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

Chapter 16: What to Do?

Penelope narrates:

I wake up, feeling better than I thought I would be. I guess I assumed Prince was the only man I could get. It's nice to know that other men seem to be thoughtful towards me. Gunther seems so nice. Hopefully he has someone special. A little sweet male attention was just what I needed to lift my spirts.

As I'm buying a newspaper and breakfast at a coffee shop, I notice someone familiar-Gunther! He looks at me "Feeling any better?" he asks.

Since I'm wearing a winter hat with my hair in a ponytail down my back and my wig is in my room, this is a surprise. "How did you recognize me?" I ask.

"How could I forget a naturally pretty face?"

"Oh, thank you." I blush.

"Most of the women I see every night cake their makeup on, put on their tightest dress and shoes that hurt their feet. It's nice when I meet someone different."

Wow, that's something that makes sense! My world is full of artificial glamour, between Prince, the women he works on albums with and my models and drag queens. "I work around models, it's nice when I get to be around people who aren't trying to dress to impress." I confess.

"You deal with models, your man knows a lot of women. Hope you're not too insecure or your life will be a living Hell"

"Gunther, why do you strip?"

"I'm a student who is taking care of my grandma, so the hours work out well for me and it pays better than washing dishes."

"What does grandma think?"

"I told her I'm a dancer, to downplay it some. She's smart though. Probably knows. Say, what's your name?"

"Claire,"I reply,using my middle name.

"Claire, would you like my number? In case you're in town and things don't work out with your man?"

Not wanting to be rude, I accept it. It actually makes me feel more confident.

Later that day I'm up to  doing something I've wanted to do for a long time- take an ice skating lesson. When I was a teenager I didn't because I feared the others in the class would make fun of me. Today the rest of the class is really thin teenage girls but I don't care. I'm just enjoying the feeling of courage that I got from coming to the lesson and am hoping for a good leg workout.

Prince narrates (seven days after Penelope left):

This is an awful week that has passed. I haven't recorded a damn thing because I'm too sad. My sadness makes me unable to sleep so I have to spray a little of Penelope's perfume around to trick my mind into believing she's here. Amyest wanders the place confused, I think she knows something's not right. Penelope must feel so unloved right now. How selfish I was-running around with Amber! Now I'm mad at myself.

Paisley Park feels incomplete. Everytime I walk past the gym, it's not the same, I miss the sound of Penelope not having fun in there. When I used to let her train here with Jasper, she'd be breathing heavy and asking if she was dying. It was kind of funny when she'd ask that. The kitchen feels lonely. Penelope and I shared many breakfasts there and she'd cook sometimes. I'd tease her about some of her post workout shakes and she'd assure me it was edible. She insisted on helping with the housework and wouldn't back down. No longer do I hear her singing the most random repertoire of songs while cleaning. Favorites included Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy", various Diana Ross songs and the entire Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack. The wardrobe department isn't the same either. No one is working on something for Penelope, a hem she requested or something I ordered for her. Penelope isn't there, helping with something for me. She even went as far as to cut pattern pieces for my outfits. No wonder the staff called her "The Mrs." She probably could've actually been that eventually, if I hadn't been a jerk.

 Penelope was also an ideal woman to take on tour:never seeking attention for herself in an embarrassing way and she had fun the whole time. I've never traveled with someone who enjoyed it so much. We joked that it came naturally to her because of her Gypsy heritage.

I remember when she told her parents she was moving in with me. Her traditional father told me "You don't have to have her move in with you." He only kept his mouth shut about it after that because Penelope is an adult. Her mother, who is more relaxed told me as long as Penelope felt safe and loved the arrangement was fine her. I hope Penelope doesn't tell her parents what I did to her because we were all getting along so well. Perhaps against my better judgement I call Grace.

"Grace, how is it going?" I ask.

"I'm fine because my conscience is pure"

"Never feel bad after whipping guys?" I laugh

"They can tell me to stop. And I haven't done that in awhile. I used to get a little crazy back when Penelope and I lived together." she laughs.

"Remember when I moved her out?"

"Her folks weren't happy. They trusted her with me. If we'd never become friends, she'd probably still be living with them. They worry about her mental state, all the shit she went through. "

"The bullying...the babysitter who beat her..."

"Yeah."

"I assumed they accepted us living together."

"They just didn't want to make an issue, figuring she'd live with you anyway."

"If I'm lucky enough for her to come back, I'll make sure to show her a very good time."

"Stop it! If she's stupid enough to come back, you need to earn her trust. Bond with her. Don't be all 'Welcome home, Baby! Let's fuck!' Let her decide when the make up sex is."

"You've made your point" I sigh.

"And don't be thinking cause you're loaded, living in a mansion and have a big cock she's sure to come back. Penelope's got more pride than that. If she comes back it'll be for some dumb reason."

"Out of love hopefully."

"Certainly, I don't see any appeal you might have."

"Grace, would it kill you to stop being so rough and blunt all the time?"

"No. But before I hang up, Gary once told Penelope she's the sort of woman men don't fully appreciate until she's gone. Wise men know that. Then there's you."

Click. Dial tone.

Penelope is Grace's best friend and I upset her so I'm the big bad wolf in Grace's eyes-I get that, but I do question the wisdom of a drag queen.

Penelope narrates:

The owner of the inn sets aside time to met with me because I mentioned that I'm a photographer who's interested in being hired to shoot a print ad for the inn. After seeing my portfolio, the owner agreed. 

I fill the rest of my week with ice skating, taking snowy landscape pictures and a couple meetups with Gunther at the coffee shop. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a girlfriend. It's sad, but understandable. He's so busy: school, caring for Grandma and dancing. If I was single though, I might go for him. Actually I don't know if I'm single or not. Still, I'd love to do something for Gunther, maybe get him a modeling job. Gunther has made this trip less about me feeling sorry for myself and more about  thinking about me. Me outside of Prince. Because of him, I know what I need to do when my trip is over.

When I return to Chanhassen I stop by my studio to retrieve my small makeup bag. Alas it's only for touch ups and not a full face so I just apply mascara, eyeliner and lipstick. Then I arrive at Paisley Park and place my key in the door-it still fits! The first place to look is the studio. Prince is there, sitting at the piano, just staring at it. Weird. Amethyst runs over and rubs against my leg. I call out,"Prince?"

Think anything will happen between Gunther and Penelope?

Will Penelope and Prince get back together?