Chapter song:
Malibu Nights by Lany.
••☆••
At the Grayson tower.
The Grayson tower was the second largest manor in the whole of Zephyr.
It was called tower because of the long peck extension that protruded 4 stories above the manor.
The manor nestled about a mile away from wrought huge iron gates and rested vastly on a couple acres of land.
It revealed itself in breathtaking form of architectural modern minimalism with classic grandeur.
This dreamy and masterpiece of a home was owned by one of the wealthiest families since it's existence in the history of Zephyr.
"Sir Darnel." There was a knock on the door.
The lady dressed in a white and black uniform stood outside the huge door waiting.
"Sir Darnel," She called humbly with another knock.
There was still no response from inside.
"Sir Darnel?" She patiently called and knocked again.
Her eyes set on a black with golden designs 10 feet height double oak doors.
Patiently waiting for the Sir Darnel to respond.
"Is he still refusing?" A young lady asked, approaching the lady at the doors.
"Yes, lady Elna," she replied.
Lady Elna reached for the doorknob, opening the doors at once.
"DARNEL!!!" unhappily she yelled, then closed the doors behind her.
Despite her aggressive yelling , Darnel who laid in bed didn't move a bit .
Elna's eyes focused on the king sized vi spring mattress bed with a upholstered headboard that stretched up and sideways at the heart of room.
His bedroom was fastidiously designed with specific colours, black, white and gold.
It was bathed in soft lighting, a highly raised ceiling, his picture portraits hang on the walls ,walk in closet , ensuite bathroom, a lounge area to one side and a glass door that led to balcony set as relaxing area with a beautiful view.
"Why are you acting like a child?" Elna shouted walking closer to the bed.
"ARGHHHHH!H!" He loudly groaned, uncovering his head.
"Do you all not have anything to occupy you?" he angrily asked, covering his head again
"GET THE FUCK UP," she shouted pulling the covers off him.
"WHAT!!!!!" He shouted sitting up.
"Can you please leave me alone?" he humbly asked.
"Which girl is making you break down like this of all the ones you have played with?" Elna asked.
Darnel looked at her speechlessly and disappointed.
Before he could say more, the door was opened and another young man walked in.
"What do you call my room, a siblings' hang-out place?" Darnel asked.
They all both looked at him not entertaining his desire to be left alone.
"Please get out," Darnel added.
"Both of you " he begged.
"How come I haven't met her yet?" The young gentleman said sitting down on the sofa.
"I have been asking myself that Desmond," Elna said.
Darnel covered his face with his hands breathing out heavily.
"What?, is she blackmailing you? tell mom she will handle things." Desmond said with a giggle.
"Don't tell me, is she pregnant?" Elna asked with lots of curiosity.
"Please enough," Darnel begged them both.
They both stared at him ignoring this pleas
"It's not blackmail, no one is pregnant and there is no girl," Darnel said in frustration.
"Don't lie Darnel, your face screams heartbreak," Desmond said.
Darnel looked at both of them, he had enough already.
The door was opened again and another gentleman got in wearing a bright smile.
"Prince William," Elna called.
"No need for titles please," William said with a wide smile.
"You're his best friend, tell us which girl is it . The blonde one with a shitty personality, or the model" Desmond asked.
"There was one who was obsessed with you. Or the one mom hated cause you were too fond of her " Elna asked.
" aw.. i liked that one " Desmond said.
" me too " Elna added with a soft smile.
Prince William burst out in laughter as he fell flat into Darnel's bed , laying next to him .
Darnel heavily exhaled , he didn't find their sick jokes funny at all .
"There is a girl disturbing his mind," William said with a smile, his eyes on Darnel.
Darnel raised his eyebrows in disbelief at the statement William had just made, William turned his head looking at Elna and Desmond who were excited to hear more.
"No it's impossible, not true at all," William changed his statement laughing .
"It's the moment I want to witness though 'cause this my man has a stone cold heart, only satisfies his dick," William added.
They all chuckled not surprised at all.
There was a knock on the door again .
