Aesthetic Credits: Viktoria – FC Joanna Prus
/ Istvan – FC Rob Evans
/ Both images borrowed from their Instagram
/ I own none of these images, all used with love and respect <3
/ Rings – enoirvado / Vegas view – Instagram sin1city / Quotes – all taken from Pinterest and none had credit for where they came from.[/caption]
She sprung off his lap, straightening her clothes; her mouth gaped at him, eyes ablaze,
“Istvan I just told you I need some time to get my head round the idea!! I really don’t appreciate you trying to put fucking pressure on me!!”
She turned on her heel marching towards the door, shaking her head, incredulous. He leapt off the sofa behind her, trying to fasten his trousers as he followed her,
“Viktoria! Viktoria! Don’t walk away from me! Come back here! Please!”
Catching up with her halfway down the hall, he gripped her wrist, spinning her around to look at him, Viktoria’s fists balled up as she glared at him,
“You’re so out of order Istvan!! Just – just leave me alone.”
A young housekeeper on the other side of the corridor scurried off in the opposite direction. He grimaced, embarrassed that the staff were getting a performance,
“Sssh, keep your voice down…”
She shrugged him off and headed to their suite, slamming the door behind her. Thinking better of following her inside and getting into another row, he stalked back off to his study to do some paperwork and give her time to cool down.
Viktoria cursed under her breath,
‘How dare he?! He thinks because he’s the effing King he can control EVERYTHING! That everyone just does what he says! No questions asked! Well it’s MY body! I say when… ME!!’
She paced around their apartment, agitated, tidying up things that didn’t really need to be tidied. Eventually, nervous energy spent up, she threw herself into the plush chair by the window overlooking the maze, curling up hugging a cushion close to her; conflicted and miserable again. The one person she could usually talk to about anything, was the one person that she needed to talk about this time… Other than Istvan, Maxwell was her closest confidante, but this just wasn’t something she could speak to him about: he was like a brother, it just felt too weird. She hugged the cushion tighter. She was so lonely right now that it hurt. Sighing as silent tears spilled from her eyes, her thoughts settled on her mom; she missed her terribly. If only warm, kind Elena was still alive, she’d give Viktoria a big hug, they’d drink some coffee together, talk it all through and everything would be ok…
—
Istvan couldn’t concentrate on the agreements he was supposed to be reviewing. He had given up and rang Drake to see if he was free. He could use an outside opinion – was he really being so unreasonable? When his friend arrived, Istvan relayed everything in confidence; he knew Drake wouldn’t never tell anyone. Viktoria would likely be pretty pissed if she knew he’d revealed her deepest fears to his friend, but he needed to speak to someone. So it all came flooding out: How she had locked herself in the bathroom crying when he first mentioned a baby, how afraid she was that she wouldn’t love their child, her being scared that he wouldn’t find her desirable anymore, her fears about not being able to give him an heir in the first place… He told Drake everything, right through to the hot make-up sex in the study and how she’d stormed off slamming the door in his face.
Drake nodded silently as he listened to Istvan’s dilemma. Drake had a soft-spot for Viktoria. He always had. Hell, a long time ago he’d been secretly madly in love with her… Once upon a time he’d dreamed of being her man. Of being the one who made her laugh, the one she snuggled up to by the fire, the one who took her to bed… He swallowed hard; that was all long in the past… Before she married his best friend. A lifetime ago; before Drake met Cassie. Before he really understood true love. Before he realised what he felt for Viktoria Petit was an infatuation rather than something tangible and real. Still, Drake hated the idea of Petit upset… The girl Istvan was describing didn’t seem like the one he knew; she was always sensitive, but with a fearless streak like there was nothing she couldn’t do…
“So what do you think Drake?”
His mind snapped back to the present. He let out a low breath,
“Istvan honestly, I know you really want a kid, but from what you’ve said… I think asking her to stop ‘being safe’ today was way, way too much… She seems so scared. You know, the more you push her…”
Drake shrugged his shoulders. Istvan groaned,
“You’re probably right?”
Drake continued,
“I’m absolutely right. She sounds as vulnerable as hell right now Ist, you need to reassure her, not drive her away…”
Istvan smirked at Drake,
“When did you become such a good agony aunt?”
His friend laughed dryly,
“What? You mean you haven’t been reading my column?”
