You Need to Crack a Few Eggs to Make an Omelette

The shelves hit the floor, and every single egg shattered.

The noise was spectacular. The powder that flew up, the shards of crystal, tiny gems that scattered across the floor… not to mention the plaster that crumbled from the wall, the shelves themselves breaking into pieces… it was chaos. I stood there, stunned. William stood there, stunned.

A few moments of very tense, very horrible silence followed. A knife couldn’t cut it, it was so thick. I hardly dared to move. How could I move…? I’d just destroyed an almost priceless collection of eggs that had been collected over years. So many years… I didn’t even want to think about the money that had gone into it. William turned to me. His face was a picture, yet entirely unreadable.

“I… am so sorry,” I whispered, my mouth painfully dry. I thought he was going to hit me. He took a step towards me. I couldn’t move. To be fair, I did deserve it. Priceless collection of eggs that had been in his family for longer than time itself… I deserved a punch for it.

What I didn’t expect was for William to take my face and crush his lips to mine. I didn’t expect him to pour everything he had into that kiss, leaving me to clutch the front of his jacket. I leaned into it.

It was only what I’d wanted for years at this point. When William broke the kiss, he held my face still. He grinned at me, his eyes filled with… relief?! Joy?!

“You’ve rescued me, darling,” he said softly. “Oh, how you’ve rescued me!” His eyes swam with tears. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“I – William – I just destroyed an entire collection – that – it’s priceless –“

“It was a headache and a half is what it was!” he cried, kicking the broken crystal pieces with glee. “Do you have any idea at all how horrible it is, having such a thing in your possession?! I couldn’t sell it, I couldn’t hand it off to some museum – yet keeping hold of it was just another way for my father to keep some hold over me!”

“I… I don’t understand?” I said faintly. I looked down at the shattered remains. “Some of these eggs had belonged to the Romanovs, no?”

“Ha! No, darling. Those ones are in father’s safety deposit. These ones, however… God, if he knew how much I hated these eggs…” he bent down and picked up a small piece. “I’m going to have this one made into a necklace for you. As a token of my gratitude for saving me.”

“William,” I said, still trying to take a full breath in. “I – I have no idea why you’re okay with this!”

“Because, darling, having this in the house means security. It means having to have alarm systems, and a security detail! It’s my father’s way of demanding I show off my wealth. And that, as you know, is simply not my way.”

“I know that, but… but you c-could have sold them –“

“My father has the paperwork for them, darling. If I even attempt to sell, he’ll know, and he’ll put an embargo on them.” William shivered. His father, for the time being, was out of the country. But that didn’t stop the man from keeping a hold over his ‘wretched wastrel of a son’ from afar. “You have done me a huge favour. Seriously.”

“Well… If… I… if you’re sure…”

“More than anything,” William grinned. He stepped towards me again. “I’m sorry if I was a little forward, earlier… with the kiss.” I leaned against the wall, the pieces of egg glittering in the evening sunlight.

“Oh… n-no. That’s the least stressful part of this, actually.”

“How so?” William looked a little taken aback.

“Well…” I closed my eyes. I’d destroyed an egg collection worth more than all the organs in my body… I might as well come completely clean. “I’ve been in love with you for years, William. Only, I didn’t say anything about it because I thought maybe I wasn’t going to fit in with you…”

“Interesting… and it didn’t occur to you that perhaps I might like what you bring to the metaphorical table?” He stepped again towards me, toe to toe now. He lifted my chin. “That I might like your normalness?”

“I –“

“Because, my darling, I’ve been raised with a silver spoon in my mouth, and after a while, it starts to get a little tedious… yet you’ve shown me an entirely different world. And I’d be a fool to let go the best thing that’s ever happened to me…”

“I just destroyed a priceless collection you’ve only ever boasted about… and that’s what made you confess your love for me?” I whispered. William smiled softly, his eyes lighting up.

“Sometimes one has to crack a few eggs to make an omelette, darling.”

“I suppose so…” I murmured. I reached up to kiss him again. He returned it, sighing contentedly.

“So what does this mean?” he asked gently. “Will you allow me to take you to dinner, spend too much money dazzling you, and then…?”

“And then come back to my priceless-broken-egg-free one-bedroom apartment and finally have your wicked way with me?” I held the front of his jacket again.

“My, my, what do they teach you in those poor schools, hmm?”

“You’d shudder,” I smirked.

“Very well, then.” William made no attempt to move. “Or… or, we could do things a touch backwards and let me have you now…”

“You know, if you weren’t devastatingly handsome and insanely rich and titled, I might have said no…”

“Oh, my shallow, gold-digging little charmer,” he murmured, kissing me.

The rest of the evening involved pizza, a lot of exploring each other, and a very good movie on Netflix on the sofa. A priceless egg collection once held by Russian nobles being destroyed might have meant the end of a life for some people… but for William and me, it really was the beginning of something beautiful.