Chapter 9 BACK HOME

The little crowd of onlookers were already dispersing leaving Steve behind alone with Matt by the time Gabriella climbed the stage to intervene even though it clearly was not her place to do so. Although it would seem to everyone particularly Steve that she was been too nosy in someone's predicament, Gabriella had her own reasons for trying to intervene in the small fight. Firstly, she was among the sympathizers who felt pity at the man who was already feeling bad for his unwarranted mistake which was a result of him being distracted with her beauty and she knew this.

The last reason she had for intervening was that she knew her duty as a royalty and having been taught it was part of her social public responsibilities to help ease the burden of the civilians under her father's rule in whatever situation they may find themselves in though many of the people living in the city may not see it that way since they were blinded by the modernity of other nations including theirs where much of the public welfare lies in the hands of the Presidents and his congressmen that her involves in his party cabinet. She had been taught to be benevolent by her father and she knew at that moment Matt needed to be saved from further shame and embarrassment.

As she approached Steve who had willfully chase the others away and had taken Matt aside for a private talk by the time she was about meeting them on the stage.

"Everyone, back to your places and focus on your job." Steve barked out in anger at the others who reluctantly obeyed. Each man hardly returned to their places without having to grumble at his outlandish orders despite knowing that it could define the last time they would heard of Matt and went on to continue working with whatever they had left earlier behind to figure out what was going on.

Taking Matt aside to the backstage away from the eyes of the men watching them, Steve held Matt by the shoulder and glared at him.

"Now, listen closely because I do not have to repeat myself." Steve said, perceiving the fear he was impacting on the young man.

"Yes...I'll try my best." Matt stammered not sure if his words were the right one since he was clearly intimidated by Steve's stare.

"That's good. I'll also try to be frank with you on this because I am highly discontent with what you did earlier." Steve said and took a slight pause when he noticed that Matt was looking elsewhere but he continued talking, "You've been working hard enough since you joined the troupe but sorry to say, I need a scapegoat to take the fall for what you did earlier and..."

"Am I going to get fired." Matt asked in bewilderment, fearing the worst.

"Apparently, yes." Steve replied. Matt's expression suddenly dropped and looked despondently at Steve.

"Come on, dude, don't feel bad at me. You did this mess yourself and I can't take the fall for what you actually caused." Steve was still talking to Matt when Gabriela came to meet them. Then he stopped as soon as he saw Gabriela standing next to him on the stage beside Matt who flinched nervously when he beheld Gabriela's radiant beauty at a close range and did his best to control himself.

"Sorry for intruding into your conversation but I must admit that it is quite astonishing how you treat your workers." Gabriela said prickling Steve's pride with her words.

"Excuse me, I don't quite follow." Steve replied in confusion. He stared at Gabriela in perplexity expecting her to explain herself but she only shook her head at his obliviousness and dug her hands in her purse for her android phone.

"I would love to explain but I'll be straightforward here. How much does it cost for this expensive glass to be replaced by another one?" She asked leaving Steve more confused and speechless.

"Uh....I actually don't know the exact price tag but Larry over there know the price for everything here including the glass." Steve said pointing over to a man talking to two of the workers at the audience seat.

"Okay, fine. I' guess I'll be right back to continue our discussion about starting our rehearsals." She said and walked away. Steve and Matt watched her climbed down the raised stage to meet Larry whom she met no sooner after she came down from the stage. They felt curious to know what she had in mind though Steve believed it had something to do with purchasing a similar glass like the one Matt broke. They watched her tapping on her android phone while talking with Larry who appeared more astonished than they were. Minutes later, she returned back to meet both Steve and Matt wondering what she had done without them knowing exactly what she did with Larry right in front of them.

"Phew, that was hectic but I am back now after paying for today's damages." Gabriela said ecstatically.

"What did you do? I didn't quite understand you." Steve replied passively.

"You both heard me. I said I paid for the damages so, I guess he can go and he won't be getting fired, right?" Gabriela asked pointing at Matt. Steve finally got an idea of what she had been saying and felt utter bewildered to have witnessed such a thing happened in his life.

"Yes, Matt is...not going to be fired." Steve stuttered and gestured at Matt to leave which he did not knowing that Gabriela had saved him from trouble. Steve thought at first Gabriela was insane to have decided to pay for the damages done by a total stranger but he soon come to terms with the fact that he believed the princess was quite sympathetic in helping a stranger from his wrath. Gabriela did her rehearsal with him briefly after Matt had left and only departed from the theatre hall a couple of hours later before the third hour in the afternoon. When she got back home, she discovered Scott had surprisingly returned home to the prince palace where they actually lived. She was glad and thrilled that he had come back the very moment she was told by the maidservant the happy return of her husband from his holiday in Australia but it was only until an hour after sundown that she got to see him in person. When they first saw each other, Scott felt like he had a thousand questions to ask about her identity and was sure that was the only thing that kept his heart fixated on forgetting about the past especially his one night stand with her lookalike.

When she met him at the inner courtyard of the palace, she ran to hug him and he did allow her to squeeze herself into his tight embrace. She felt that his aura was different when they were tightly embraced with each other but she was more than thrilled that he had made it back home safe and sound to the extent that she decided to bury her curiosity about the reason why he had refused to answer her call the last time she called him and went along with his manly presence in her life. to welcome him back home.