Back To Real Life
Bella's POV
The days that transpired after graduation were some of the most pleasant that Prince and Bella and Carlos and Elaine had spent since their Paris trip. They were however, very different. They were lazy days spent in making love, visiting with family and some of Bella and Elaine's old friends, making more love, going to impromptu dinner parties with sorority sisters and their men, making passionate love and talking about their wedding as their vision began to take shape and...you guessed it making unhurried wonderful, magical love. Each of those treasured days that they spent in Detroit, before traveling back to California, Bella seemed programmed to wake up first. But she did not jump up to make coffee, breakfast and get into the day, she simply rolled over on her side and enjoyed looking at her beautiful Prince. She noticed something new almost every day. The way his lips puckered if she touched him while he was sleeping, the way his eyes smiled even before his lips did when he woke up and looked into her own. The quiet closeness that he expressed when he pulled her to him in the mornings by nuzzling her neck or kissing her ears and eyes before he said a word and those first words each day..."Morning Bella, I love you...or Morning Bella, you are so beautiful"...how she treasured them. Her response was always the same. "Morning my handsome Prince...I love you more" or something close to it. Sometimes they got up and showered, sometimes they did their morning routine and returned to bed to make remarkable love, and sometimes, like this morning, they returned to bed simply to lay in each others arms and enjoy the warmth of each other and languid kisses before rising for the day. Laying there Prince had asked her when she thought they might start a family after they married. She had said that depended on him more than herself. His music would take him all around the world and she did not want to be left at home while he was on tour for months at the end of a pregnancy or caring for a newborn without his support. He looked at her and said "Bella from the moment our first child is in your belly, I will not tour until you and our babies can go with us. I think with the support of nannies we can go around the world even when they are small. But the two of us", he said " will give them their primary care...always". "You promise", Bella asked? "Yup", he said. "I promise". He kissed her and then Prince said the thought of making babies had made him hot and he made slow delicious love to his Bella and then they got up showered and dressed and went into the kitchen to make the morning meal.
As they walked to the kitchen they smelled the aroma of coffee and heard voices. David was in the kitchen with a stark white apron on and a huge chef hat and was making a production of preparing omelettes. Kendra was sitting at the kitchen table laughing at the antics of her husband. "Good morning daddy, mommy". Bella said. "Good morning Bella", Kendra said. "Good morning Cupcake", David said. "Good morning Prince", Kendra and David said together and laughed. Prince had to smile. "I see that I am in the home of a real man", Prince said. "I make the Omelettes at my house too". David chuckled. " I knew there was a reason I liked you", he said. Bella and Kendra looked at each other smiling and shook their heads. Carlos and Elaine wandered into the kitchen at that point. Prince and Carlos sat down at the table while Bella and Elaine poured and dressed four cups of coffee. Prince said "Thanks Mama", sipping his coffee. "That is perfect". Carlos thanked Elaine as well. "So what are you going to do on this last day in Detroit", Kendra asked? Well Bella said, I will pack in a little bit. Elaine and I did laundry last night so we don't have to worry about that. "After we pack, I at least have no plans", Bella said. Kendra said "and you Elaine"? "Pretty much the same as Bella", Elaine said. "Well, would you like to talk about what David's assistant found in terms of Wedding Venues", Kendra asked? Bella and Elaine smiled and said "we sure would". Prince said "we want to be included in that conversation please". Carlos said, "without a doubt we do"! David looked up from his Omelette making and smiled at the two young men but said nothing. "Okay, let's meet in my study after you get packed" Kendra said. Bella and Elaine set the table while Prince went to tell their security that breakfast would be ready in about 5 minutes. Frank, Larry, Ross and Melvin came into the kitchen in about 2 minutes. " I am starved", Melvin said. They sat down and joined hands. David said grace and they enjoyed the lovely meal chatting. When they had their fill, Prince and Carlos took kitchen duty while Bella and Elaine went to pack leaving out the clothes they would wear tomorrow to travel. They had completed their tasks at about 11:00 AM and all except security headed to Kendra's study. The Security team had been challenged to a game of Basketball by David's security and so put on light jackets and went into the back yard to hit the shooters court David had built.
