A week later, I'm finishing dressing for the plane ride to New York City for the awards show tomorrow. We get to our beautiful suite "What is the first thing you want to do?" I ask as I start unpacking.

"I have to go to rehearsal." He tells me. He's been obsessed with rehersing for this.

"Can I go with you?"

"No."

"Why not?" I've not been allowed to any rehearsals for the awards show. Usually he likes me around at rehearsals.

"Because I said so."

"What should I do?"

"There's a photography exhibit in one of the museums I thought you should see." Prince usually makes sure to find out about exhibits for me to see when we're out of town. He wants me to see the best photography has to offer. Sometimes when he comes to museums with me he makes me laugh by saying,"My girlfriend could've taken that".

He kisses me goodbye. We make plans for dinner. At dinner I try to get him to tell me about the rehearsal. He doesn't say much about it. He's more interested in what I did.

"Hector taught me to play Gin. Then we got our nails done and went to the museum." I say. "I did find a coffee table book I liked in the gift shop. You should look at a it. There's a few nice nudes in there." I continue.

"I'm sure your work will be in a museum someday." He says.

"Right now the closest I've come was some of my photos were on a bulletin board at an event the gym was having." I laugh.

I go to bed early, and can't sleep because I'm nervous. Giving up, I pick up the phone to call Jasper. He'll talk some sense into me.

"Who are you calling? Your mom?" Prince asks

"Jasper. He's good at calming me down"I say.

"It's only an awards show." He reminds me as he hangs the phone up.

"But I've had nightmares about falling down in front everyone or the dress not zipping."

"Baby, if you fall just get up. And that dress will zip. You just had a fitting."

"I could stay here and wait for you."

"That would be great if you were a prostitute I'd hired. But you're my girlfriend. You should make appearances with me."

I feel better, even though I'm still scared. I kiss him goodnight.

The next day, we getting ready. My hair and makeup is getting finished as I steal a glance in the mirror. Whoa! I'm looking pretty good! Now I certainly feel better about how I compare to Prince's exes.  My body finally started to show improvements a couple months ago. Earlier this month I had to have last minute alterations. I didn't lose a large amount of weight but I managed to tighten up most everything.

 I love my dress. It was designed to look great with what Prince is wearing. I'm grateful I pretty much left the design up to Prince and the designer, they don't view my body as harshly I do. All I instead on was something long with long sleeves and a neckline that wasn't really low cut. The dress is low in the back though. The only jewelry I've chosen to wear is a big vintage cocktail ring. Prince looks so happy when he sees me.

I kiss and hug Prince.

"I knew you'd be able to zip that. You look sexy." He kisses me.

"So do you. I'm looking forward to seeing you perform. "

At the event I'm stunned by all the people on the red carpet. "I've never seen so many people at once." I whisper to Prince.

"You'll be fine." He assures me.

A producer Prince knows tells us the cast of a popular off Broadway show was invited to the awards show. I can't wait to tell my sister- she loves the theater! Prince looks disgusted because he's is looking at Gloria!"What is she doing here?" he asks.

"She's in that show." The producer says.

Gloria sees us looking at her and walks over with some guy and introduces him as Ross, her boyfriend. Then says cheerfully to Ross" She used to be a janitor before she moved into Paisley Park."

Last I checked, living at Paisley Park wasn't a job! She's making me sound like a layabout golddigger. "Actually, Ross, I'm a photographer now." I respond.

"The best there this." Prince informs Ross.

Gloria is wearing a low cut strapless gown with a lace midriff and a huge slit up the side. I feel fat and wish I could go back to the hotel. Why did I think I could do this? The red carpet is not the place for me. I'm smiling though, trying to pretend I'm not upset.

Gloria says. "I'm so happy to be here on my own merit and not just because I'm someone's date or something" Then she quickly adds"Not that there's anything wrong with that."

Prince puts his arm around me and guides me to face some photographers. He smiles at me adoringly. I'm instantly put more at ease because he's not smiling at Gloria like that! I smile at him while I look into his eyes. All those cameras make me uncomfortable.

Grace thinks me being photographed is like the hunter being the hunted. Random reporters shove microphones in Prince's face and ask stupid questions. I feel this is invasive.

