CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 17

“The Princess can make that work, but she’ll need to leave shortly after. She has an appointment at the children’s hospital.” Ingrid listened to the person on the other end of the line and then ended the call once the arrangements had been made.

Mari would be having tea with a family friend prior to visiting the hospital, and this had been the most exciting day for Ingrid as Mari’s private secretary thus far. It had consisted of two phone calls to make the arrangements. That was it; two phone calls. She was already bored, and this should be the busiest time for her with all of the transitions.

“Oh, sorry. The door was open. Did I interrupt–”

“Your Majesty,” Ingrid greeted when she realized Elin had just taken a step into her office unexpectedly.

Then, she stood instantly and bowed her head.

“I can come back later, if you’re busy,” Elin said.

“No, I’m not busy at all,” Ingrid replied, feeling a bit flummoxed.

Elin was wearing a pair of black slacks with a gray-and-white striped button-down, and in lieu of a blazer, she was wearing thin suspenders; actual suspenders. Her blonde hair was pulled back into two braids that fell over her shoulders. Her blue eyes seemed searching or deep in thought, and Ingrid wished she could know those thoughts.

“Mari is probably a lot easier to handle than me, huh?” Elin said, walking farther into the office.

“Ma’am, you were always a pleasure to work with,” she replied.

Elin smiled at her and tucked her hands into her pockets, looking casual and not at all nervous, which suited the Queen well.

“The office looks nice,” Elin noted.

“Yes, Ma’am. The designer did a great job. Thank you again,” Ingrid replied.

“Do you have a moment? I was hoping to talk to you about something.”

“Of course, Ma’am.” Ingrid walked to the door and closed it.

Elin sat down on the new sofa that rested against the wall opposite Ingrid’s new desk and between two lamps that brought light into the space and a few plants that brought life into it. Ingrid wasn’t sure if she should sit behind her desk, move her chair to the front, or sit next to the Queen on the sofa, which was just large enough for two people to sit on comfortably. She stood instead, clasping her hands in front of herself, and realized she was actually nervous right now.

“Are you going to sit?” Elin asked her.

“I could use a stretch. I’ve been sitting all morning,” she said, lying to her Queen.

“I’d really like it if you could sit down. We could go for a walk or something, if you’d rather stretch your legs, I guess.”

Elin shifted, and Ingrid nodded. She sat down next to her and made sure to leave enough space between them.

“One of the things my father has taught me is that as monarch, you’re supposed to be the all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful, strong leader of the people,” Elin began. “I think he might still believe royalty is descendent from the gods.” She laughed a little. “I don’t believe that, though. I’m not all-seeing, all-knowing, or all-powerful. And I think it would be wrong and a little silly for me to pretend that I am.”

“Okay,” Ingrid said, wondering where this was going.

“I say all this to tell you that I know I make mistakes – many of them, probably – and that I can admit it and, hopefully, rectify them.”

“What mistakes, Ma’am?”

“You being down here, for one,” Elin replied, giving her an awkward smile. “I shouldn’t have just agreed to Markus being my secretary. You and I have worked well together for the past three years. I trust you more than I trust him right now, and now is the time that I need that trust more than anything.” Elin paused. “Ingrid, I’d like to have you back as my private secretary if you’d agree.”

Ingrid hadn’t been expecting that when the new Queen walked into her office. She’d been thinking the Queen was merely here to check on the designer’s work and to make sure that Ingrid liked her new office.

“What about Markus or Steven? What–”

“I’ll have to talk to them next if you agree. I’ll handle it, though. And if they make any comments, or cause you any trouble at all, I’ll handle that, too. This is my mistake. I shouldn’t have let it happen, to begin with.”

“Ma’am, both of them have seniority over me. You did the right thing. It wouldn’t be right.”

“If I can find jobs for them where they’ll be happy, would you at least consider coming back?”

Ingrid swallowed and replied, “I don’t know, Ma’am.”

“Oh. Okay.” Elin uttered, seemingly unprepared for that answer. “You don’t want to be my secretary?”

“It’s not that, Ma’am. But I don’t know that I should rock the boat, either.”

“I’d be the one rocking the boat, Ingrid.”

“Ma’am, would it be all right if I think about it?” Ingrid asked.

Elin looked disappointed, but she nodded.

“Of course. I’ve put you through a lot recently, so I understand.”

“It’s not that, Ma’am. There’s a protocol to this, and I don’t want to cause any problems.”

“I get it,” Elin said, standing up.

Was it just Ingrid’s imagination, or did Elin somehow make suspenders look regal?

“I’ll give you a few days. Would that be enough time?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Ingrid replied.

Elin slid her hands back into her pockets. In this now-well-lit office, looking how she did right now, Elin could have easily been walking a runway at Paris fashion week. She was just that beautiful.

“Have a good rest of your day, Ingrid.” The woman looked around the room. “I really do like your office.” She smiled softly.

Ingrid stood quickly when she realized she shouldn’t still be sitting when the sovereign was standing. Elin hadn’t apparently noticed. Ingrid bowed her head, despite the fact that Elin hadn’t turned back around before she opened the door and left the office, closing the door behind her.