David's staff had found some amazing venues. The two couples settled on one in Mexico in the Mayan Riviera. It was safe and beautiful and had a Chapel that was approved by the Catholic Church that could handle 120 people. Bella and Elaine had agreed on 50 guests each or 25 couples. The additional 20 head count gave them some wiggle room. The parents would take care of the flights for the guests there and back, although Prince said that he was pretty certain that they could use the Arista plane for this and Andy agreed. So that meant that they would have a lot more control over cost. The rooms for the parents, Maid of Honor and the Best man, Father O'Rourke and Pastor Ray Williams would be taken care of by the parents for a full week and for the couples for as long as they chose to stay. All other guest rooms would be taken care of from Thursday through Sunday and if they wished to stay longer they would pick up the tab after the 4th night. All meals would be taken care of on the same schedules. David shared that Andy said he would speak to Christian about the plane. It would do a come and go schedule so that it would be available on the days when people were flying in and out and could be in use elsewhere when not in use by the wedding guests. They would pick out the other amenities like invitations, reception food the Wedding Cake, Wedding Dresses and Bridesmaid and Groomsmen attire and decor later. But they now had a place and David would reserve it after running it by Alejandro and Nita and Royal and Savannah. Father O'Rourke said he would work out all the paper work between the Detroit Arch Diocese and that of Cancun and would let them know what if any fees were involved. The couples were thrilled with their decisions so far and looked forward to doing the some of the rest when the parents came to one of the tour destinations and they were all together again.
That evening the couples decided to go out for dinner. They wanted good food in a nice environment but a simple one. They chose Stanley's Mannia, a Cantonese Chinese Restaurant that had been in the Detroit Area in some form since the 20th Century. It was currently located in Orchard Lake. They dressed casually and the four body guards, Bella and Elaine's parents, and the two couples went to a 7:00 PM dinner reservation. The food was delicious and the service seamless and unobtrusive. They chatted and laughed and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was a really good day and evening. They went directly home after their meal as they had a relatively early flight the next day. They were cleared for take off at 10:00 AM. Andy and Linda came over to David and Kendra's for a little while but left before 11:00. After hugs all around and promises to talk during the week, the two couples went to their rooms. After they had showered and moisturized one another and gotten into their pajamas, Prince and Bella kneeled and holding hands thanked God for all that they had done today. They really appreciated that planning had begun for their wedding. Prince pulled back the covers and they climbed into bed. Bella made a mental note to start looking for wedding dresses...that would be a lot of fun, especially doing it with Elaine. They got into their favorite spoon position and Prince kissed Bella on the neck and said..."thank you for being mine Bella". Bella smiled and said "thank you for wanting to make me yours my Prince". It was Prince's turn to smile and with another kiss and a whispered good night, he heard her breathing become slow and even and knew she was asleep. He closed his eyes and joined her in dreamland within a matter of minutes.
The household was up early the next morning, dressing and eating a very nice breakfast that Kendra prepared. At 8:15 AM the body guards loaded all of the suitcases and Prince's guitar in the SUV and took off to the airport. David's Security chief rode with them to bring the SUV back to the house but David and Kendra remained at home. Both of them always found it hard to say goodbye to Bella. Once at the VIP terminal, they unloaded their bags and Ross grabbed a cart to move them from the SUV to the plane. They were parked on the tarmac so they were quite close to the loading bay. After showing their ID and their luggage being taken through the screening device they went into the VIP terminal to wait for their boarding call. As they walked into the terminal a young woman shouted, look there's Royal! Several other young women squealed and started running toward him. The body guards put Bella and Elaine in the center with their backs to each other, Prince and Carlos next to them in the same way and then stood two in front and two in back of them. They told the young woman to stay back and then walked their charges to seats as close to the boarding door as possible. The girls continued to giggle but kept their distance. 15 minutes later they were called to board the Arista aircraft. They were seated and buckled into their seat belts in no time and after Greg's announcement the engines were turned on and within minutes the plane began to taxi. They were on their way to the high energy task driven environment they called home. At least they didn't have classes to contend with anymore. They knew that they would be busy though. Bella pushed her seat back as soon as it was announced that they could. Prince handed her a set of earphones which she accepted and put on. She dialed up his album and began thumbing through a magazine. Elaine put on a sleep mask and took a nap. Carlos worked on a crossword puzzle while Prince jotted down some dates and cities for the release and subsequent tour. They would have lunch in about two hours. All in all it would be an uneventful trip, just the way they liked it.