 Grace and everyone I'm close to will be watching the show because it's live. Grace is even throwing a little party at her place tonight. She invited my immediate family, as well as Jasper and Vickie. My Dad will probably fall asleep before the show starts. I giggle thinking about it. But then again, knowing how Prince likes sexual performances maybe Dad should sleep through it.

It certainly started out as a sexual performance. Very much so. He actually is performing two songs. The first was the sexual number next is a more romantic song. A new one. I can tell it's about us.

He wins an award and I'm more excited about it than he his. But he's gotten more excited about some of my advertising assignments than I've been. Maybe others' successes are more exciting than your own.

We get back to the hotel in the wee hours of the morning because went to an afterparty. As soon as I get out of my dress I fall asleep on the bed. I have a lot of courage to summon tomorrow because there's a hot tub in our suite and a tiny string bikini in my suitcase.

I'm staring at my reflection in my little red bikini. The size of the bottom makes my legs look huge, I think. The top doesn't cover much of my breasts.  Because of the weight loss they've have gotten smaller since Prince and I met. Wonder if that bothers him? I've always been somewhat small chested and cool with it.  Never have I  thought about what someone else might think of my breasts. My glance goes to my stomach. It's gotten more definition but there's still some fat on it. I'd pointed it out to Jasper last week and asked if it'd ever go away. He said"Eventually. In the meantime, stand up straight!"

I am ready to forget the whole hot tub thing. Especially after seeing Gloria. But when I get back to Grace and Jasper they'll ask if I wore my bikini. If I say no then they'll be annoyed with me because they know how hard I worked to try to look good in it. But Prince is okay with my body (God bless him) and has never seen me in a bathing suit of any kind. This should be fun for him.

As I get into the hot tub, I remind myself to be sexy. Prince is awake now. "Penelope? Sweetie? Where are you?" He calls from the bedroom of our suite.

"In the hot tub!" I reply.

He takes his time coming over. His eyes are huge when sees me sitting there with my breasts out. A content smile takes over his face. I don't think he was expecting me to be wearing so little. He removes his pajama bottoms, the only thing he was wearing and gets in with me.

As I untie my top's string from around my back, then the one around my neck I give him a playful smirk .  Throwing the top over my shoulder exposes my breasts. They may be small, but they are aesthetically pleasing. The last few inches of my hair dangle in the water as I give Prince my best come hither look. "You should know better than to look at me like that." he scolds light heartedly.

"Should I know better than to do this?," I ask as reach under the water and grope him between the legs.

 Prince laughs,"You know what happens to bad girls, right?"

"No, I don't. But Grace taught me what happens to bad boys."

We keep laughing. I love his face when he laughs. No way could I pull out anything from Grace's bag of tricks right now. He puts his arm around me. "This is nice" he remarks.

Wrapping my arms around him, I say,"This is nicer" before kissing him. Our kiss lingers on, the only noises being the water and the hot tub jets. It's enough to make a gal momentarily forget about her thighs. Prince has that power over me.

"I've got something else in mind" he says after pulling away.

He gets out of the hot tub and I sit there, enjoying the view of his wet, strong, masculine body. He assists me out of the tub and I notice how the water on his body sparkles like morning dew. Does he realize just how good looking he is? We dry each other off and he is so sensual about it. The way he towels off my breasts makes me wet and I forget about the doubts I had about them earlier.

Prince takes me over by a window. We're up a few floors so this is okay. The warm sun pours in from a nearby window and and bathes our bodies in light. He puts his hands on my hips, stands back and looks me up and down. Sex during the day is no big deal, but staring at my naked figure in broad daylight? Nervously, my fingertips run along the floor length white curtains. He smiles, "Mmm... everything looks so nice. You should be pleased." It's hard not to laugh as I wonder when his last eye exam was.

 He unties the strings on my bikini bottom and it hits the floor. Sounds of people and vehicles outside signal that the rest of the city is awake too, but all that Prince and I care about now is each other. Prince gently shoves me up against the nearby wall. "I think you know what I want" He whispers as he caresses my outer thigh.

 "That's something I can give you." I giggle ,  putting  my left leg up by his waist. His hand grabs hold of the back of my thigh. I slap his ass with my right hand. "I'm more than wet enough."

Our bodies join together and feed off one another's desires. I'm in the throes of ecstasy. Prince is groaning up a storm too. I'm doing something right.