"What?" Darnel yelled out in frustration at everyone who seemed to be coming to his room.
"Sir Darnel your fiancée, lady Marie is here." the lady calmly said from behind the door .
"Oh shit, oh shit," Darnel said getting out of bed stratching his head.
"I had completely forgotten I had to go on a date with Marieh," he said walking to the door
"Are you going out like that?" Elna asked.
He looked like a hot mess, having been in the same position since the previous day.
"I am going to decline the date," Darnel said.
"And you think mom is going to accept that?" Desmond asked.
"There is nothing she wants more than seeing you bond with Marieh," Elna said.
"I don't get why you're in this state but get it together 'cause I don't want to see my younger brother like this," Elna added sounding concerned.
"Or else I will butt in and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want me to," she added sounding like a threat .
Darnel sighed pushing his hair backwards.
" got it . Now leave " Darnel pleaded.
Elna didn't insist, she majestically walked past him getting out of the room.
"Everyone misses the old Darnel," Desmond said then stood up from the bed.
He lightly tapped Darnel's shoulder as he walked past him ,getting out of hus room.
Darnel deeply exhaled in a little bit of relief, William closely watching him.
Hardly had Darnel enjoyed the relief of being left alone when the door was banged open .
"Mother," Darnel jumped, extremely startled on seeing her.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked angrily.
" you knew you had a date set with Marieh. Why are you a mess " she questioned him.
Darnel sighed wearily.
" i didn't plan anything for this date , let alone not in the mood for it " Darnel said.
He sounded so weak and uninterested in anything other than just laying in his bed.
"Can't I just have some time alone , i feel so drained and tired of all this " Darnel honestly said more like a plea.
" Hm..." the mother scoff , not pleased at all .
" you are not seriously asking me to put your duties aside as a Grayson, for your childish wants ." The mother firmly and furiously said.
" mother " Darnel called sadly .
"There is no space for whining or time offs from your responsibilities. It's the price you pay for being born a Grayson. So get your act together" She angrily asserts .
"I didn't ask to be born a Grayson with all these rules." Darnel sadly and angrily reminds her .
"Yet you enjoy the privileges of being one" The nother emphasised.
"Darnel love, none of us asked for any of this, but here we are . I know it's hard sometimes to live up to the name and all the sacrifices, but the less you complain, the less you wish and dream, the easier it gets," she firmly said.
" you hating all this is tiring me , so high time you appreciated all this . " she angrily added.
She turned looking at William, who was uprightly seated on the bed attentively watching them .
She flashed a bright wide smile to William, her angry face turning soft.
"Prince William," she softly called.
"Yes, Lady Scarlet?" he smiled.
"Please help Darnel get ready and think of where he can take Lady Marieh for their date." Lady Scarlet requested, more like a command.
Lady makes it sound like a request to William but its definitely an order .
" Yes ma'am " William swallowed.
She turned, glaring at Darnel , then marched out of the room.
No sonner had Lady Scarlet walked out when Darnel locked his bedroom doors.
He had enough with the uninvited guests. He sighed looking at William, who returned to sitting comfortably staring at Darnel.
"Your mother still scares the creep out of me," William said.
Darnel nodded, agreeing. He definitely understood why and didn't blame William.
"Darnel," William called.
"I sent her my farewell," Darnel said softly, his tone bringing out all the painful raw emotions.
"Go visit her," William said.
"Will, you very much know how complicated that is," Darnel said sadly exhaled.
"It's at that I must stop," Darnel added .
"What's the point of fighting for her and being this broken if she is just a friend, make another ," William said.
"She is my best friend, bro," Darnel said, making it sound so different and massively important.
"What's the difference?" William asked.
Darnel maintained his silence. He deeply inhaled marching to the side , opening the door and entering the bathroom and closing the door behind him.
He stood in the mirror looking at himself in deep thoughts , Darnel scoffed, the harder he thought about it the more he got disappointed yet in disbelief.
"Best friends," he stated.
The statement he made sounded more like question to himself. With no reply to his question or more to his statement that he seems not to believe, he walked into his shower.