After lunch Bella and Prince both dropped off to sleep as did Carlos. Elaine busied herself looking out of the window. Before they knew it the announcement to put their tray tables and seats back into the locked position was heard throughout the plane cabin. They did so and were at the gate in less than 20 minutes. They de-boarded and Larry went to get the SUV while Frank, Ross and Melvin stayed with their charges and got their bags. Larry pulled up and once the 2 couples were in the vehicle, Ross and Melvin loaded the bags while Frank stood watch. They drove toward the freeway and took to the air once they were out of airport range. They landed and pulled into their driveway and activated the garage opener and turned off the alarm system 26 minutes later. While Frank and Larry checked the house, the others waited silently until Frank called the All Clear and then they entered their home. They had enjoyed their time away but were ready to get back into the necessary steps to take their lives to the next level. Each step took them closer to the day they would be married and that was worth all the effort.
The men took the bags in and put them in the proper bedrooms. The girls immediately unpacked and sorted clothes into cleaning and laundry bundles. They met in the laundry room when they went to take the few things that needed to be laundered to drop into their hampers. They had done most of it. They had just enough for one load each. They combined them so that they could all be done in one load. Bella put on the tea kettle, and they then pulled out some of chili that they had cooked and frozen some days before they left for Detroit. Bella also pulled out some crackers. They would have a nice supper by adding a salad to the meal. Ross came into the kitchen and asked what they had decided upon and when told said let me take care of this. You all have some busy days coming up. Enjoy the down time while you can. They thanked him and returned to their rooms to see what their men were up to. Prince was on the phone. Within a couple of minutes she determined that he was talking to Christian. They set the meeting date to work out the European Release dates for day after tomorrow...Wednesday at 1:00 PM. The meeting on the screenplay which he also suggested Bella attend, was set for Thursday at 11:00 AM. Becca Morrisey, the staff screenwriter would be there and he knew that Prince and Carlos would want to come to. Prince said he would check the times with the ladies and Carlos and would get back to him in a little bit. "That would be great", Christian said. He asked about Christian's father and was glad to hear that his anger seemed to be abating somewhat. Prince assured him that they would continue to pray for him. Prince disconnected the call and then asked Bella if the time on Thursday worked for her. She said yes. He then went and knocked on Carlos and Elaine's door and got an okay from them also. He knocked on Frank's door and told him of the meetings and the times and then returned to his room and called Christian back. He confirmed the times with Christian and wished him a good night. He then called his Mom and Dad to let them know they had gotten home safely. Bella did the same with her parents. Once that was done they sat down on the overstuffed chairs and turned on Cloud Stream. Nothing much was going on...the peace was holding throughout the state which they were glad to hear. Then Ross called them to supper. He had even set the table. They sat down, Prince said grace and they ate the nice and filling meal. After they had cleaned up the kitchen, the whole household went into the family room and watched a movie and talked about the lovely trip they had just returned from.
