Now that didn’t sound like his usual empty phrases as well, but it was not so much the lack of fake enthusiasm that intrigued Yassia, it was the meekness in which it was said – as if not HE was the superior in this conversation, but she was. But that, of course, was ridiculous, and she ought not to read too much into everything he did or did not do. What was it to her after all? Hmm… maybe the question should better be: what SHOULD it be to her, as it clearly had a greater impact on her than was healthy. Why couldn’t it have been anyone else donation this blasted ice rink to the school? Why did it have to be him, just as she was here? Yassia didn’t much believe in fate, even though she had done a few tarot card readings for fun back when still at the hotel management school. But this, this was simply too much to be coincidence. The question now was: who was the scene writer of this play and what were his intentions?
He seemed to catch himself quickly again though, since his next remark was as lighthearted and slightly silly as you could get. They had strayed far from protocol long since, but Yassia found she enjoyed the banter they had been starting. It had been long since she last had found a willing counterpart for wit-games and she just couldn’t deny herself the fun of giving everything back to him to her best abilities. “You can try, Sir, of course, but I’ve been in fact known to hold tight to what I think is mine!” she teased, winking. “Simple prying won’t do, and you’d have to think up a LOT of good arguments to convince me to let go. So”, she made a dismissive gesture with her hand, “hate to break it to you, but your efforts might be entirely wasted and in the meantime you might have lost YOUR chocolate as well.”
Yassia couldn’t quite keep an amused chuckle down as he showed so much feign relief for not being tortured with the usual ‘greet a duke’ ceremony. “I bet you’re being put through such things a lot!” she commented sympathetically. She had been a celebrity in her own home, but not the representative kind, having to constantly show interest in the meanest of things. No, her way had be clear, even though things had come entirely different in the end, with her father’s untimely death and the shabby intrigue spun by her uncle and cousin. She would have been the puppeteer, not the puppet led into a dance. But oddly enough it was not that that irked her most, it was the shady dishonesty the ploy had been worked with, and the stain that would remain forever on her family’s name.
“Oh no, I for myself should be honestly glad”, she disagreed with him, smiling and shrugging. “It is a welcome distraction from my everyday duties, and I’m sure most of the students think the same. After all, they’re able to miss classes and homework.”
"I perfectly understand what you mean,"
She wasn’t too sure what to think of that. Did he? Did he really? Or was he just trying to appease her. Well, judging from the yellow press, he’d had a good amount of scandals himself, and maybe he wasn’t so unfazed by them as he would like people to believe. Not wanting to push this topic much further, she just gave an uneasy smile and a nod.
His request took her quite off guard, even though she immediately understood what he was getting at. So now they were finally tackling it, their big secret. Yassia couldn’t help but wonder what he would want to say about the matter. Would he explain why he had left without a word? Would he ask for forgiveness? Or would he ask her to please please not tell anything about that to the press? Would he trust her so little? “Sure!” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “We could go into my office or something.” She had wanted to say more, but in this moment the lightning storm of picture-crazy paparazzi befell them, and instinctively, Yassia hunched her shoulders and was all too glad to be pushed inside. “Voltors!” she growled. “Vultures!”
Then Kay Griffiths, headmaster of The Royal Alexandra and Albert School, finally had pushed his way towards them, and took Oliver’s hand. “Your Grace, what a pleasure to see your face again! Welcome back to your old alma mater.” Yassia was always surprised how different her uncle could act with variating groups of people. To his students he was strict, almost inapproachable, as if he just didn’t know how to best deal with them, but when they returned as grown men and women, he knew his manners quite well.
“You can try, Sir, of course, but I’ve been in fact known to hold tight to what I think is mine!”
He had expected another retaliation from her and he wasn't disappointed. This is most definitely the only time in all his years attending inaugurations and similar events where he was having so much fun with the welcoming party, so to speak. Some would either go silent, while some would talk so much nonsense or with all seriousness that almost often bores Oliver. But never like this. None had been so bold as to banter with him like this.
“...hate to break it to you, but your efforts might be entirely wasted and in the meantime you might have lost YOUR chocolate as well.”
Now, who could resist such a challenge. Certainly not Oliver. "Oh, I have my methods in getting exactly what I want, and right now, my eyes are set on as many hot chocolate as I can get my hands on," he replied with an impish smirk of his own. He had never looked forward with such excitement to a cup of hot chocolate in his life until now. "So consider yourself warned, and may the best man or woman win," he added, his voice turning all serious and business-like. If anyone were to hear only the last bit, they'd think that the duke and the headmaster's niece were in the middle of a rather hostile confrontation where both firmly holding their ground and not wanting to stand down. Oliver was shamelessly amused by the mere thought.
When Yassia told him that he wasn't such an inconvenience to the staff and the school at all, he gave her a smile feeling like a heavy load had been lifted off his back. He'd rather be greeted as simply as possible than cause so many disruptions that would make them wish he hadn't come to visit at all. "That's good to know. I am glad I can be a valid reason for missing classes and homework," he replied with a wink and a wide grin on his face. No, there was no sarcasm there, just pure and simple delight knowing they are looking forward to his visit just as much as he was.
Of course, she would say yes. She practically couldn't say no to a request from a duke, could she? Times like this, Oliver was glad that he had his title handy. He didn't know what he would do if Yassia would avoid being alone with him. He just needed to get the proverbial elephant in the room out of the way. "Thank you," he simply replied as the frenzy of the media outside was already distracting him as much as the foreign word that came out of Yassia' mouth. Yes, he had noticed her speak in a foreign tongue earlier. It sounded like Spanish, but it wasn't. Now, Yassia was becoming more and more intriguing by the minute. "My apologies for that," he said quickly as he saw the headmaster make his way towards them.
"Headmaster, the pleasure is all mine...well more now that I am no longer your student," he teased laughing, as he tightly clasped the older man's hand before giving him a quick hug. It was truly a great pleasure to see his former headmaster still up and about at the prime of his life, manning the school with the same fervor and commitment as he did back in Oliver's time. The headmaster was infamous among his students as a strict disciplinarian, a no-nonsense man that you couldn't easily trick nor deceive. Oliver was quite a regular in the headmaster's office for his many shenanigans. But he was nothing but truly fond of the man now. "You haven't aged a bit, still as dapper as ever."