◆◆◆

“Hold on. Now she wants you to work for her again?” Sarah Anne asked as she opened a bottle of beer for herself and sat back down on the sofa next to Ingrid.

“She asked me today.”

“What about this whole seniority bullshit she spouted before?” Her sister took a drink of her beer.

“She didn’t spout anything. She doesn’t spout; she’s a Queen. Queens don’t spout, Sarah.”

“Well, she had you moved to a dusty office that you’d share with–”

“She was following the rules. And besides, I told you: she had it redecorated for me. It’s actually nicer now than my old office.”

“Which you wouldn’t have had to move out of had she just made this decision before,” Sarah Anne pointed out.

“Her father retired; her brother left – she’s figuring this out as she goes.”

“That doesn’t exactly instill confidence in the monarchy my tax dollars pay for, Ingrid.” Sarah Anne gave her a sisterly glare. “Why are you defending her, all of a sudden? You weren’t happy about basically being demoted to the youngest royal.”

“I wasn’t. I’m still not,” Ingrid replied.

“But?”

“I don’t know. Things are changing, I suppose.”

“What things?”

Ingrid sighed and said, “Sarah, I’m worried.”

“About what? Your job?”

“No, something else. I don’t think I even admitted it to myself until today.”

“What?” Sarah placed her beer on the coffee table and turned more toward Ingrid.

“I have a problem.”

“Ingrid, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”

“I think I have feelings for the Queen of Norway,” she said out loud for the very first time.

“Feelings? As in, you have feelings?”

“How else could you interpret that, Sarah?” Ingrid glared over at her with the same sisterly glare she’d just been given herself.

“You mean, you like her?”

“Yes,” Ingrid replied.

“Oh, wow. I don’t think I’ve heard you even talk about liking a woman since Britt, and that was over three years ago.”

“I haven’t met one since Britt.”

“Until now,” Sarah Anne replied.

“I don’t know what I’m feeling. Today, she walked into my office, and it was like something just clicked.”

“Your clit, maybe?”

“Sarah!” Ingrid laughed at her brazen sister.

“Well? Did it?”

“It’s not like that.”

“She’s hot, Ingrid. I’m not into that, but the woman is gorgeous. I’d date her brother if he’s available, but Elin is drop-dead gorgeous. She’s like the epitome of a Scandinavian woman, isn’t she?”

“God, yes,” Ingrid sighed again.

“And you just realized you think she’s hot today?”

“It’s not that I think she’s hot… I do. She is. It’s just that today, she was sexy. I think I’ve thought that before, too, but she had these suspenders. I’ve never seen a Queen wear suspenders before, but she can pull them off. She kept leaning back and putting her hands in her pockets, and it was like there could be a photographer standing there, taking pictures of her for a magazine cover.”

“How long do you think you’ve felt this way about her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can I maybe guess?”

“You have a guess? You’ve never even seen us together, Sarah.”

“You talk about her all the time. You have since you first started working for her, Ingrid. I think I get the picture.”

“Fine. Guess away.” Ingrid waved her off with a hand.

“You broke up with Britt, like, a month after you started working for our new Queen.”

“I guess it was about then, yes.”

“Did you ever stop to think that maybe part of the reason you ended things with Britt was that you started to like someone else?”

“What? No.” She guffawed.

“Well, I remember you talking my head off about the then-Princess constantly. She was so smart and funny and a little clumsy, but you thought it was endearing.”

“It is endearing,” Ingrid said.

“Oh, you really do like her, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Ingrid grunted and covered her face with her hands. “She wants me to work with her again, Sarah. Regardless of how long I’ve felt this way without realizing it, I can’t work beside her and be worried I’ll say or do something wrong. She’s the Queen of Norway. I won’t just get fired. I think she could still behead me if I say something inappropriate.”

“Like you think that she’s really hot in suspenders?”

“Shut up.” Ingrid laughed.

“You know, Dad has that job for you if you want it. All you have to do is make the move from public service to the corporate world, and you’d be set for life.”

“I don’t want to leave the palace.”

“But you don’t want to work for Mari, and you can’t work for the Queen you’re having sexy thoughts about.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Do you think there’s a chance she could have feelings for you?”

“Our straight Queen that people keep throwing men at so she’ll find one to marry? No, Sarah; I don’t think there’s a chance in hell she has feelings for me. Besides, she doesn’t know I’m gay. It’s not like we sit around and talk about the fact that I like women or chat about our crushes at slumber parties.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I don’t know what other choice you have, Ingrid – I think you need to find another job. More importantly, I think you need to put yourself back out there. It’s been a long time since Britt. Have you even gotten laid since you two–”

“I am not answering that,” Ingrid stated.

“You haven’t had sex in over three years?!” Sarah Anne yelled.

“Sarah, shut up. I think our neighbors heard you.”

“Yeah, I’m putting a lesbian dating app on your phone or something. You need to swipe right on someone soon.”

Ingrid laughed, knowing full well she wouldn’t be downloading any app but that she needed to make a decision on work, and she needed to make it soon.