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hrh-dr-sussex-phff · 6 years

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Chapter Two: First Day of My Life

August 2nd, 2014

6:00 PM

Alyssa was to put it lightly, freaking the hell out. She had a date in less than an hour, which would not only be her first date ever, it would be with the world’s most eligible bachelor.

After double checking that her hair was still immaculately curled and the light layer of makeup she had applied that morning still looked great, she slipped into the mauve dress and the white satin heels that she had carefully selected the night before.

Alyssa gave herself a once-over in the mirror nodding as she thought she looked acceptable. as acceptable as one can be for her first date with a prince. She swiped a layer of nude gloss over her lips and grabbed her silver clutch and cellphone going to sit on her couch. It was still twenty minutes to seven.

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Finally, after a complete 20-minute stare down with her front door, her doorbell rang. It was the protection officer who had delivered her flowers the night before. He was tall and imposing but gave her a smile.

“Would you mind if I took a quick look around ma’am?”

“Of course.” She replied stepping aside. Whilst the officer did a quick inspection of her flat, Prince Harry approached, leaning on her door frame, waiting for her to notice him. She turned with a start to the dreamy redhead.

“Hi.” Was all that seemed to be able to come out of her mouth.

Harry chuckled at her. “Hi.”

“All clear Sir, Ma’am.” His Protection officer returned, exiting the flat and leaving them alone, truly alone for the first time.

“You look stunning.” He had that Cheshire cat grin on his face as his eyes surveyed her.

“Thank you, you certainly clean up nice yourself,” Alyssa responded, praying that her red cheeks would return to their normal color.

“Shall we?” He asked extending his arm to her.

“We shall.” She smiled and took his arm.

The two exited her flat and were led into a shiny black Range Rover with heavily tinted windows directly outside.

“These are two of my RPO’s. Jack and Todd. I believe you met Todd last night.”

“Yes, a bit of an odd job for a highly trained officer, don’t you think?” She asked Harry with a smirk.

“Perhaps.” He chucked “But it was a high priority job.”

The two rode into silence for a moment before she turned to him.

“So the thing is… you know I'm only 20, and while the age difference doesn’t bother me, and obviously I suspect that it doesn’t bother you either, I haven’t exactly… while… I'm not quite…. As experienced as you are. I just wanted you to know because... I mean I'm not exactly the glamorous woman you've seen before and I don't want there to be any expectations or misunderstandings.”

Harry grinned “Miss van Maastricht are you trying to tell me you’re a virgin.”

“Captain Wales!” She exclaimed at his bluntness.

he leaned in so close she could smell his cologne. “Its quite alright love, the thing is... you blush like a virgin.”

“Just like that,” he said, putting a gentle finger on her flaming cheek.

“The truth is I have never even been on a date before or been kissed for that matter.” She admitted.

“Well, seems I better give you a night to remember then.”

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A moment later they rolled into the gates of a very familiar building.

“Are you kidding me?” She exclaimed at him. “Kensington Palace for dinner on a first date”

“I didn’t want for you to be hounded by the paps so early. It will happen eventually, but I should like to delay it as much as possible.”

“That is perhaps the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“That’s nothing love.”

“So we will be eating at my residence, Nottingham Cottage. I had the kitchens set something up.”

“Oh did you, how incredibly posh.”

He led her into the reception room, and through to the dining room where a candle-lit feast had been set up.

“Oh. Wow.”

“Yeah, the kitchen staff really outdid themselves… I suspect my father had something to do with it.”

Harry pulled out a chair for her and sat down beside her where gilded plates had been set up. “So I take it that your father approved of me?”

“Approved of you? The man was practically begging me to propose right here and now.”

She laughed at that. He pulled a bottle of wine out of an ice bucket. She gasped looking at the label on the bottle.

“So I confess I did a bit of research and found out that your father owns a vineyard and winery. So I do hope that you don’t think that incredibly creepy.”

“Not at all. I would like to revoke my previous statement regarding the sweetest thing ever done for me.” Alyssa laughed.

The prince poured van Maastricht Vineyards Cherry Wine into both of their glasses. She waited eagerly as he raised the glass to his lips.”

“That is amazing. Admittingly I have never had cherry wine before.”

“I will be sure to pass along your regards to my father, Cherry wine is something of a Northern Michigan Specialty. We are called the Cherry capital of the world.” She smiled taking a sip herself. It transported her immediately back home.

“Shall we eat?” Harry suggested.

“I would like that very much.” She smiled at him.

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After they finished the several courses put out, the couple settled on a surprisingly comfy sofa in the sitting room. Alyssa’s breath hitched as she realized how close they were to each other. Her leg was resting against his, sending shivers through her body.

“So I believe I am at a disadvantage, I know next to nothing about you, and you surely know far more about me.” He said looking at her.

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything… Michigan, your family, your past, your passions, everything that makes you-you.”

“Well my father's name is Jim he is obviously a winemaker and farmer. He was a green beret until I was 11. And I Have an older brother by 5 and a half years named Jimmy who is currently serving in the marines. He is deployed somewhere in the middle east at the moment. Apparently, his exact location is classified. We got to talk on the phone for about 5 minutes last month. He is my best friend in the entire world.” She smiled fondly.

“I don't know if you've heard but I also come from something of a military family.”

Alyssa copied his cheeky smile “Well you know, I do so love a man in uniform.”

“That's a big relief then.”

“Anyway its just the three of us. We aren’t a large family, but we sure have enough love between us.”

“And your mother?”

She winced at the question and he immediately regretted asking.

“She died over 9 years ago.”

“I'm sorry…. I didn’t realize..”

“You couldn’t have. It's ok. It was a long time ago, and after all, you too understand the loss of a mother.”

He nodded sympathetically.

