His Royal Badness and the Mistress of Muscle -Vol. 2

Chapter 17: Staying?

Prince narrates:

Penelope? I turn my head. It is! i'm filled with joy that she has returned, but rage that she ran off without telling me where she was. "Well, well, look who's back." I scoff.

She takes my hands."I want to talk..." she says.

Now she wants to try talking? After she made me worry for a week and depressed me to the point where I couldn't record? I pull my hands away, stand up and yell,"YOU WANNA TALK? CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW THOUGHTLESS YOU ARE?"

Penelope looks taken aback. "It was wrong of me to leave without talking to you about why first. I came back because I decided I want to hear your side of the night with Amber.", she says calmly.

 I thought she'd be more upset that I yelled at her. I didn't mean to. People close to me have hurt me before and I was afraid Penelope was doing the same thing so I lashed out. Sadly, I'm not done so, when"YOU JUST CAME BACK FOR THIS LIFESTYLE! YOU'LL NEVER HAVE WHAT I DO!" falls out of my mouth I instantly wish I could take it back. 

"I'm NOT a golddigger, unlike the fame whores you're used to. I think we're through here. I'll be back for my things later. Goodbye." Penelope replies curtly. 

Where did this attitude come from? How do I interact with this Penelope? At top speed I run outside after her, screaming "Penelope! Come back!" Suddenly, my legs fly out from under me and I'm on my ass in a big pile of very cold snow!

 "Oh, Sugar!" she exclaims. She smiles at me and helps me up. "Are you alright? Let's get you inside. Put on some dry clothes."

"Will you still be here when I'm done?" I ask nervously.

"Yes. But I'll want to hear what you have to say about your night with Amber."

"Fine. You're owed that."I dress quickly and see Penelope is still there. That makes me happy. Hopefully, I can make her stay. If I can't, I'll never be able to find anyone else. I'd probably size everyone woman I met up against Penelope. That's not cool. She does so much for me that no one else compares. Whenever when I was unpleasant, she loved me. Other women wouldn't have put up with that. Even Margaret wasn't above calling me out. Would any other woman help me pack for tours, place love notes in my luggage AND set up merchandise tables- all out of love and support? 

She actually helps a tour run more smoothly. I'll tell her she doesn't need to do something and she'd say"But I want to, Sugar. It's only a little task and everyone's busy, so why shouldn't I help?" If she wasn't too tired after a show, I'd get treated to a much needed foot rub.You can't ask for more than that when it comes to taking someone on the road.Speaking of support, 

Penelope has this amazing family who has welcomed me. I don't have to act around them. Myself is good enough. The man who makes Penelope happy is all I have to be. Mr. Smith took longer to come around. But now he asks how I am with sincerity and is more relaxed around me.My music is better since she started inspiring it. Maybe I want to impress her or it's the side effect of having a proper muse. Hell, Penelope makes other women look lazy. She opened a studio, stayed late to clean it AND came home and did chores she didn't need to do. She doesn't expect me to make her a star and pamper her. Penelope is the girl I can imagine marrying some day. If I lose her, I basically lose my whole future.

Penelope narrates:

"First of all, I'm sorry for what I said. I went crazy without you." Prince admits.

"What about Amber?" I ask

"We went to dinner, I followed her home, things got sexual, but I couldn't stop thinking about you so I didn't even get my pants off."

"You didn't have sex with someone like Amber because you were thinking of me? No matter what kind of women you're into, you have to admit Amber and I are night and day."

Prince laughs a little. "Well, you're more of an ingenue type than she is. But I really like it."

"Was your relationship with Amber special, like with Margaret?"

"Oh, Hell no! We had fun. It was about lust."

"Lars told me about a girl of yours named Allison. Why didn't that work?"

"Alison was great. Very nice. But she needed a man with a more regular schedule, someone who could devote a lot of time to her. She had no desire to live out of suitcase so we couldn't work. I just left her because I was younger and annoyed with the whole thing."

"Okay. Um...where do we go from here?"

"Tell me:did you sleep with another man while you were gone?" He looks scared when he asks.

"Nope but I met a male stripper. He's good guy. Takes care of his grandma and goes to college during the day. He showed me a picture of him and his grandma. I can tell she loves him."

"What else did you do?"

"I took ice skating lessons!"I say excitedly.

Prince really starts laughing. "You ran away and that's what you're excited about?"

"it's a big deal! When I was younger I was scared because I thought the other kids would laugh at me like in school. But I did it! It's been some time since I took striptease classes. They got boring. I'm taking up ice skating instead!"

"Am I going to see that big, pretty smile when you come home from lessons?" He smiles at me and puts his arm around me. This must be his idea of trying to subtly ask me back.

"Do I have to worry about you having dinner with Amber?"

" That's over. Never again. I will not hurt you like that ever in my life."

Grace had warned me men say that when they badly want some tail and don't care where they get it. If there was one thing Grace taught me, it was to have men prove themselves to me. After the Lars mess, she told me Lars called a month later, wanting to ask me out. Grace had been the one to answer the phone so she said"Yeah, that's not going to happen. You don't even deserve to look at Penelope." Then Grace hung up on Lars. Grace says that I deserve only the best.

Is Prince "the best"? I don't know. All I ever wanted from a man was love. Money,more than what a man needed to take care of himself was never on my wish list. I'd have dated a men's room attendant if he loved me. Real love, not just sex was what I wanted. I was under the impression I was getting both love and sex from Prince-until Amber. I'm not used to being loved outside my family because I was always to scared to put myself out there.

 Prince believed in me, if I've got a model to photograph with a hot rod,he says,"You won't be settling for assignments like that for long." How wonderful to hear such kind words from someone you're not related to. If I say "Sugar, I have an ad to shoot." He's got a spring in his step the rest of the day. His joy makes me happy. I'd miss his level of support for me. Even though I never thought I was much and never got to a point where guys introduced me to their friends, Prince loved showing me off, taking me to red carpet events,and industry things. Prince wanted me to be noticed as his girl. And he'd insist on bringing me on stage, to serenade me in front of the crowd. 

The day we met, I know he saw something in me, something I couldn't see in myself. He brought it out. I don't want to lose someone who has made me a version of myself that I like more than any prior one. How can I face the world without my man, the one who thinks I am desirable and can do anything? My response to him becomes clear.I look at Prince, looking to read his expression:it's pained, sad and desperate. "I will give you ONE more chance. But if you pull that crap again, I'm gone for good. Remember, I know LOTS of men so I don't think I could be lonely if I tried."

Prince holds me as close as he can and chokes out,"Please don't leave me again."

DId Penelope make the right decision?