Next week they would be at home a lot, as Ross would be going home to see his family for 5 days and they would very carefully monitor their comings and goings being down one bodyguard. Although Melvin still officially lived there, his lady was in LA and so he would not be headed back to cold country. He did want to see her tonight though. Prince smiled and told him to take the Nissan and have fun. After the film ended, they chatted some more and Larry asked if anyone wanted to play monopoly. "Oh boy" Bella said quietly as Prince got a big smile on his face. He had taken lessons from Angels in Paradise and was going to love winning! They played and although they did not finish the game...Prince was holding most of the Real Estate when then stopped for the evening. They said their good nights and each headed to their own room. Prince and Bella showered and Prince was still smiling at his real estate mogul status from the monopoly game as they got under the temperate water. You're quite pleased with yourself Bella said. "Yup", he said as he reached for the loofah with which to bathe her. " I am a mogul"! "Oh you" she said laughing. He laughed out loud as they bathed one another. They got out and dried each other off and took their time moisturizing each other. They then got into their bed clothes and turned on Cloud Stream. They watched another movie but Bella started nodding off half way through it, so Prince pulled the covers back and picked her up and laid her back in the bed. He turned off Cloud Stream and crawled in next to her. Holy Heaven she smelled good he thought. He crawled closer to her and put his arm around her waist. He would let her sleep. They had no meetings in the morning and tomorrow was another day. He closed his eyes and fell asleep also. At 3:00 AM, Prince woke up with a very hard, throbbing dick. He needed him some Bella. He looked over at her. She was sleeping facing him and her low cut gown was revealing her very full breasts. Just looking at them made him even hornier. He began to rub his dick and he moved down lower in the bed so that he could lick and suck her left nipple. As he started sucking he let out a sigh. She tasted so good and his dick was so hard. He started to rub himself in earnest. Bella's eyes opened and she saw and felt her baby sucking her tit and saw him rubbing himself. She pulled her tit away which caused him to open his eyes...as he did she kissed him and pressing her tongue to his lips, asked permission to enter his mouth. He let her and she began to wet kiss him. His breathing hitched as she did and she placed her hand on top of his as he rubbed his dick. She got on top of him and began to rub her whole body against his making sure to make contact with his big beautiful dick. Her pussy was really wet now and she moved down his body and as she did her wet pussy left a trail down his stomach to his lower abdomen and then he felt her wetness on his shaft. She then pushed her pussy over onto one of his thighs and began to hump it. Her hips were moving so fast and she was grinding his thigh hard. He was beyond excited. She was so horny she came and called out his name as she did. When she caught her breath, she moved down and took his pretty dick into her mouth. She sucked him upping the pace every few minutes until she was going up and down on his dick with her sensuous wet mouth faster than she ever had before." Oh Bella" he said in a voice that was so husky she barely recognized it. " Oh Bella" he said again. "I want to come...I have to come"...and he did with great force. She swallowed him and he said "Bella baby, I love the way you sex me" and pulling her close to him on her side...they fell asleep. He dreamed of breaking her seal and entering her with his dick...and while dreaming...he came again.
Prince's POV
Prince woke up and felt the stickiness of his cum on his dick and lower belly. He smiled to himself. This woman really had him....he was now coming in his sleep, dreaming about taking her virginity. He looked over at her still sleeping. Quietly he got up and went into the bathroom to take care of his morning business. Looking down he saw the half dried load he had blown in his sleep smeared over the hair above his dick, on his lower belly and on his dick itself. He turned on the shower and jumped in. While he was a mess, the memory of the dream was very pleasant. Bella woke up as she missed the warmth of Prince's body. Hearing the shower she got up and went into the bathroom. She could not see him through the steam that the hot water was generating, but she heard him singing...Extraordinary. A memory of him singing that to her on stage flashed in her mind and she smiled. By the time she finished washing her hands and brushing her teeth he had turned off the shower and as he stepped out she handed him a towel. "Thank you my lady", he said. He reached back into the shower and turned the water back on and Bella grabbed her Vanilla Coconut shampoo and conditioner off of the shelf and climbed in the shower. She shampooed her hair first and after combing conditioner through it, she washed her body and then rinsed out her hair. As she opened the door, Prince was there holding two towels, one for her hair and one for her body . Bella dried her hair as he took care of drying her lovely body. After towel drying her hair they moisturized each other and then Bella pulled on some undies. Naked, Prince went into the bedroom and then the closet in search of some summer weight sweats. He chose some ivory colored sweats with an open neck that displayed his beautiful chest hair and some wedged tennis shoes. Bella followed suit wearing some gold colored sweats with gold tennis shoes. First though, she would blow dry her hair. She did and then added some curls to it. Slipping into her sweats, Prince watched her. She was gorgeous even in the most casual of clothes. She put on a little neutral eye shadow, some blush and mascara and a little lip gloss and into the kitchen they went. Someone had already made coffee and opening up the refrigerator she found yogurt and granola and a full chopped medley. There was a note on the cork board from Ross saying he had gone to the store to get some things that they needed. There was a fresh bottle of Ruby Red grapefruit juice chilled in the refrigerator also.
