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On the other side of the world, Marissa Guerrero was lying fast asleep on New Year’s Day. The past night had been a whirlwind. After months away studying abroad at Columbia University, the young baroness had gone back home to Europe to spend the holidays. Her Spaniard father, Monègasque-Argentinian mother, Belgian stepfather and very mixed twin sisters were glad to see her, excited to be told about her life in the United States. In between many official appearances, luxurious parties and family outings, time had flown by, and the dark-haired beauty soon found herself in attendance to King Albert’s New Year’s Eve ball at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco. Surrounded by her much more prominent and well-known blue-blooded relatives, Marissa drank, danced and enjoyed catching up with her loved ones. However, there was something secretly annoying her. In each conversation she engaged in, a single question stood out from all the others:

[i]“So, Marissa: how is America?”[/i]

It was the very question that would exasperatingly follow the young woman everywhere that night. Every relative or acquaintance was eager to hear all about her experiences in the foreign country. Did she like it? Did they treat her well? Was it anything like home? Did she miss the European lifestyle? And to everyone that ask, Marissa gave the same answer: she loved it, and although she indeed missed home, she wouldn't trade her life in New York for anything in the world.

In the streets of the Upper East Side, Marissa didn't have to worry about having her every move followed and documented by the paparazzi like she did in Monaco and Spain. Unlike the rest of her royal family, her decisions on studying abroad had granted her the privilege of privacy: one that was very hard to come by for blue-bloods. By keeping a low profile and an image of ‘the invisible baroness’ since her early teen years, the raven-haired beauty had saved herself from constant scrutiny and pressure from the media the rest of her relatives faced. In America, she could be just another face in the crowd: and that's how Marissa liked it to be.

Of course, all good things had come to an end... of sorts. 

[color=lightyellow]“Soooo…” [/color] Marissa’s older cousin [url=http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/39th+International+Circus+Festival+Awards+DLvzrUGPlnox.jpg]Pauline Ducruet[/url] began, green eyes shining with curiosity. The young women stood in a corner of the elaborate palace ballroom, where they had been exchanging stories from the months spent apart between glasses of champagne. They were joined by Pauline's younger half-sister [url=http://resize1-elle.ladmedia.fr/r/625,,forcex/crop/625,804,center-middle,forcex,ffffff/img/var/plain_site/storage/images/people/la-vie-des-people/news/camille-gottlieb-fille-de-stephanie-de-monaco-troublante-ressemblance-avec-grace-kelly-3560558/84099746-1-fre-FR/Camille-Gottlieb-fille-de-Stephanie-de-Monaco-troublante-ressemblance-avec-Grace-Kelly.jpg]Camille Gottlieb[/url]. [color=lightyellow]“Richard Davis, eh? I must admit, I did not see it coming."[/color]

[color=orchid]“Richard Davis indeed…”[/color] Marissa replied through gritted teeth, forcing herself to give her distant cousins her best fake smile. 

That was the second most frequently asked question of the night.

Ever since the tabloids got hold of the news that she had begun dating the youngest child and only son of the real estate mogul a few months ago, the two had become the subject of plenty of articles and ‘exclusives’. The decision taken had caused Marissa’s quiet life in America to be slightly disturbed, which was something she didn't enjoy. Thankfully, Alexander Davis had quickly interceded in favor of the young couple by paying a large sum of money to keep the tabloids off the backs of his son and his new girlfriend, but even with this nothing went back to the way it was before. Although the bribes were successful and she was no longer being followed or the focus of things, Marissa was now even more vigilant and cautious about her every step. Now, she was careful even with the simplest of life’s pleasures, like buying coffee in the mornings from her favorite barista at Sprinkles Café.

It was an annoying price to pay… But it kept everyone happy.

[color=lightgreen]“He is a beauty, that one.”[/color] Camille mused aloud, staring off into space as if she was envisioning Richard’s attractive face.

[color=lightyellow]“But that does not matter.”[/color] Pauline quickly interfered, looking serious. She put a hand on Marissa’s shoulder, her expression that of a mother giving advice to her offspring. [color=lightyellow]“External beauty will only last for so long. As long as he is nice and makes you happy, that should be enough.”[/color]

Marissa bit back a snort. Although she and Richard got along ridiculously well, she was well aware he was not nice, nor he made her happy in the way they were assuming he did. [i]That[/i] was a story she hoped would never see the light of day.

She was graciously saved from saying any further lies to her cousins by the announcement that midnight was in the horizon. The members of the Grimaldi dynasty filed out of the palace's ballroom -with it's high ceilings, chandeliers and murals- and into the slightly more modern main courtyard. Prince Albert, Marissa’s third cousin, leaded the countdown, and soon they were down to seconds. Suddenly, midnight was upon them at last. 

As the castle bells echoed through the night, signaling the twelfth hour and the arrival of a new year, Marissa Antoinette closed her eyes and made a wish. Fireworks of every color began to fill the sky. At that moment, her thoughts were all the way across the ocean and back in New York, with the one young man who’d stolen her heart with a single smile.

She hoped that, wherever he was, she would be in his thoughts too.