed, without having to worry about anything else. 

By the end of the night, she served so many people that she lost track of the drinks. Their top shelf was half empty with the people ordering refills after refills. She barely took a breath, her becoming more and more unfocused and movements clumsier. 

Around midnight the students filter out, obviously trying not to be late for their college the next day. Jane and Krista were the last of them around midnight.

As Jane tried to walk out, Krista held her wrist and asked her to sit down on one of the stools. 

“I need to tell you something.”

Jane moaned, scrubbing at her face, “Can’t it wait till tomorrow? I am tired!” 

The disco lights paired with the bar located in the corner made her face sweaty. She wanted to soak herself in a bathtub and relax for a while. The thought made her purr. 

Just then Krista returned with what looked like a stack of newspaper.

“He’s a Prince” 

“Huh?” Jane blinked at her in confusion.

“Here,” Krista slammed the newspaper on the bar.

Jane picked one of them, her eyes widening as she read the headline.

WHY IS PRINCE OF WALSH HOLDING A WOMENS UNDERWEAR?

The bartender grabbed another newspaper, her heart caught in her throat. She couldn’t believe the bold letters staring back at her. 

PRINCE TRISTAN OF WALSH WAS SEEN WITH A MYSTERY LADY ACCEPTING IN A SCANDALOUS POSITION. 

PARKING LOT ROMANCE ALERT: FEATURING SOON TO BE CROWNED KING, PRINCE TRISTAN

PRINCE TRISTAN AND A BARTENDER? READ ALL ABOUT THE PARKING LOT LOVE STORY BELOW

Jane felt the colour drain her face in the last article. How did they find out her identity? She stared at the picture, her eyes narrowing as she noticed the grainy image of her with Tristan. Prince Tristan! It was too much for her to take in. 

“Could I get a whiskey? Neat,” She breathed, meeting Krista's eyes.

Her friend's eyes raised at her, but she hurriedly grabbed the flask, pouring the brown liquid for Jane. She felt her fingers tremble as she reached for the glass, trying not to let the tears cloud her vision. Without further thought, she gulped the entire drink, feeling the burn in her throat. 

“Whoa slow down!”

Jane tried not to wince as she felt the shudder rack through her after-effect. She was not the one to prefer a fifty-year-olds favourite drink, but the situation demanded it. It felt unreal as she stared at the newspaper in from of her. 

“What are you going to do?”

Jane swallowed painfully, “I just want to go home.”

It all made sense why she was getting those looks in the campus. Maybe that’s why the bar was crowded too. They might be waiting for Tristan. The realisation made her stomach twist. 

Jane pushed herself on her feet, “Got an early class tomorrow.” 

Krista gave her an understanding look, opening the door of the bar. As they were already ready to leave nothing was left to clean up. Jane held her breath as Krista sneaked in the whiskey glass down. They will

clean the next day.

“You should get a taxi home. Just to be safe” Krista mumbled as they exited through the back door. 

“Yeah,” Jane breathed, turning around when she spotted a black Mercedes racing towards them. She held her breath, squinting her eyes at the person inside. Krista gripped her hand tightly, pulling her back. 

Tristan stepped outside of the car, inching towards them with a blank look on his face.

“We need to talk.” 

***