The Prince of Astoria Chapter 19: XIX - The Addlepated

Etienne brushed his hair in the window of the restaurant. He looked inside the restaurant and stared at the empty booth they would always sit at.

"Hey, Prince!" A woman with a deep voice called out.

Etienne turned around and was t by three familiar faces.

A petite girl in an orange dress ran up and hugged him tight.

"You’re squeezing , Christina," Etienne gasped out.

Christina stepped away and put her hands behind her back.

"S-sorry Etienne. Are you feeling okay?" The young woman’s voice was light and airy, like a gust of wind would blow her words away.

Etienne scratched his head, "I’m feeling great! To be honest though, this reaction is a little underwhelming. Didn’t Gabe say you’re eting with a mortician or sothing? Shouldn’t you guys be...I don’t know...more shocked?"

The tall girl standing farther back, wearing a blue jean jacket and blue jeans, laughed heartily. Her booming voice made nearby onlookers turn their heads, "I think he was just yanking your chain, dude. Gabe told us you were alive last week, and he said we’d be eting today."

Etienne sighed, "Thanks Gio, I’m happy to see you as well."

A short Indian man wearing ripped jeans and a tie die sweater walked up to Etienne and the girls made room for him. Etienne stared at his well grood beard and his expensive looking glasses.

"It’s good to see you again, Prince. You’ve been dearly missed."

A tear ca to Etienne’s eye, "Thank you. I missed you too, Money."

The four of them entered the restaraunt and were guided to a seat by a server. They sat in the booth, Etienne sat next to Christina and Money sat next to Giovanna.

"Why didn’t you tell us you were leaving that day?" Giovanna said to Etienne.

The oxygen in the room was sucked out and the color disappeared. Each second beca a millenia as Etienne wracked his brain for an acceptable answer.

"That’s right," Etienne thought to himself, "In their view, I snuck off and got myself killed without consulting them or asking for help. And now I’m here trying to act like everything is normal. Like we can go back to how it was in high school."

Etienne tapped his fingers on his knee. His eyes jumped from the table back to Giovanna then back to the table. But no ti passed.

The only response he could muster was to shake his head.

"Gio!" Christina called out angrily.

"No, Christina!" Giovanna snapped back at her, "He wanted to go to Japan and start a new life or go on vacation, or whatever he was doing, and now he wants to just co back? We were all struggling; we all talked about escaping it all. How could you do that to us? We needed you!"

Etienne’s heart beat sped up. His palms sweated profusely. He moved to stand up.

"This was a mistake," Etienne thought to himself.

Money hit his hand on the table, sending the plates, silverware and their water flying into the air for a brief mont, "Giovanna, that’s enough!"

Giovanna looked over at him, puzzled. Etienne sat back down.

Money continued, "He talked to . Not that night, but he did talk to . In fact, he talked to all of us."

Giovanna shrugged her shoulders, "I’m lost, what are you—"

Money cut her off, "Etienne talked to and told he’s been thinking about his parent’s murder. Their legacy. Everything they built. And how the world already forgot about them. How he wished he could expose the foul play that killed him. He talked to you two about it two, right?"

The girls listened to him intently and nodded their heads.

"I told him it’d be okay, that eventually they would be brought to justice. Empty platitudes. So he went out and decided he would do sothing about it. Can you bla him for wanting allies, when all the ones here could offer are words?"

Giovanna looked over at Etienne, and placed her hand on top of his.

"Sorry for blowing up on you. Just next ti, at least give us a head’s up. You know we care about you Etienne. More than anything."

Etienne nodded his head, "No, I’m sorry, Gio. Honestly, it felt like my problems and hangups were making you guys’ lives worse. I knew you all loved but..."

Christina placed her head on his shoulder, "There is no ’but’ Etienne. We love you. You can trust us."

Giovanna smiled devilishly, "Aww, how cute! On the sa topic, Christina, do you rember that thing you’ve been telling you wish you could do for the last year? Are you gonna do it now?"

Christina lifted her head and leaned all the way into the corner of the booth. She shook her head vigorously.

Money turned to Etienne, "So Prince, you plan on keeping your resurrection a secret and enjoying the good life? Or were you going to rejoin us in the world of the living?"

Etienne sipped his water, "Why do you ask?"

Money leaned in close, "Well, I don’t want to ask you to do much after you just got back, but we could really use your help with the Fellows.

"The philanthropy group? What about it?" Etienne questioned.

Money paused for a second as the server handed them appetizers.

"Your big cousin isn’t doing a great job right now, and we’re losing ground to a small faction inside the company—"

Etienne cut in, "Wait, Lionel is the head of the Fellows? Since when?"

Money shook his head, "Since your aunt and uncle were able to ’prove’ your parents transferred the CEO position to him before their accident. When your parents were in charge, we were able to fund public infrastructure and give money to teachers’ unions. Now, things we used to do easily are bound in legal red tape and mountains of clearance docunts. The funds are getting misappropriated and this new faction wants to turn the Fellows from a venture philanthropy organization to a social club."

Etienne put his chin in his hand, "And what do you want to do?"

"There’s an All White Party on Sunday. If you could show up, not only would that boost morale on our side and sap energy from that faction, but I think with the montum you’ll have you may be able to convince Lionel to concede his position to you."

"Concede his position?" Etienne thought, "I don’t want to lead the Fellows. That would take too much ti and energy away from my mission."

Etienne scratched the back of his head and ate a fry, "Okay, I’ll do it. But in exchange, you have to go to the bar with . Like we always talked about."

Money smiled wide for the first ti and put his fist out. Etienne bumped his fist.

"We can’t co with you?" Giovanna whined.

Etienne smiled, "Guys night, Gio, sorry. Don’t worry, I’ll hang with you two all day at that All White Party"

Christina poked at her food, "Are you gonna hang out with us too, Money?"

Money looked up at the ceiling for a mont, "Yeah, but I just want to see Prince’s introduction. I’ll probably leave right after, I have work stuff in the morning."

Giovanna put her hands up, "Ohhh, look at mister big shot! I want to see you unleash that party animal like you used to."

Money laughed, "Hell no! Before the worst that would happen is my dad taking my car keys. Now, if so tabloid snaps a picture of , I could tank our company’s stock. I know Christina’s modeling agency would be mad as hell if she showed up on sobody’s social dia, too. Man, I wish we could still be reckless like you."

Giovanna’s expression beca annoyed, and she turned her whole body toward Money. Money continued to eat his food, and Christina let out a nervous laugh.

Etienne chuckled and thought to himself, "They still act exactly the sa. The more things change, the more they stay the sa, I guess."