Royal Flush

two.

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For the rest of the day Jonathan had walked around in a haze. He had barely been able to focus during his meetings. All he could think about was the stupid arranged marriage he had agreed to. Was he really doing the right thing? He wanted to make his parents happy, but was this really how he should do it? He knew that he wouldn’t be miserable with whomever he ended up marrying, but he didn’t know if he would really be happy either.

Those kinds of thoughts plagued him as he studied the profiles that he had been given. Abby hadn’t been lying when she said that all the women were good-looking. If Jonathan had met them around town, he would have definitely tried to flirt with them. And he had things in common with all the women so they would have things to talk about. It just made his job of narrowing down the list that much harder.

After a couple hours of reading and re-reading the profiles he finally narrowed it down to the six women he was most interested in. He then sent the list to Abby, hoping that all the thoughts that had plagued him through the day would be gone. But it didn’t work. In fact, the thoughts only seemed to get worse for him.

As he tried to fall asleep, all he could think about was what would happen if he picked the wrong women to be his wife. What if she seemed nice at first, but turned not to be a raging bitch once they got married? Or what if she only seemed interesting on patter, but turned out to be really boring? Or what if at the end of the ball he realized that he didn’t like any of the women, but still had to choose who he wanted to marry?

Thinking like that had caused him to toss and turn, not able to fall asleep. When he finally did manage to fall asleep his dreams were filled with images of him being stuck in a loveless marriage that he had no way of getting out of.

So when he woke up the next morning after only about four hours of sleep, he was in a bad mood. He was just grateful that he didn’t have any important meetings that day. All he had was the ball and that wasn’t for hours. He planned to spend all day in bed to catch up on his sleep.

Or at least that was his plan until a not so welcome intruder burst into his room without as much as a knock on the door.

“Prince Jonny Toes!” Patrick exclaimed as he walked into the room, grinning widely. “Glad to see that you’re finally awake!”

Jonathan frowned as he sat up in bed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Don’t you fucking know how to knock?”

Patrick laughed brightly, flopping down into an armchair. “Now, now. Is that any way to talk to your best friend?”

“What are you even doing here?” Jonathan questioned, ignoring the question.

“A little birdie told me that you were on the prowl to find the future queen,” Patrick replied with a smirk.

Jonathan groaned loudly, rubbing his hands over his face. He really needed to find a way to make sure that Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp were never allowed to talk to each other ever again. It usually only lead to trouble.

“So Sharpy wasn’t lying?” Patrick asked gleefully.

“No, he wasn’t lying,” Jonathan grumbled, glaring at the other male.

“I can’t believe it. Prince Jonny finally finding himself a princess. I never thought I would see the day when that happened,” Patrick commented.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you’ve never been big on dating. When was the last time you even went out on a date?”

“I’m a busy man.”

“I get that, but even the busiest man finds time to go on a date here and there. Or at least go out and hook-up with someone. When’s the last time that you got laid?”

“First of all, that isn’t any of your business. Secondly, why does it even matter how long it’s been since I’ve gotten laid? Not everyone can be like you.”

Patrick frowned slightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh come on. Everyone knows that you’ve probably slept your way through half of Canada’s female population already.”

“So?”

“So, my point is that I’m more likely to find a wife before you. I have women lined up waiting to marry me and you can barely get a girl to stay the night.”

“God. You are such a dick!” Patrick snapped as he stood up, glaring at Jonathan.

“What? I’m just stating the truth.”

“No, you’re being a fucking asshole. I feel sorry for whatever woman gets stuck with your pathetic ass. She’s gonna need all the helps she can get when she gets married to you. Hey, maybe she’ll even come to see me. I’ll certainly know how to show her a good time.”

“Fuck you!”

“No! Fuck you Prince Dickwad!” Patrick growled, flipping Jonathan off before he was stomping out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Jonathan grabbed a pillow, throwing it as hard as he could at the door. “Fucking dickface!” he yelled at the door, even though he knew that Patrick probably couldn’t hear him.

This was definitely not the way that he had wanted his day to start.

♕♛♕♛


After his fight with Patrick, Jonathan had tried his hardest to get out of going to the ball. He just wasn’t in the mood to paste a smile on his face and meet his potential wife. But no matter how much he had begged and pleaded, Abby and been stern and told him no. Not only were his parents expecting him to be there, but so were the women that could potentially become his wife. He couldn’t let any of them down.