The two of them sat and ate and then went back into their room to straighten it up a little. As they were leaving the kitchen Elaine and Carlos came in. They greeted each other and Bella shared what Ross had prepared. They said they would see them a little later. They whiled away the day with Prince working on the potential schedule for the European Release and Bella answering fan emails related to the book. Once she had done that, she went through the mail separating it into little piles for each one that it was addressed to and a fifth pile for bills that Prince and Carlos needed to pay. She put those into the tray in the study that was designated for that and began to open her mail. Most of it was normal stuff. There were some congratulation cards from friends and extended family on her graduation, an invitation to join the University of Michigan Alumni, and a letter of some kind from the New York Times. She opened it and could not believe what she was reading. Her book Another Chance was on the shortlist for the New York Times Best Sellers Fiction List. Enclosed with the letter was a criterion list of what was required to qualify. Quickly reviewing those she noted the book had exceeded all the requirements. She quickly walked back into the bedroom where Prince was adding to his notes for the European release. "Baby...you might want to read this", she said. He took the letter and the list from her and began to read. "Holy Father", he said. "Bella this is wonderful! "Come on". He took her hand and walked down the hall to Carlos' room. The door was partially open but he knocked anyway. "Come in", Carlos said. "You have got to see this man", Prince said. Carlos took the letter and as he read the smile crawling across his lips got bigger and bigger. "Woo Hoo" Bella he said at the top of his lungs! "Carlos what", Elaine said? The book made the short list for the New York Times Best Sellers-Fiction Carlos answered. " Whoop" Elaine said and then the two girls squealed took each other hands and stated jumping up and down in place. "I have to call my mom and dad", Bella said. " And I have to call Christian and Andy", Prince said. They ran back down the hall to their room and grabbed their phones and started making calls. "Christian, this is Royal! Bella's book made the short list of the New York Times Best Sellers-Fiction. "What" Christian said! "Wow"! "How did you find out". "There was a letter here when Bella went through the mail this morning". "Let me speak to her" Christian said. "Hi Christian". "Hi Bella. Congratulations. That is quite a feat for a first time author". "Thank you Christian...although I think that the way it was rolled out has to get a lot of credit. So I think congrats should be given to Royal and you too"! "Thank you but it is the written word that they are acknowledging" he replied. "Look we will see you on Thursday. Congrats again"! Before she could say thanks he had disconnected the call.
Christian dialed up his Fantasy Fiction Manager. "Giselle"? "Hi Christian". " Giselle, why am I finding out that one of our books made the New York Times Best Seller Short List-Fiction from the client". "What; which book"? "Where is Wayne", Christian asked. "He is in a meeting with John Henderson". " Pull him out of it and I want to see both of you in my office right away". Wayne was the VP of Publishing for Arista and John was in charge of book distribution . This was really sloppy work and he needed to understand why it had happened.
Prince had moved on to calling Andy. "Prince let me tell my dad please", Elaine said. "This is Andy". Prince handed her the phone. "Daddy...are you sitting down"? "What! Is everything alright", Andy asked with his senses at full alert? "Daddy, Bella's book made the short list for the New York Times Best Sellers List-Fiction"! "You gotta be kidding me? That is wonderful! Is she there"? "Yes but she is on the phone with David and Kendra". "Tell I said congratulations baby and I will call her later". Bella was talking to her dad. "I know dad this is crazy"! "But well deserved Bella. I knew it was a monster of a book". "Yes you did say so dad. But we haven't made it yet...it is just the short list". "But what an honor for a first book" her dad said. "Yes it really is". "Listen go enjoy your friends. Your mom and I are going to call your grandmother". "Great job baby", David said as he disconnected the call! As soon as Prince got his phone back he dialed his parents. "Hi Mom". "Hi baby"...Prince shared the news. " Incredible" his mother said. That girl is as talented as you are! Tell her congrats! I have to call your dad"!" Okay mom", Prince said. As he hung up he heard Carlos talking to Alejandro. "No dad, I am not kidding it really made the short list! "Wow! What a blessing" his father said. "Yes it is". "I gotta find your mom and tell her. If she doesn't hear it from me first, she will kill me"! "Okay dad. Talk to you later". All of the most important people in their lives knew now. How exciting. Prince walked back toward the bedrooms. He needed to tell security. It might get weird around here over the next few days. The garage door opened and then he heard Ross's voice talking to Melvin who had gone to check on who was entering. Prince walked up to them and shared the news. They were very happy for Bella. Prince then went and found Frank and told him. He said he would pull the guys together over lunch and review some emergency procedures. Ross was in the kitchen putting groceries away when Bella went in to see about lunch. "No ma'am" he said. "I will take care of this. I will be away all next week...you and Elaine can deal with it then". She smiled and standing on her tip toes, kissed him on the cheek and said thank you. Prince's phone had started to ring. Music friends who had met Bella were calling to see if it was his Bella that was in the news. In the news? Prince turned on the mid-day news in the family room and within 10 minutes on an In Entertainment segment...the books that had made the shortlist and their authors were being discussed. Bella's book got some additional press because she was a first time author. The final list would be out on June 1st the reporter said and then said a hearty congratulations to all of those that made the cut!