Istvan’s face turned sombre,
“Honestly, I’d move heaven and earth for her Drake, I love her so much. Why can’t she see how good this would be? I feel like everything is starting to fall apart…”
Drake sympathetically clasped his friend’s arm,
“How about we get a drink Istvan? It must be 5 o’clock somewhere…”
—
The afternoon came and went. Viktoria took the dogs for a walk in the grounds. She’d calmed down and stopped by Istvan’s study with an olive-branch to see if he wished to join them, but he wasn’t there. She felt pretty rotten about screaming at him earlier. Viktoria hated all this. She loved him so much and all she wanted was for things to be normal again; everything just felt so strained between them since he brought up having a baby… The fresh air and exercise did her some good, she felt a bit less emotional than she had cooped up in the royal apartments. The dogs were having a blast chasing each other on the lawn; she smiled watching them play. It was nice. A simple pleasure. She sighed listless, wondering: Would it really be so bad if there was a pram in the picture too?
—
Dinnertime passed – still no Istvan. Viktoria’d texted him but heard nothing back. If he was trying to make her suffer, he was succeeding. By the time the King and Drake finally came crashing through the door of the royal apartments she didn’t know whether to be relieved or pissed off. Drake was pretty drunk, but Istvan was really spectacularly drunk. She got off her chair and raised an eyebrow at them both,
“Seriously? It’s 8pm.”
Istvan was hanging around Drake’s neck grinning at her. She’d never seen him so wasted.
“We’ve been… We… Drake, tell her…“
Drake punched Istvan’s arm and laughed,
“We’ve been in the woods at the lake. We had some drinks…”
Viktoria rolled her eyes,
“So I see… Didn’t think to let anyone know you were off being cavemen today? I’ve been worried Istvan? I texted you.”
Istvan frowned and started patting his pockets, pulling out his phone and dropping it; he lurched forward as he tried to catch it. Viktoria stepped forward, steadying him,
“Woah, Ist come on love…”
He roughly pulled her in close by the waist, slurring,
“I… I love you… My beautiful girl…”
She wriggled in his grasp,
“Yep I love you too. Drake, a little help over here? Istvan I think you need a little lie down my darling, ok?”
The King laughed and met her eyes, mumbling something rather incoherent; but judging by the sudden sparkle in his glazed eyes, it was supposed to make her blush… Viktoria cupped his handsome, drunken face in her hand and glanced over at Drake who was definitely finding the scenario way more amusing than she was.
“Come on then, you brought him back like this! Help me get him into bed, don’t just stand there Drake.“
He gave her a smirk and a small salute before wrapping Istvan’s arm round his shoulder and walking him to the bedroom. Istvan groaned as Viktoria pulled off his shoes and covered him with the duvet. As she leaned in to plant a soft kiss on her husband’s forehead, Drake turned and left the bedroom.
She walked back into the lounge area, Drake was leaning with his back against the door, he grinned at her sheepishly, ruffling his dark hair,
“Sorry Petit, drinks were my idea. I didn’t think it’d get so… Well, y’know…”
He waved his hands at her. She shook her head and smiled at him,
“What was that? The universal mime for ‘messy’?”
There was no real harm done, if Istvan needed to blow off some steam today, maybe it would help. Drake was a good friend to him. She wondered how much Ist had told him…
“Coffee, Drake? Sober you up before you go back to Cassie smelling like a brewery?“
He made his way to the sofa by the window, flopping down into the cushions,
“Sure, probably a good idea.”
She rattled around fixing their drinks, then making her way over to join him. She sank into the armchair opposite, tucking her feet underneath her, wrapping her fluffy grey cardigan around her a little tighter. She looked tired, Drake thought. They sipped quietly until she asked the question,
“Was he ok today?”
Drake avoided her gaze, he didn’t want to betray his best friends’ confidence,
“Yeah, yeah, fine. You know Ist.”
He could feel her clear eyes penetrating right through him, willing him to tell her everything,
“Viktoria… No. I’m not getting in the middle of this. You need to talk to each other and work this out.”
She sighed,
“I wish I knew how. Everything’s changed since he brought up babies Drake.”
Drake winced,
“I know. But he loves you, he’s spent all day telling me.”
He drained the rest of the coffee from his mug, and rose to his feet,
“I should be heading off.”
She nodded, walking to the door with him as he swayed slightly. She patted his shoulder,
“Thanks for looking after Istvan today. Get home safely Drake.”
He turned to look at her, it was probably all the booze he’d had, but he could swear that his heart thumped just a little bit harder when he saw how sad she looked…
“Petit. I… I told him to back off a bit. I know you’re having a hard time with this baby thing… I just want you to be happy… Both of you.“
He watched her, she half-smiled but her pretty blue eyes looked so distant as she softly told him,
“Thanks.”
He kissed her cheek as he whispered,
“You’re two of my favourite people. You’ll work it out.”
Before he knew it he was walking through the hall towards the palace entrance, heading home to his, probably rather worried, girlfriend; he really needed to get home and sleep it off…
TBC – VP 💖
