Sunset Rising

Nausea rose up inside me. I’d been hoping this part of the evening would never arrive. Summer looked worried too, although she tried to hide it when she caught me looking at her. Glumly we picked up our trays and went back into the dining room to clear tables. This time I kept a close eye on Summer. I didn’t want us separated again, so I matched my speed to hers. When we were finished clearing, I walked just fast enough to get behind her.

Summer walked through the doors, stopping to place her tray on the racks provided for dirty dishes. The small alcove leading to the kitchen gave us a precious moment of privacy.

“Don’t leave my side tonight, Summer.”

She turned to look at me. “I’ll try, Su

“So am I.”

She stepped aside to allow me to set my tray down, and as I did she plucked a tidbit of leftover dessert from one of the plates.

“Summer, what are you doing?” Stealing food was never tolerated. She knew that. I almost dropped my tray onto the rack.

She opened her mouth to say something, but a muffled noise signalled that we were not alone. A jolt of panic went through me. Without thinking, I snatched the food out of Summer’s hand and popped it into my mouth.

“Hungry?” a woman asked from the shadows.

She pushed away from the wall where she’d been leaning and approached us. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place her. She and I were about the same height, but that’s where any similarities ended. Her hair was blonde and her eyes looked blue, but all the makeup she was wearing made it hard to tell.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m hungry. But I know I shouldn’t have taken the food. I apologize,” I said. Summer bowed her head and turned her eyes to the floor like any good urchin did in the presence of the bourge. I did the same.

“You took the food?” she asked. “I saw everything. Your friend took the food and you’re covering for her. I think that’s sweet. What’s your name?”

I risked glancing at her and saw she was staring at me. “Su

“I didn’t mean to spy. Well, not on you anyway.” She laughed. “I was peeking through the door to see if my fiancé is behaving himself tonight. Sometimes he drinks a little too much wine.”

Did she say fiancé? I realized she must be Leisel Holt, the president’s daughter. My heart sank and panic rose up to take its place. Of all the people to catch us stealing food!

“He has behaved himself tonight, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said.

“Really, there’s no need to be afraid of me. I won’t hurt you. Please, call me Leisel.” She sounded overly friendly. Summer and I gave each other a nervous glance. We were confused. “I mean, it might even be nice to make some friends. I don’t have many… being the president’s daughter and all.” She studied me, but I didn’t know what to say to her, so I remained silent.

“Most people think it must be the most wonderful thing in the world to be the president’s daughter, but it isn’t. It’s absolutely horrible! I don’t have any friends. I have to live my life in the public eye—always behaving myself and looking my best. And as if constantly having people look at me weren’t enough, there are rumours that someone wants to kill me. Can you believe it? Someone actually wants to assassinate me.” Tears welled up in her eyes. She looked pathetic.

I surprised myself by reaching out to take her hand. “That’s awful.” I wasn’t really sure what I was doing, but I thought if we showed her a little sympathy, she might return the favor and not tell on Summer for taking the food.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to cry.” She grabbed my hand as if it were a lifeline and held it tight. “I’m really trying to be brave. But it’s so scary thinking someone could kill me at any time.”

“I can’t believe anyone would want to hurt you,” Summer said. I wasn’t sure if Summer knew what I was trying to do or if she was just being her genuine, loving self.

Leisel considered her for a moment, but turned her attention back to me. “You’re both so very sweet.” She took a tissue out of her pocket and dabbed the corners of her eyes, careful not to smudge her makeup. “Oh, I must look awful. But I feel so much better. Thank you for listening.”

Seeing that she had stopped crying, I began to relax my hold on her hand, but she tightened her grip and refused to let me go. “We are friends, aren’t we?”

Her eyes seared into mine, waiting for my answer. “Of course.” I was confused by her strange behaviour.

The last of the girls carrying trays walked past us into the kitchen and gave us puzzled looks.

“I have an idea! We should hang out tonight,” she said, clearly meaning only me. “I like talking to you, and I really do think it was very noble of you to cover up for her.” Leisel looked at Summer but with no kindness in her expression. I got the feeling we were being threatened.

“I have to work tonight,” I said awkwardly.

“I thought you were almost done?”

“No, ma’am. There’s a party this evening.”

Understanding came over her features. “Oh right, it’s a bachelor party.” She seemed to ponder the dilemma for a moment. “I know. I’ll get Jack to make a request for you. He can take you back to his apartment, and I’ll meet you there.”

She looked pleased with her plan, but alarms were going off in my head. I had a really uneasy feeling about her, but I knew that if she wanted me to do something I would have to do it. There was no way I could refuse the president’s daughter.

“If you’re worried about your friend, I’ll see what I can do about getting her off duty for the night.”

I looked at Summer. She seemed worried.

“Okay,” I said. I had little choice. I was grateful that Leisel offered to send Summer home. It made the situation a little more tolerable.

“It’s all settled then. I’ll just go out and tell Jack, and he’ll come and get you when the time is right. We’re going to have so much fun!”

“Her name is Summer. Summer Nazeem,” I said pointedly, wanting to be sure she excused the right girl from work.

“Summer. I’m sure I’ll remember.”

She gave my hand a final squeeze before she walked out into the dining room. I heard a volley of clapping from the guests as she entered, then laughter.

“Su

“Ssshhh! Someone might hear.” I looked around to see if anyone else was lurking in the shadows. “We just got caught stealing food. You know we could be beaten to death for that. And didn’t you hear her say she’d get you off duty tonight? Not only are you not going to be punished, but you get to go home!”

“And you get left behind with her.”

“Do you really think I have a choice?” Her look of resignation told me she knew I didn’t. “Look, I’d rather sit around holding her hand tonight than being entertainment for one of those old men out there. And you get to go home. So something good is coming from all of this, right?”

“I don’t know about that, Su

Summer didn’t often have a bad feeling about anything. I took her seriously, even though there was nothing I could do about it. “I’ll be fine, I promise,” I said with more conviction than I felt. “We should get back before we get into any more trouble.”

As we entered the main part of the kitchen, we came face to face with our angry supervisor.

“It’s about time!” she yelled. “Where have you been?”

“We were stopped by the president’s daughter,” I said. An idea was forming in my mind. I could still hear the crowd shouting out comments to Leisel, asking why she was at a bachelor party. There could be no question that she was indeed here.

“Is that so? And why on earth would the president’s daughter want to talk to you two?”

“She asked about her fiancé and whether or not he was drinking a lot of wine. She wanted to know if he was behaving himself. That’s all.”