“I was a lonely kid, especially after that, I was light years smarter than every kid my age, and Suttons Bay is very small, to begin with, so I studied and learned 24/7. I graduated from high school when I was 14, I graduated from the University of Michigan with a geology degree when I was 16 and then I hopped the pond to get my masters at The University of Edinburgh and now I'm here in London at Imperial.

“So why rocks and ice?”

“I collected rocks as a kid, from everywhere – the driveway, the beach, in town – if I saw one I liked I picked it up, polished it and lined it up in my collection. And as for glaciers, Lake Michigan freezes over in the winter for the most part- and it is one of the most amazing and beautiful things you have ever seen. It fascinates me the way water freezes, and the behavior of it. And Glaciers carved out the great lakes themselves, completely changing any landscape they cover. I just think that’s the coolest thing in the world.”

Harry watched her talking, marveling at the way her eyes lit up when she talked about her passions.”

“How much longer do you have to go until you are Dr. van Maastricht?”

“Next June.”

"You are incredible and now the smartest person I know.”

“Hardly.”

“I think you sell yourself short.” He admitted.

“How so?” She asked tilting her head.

“You are so confused as to why I asked you out, you can’t see how amazing you really are.”

“You barely know me.” She argued.

“I know you enough to know that I want to know every little thing about you, even the bad things.”

“Yes, perhaps you will go running off then.”

“Try me.” He challenged her.

“I don’t know.” She said shaking her head. “Up until maybe last year, my whole life was a tragedy.”

“I want to know… Everything. Alyssa, you can open up to me.”

“I don’t even open up to my own therapist.”

“Just try.. please... I want to know you.”

Alyssa sighed softly and nodded her head.

“My mom was a painter, she lived in Haifa, Israel right on the Dead Sea, one of the most beautiful places in the world. My zayde, that's grandfather in Yiddish was a Rabbi he and my bubbe, grandmother, had escaped the Netherlands before it was annexed by the Nazis. I never met them, they died before I was born. My father met my mother in Tel Aviv while he was on leave, and the rest is history. She moved from a war-torn desert, where she was among people who knew the struggle of existence, who kept the same faith, whose families had died for that faith. She moved from that to cold northern Michigan. Which is probably about the biggest culture shock one can experience. She didn’t exactly adjust well and it didn’t help that my father was gone half of the year at least. She had my brother and me and I think she must have been happy at least for a time, but she was still… foreign. In a town of six hundred people, that’s not easy.” Alyssa paused for a moment to take a deep breath before continuing,

“I don’t know, I guess she must have been suffering in silence for a long time before… before she….” Her words trailed off then, not quite being able to say the words.

Harry reached over, settling a hand on her knee, and nodded his head encouragingly.

“My Dad came home then, retired from the army and took over the vineyard from my grandfather. He was just… fine, like nothing had ever happened. So I had to be fine too. But I wasn’t fine and I covered it up with my academic success. I got extremely depressed and was constantly anxious. I became the queen of self-destructive behavior.” She subconsciously rubbed at her left wrist, where Harry noticed for the first time the neat lines of scars. He felt a pain in his chest that this goddess of a woman would ever harm herself.

“I think I was just waiting for God to take something else from me. So I never let anyone else in, because that’s just more people to lose.” Alyssa finished.

“Well, I feel pretty special then.” He said giving her a small smile.

Alyssa smiled back at him “You should. I’ve never told anyone that before, but you are extremely easy to talk to for some reason.”

He tilted his head a hint of a smile at this lips. “I feel the same way. You are nothing like any of the women I have dated in the past. But there is just something, everything about you that just draws me in.”

“Perhaps I put a spell on you.”

“That seems extraordinarily likely,” Harry said as he moved closer to her.

Their faces were inched from each other and Alyssa was sure that Harry could hear her heart nearly beating out of her chest. Harry reached up to put a hand softly on her cheek and then all at once their lips were joined together softly at first, then with more passion. His lips tasted like cherries and home. As fireworks went off in her body he pulled her closer so that their bodies were pressed against each other. Alyssa reached up to run her fingers through his ginger hair, while Harry’s hand roamed her body.

The two pulled apart after a few minutes to catch their breath. She was sitting in his lap now, arms looped around his neck. Their foreheads rested against each other as they breathed.

“That was.. wow.... that was incredible.” Alyssa finally managed to put her feelings into words.

“Was it everything you ever dreamed?”

“Making out with a handsome prince? I'll say.”

Harry looked into her eyes. “We are going to take this as fast or slow as you want ok love. it is okay to not be ready. Alyssa van Maastricht I am wild about you, and I know you're nervous, so please know that I am alright with whatever you decide. no pressure what so ever.”

“Right now I just want this. You and me, just like this, forever if we could.”

“Me too.”

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An hour later the two were forced to part as they both had early mornings. He dropped her off at her flat with a lingering parting kiss and plans at hers tomorrow evening. Neither could stop the foolish love sick grins plastered across their faces.

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BONUS:

William walked into Apartment 1A chuckling to himself. He had just seen Harry as he returned to Kensington for the night.

“Love you will never guess what I just witnessed.”

“Hmmmm.,” Catherine responded from the sofa, looking up from the novel she was reading.

“Harry has found himself a girl.”

“Oh dear, I do hope this doesn't end like it did with Cressy.”

“I have a feeling this one won't be ending anytime soon. Possibly ever.”

“Really?” Catherine asked shocked.

“This one is different. I think he is finally ready to settle down.”

“Well, what's her name? We should have her over for supper!”

“Alyssa Van something or another Dutch. An American getting her Ph.D. here.”

“Oh how very exciting, an American. An educated American at that.”

The two smiled at each other. Harry needed this, and it would do him an unspeakable amount of good. Harry deserved to have the same happiness that they themselves had.

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