Hollywood Zenith

Hearing his phone ring a third time, he knew it must be important. He decided to force out of their chokehold when he heard Kate\'s voice," Can\'t you stay?" She opened her tired eyes looking at him.

" I don\'t know, It seems important."

" Alright, just leave your number this time before vanishing." She smiled sweetly and planted a deep kiss before sliding over. Bella who seemed to lost her cuddling partner somehow made her way toward Kate hugging her like a pillow as they both fell asleep again.

Samuel admired their beauty for few second before covering them up and went to the living room to find his clothes. He glanced at the caller id to see it was Hannah. Why would she be calling him this early in the morning? It was eleven o\'clock that\'s when she usually woke up.

He dialed her number and all her could hear was her angry voice," Brother, where are you? I heard you left early in the morning? Didn\'t you promise last night to drop Kiko off at the airport?"

" Shit." He knew he was forgetting something.

" Did she leave already?" he asked.

" No, we are at the airport. Her plane is set to leave in an hour! I can\'t believe you forgot about something this important! She had been feeling down since morning!"

" Don\'t worry I will be there!" Samuel said quickly hanging up the phone and dialed another number. It was to bring any vehicle that could be fast enough for him to get to the airport fast!

" I don\'t care what you have to do, bring a helicopter or delay the flight. I need to get to the airport as soon as possible!" Hearing the severity of the situation his guards issued a full on alert and began working behind the scenes to make things happen.

Some contacted the airport authorities while others started looking for a sufficient landing zone along with getting the authorization from the flight department. Samuel was promptly given the coordinates as soon as he dressed up.

He dashed outside sprinting toward the location. He was a man of promise after all and there was no chance for him to break that rule because of his lack of oversight.

Not to sully the Rothschild name, his guards came through big time. Samuel dashed inside one of the fortune five hundred companies getting on their elevator. The guards tried to stop him but they soon received their orders from higher up to let the man in suit go and help him with anything that he asked.

He was escorted to the helipad where he could see the bird arriving at the horizon. With air travel, he wouldn\'t need to worry about traffic and could easily reach his destination without delay.

Few people that recognized him sneakily took pictures, even from their low quality cameras there were quite a lot of dashing photos of him running around while tidying himself. It was no brainer that it became another tabloid news regarding the mysterious life of the Samuel Rothschild!

" Boss, how have you been these days!?" A familiar face greeted him from the pilot seat.

" Drac? What are you doing here?" He knew they must have arrived in the morning. He wasn\'t suppose to be here especially during his vacation.

" Ze left for his home country in Africa and with Steve answering Jane\'s question. I thought I would help you out with this."

" So you are just hiding from her? What about your girlfriend? I thought you would be spending more time in Bosnia?" Samuel already knew about Syiara. He didn\'t know what type of arrangement that they had but Drac did tell Jane that he would be staying in the country for the holidays. It\'s not like he had any family members in London.

" I see that you are reading the reports as diligently as always. She came with me, I thought I would show her some new places in the city. WIth her roaming around the world for her humanitarian work, she hardly stays still at one place. London had changed a lot since she last visited the country."

Even when they talked, Samuel didn\'t forget about the urgent matter. They were already in air, Drac knew he didn\'t need to shut down the helicopter for him to jump in because they did the same maneuver countless times during past missions.

" Good for you, did you finally decide to settle down or will you follow the footstep of Alastair?"

" I haven\'t given it much thought. Unlike you who could switched your mind and personality between different places, I don\'t feel like I can integrate into the civilian life that easily. I mean, isn\'t it why I am still here?"

From his tone, Samuel knew he was feeling conflicted. It was normal for people like him who lived their lives on the battlefield to find it tough to live a normal life. Especially for Drac, who had it tough from his birth because he was an orphan and lived in the underbelly of society before being picked up by special forces personnels to do their dirty jobs.

" If you need someone to talk to I will be there. Don\'t always think of me as your boss, we have gotten past our professional relationship years ago. You can consider me as a friend."

Drac didn\'t say much and Samuel too, didn\'t want to ask him more personal questions. They began talking about the mission. Drac was only able to give him brief report before they landed at the airstrip.

"You should head back and take some rest."

" I can wait if you want. I am not that tired."

" I know you guys act like superhuman but you can\'t hide those tired eyes from someone like me. Just go home, I will take the car." Samuel said.

Drac shrugged, he didn\'t need to be told twice about it beside, he wouldn\'t hate to take a long hot shower before sleeping like a log for few days. He was used to doing mission in remote places but they could never fully relax because of hostile environment. The Rothschild Estate was one place where he could simply shut his mind down and relax without a care in the world!

Samuel rushed toward the gate first class lounge and began looking around for their signs. He dialed Hannah\'s number but she wasn\'t picking up her phone. He began to worry, even though he arrived fifteen minutes early there was no guarantee that Kiko hadn\'t just boarded because she was disappointed with him.

Just when he thought he missed them, few people entered the lounge.

" Brother? You really came? But how come you are early than us?" Hannah was with a puzzled expression.

" Shouldn\'t you tell me why are you only coming now?" he could tell they just checked in!

" That- I was making it an emergency because I don\'t know where you were. I just mixed up the time a little so increase the pressure but I had full faith in you!" She gave him a thumbs up like it was some sort of game. He wanted to be angry at her but couldn\'t blame it on anyone else than him.

"Fine, it only took a combined effort of hundred people, me running at full spirit and a windy chopper ride to get him here. No big deal." He grumbled.

" I asked her not to disturb you. I know you are always busy-" Kiko felt his dissatisfaction by being tricked and explain herself but Samuel patted her head and said," It\'s not your fault. I know your majesty is a good girl unlike my naughty sister!"

" You don\'t have to feel bad, your highness. I can confidently say that young master was not that busy." Arthur chimed in.

Samuel just stared at the sly old man with hostility. He was the first person that he called for help but Arthur never mentioned anything despite knowing Hannah\'s scemes. Beside, he must also had known where Samuel was through his guards which was why he was teasing him so blatantly because he knew Samuel could never say it with his own mouth!

" Mmhmm.. Princess, I don\'t think it\'s ideal for you to mingle with others in public. Someone could recognize you." Someone added and Samuel finally noticed her butler who was looking at him with clear ill eyes.

He knew how strict the imperial division of Japanese royal families were when it came to their image. He decided to head inside to a more secluded location. Rothschild family had their dedicated waiting room considering how much they payed to the airport authorities every year.

Everyone sat down and began chatting, they didn\'t even notice before the time of her flight announcement. He escorted her to the gate before she departed while waving her hand. It\'s not like she wouldn\'t be coming back but for now it was a farewell until the school opened up again.

While leaving the airport, Samuel got close to Arthur and whispered," Did you also feel it?"

" Yes, there was unnecessary hostility in her butler\'s eyes coupled with the fact that miss Kiko seemed reserved all throughout her stay in the estate, I think there is something going on with the imperial family." Arthur said confidently.

" I think the same. I have been receiving some disturbance with our trade in Japan through Benjiro but it seemed harmless for now. But for some reason I can\'t help but feel that there is a storm coming."

" I will make preparations."

" Just don\'t go overboard and spook our enemies. It\'s okay to play the long game."