Page 20 of A Royal Disaster
The girl looked her over, recognition dawning on her face. “You!” she hissed, narrowing her eyes to tiny slits. “You’re Mad Eyes Murphy!”
Coño.
Lena glanced around, panic taking root. She so didn’t need another scene. And this girl was definitely going to make a scene. She exhaled in one sharpwhooshand, though it went against her instincts, she lied her ass off, promising herself she’d say ten Hail Marys later. “Um, no. I think maybe you have me confused with someone else.” She ducked her head and joined the line, hoping the girl would move on so she could get her donut and get the hell out of carb heaven before anyone else recognized her.
“Hey, Elena.”
Lena’s head snapped up and she turned to see the future Mrs. Stanley watching her with a smug grin.
“I knew it,” the girl said with a self-satisfied flip of her hair. Then she drew back her arm and hurled a pink lemonade donut at Lena. The donut hit her chest soundlessly and stuck to the front of her white shirt for what felt like an eternity. When it finally plopped to the floor, leaving a ring of hot-pink frosting behind, Lena knew she’d never be able to look at the seasonal specialty the same again. “How do you like it?” the girl asked, planting a hand on her hip.
Lena stared, speechless, as anger stirred in her belly. She was by no means a violent person, but was she really supposed to stand here and let this preening princess wannabe pelt her with donuts? Then again, the girl was probably fourteen at best. The last thing she needed was pictures of her retaliating against a kid, even if the girl was being a little shit. If Lena had learned anything this past week, it was that someone was always filming. She could already see the headlines:Mad Eyes Murphy Attacks Aspiring Princess in Jealous Rage.
Yeah, so not happening. The news outlets already had plenty to gossip about, and she wasn’t going to hand them another golden ticket.
“Stay away from Prince William!” the girl warned with a healthy dose of sass, turning on her heel and stalking toward the door as onlookers whispered and pointed.
Lena sucked in a breath, chest heaving with the effort. She would not cry. Liam’s rabid fans would not reduce her to tears. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. She didn’t have much, but she still had her pride, bruised as it was.
Ignoring the stares of the other customers, Lena counted to ten and followed the girl out the door. The donut gods weren’t exactly smiling on her today and, as much as she needed the doughy ring of happiness, she wasn’t about to stand in line and wait for the next Prince Liam stan to call her out.
She’d just have to make do with whatever she could scrounge up at home.
By the time Lena slipped into the studio and pressed her back to the door, she’d almost regained her composure. So what if the press was doubling down on the Mad Eyes Murphy narrative? And saying she wasn’t good enough for the prince. She knew she wasn’t crazy, and that was all that mattered, right?
“What the hell happened to you?” Nia asked, abandoning a giant stack of textbooks she’d piled on the front counter. She looked Lena up and down, her gaze lingering on the hot-pink stain on her blouse. “Want to talk about it?”
“No,” Lena said, shaking her head and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She definitely didn’t want to talk about it, which was why she was as surprised as Nia when she blurted, “I was the victim of an unprovoked donut attack.”
“I’ll get you some coffee,” Nia offered, busying herself at the coffee maker. Her shoulders shook ever so slightly, and Lena had a feeling she was trying not to laugh. “I’m going to need details on this donut attack. Can you identify the perp? What flavor donut was it? Oh, did anyone get it on video?” she asked with a little too much enthusiasm.
Lena glared at her best friend. “It’s not funny! One of Liam’s pint-sized fans threw a donut at me. I guess the future Mrs. Stanley thought I needed a taste of my own medicine.”
Lena crossed the studio and slumped onto a stool, dropping her chin into her cupped palm.
Nia was laughing freely now, unable to control the fits of laughter that kept bursting from her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said, holding up a hand. “I’m sorry. It’s not funny, but…well, it kind of is.”
“This isn’t working,” Lena muttered as Nia crossed the room with two steaming mugs. She offered Lena the one that saidNot Paint Water—because Lena had drunk from the wrong mug on more than one occasion—and kept the one-eared Van Gogh mug for herself.
“What’s not working?” Nia asked, taking the stool opposite Lena, her schoolwork seemingly forgotten.
“No importa,” Lena said, giving herself a mental face-palm. It was only day four, and the plan was already failing miserably. The last thing she needed to do was get caught breaking the NDA. Then again, maybe she could get a two-for-one special on legal fees, since she had yet to deal with Chad’s pending lawsuit. “It’s just…have you seen what people are saying online? Some asshole called me fat! And another one said I was cute but not worth the crazy,” Lena said, making air quotes. Her blood pressure skyrocketed at the memory of all those hateful comments. Okay, so maybe she did want to talk about it. Keeping all that negativity bottled up couldn’t be good for a person anyway. “Oh, and let’s not forget—”
“Girl, why are you even reading that garbage?” Nia asked, shaking her head. “Internet trolls are a fact of life, just like Sunday morning sidewalk puke.”
Lena sighed. “I know, but—”
“Uh, uh. No buts.” Nia thunked her mug down on the wooden table. “When a fine-ass prince wants to date you, you go for it. You don’t worry about what a bunch of losers on the internet have to say. I’ll bet most of them are jealous, just like your teenybopper donut slinger.”
“More like outraged.” Lena lifted her mug to her lips and took a long sip. The coffee was strong, hot, and just what she needed to put the bakery debacle in the rearview mirror. “Anyway, enough about me. How are your classes going?” The only upside to the slowdown at the studio was that Nia had extra time to study for her master’s program. Her best friend might be a sucker for pop culture, but she was also a total brain and would make a great librarian when she graduated.
“Good, although I am so ready to be done with Library Public Relations.” Nia crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “I swear if Dr. Larson gives me one more lecture on the importance of decorum, I’m going to give him something to be scandalized about.”
Lena arched a brow. Larson was one of the oldest professors in the Library and Information Science program and Nia was constantly butting heads with him. Unfortunately for Nia, the only path to graduation was through Larson, since he was head of the department. “Cuéntame.”
“Nothing to tell, really,” Nia said, pretending to pick at a piece of lint on her shirt. “He was personally offended by my Toxic Femininity Isn’t a Thing tee, which just proves he’s an insecure ass who can’t handle a woman with strong opinions.” Nia sighed and leaned forward, resting a fist against her cheek for support. “I’ll bet Ethan’s secure enough in his manhood to handle a strong woman.”
Lena grinned. From Larson to Ethan? That was a change of topic she hadn’t seen coming, because, come on, there was no way her BFF was pining over some stodgy old professor in a tweed jacket. Ethan, on the other hand… “You should ask him out for coffee or something.”