"Put your other leg around me." He insists.

We have a wall and  I am thinner than I've been in awhile, so what the hell? With my back still against the wall I wrap my other leg around him. He holds me close and grants me another an orgasm. He has a really nice  one shortly after. I unwrap my legs so I'm standing again. I'm so overwhelmed by passion for this man that I need to sit down now.

"Did you like that?" he smirks.

"YES!" I enthuse.

"Let's get ready and get some lunch, I'm sure you're hungry. We fucked through breakfast." He says.

I put on a long sleeved bright pink dress that is a few inches above the knees, tall dark brown boots and a long white coat. When I go places with Prince I tend to wear some form of this outfit. I feel like I'm being sexy while covering a lot. We go to a nice restaurant. 

We're enjoying our lunch when we hear Gloria talking to her Mommy! "Mother I think I'm getting over Prince. He was fun though. Ross is really more my type: Harvard educated, sophisticated wit, good family and a true gentleman. But still I hate to see Prince being taken advantage of by that Gypsy."

"Gypsy?" asks Mommy.

"Yes. I heard her and her trashy friend talking about it. She's related to Gypsies. "

This is embarrassing! I've only talked about my Gypsy ancestry with Grace, Gloria probably heard about it when she was listening to my phone calls.  I don't mention the Gypsies  to others because of the negative stereotypes. Gloria can't see us from where she is.

I cannot even finish my delicious piece of pie. Gloria has struck a nerve-I am not taking advantage of Prince! "I'm done." I tell Prince.

"So am I. I'm going over there." He says.

"Sugar, no. Let's just leave."

"What's this about Gypsies?" He asks in the car. He sounds interested.

"Someone a few generations back in my family married one." I say.

"Nothing wrong with that."

He tells the driver to take us to The Strand, a really big bookstore. Last time I went there was during his last tour.  I couldn't get all the books I bought into my luggage and  had to mail them home. That was the source of some jokes for awhile. This is the perfect diversion from Gloria. Bookstores are Heaven on Earth! We spend some time browsing and buying whatever looks interesting. 

By the time I'm done picking out books about fashion, music, business, art and  photography, I realize I don't have enough room in my luggage for my purchases. Yeah, I'm going to need to go to the post office. After mailing my latest stack of books we go back to the hotel to relax a bit before check out.

Prince lays down on his back on the bed I sit next to him. He looks at me as he holds his hand out with the palm out and dreamily suggests "Read my future please, Beautiful Gypsy ."

I don't know anything about palm reading. And I can't do any other stereotypical Gypsy stuff. So I'm just going to have fun. I take his big hand in my two small ones and try to suppress my giggles.

"I'm waiting." He says.

"I see a happy life for you with an exotic woman." I say. Must. Not. Laugh.

"Really? Tell me more."

"What more do you need to know?"

"Is she kind? Forgiving? Does she love me even when I'm stupid?"

"Yes, very much so."

He sits up and kisses my cheek. "What does she look like?" he asks with a smile.

Oh, dear. He wants me to say nice things about my appearance. That's not as easy as it sounds. I don't think it ever will be. "Well, she is short, has long dark hair and long eyelashes." It's easier to just try to give a general description. "But what does it matter when she loves you so much that she can't put it into words?" I kiss his lips and put my arms around him.

"I guess it doesn't. Tell me your future."

"My future?" I don't think much about it.

"Yes. Do your dreams come true? Are you in love? "

"I am in love. With a gorgeous man who loves me. " I look into his eyes and softly stroke his hair.

"But what about your dreams?"

"I don't have any."

Prince is surprised. "Why not? "

"They all came true. I've fallen in love, become a photographer, moved out of the old neighborhood and lost weight. I guess I haven't come up with any new dreams because I've been enjoying living the old ones."

He puts his arms around me, looks me in the eyes and says,"Make sure I'm in your new dreams."

That is the most romantic thing anyone ever said to me! "Of course you will be"

I finishing packing my things. The last thing I pack is my bikini. "Don't wear that in public, you're too sexy." Prince says. This gets much laughter from me.

We catch our flight home and I'm really looking forward to telling Prince where I intend to take him soon. 

Where do you think Penelope intends to take Prince? Do you think Gloria is actually over him?