William patiently waited for his friend while on the phone till he got out of the shower.
He watched him enter his walk in closet.
"Haven't you been preparing for this moment for a whole year now?" William asked following Darnel to the closet.
"True, but I am losing my best friend," Darnel said, dressing up.
"Is that how you will act when you're losing me, 'cause I am your best friend?" William said, very curious.
"Are you planning on losing yourself from me, William?" Darnel looked at him, with a dire look on his face.
"No,..but..." William said.
"Good," Darnel said cutting William off then got back to dressing up.
"Besides, this is different. I love her." Darnel found himself saying.
William smirked and it turned into a smile. Almost like he had heard what he wanted to hear.
"And I love you too, of course," Darnel then added, though somehow still not believing what he just said.
Much as he was trying to brush it off and sugarcoat it as if it was something minor, William couldn't stop smiling.
"Let's go, and wherever we are going, you can't leave me alone with Marieh," Darnel said.
William giggled hard.
"She is not a beast, you know," William said.
"I know that Will, I am just not in the right mind," Darnel said.
"I got you, bro," William said.
From the side of his room in the tower , Darnel and William, walked to the main house in a hurry.
In the main living room sat Marieh and Lady Scarlet, who were having a lovely time with the conversation they were having.
"I apologise. I lost track of time," Darnel said on reaching Marieh and Lady Scarlet.
Marieh immediately stood up with a smile, looking at the both of Darnel and William.
Marieh had long wavy black hair, her full of colour white skin glowing with health, she had a small face with small dimples engraved in her cheeks, which made her smile even lovelier.
Her body is slender with a well-shaped apple ass and a small waist. She is such a beautiful thing to look at, one that eyes could never tired of.
"Prince William," she said humbly with a little bow to him.
"Lady Marieh," William said.
"Sir Darnel," she smiled.
"My lady," he said back, maintaining a slight smile.
"Wait a minute, why do you both not wear your engagement rings?" Lady Scarlet asked.
"We decided not to wear them," Marieh said with a smile.
"Mother , can't you just let us off the hook?" Darnel said very irritated.
"Let's go, Marieh," Darnel added, leading the way William and Marieh followed suit to the parking lot in the basement garage.
"To be honest, I had completely forgotten about this date," Darnel said, turning to Marieh.
"I am sorry," he added.
She stood looking at him silently, her eyes then turned to William, who didn't exactly have anything to say as well, and a wide smile popped on her face .
"What's on your mind, Marieh?" William asked.
"Well, I was kind of hoping it's me to decide where we go today, I know we shall all love it." she smiled
"Get in, I'm driving," she added, immediately walking to her car, getting in the drivers seat.
William and Darnel looked at each other in relief ,yet curious of where Marieh was taking them.
"Well, let's get surprised together," Darnel said to William.
"I hope you don't mind us sitting in the back, i have someone else to pick up," Marieh said as William and Darnel walked to the car .
"It's cool," William replied ,both getting in the back.
"You seem so happy," William said to her as she drove off the Grayson premises.
"Yes, I'm excited. This date thing is not affecting our plans for tonight. I was worried," she smiled .
" involving the person your picking up " William asked
"Yes," she happily said.
" before we head out to where the fun is , we have to first gather at out our meet up place " she added.
"Who is "we? " William asked, inquisitively and a bit uncomfortable.
As much as William was interested and invested in the conversation, Darnel was just zoned in his mind, comfortably seated and listening to them.
"I know usually there are always paparazzi following you two, but today it's safe. This is an intimate circle . " she smiled at him through the driving mirror.
William sighed relieved to hear that.
"But still, who is "we? " William asked.
"The three of us, Amir, Nathan, Kim and her boyfriend Matt, Babi and Neacky." Marieh happily said.
"Wait, what?" Darnel, in shock, said, recovering from his silence.
"I am sure you know Miss Nancy's daughters, at least they are not new in your ears," Marieh confirmed what Darnel wanted to hear.
William stared at Darnel with a smirk on his face, knowing exactly why Darnel is suddenly back from the mute and dead.
