The meeting was over.
Everyone had left their seats. Maximilian and I walked out of the room together. When we reached the exit, Maximilian held the door open for me. I smiled and thanked him.
“I’ll pick you and your assistant up in an hour,” he said after we had walked through the exit for a few steps.
I looked up. “You’re going to pick me up?”
Maximilian raised one eyebrow. “Are we at the point where we’re using ‘you’ and ‘I’ now? You usually address me formally.”
I stopped walking. “What?” “Yeah. You’re usually very formal with me.”
I was silent for a moment before answering, “That’s because we usually only meet at formal events. We hardly ever talk outside official agendas. That’s why I always speak formally. You don’t like me calling you ‘you’ and using ‘I’?”
“No,” he said quickly. “I’m actually very happy you’ve started speaking casually with me. It means we’re closer now,” he continued, a sweet smile curving across his lips.
My cheeks felt hot at his words. I pretended to act casual and stared straight ahead. Hopefully, my face wasn’t turning red. I could only hope.
A little while later, we arrived in front of the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ office.
“All right. We’re here in front of my office. See you in an hour.” “I’ll call you when I get back here to pick you up. See you then,” Maximilian said warmly.
I nodded and waved at him before going straight into my office. Once the door closed, I stood with my back against it. My mind was still processing everything that had happened. I still couldn’t believe I was going to have lunch with Maximilian.
“Your Highness, what are you doing?” Elvie asked from behind her desk. Her brow furrowed slightly in confusion at my behavior.
“Ahem.” I cleared my throat, straightened my shoulders, and acted as though nothing was wrong. As I walked over, I answered Elvie’s question. “I’m just taking a short break. It’s quite a long walk from the meeting room to this office,” I said, trying to sound casual.
Elvie gave me an incredulous look. If I were her, I wouldn’t believe me either. The meeting room wasn’t far from my office at all. It only took five minutes to walk there. Elvie merely shook her head and went back to work.
An hour passed.
My phone rang. Maximilian’s name appeared on the screen. I answered it. “Hello?” “It’s me. I’m in front of your office.” “All right, give me a moment,” I replied before hanging up.
“Come on, Elvie. Let’s have lunch,” I said as I tidied up my things and grabbed my bag so we could leave right away.
I had already told Elvie that we would be having lunch with Maximilian and his personal assistant. She nodded and picked up her own bag, getting ready to leave.
The two of us headed outside toward the parking lot. I saw Maximilian leaning against his car. His eyes fell on me, and a broad smile lit up his face.
I walked over and greeted him. “Hi.”
Hi? Seriously, Arindra? I cursed myself inwardly.
“Hi. Come on, let’s get going,” Maximilian replied as he opened the front passenger door for me.
I quickly got in, making sure to fasten my seat belt. Once I was inside the car, my nervousness eased a little. Maximilian got in beside me in the driver’s seat, while our assistants were already seated in the back.
Maximilian started the car, and we soon left the office grounds and headed toward the main road.