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"Would you have a drink with ht the question, let alone asked it out loud My granny Edwina is spinning like a top in her grave But what’s the bloody point of being Queen if you can’t make your own rules at least once in a while?

"It would be an honor"

I hand hilass and motion for him to sit on the sofa, while I take the chair by the fireplace

"Tell me about yourself"

"Afraid there’s not much to tell, Ma’am I’m a man who enjoys his work"

I sip my sherry and the liquid warms my belly

"What about your life? Your family?"

"I’m not married I was an orphan before I joined the military"

"There must be solances down and his eyes glitter withHer name was Melinda and her dad was a fisher of , she went on the boat with her dad to help out There was an accident at sea and she drowned"

I cover o"

Those glittering eyes fall back on me and he says softly, "You remind me of her"

"Do I?"

He nods "She was like a force of nature Strong, steadfastbeautiful"

My eyes dart up at the coreedy for any drop of rain

"You think I’hly

"I think you arenificent"

He says it with a sacred awe, the way one whispers a saint’s nao--when things were silly and simple

I think Winston fancies you

And I look at the ive his life for me--I don’t know if I ever really looked at hient, dedicated Desirable in every way a man should be

But not to me

My pulse doesn’t throb when I look at hi color Gray-blueand I drearass after a thunderstor, not devilish and infuriating The sound of his voice doesn’t wars that steal h all at the same time

Only one man does that Only one ever has And he’s the one who left

And I’lass on the table and rise

"Thank you for the company and conversation, Winston Let Cook knoon’t be eating; I’ht"

He gazes down at me a moment, and then he nods

"Sleep well, my Queen"

As I walk alone with my loneliness to my rooms, Alfie’s words echo in my mind

Love is bloody awful, Chicken