"You can't just drop that on me and leave!" I exclaim as Ruspin decides to get up.

Giving me a sideways glance, he shrugs, "My father is the king of this wretched place. He kicked me out when I was young and left me to fend for myself. I made it my mission to become so successful that I could one day overthrow him and take back what was rightfully mine. Michelangelo is my brother. When I was kicked out, he took my side, wanting to help me overthrow father. We worked together tirelessly... but something was off. By that time Monty and I had already met; I sent him to investigate. That's when I discovered that Michelangelo was planning to hold our mother ransom against me. My mother. I faked her death, set up an underground secret house for her. Michelangelo hated me after that, he despised me as much as my father did."

"There's no way you could trust him after what he planned to do to your mom." I assure, not sure if I should move closer to him.

It seems as though he's just as much of a royal as I am. Betrayed by his family just as I was, but instead of running away, he made something of himself. He built an empire... an empire that would topple the mightiest of forces.

"I thought of an appropriate slogan." He says, breaking the secret filled silence, "Save the economy."

Drolly, I ask, "The economy? For real? That's sure to rake in the votes." Also, does he even know what a slogan is? That doesn't even rhyme.

"The economy is the key to solving all our problems. It's obvious that I can't care for every single citizen and I won't lie and say that I do. But I can help them all and that's what I plan to do." Well, good to know he's as honest and straight-forward as ever.

"In that case, be glad that I'm here to help you." Or, in layman's terms, keep you from killing your chances with the voters.

He smirks, "Believe me, I am."

Narrowing my eyes, I scrutinize him, "What's that supposed to mean."

"Come on Angelica, my feelings towards you haven't changed in the slightest." So that's where this conversation is going.

Sure, for some strange reason I am attracted to him. But my life is a disaster and that's not even considering my tumultuous love life.

"Think about it Angelica." He says, straightening his attire and heading back into the party of politicians.

...

"How could you let this happen you uncultured swine!" Annalise demands, growling at me.

My confusion is instantly washed away when I stare at the grainy rendition of Ruspin and I kissing on the computer screen. "Oh."

Ruspin sits in his chair, filling paperwork as usual. For some reason he's strangely undisturbed.

Annalise obviously shares my thinking, she turns the screen to face him directly, gesturing wildly at it whilst demanding, "What do you have to say about this?"

His eyes flick up, to the screen and then to me and finally to Annalise. "Send me a copy."

Huffing, she throws her hands up in the air and storms out of the room.

"Ruspin," I chide, "This is a real problem. What will the electorate think when they see you kissing your adviser?"

"Nothing," is his confident answer.

"You may be immune to the temptation of gossip but I can assure you others are not. I can think of so many ways this can be spun against you."

"Do tell." He mutters looking uninterested.

"We have to do some damage control. Give me something to tell the press."

"Tell them that my girlfriend and I were having a splendid time on the balcony."

"I'm not doing that."

"Great." He says, "I already did."

"Unbelievable!" I hiss, rounding his desk, preparing to wipe that smug look off his face. I shove at the arm of his chair, sending him spinning, what I didn't expect though, is him dragging me into the chair with him and wrapping his arms around me.

When the chair stops spinning, I'm left with no choice but to stare into his all-knowing eyes. "You can tell me you don't want a relationship as much as you want. But I know that you enjoy this as much as I do."

With that, he presses his lips to mine, keeping his eyes open to watch my reaction.

The bastard knows that I like him... and his impeccable kissing. Can't he at least do something that's not full of finesse? Just once. That's all I'm asking.

His tongue does something particularly nice and I moan against his lips, grabbing his collar to pull him closer. His fingers skim my throat blithely his voice sending shivers through my body. "I wish I could hear you."

Ironically, I'm lost for words.

Though Ruspin seems like a fountain of emotion recently, leading me to wonder whether he's been possessed.

"We could be good together Angelica. I don't know why you can't see it. Maybe it's because you never bought those glasses." He muses, brushing our noses together.

I bark out a laugh, almost sure that I sent a volley of spit crashing into his face. I reel back, covering my mouth, and for some reason I can't stop laughing.

"Did you just make a joke?" I demand, still enjoying my giggle fest, "What have you done with the stoic, rational Ruspin Garrison?"

"Have you thought about it?" he retorts, avoiding my teasing entirely. That is just like him... all work and no play.

"Of course I've thought about it." How could I not when the phantom of his lips haunted me all night long. "But we work together Ruspin. It's not viable or efficient. And we all know how you love your efficiency."

"I do love efficiency." He muses, stroking his chin, "Which is why I suggested this in the first place. Statistics show that politicians with families are more appealing to the public because it shows that they care. You would be the one to humanise me. Don't think of it as a romantic proposal, rather a proposition. One that is beneficial to us both, as friends. I enjoy the challenge that you present and you seem to share that sentiment."

Him and his bloody statistics.

Pffft. My feelings towards you haven't changed in the slightest. Maybe he was referring to his feelings of douche-bagery. He was probably so immensely drunk that he doesn't even remember professing his so called feelings.

'Love will take you to the moon and back,' replace 'you' with 'your blood pressure' and yup, I agree one hundred percent.

"Fine." I say, swallowing my anger and the most enticing urge to body-slam him out the window. "You already told the press, so I guess we're stuck together as boyfriend and girlfriend."

He gives me a single, crisp nod, and is once more engulfed behind the hoard of paperwork.

I shake my head as I step out onto Royals Corner. The irony of it hits me like a slap to the face.

"Ruspin is my boyfriend." I mutter to the wind.

"Yes, and it's made the headlines I'm afraid." Replies the wind. Well... Michelangelo.