My One True Love

Chapter Fourteen: Opportunity

ADALET...

To say I was exhausted was an understatement, I didn't even want to get up. The night before I had played in a concert and it had lasted longer than we had anticipated. Now it was 7am and I was yawning as I ate my cereal at the kitchen island. Judy was already ready to go but she wanted to wait for me. "You look awful," she commented as she eyed me.

"I feel awful," I said as I groaned. It had been very hard to wake up, not to mention getting up. I finished the last of my cereal and placed the dirty bowl in the sink where I rinsed it and left it there for when I got back. Then I took my things and followed Judy out the door.

The drive to work was took less than I would have preferred and both of us walked out of the car towards our respective areas. When I reached my floor and got to my desk I was glad to see there was a cup of coffee on my desk along with a note and a bouquet of flowers.

I hope you have a wonderful day

- Cole

I smiled and reminded myself to thank him later for the surprise. I looked at my schedule and saw I had a meeting with Erin in an hour in which we were going to discuss her big comeback and all the observations I had made on her draft. I sighed and took out my phone to charge it since the night before I hadn't had the chance to do so.

When the lock screen came into view I saw that I had a lot of messages and that William had sent me congratulations and another message. As I read his message I gasped and quickly called the orchestra's manager and told him about the royal family's invitation to play at the New Year's Gala.

"You're perfectly certain that that's what he said?" the manager asked, he still couldn't believe what I was telling him.

"Yes and they sent me the date of the gala, it's on January the 5th and I saw our schedule and we have no concerts programmed for that weekend," I said as I double checked the calendar.

"Okay then, since you have contact with the royal family I'm going to let you tell them that we accept their invitation and that we will play at the gala," he said excitedly and in my mind I was cheering and jumping. "Oh and tell them to send us the repertoire so we can start rehearsing what we're going to play at the gala," he said.

"Will do," I responded before hanging up and getting up to tell my boss the new concert that had been scheduled. I knocked on his door and he motioned for me to walk in.

"Hello Adalet, what can I do for you?" he asked with a smile as I sat down on one of the chairs across from him.

"I hope I'm not intruding, I just wanted to tell you that another orchestra concert has emerged and you might be interested to hear where it's taking place," I said cheerfully and my boss raised an eyebrow. "We are going to be playing at the royal family's New Year's Gala in London," I said and saw how his eyes widened in surprise.

"Really? That's great Adalet and that can actually be good for us since you will be going and you can do both of your jobs there. How about writing an article about the gala?" he asked and I nodded.

"Yes, that's what I was thinking. It would really help us obtain more exposure and not just for us but for the orchestra and at what the royal family is doing." Daniel looked thoughtful and then he smiled approvingly.

"I like the way you think, Adalet. Of course I approve of this idea, you have my full support," he said sincerely.

"Thank you, Mister Fields," I said and he let me get back to work.

Quickly I told William the news and the opportunities he had opened up for me. Also, I did not forget to ask him for the repertoire. Hopefully he would see my messages soon so that I could tell the manager what we needed to rehearse.

Maybe this was the start of something greater in my career. I sighed as I looked at the clock and quickly took my things to go meet Erin Duke at our conference room on the first floor. I also took my coffee and placed a sticky note on my laptop so that I would be reminded to put the flowers in water after I got back.

..

The meeting with Erin was faster than I expected. We had worked together in the past and that's why I guessed she understood my comments and points of view so well. When I was back at my desk, I took the flowers and headed towards one of the sinks nearby which we rarely used unless we were making coffee on drinking water. At the sink there was a vase that the company provided and any employee could use it as long as they didn't break it.

I put the flowers in and filled the vase before making my way back to my desk. I still had a few hours of work before I was officially free to leave for the day to eat and then go rehearse with the orchestra. I laughed when I thought about how much free time I had, almost none.

I looked at my phone to see if my other coworkers had sent me their articles to arrange them in the magazine template I had but found that William had responded me instead.

I am so glad to hear that, my parents will be very pleased. Thank you for making it happen, Adalet.

And the repertoire should be simple, something people can dance to like waltz and other famous dances. We do not have a specific repertoire you need to play, I will leave that part up to you.

I actually have another thing I wanted to tell you...

I am going to be staying the rest of December, and until the New Year's Gala, in New York. We should meet to catch up and I can introduce you to my friend who will be accompanying me.

My heart skipped a beat. William was coming to New York. I was going to be able to see William again. This day kept on surprising me and I was starting to enjoy the surprises coming my way. I quickly responded his texts;

You're welcome, Your Majesty. The honor is all ours.

Okay, I guess I will need to discuss that part with the director.

Wow that's very unexpected, I would have never guessed it. How about Judy and I pick you up when you land and we could give you guys a tour of New York?

I blushed, it looked like I was flirting and needed to see him but truth be told I was excited to see him. He was just a friend I hadn't seen in a while and who knew, maybe William's friend could be Judy's next fiancée. I laughed at the thought, that would be shocking and strange.

..

The next few days passed in a blur. I was always working. If I wasn't at the office, I was home practicing the pieces of upcoming concerts and if I wasn't doing that I was rehearsing with the orchestra. The only good thing was that gave me an excuse to avoid Cole. Yes I liked him, but as a friend. I tried to see him as something more than that but I just couldn't and I didn't know how to tell him that. Why were relationships so complicated?

