My Prince Charming

Chapter 12

Ava POV

I slept awfully last night. And it was all because of that stupid prince.

I reluctantly got out of bed earlier than usual and got ready for the day. I had work down at the markets from 6 'till 2 pm and then I had the retail from 3 to 9.

It was a packed day.

It was already 4:30 when I had a shower, and I usually got up at 5, so that was just lovely for my sleep schedule. And I made sure to put some makeup on thanks to a certain prince.

Just as I was about to leave my room for the morning, I saw the familiar black jacket hanging on my chair. I grabbed the jacket and quickly searched my room for some money. I had to pay him back, and I knew that he wouldn't take it without a fight, so why not be clever about it?

I found $32 and added it to the $72 I earned yesterday, folded it, and put it in the chest pocket.

With the jacket carefully folded in my bag, I left a note for mum as usual and was out of the house by 5:15. It only took ten minutes to walk to the market space, so I got there quickly. I set everything up by 5:50, so I had ten minutes to spare. I decided to just scroll through social media to pass the time. The sun was already up because of the summer season, so there were some people outside and others driving to work.

By 6:30, there were some customers that bought some fruits, but other than that, nothing really happened. I spent probably another thirty minutes on my phone before another customer arrived.

"Good morning, dearie," I looked up to see Greta, a regular customer. Just not this early in the morning.

"Morning, Greta. What has you up so early?" 

"Early bird gets the worm. What are you selling today?" She scanned the fruits on display.

"Just the usual, but we got them earlier this morning, so they'll need some time to ripen."

"Perfect. Time is the one thing I have to spare," she smiled and picked a selected few fruits before reaching into her purse. She counted the money in her hands before handing it to me. Just like always; a couple of dollars extra.

"Your change, Greta," I tried giving her the extra money, but she didn't take it.

"Keep it, you deserve it."

I laughed. "All I do is stand here and sell fruits." She waved me off and I laughed again. "I'll win the conversation one day."

She let out a hearty laugh. "Now that would be a sight. Have a nice day, Ava."

"You too, Greta." I smiled to myself and pocketed the loose change before rearranging the fruits on display.

"I don't get it." I looked up. A figure stood there with a hood covering their face as they looked in the direction Greta walked. "You accept money from her, but not me?" The man looked at me with a faked hurt expression, and I let out a laugh once I realised who it was.

"That's because she offers a couple of dollars, never over one hundred, Louis," I stated, looking back at the fruits. He barked out a laugh as he walked over to me.

"That's true, but I have plenty of reason to be spending that money on you."

"Oh, really?" I folded my arms and looked at him. "And why's that?" I kept my composure as he set his hands on the stand and leaned on it, moving his face right in front of mine until there were only a few inches of space.

"Because you're my princess," he flirted with his signature smirk. I managed to roll my eyes and turn around to the box of fruits behind me. 

"Uh-huh, sure," I said as I turned around with a couple of fruits and began placing them with the others.