Within 15 minutes all of their phones were ringing, primarily with reporters who were trying to get to Bella. Then Prince saw one name and number that he recognized. Since the rest of the household was listening to the news, he stepped out into the hallway to take the call. Andrea Williams, the New York Times reporter who had hit on him so hard when she was trying to get an interview with him was calling. She had apologized to him and to Bella, Elaine and Carlos for her behavior. He had heard from some mutual acquaintances that she had continued seeing Jax Jepson of the Dead Crows and that they had just recently become engaged. The Article that she had published after their interview had been highly complimentary and he decided to take the call. "This is Royal". "Hi Royal. This is Andrea Williams of the New York Times". "Well hello there Andrea. How have you been"? "Good, really good Royal and you"? "Absolutely wonderful". "Yes I heard that you and Bella had become engaged...I actually read it in the LA Times and the Detroit News". "Yes we have and are planning a wedding in June of next year". "Well congratulations Royal". "Thanks"! "I understand that congrats should come your way to in that you and Jax have decided to tie the knot". "Yes" she said laughing. " He asked and I said yes before he could change his mind. We will marry in August of this year. I will send you and Bella and Carlos and Elaine invitations". "And if we can...we will come too", Royal said. "I am calling because of the announcement that Bella's Book made our short list. That is a huge accomplishment for a first time author and I was hoping to get an interview with her. Here or there would be fine" Andrea said. "Whichever fits your schedules best". "Well I will have to of course ask her, but I am sure that can be arranged. We are going into two meetings this week on some pretty important things that will impact our schedules. I will know by Friday what days are do-able. Will that work for you"? "Absolutely" Andrea said. "Great I will call you on Friday and thanks for calling Andrea. It was good talking to you". "You're welcome Royal. I will be waiting for your call". Andrea had come a long way. He was glad she was doing well. Prince got up and went to find Bella. She was still sitting watching the news on Cloud Stream with Carlos and Elaine. He waited until the story they were listening to ended and then told them about Andrea Williams call. He shared how well she was doing and about her engagement to Jax and then told them of her request. "Do you feel comfortable with her doing an interview with you Bella". "Of course" she said. The article she did on you and Carlos and The World Changers was wonderful. I trust her. "Yeah me too", Prince said. "Any input Carlos, Elaine"? " None except go for it", Carlos said. Elaine nodded her agreement. "Oh she also said she would send us invitations to their wedding. So think about if you want to go". They all said they would.
Lunch was simple and tasty and dinner was great. They each worked on the things they needed to do with Prince and Carlos paying some bills and reviewing the schedule Prince had created for consideration for the European Release and Elaine preparing as best she could for their meeting with Christian and Becca Morrisey using Bella as a soundboard. Tomorrow morning would officially begin the next leg of their journey and them being back into the rat race and they were as ready as they were going to be. Prince pulled out some films after dinner and they decided to watch a really old one. It was a beautiful movie though and one of Bella's favorites...Pretty Woman. After the movie they would go to bed and rest...they were still a little jet lagged, but no where near to what they experienced when they returned from France. Elaine made some popcorn and they enjoyed their film and then saying their good nights, they went to bed.