Darnel giggled in disbelief.
" its a close circle of friends, we all became close once we all started going to the Royal Academy. You two will love them " Marieh smiled.
" i didn't know Miss Nancy's daughters went to the Royal Academy " Darnel said, very curiosly and amused.
" they got a scholarships through Lady Scarlet. She talked to your mother William and they admitted for their uniqueness. Neacky has this exceptional talent in ballet and Babi is really smart " Marieh said .
" its been a year now " Marieh added.
Darnel scoffed , bitting his jaws staring out the window in thoughts.
" right under our nose all this time" William comments .
" what " Marieh asked .
" no , nothing " William replied.
"Can't believe Miss Nancy didn't mention it even once," Darnel quietly said to William.
He was really surprised that for two years now, he had never known about it .
"This is definitely going to be a lovely day," William commented leaning behind.
Silence filled the car, continuing the journey to wherever Marieh was taking them.
Not long after, Marieh parked the car at the gates of the seed processing factory.
" does the person your picking work at out factory " William asked , looking out at the long gates of the factory with the logos of the royal family and Grayson family.
" hmm.." Marieh replied.
That shouldn't be surprising being that most enterprises here in the city and former Kingdom ,Zephyr are owned by the royal family and the Grayson family.
They patiently waited and shortly , the gate was opened, and a young gentleman marched out approaching the car.
Marieh slid down the window with a wide smile watching him get closer.
"BABY," she Marieh called loudly.
The gentleman laughed shily opening the front car door , sliding in and shutting the door .
Darnel and William keenly looked at Amir, William's stared at him like he was a stranger but Darnel seemed familiar with the face.
"How many times are we going to fight over you calling me baby," he smiled.
Marieh chuckled, her eyes following the gentleman as he turned staring at William and Darnel in the back .
He had a glowing chocolate skin, his hair properly cut short on the sides and a fairly bigger amount in the middle with well defined edges , his jawline well defined, and obviously can't miss out on noticing his attractive grey eyes, his body displaying the results of him hitting the gym and pretty tall.
This chocolate man was so pleasing and handsome.
"Amir, meet William and Darnel," Marieh smiled.
"mhm, I know them, who doesn't know them," Amir said.
"William, Darnel, this is my friend Amir." Marieh introduced them to each other.
" are they coming with us or " Amir immediately asked .
" they will be joining us tonight " Marieh replied .
" and they are cool with hanging out with strangers " Amir asked.
William and Darnel turned staring at each other, their gaze to each other having a lot of unsaid words.
" yes , are you okay with that " Marieh asked.
" do other know they will joining us " Amir asked .
" Amir " Marieh called .
Amir sighed heavily . He turned looking back at William and Darnel. The two not phased , if so very pleasantly intrigued.
" its pleasure meeting you Amir " William said .
"Its also loving seeing you in person not on my screen " Amir said.
" news flash , with us Royalty and privileges don't apply. We are equal to each other , so don't be expecting some kind of special treatment " Amir added.
Darnel scoffed .
" we would appreciate that as well " Darnel said.
" you don't have to be so unwelcoming. I am the one who invited them tonight " Marieh said.
" i just have to make sure we are on the same page " Amir said , facing forward.
" don't mind him, he usually is nice. " Marieh said to William and Darnel as she started the car driving off to their next destination.
" i like him, he isn't intimidated and doesn't act pretentious because of our titles. Like the rest do " William said .
" he is exactly what i have heard about him " Darnel scoffs with slight smile .
" Wait , what " Amir is surprised to hear that .
" from who , and what have you heard " Amir asked.
" From your aunt , Miss Nancy " Darnel replied.
" i also didn't just hear , i was shown pictures as well " Darnel said .
" ah...Auntie Nancy isn't the kind to talk about me . Thats surprising " Amir replied , not fully convinced.
" you and Miss Nancy must be extremely close , to discuss her family to you " Marieh said.
"Yeah," Darnel smiled.
From the look and smirk on William's face , there was definitely more than what Darnel was saying.