Page 15 of Royal Extra After

“I prefer to stand,” the princess said as she stared down at him. She was proud of herself because her voice sounded ten times stronger than she felt. “And you won’t be staying long.”

Ned jumped up. “I understand that you’re mad. I can explain…”

The princess’s laugh was filled with sarcasm. “I’m sure you have a story ready to tell, after all you’re a master storyteller. It’s what you do for a living. I’m going to save us a lot of time and energy. I only need you to answer one question.”

“Anything,” Ned said.

The princess walked over to the coffee table and picked up one of the many newspapers with her picture in it. She locked eyes with Ned as she slowly walked toward him. “And please tell me the truth. You owe me at least that.”

Ned nodded. “Yes, of course. I have nothing to hide.”

Now that the moment had come, she felt her heart race. She held up the tabloid. “There is a quote from you that everyone in the press is using, something you said to Simone…”

“Wait…” Ned interrupted, looking frantic.

The princess started reading the quote. “Simone says you told her, and I quote, ‘Having a princess on the payroll can only help sell our movie. I’m only spending time with her, so she thinks we’re using her suggestions, but we’re only really using her for the PR.”

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. The only thing you could hear was the fire crackling. The princess held her breath. With all her heart, she wanted Ned to deny this quote and tell her it was just another lie the media made up. But when she looked into Ned’s eyes and saw the shame and regret, her heart broke all over again.

“So, it’s true?” she whispered in shock.

Ned stepped toward her, but the princess backed away. “Did you say this?”

“Yes,” he finally said quietly. His shoulder’s slumped. “Yes, I said that.”

She walked over to the table and picked up the black baseball hat he’d given her. She silently handed it to him.

“Wait…” Ned started but stopped when she walked to the door and opened it and found Benson anxiously waiting. She didn’t meet Benson’s inquiring stare. She couldn’t. “Please see Ned out. We have nothing more to talk about.” She left the suite and never looked back.

When the princess got to the Shakespeare statue in Central Park, she finally stopped to catch her breath. After leaving the hotel, she had blindly started walking and had ended up here.

She brushed a tear away as she looked up at Shakespeare.

“Now I see why you wrote so many tragic love stories.” the princess said, hugging herself. “And why Americans say you have a ‘crush’ on someone. Because when it doesn’t work out you feel crushed, like someone has stomped on your heart until there is no feeling left.”

She forlornly walked over to a park bench and sat down. She felt so defeated that her first love story had such a tragic ending. She knew she had no one to blame but herself. She hated how naïve she had been. She had traveled around the world. She was educated, smart, and savvy, but her feelings for Ned had clearly clouded her judgement. Now she was paying the price.

“There you are,” a male voice said behind her said. “I knew I’d find you here.”

When she turned around and saw Benson, she braced for his lecture she knew was coming. But instead, he silently sat down and put his arm around her. She let her head fall to his shoulder. “I really messed up.”

Benson nodded. “Life is messy sometimes, especially when you care for someone.”

The princess nodded miserably. “And the more you care the more you hurt.”

“You can’t have great joy without great pain,” Benson said. “I am so sorry you have to go through this.”

“I wish I had listened to you, Benson.”

“I wish I had been wrong,” Benson said back.

“Princess Isabella!” Gary shouted when he spotted the princess. Ned’s movie producer rushed over to her.

Benson protectively stood up. “She has nothing to say to you or to anyone. Princess, we need to go.”

The princess quickly walked away from Gary.

“Wait,” Gary called out. “I just wanted to say how sorry I am about what happened with the press. This was my fault. A misunderstanding.”

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