Judy and I were waiting in her car outside of the airport. I was surprised Judy had agreed to come since she had been avoiding men like plague these last few weeks but I guess her curiosity got the best of her. William had told me their flight landed at noon and I was thankful they had agreed to travel in the weekend because otherwise they would have had to take a cab to their hotel.

Finally, the two men came out of the airport looking around for us. Well in reality William was looking for me since he had never met Judy and his friend had never met either of us. I got out of the car and could feel Judy's eyes on me as she followed my movements. "Hey, I'm right here," I said once I was behind William who looked lost.

When he heard my voice he jumped but quickly turned around and hid his surprise. "Hello, Miss Trent, it is nice to see you again," he said with sincerity and for some reason I thought he looked taller than the last time I had seen him in Chicago.

"The feeling is mutual," I responded with a smile and he hesitated before leaning down and awkwardly hugging me. I was surprised and those were some painful few seconds. To hide my shock and awkwardness I turned to face the other man who was almost as tall as William. He was a dirty-blonde with blue eyes, I instantly knew he would attract Judy's attention. "And who is this?" I asked.

William look at his friend and quickly introduced me, "Adalet, this is my best mate, Christopher Murphy. Chris, this is Adalet Trent." I shook Christopher's hand and smiled at him kindly.

He returned the smile and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Adalet. I have heard much about you." My eyes widened and I turned to look at William with a questioning look but he avoided my gaze and fidgeted nervously.

I laughed and returned my attention back to Christopher, "the pleasure is all mine." After the introductions I took the nearest suitcase without questioning whose it was since both of them had two suitcases each. "Let's get these into the car," I said and they were standing shocked as I walked towards Judy's car.

As we got closer, Judy stepped out of the car and opened the trunk of her car. "I hope they fit," I heard Chris call behind me and I laughed nervously, I did too. I sighed in relief when I saw the car's trunk was very spacious and all three suitcases fit almost barely but they did.

We all sighed when the trunk was closed and Judy, who was standing in front of me, was giving me 'the look'. I chuckled and began introducing her to the men that were with us. When we all knew who each other was, we got into the car.

"Where do you guys want to go? Are you hungry?" asked Judy who was the one driving. I looked at the guys in the backseat as they shared a look and the Chris spoke.

"I think it would be best to leave our luggage at the hotel and then we can walk to a nearby restaurant or stand to get something to eat," he said casually. I liked him, he seemed easy-going and a very fun person to be around.

"What hotel are you staying at?" I asked and the two men laughed.

"We did not make a reservation in any hotel actually, we were hoping to stay at a hotel near your apartment in case we needed your help," said William sheepishly as he ran a hand through his hair. I sighed, how I had missed that, his soft hair... no, stop thinking like that, Adalet.

Judy and I shared a look and I shrugged before turning back to the men in the backseat. "There is a hotel close to our apartment but it is not a 5-star hotel you're probably used to," I said with a light chuckle. The two men shrugged and said they were fine with it.

We arrived at the hotel and Judy and I stayed at the reception while William and Chris headed up to their room, or rooms, to leave their suitcases. Judy took that as an opportunity to confront me. "Why didn't you tell me William was so handsome?" she whispered and I laughed.

"I thought you had searched the internet for him," I teased and she rolled her eyes.

"He looks different than in the pictures," she said with a shrug. "His friend Chris is also very eye-catching," she admitted and I raised an eyebrow at her. "I just said he is good looking, remember that I don't want a relationship anytime soon."

I nodded, I was fine with that. David had tried to come back into Judy's life and every time he reappeared it only opened the wound again and I had to intervene to keep her from returning to him. "We are ready to go," I heard Chris say with excitement and we turned to look at them. We got up and met them halfway.

"What do you feel like eating?" Judy asked instantly and the two men smiled.

"How about some of those famous hot dogs in Central Park that I keep hearing of?" said Chris enthusiastically and we all laughed.

"Sure, why not?" agreed William and so we headed off to Central Park.

I walked slower than most people and so Judy and Chris began to trail off together in front of us. William decided to keep my pace to try and talk to me. "How have you been, Adalet? You look well," he added and I saw a slight redness on his cheeks but I shrugged it off as the cold.

"I am very well. Yes, I have a lot of work and barely any time for myself but they are things I enjoy doing so it's worth it," I admitted and he nodded in understanding. "How about you? I thought you were going to bring your girlfriend this time," I said teasingly but truthfully that's what I had thought when he told me he was coming for a month.

He chuckled and turned to look at me, "I tried, I invited her but she decided she wanted to stay behind and wait for my return. She is not the traveler type of person," he said as he placed his hands in his pockets and I nodded.

"Hey guys! You're walking so slow, come on! We're almost there," yelled Judy from more than a few feet away. I hadn't even realized we had trailed behind so much. I quickened my pace and William followed my lead. Judy and Chris waited until we caught up to them. "We were just talking about how they don't seem too surprised to see snow," said Judy with a smile as she looked at Chris.

"It is not something new for us since we used to travel up north for the winter when we were kids," explained William and Chris nodded.

"So that's why you don't seem to be freezing right now like most tourists from the south," I joked and both men laughed and shook their heads.

The four of us walked together now and talked about our first memories with snow. Apparently, I was the last one out of the four to have met snow since in Texas it wasn't even that cold in the winter. I told them about the first time I had tried to go ice skating with Judy when we were in college and how I had spent more time sitting on the cold ice instead of actually skating. It was nice to be able to talk to them like that and to any outsider we looked like a group of friends who have known each other for years.