So when the time came to get ready, Jonathan had begrudgingly put his tux on. He had even let Dayna fuss over his hair without complaint. As much as he didn’t want to do this, there was no point in acting like a brat about it. The sooner he got this whole night over with the better. He just needed to keep reminding himself he was doing this to make his parents happy.

As soon as he arrived at the ball, he was stopping the nearest waiter, grabbing two flutes of champagne, quickly downing them. He placed the empty glasses on the tray before grabbing a third, plastering a smile on his face before going to mingle with people.

Halfway through the night, he was actually starting to feel better. That might have to do with the fact that he had already drunk six glasses of champagne, but who really cared? At least he wasn’t sleeping in the coatroom so he was counting it as a win.

And he had already met five out of the six women that he had told Abby he was interested in. While the women had been nice enough and easy to talk to, there had been something missing. He couldn’t picture himself marrying any of them. He just hoped that the sixth woman knocked his socks off or else he was screwed.

Sighing softly, Jonathan took a sip of champagne, eyes scanning the room, hoping to spot the final woman he was supposed to meet.

“Prince Jonathan?” a female voice spoke from behind Jonathan.

Jonathan turned around, raising an eyebrow slightly when he was facing the woman. He slowly looked her up and down, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Victoria Walker I assume?”

“You would be correct. It’s very nice to meet you,” she stated, holding her hand out to him.

Jonathan took her hand in his, bending down to press a kiss against the back of her hand. “It’s nice to meet you too. You look lovely tonight,” he complimented, letting go of her hand.

Victoria laughed softly, brushing invisible wrinkles out of the floor length red gown she was wearing. “Thank you. I’m not used to getting dressed up like this.”

“Haven’t been to many balls lately?”

“Not really. These things aren’t really my kind of thing.”

“Then why did you come tonight?”

Victoria raised an eyebrow slightly. “You really don’t know?”

Jonathan blushed lightly, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Right. The whole marriage thing. Kind of forget about that for a second.”

“I take it you aren’t really excited about this whole thing.”

“It’s not really that I’m not excited. I just don’t think that I’m ready for marriage yet and I’m only really doing this to get my parents off my back,” he admitted.

He knew that if Abby heard him talking like that he was a dead man, but she wasn’t here right now and he felt like he could be honest with Victoria. There was just something about her that made him trust her, even though they had just met.

Victoria chuckled softly. “So we’re in the same boat then.”

“We are?” Jonathan asked in confusion.

“Since you’re being honest, I should be honest with you. I’m sure that you’re a really great guy and any girl would be lucky to marry you. But the only reason I even agreed to this whole thing was because my parents were pestering me to settle down. I have four older sisters and they all got married at like 18. So the fact that I’m 25 and not married or even in a serious relationship is upsetting to them.”

Jonathan slowly blinked his eyes, just staring at Victoria before he burst out laughing.

“It isn’t that funny,” Victoria grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jonathan held a hand up, trying to stop laughing. “Sorry,” he stated once he managed to stop laughing. “I didn’t mean to laugh. I think you’re the first person that’s been really honest with me this whole evening. Most of the other women talked about how it would be a dream come true to marry me or how it was such an honor to even be chosen as a potential wife for me. I appreciate the honesty.”

Victoria smiled lightly as she uncrossed her arms. “Well, I figured I should get the truth out there right off the bat. I didn’t want to fool you or anything. For all I know, you could be trying to find the girl of your dreams. I didn’t agree to this whole thing because I’ve got some big crush on you or because I’ve always wanted to be a princess. I’m purely doing this for selfish reasons.”

“Good, I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful relationship.”

Victoria raised an eyebrow slightly. “You think so, huh?”

“Only if that’s what you want. I don’t want to force you to do something that you don’t really want to do. If it makes you feel any better, I’m not looking for the girl of my dreams. I just need someone that I can get along with and doesn’t mind that this won’t be a marriage built on love.”

Victoria hummed softly, tapping a finger against her chin. “Well, you aren’t really my type, but you aren’t all that bad to look at. And I could probably do a lot worse than you. So yeah. Why the hell not? I’m 100% okay with this. Who needs a love with marriage anyway?”

“Perfect!” Jonathan stated happily. “I feel like I should be thanking you for doing this. I honestly couldn’t believe that there would be anyone willing to go through with this whole scheme.”

“I couldn’t believe that a prince would need to come up with a scheme like this to find a wife.”

Jonathan chuckled softly. “Touché. I guess we’re both a little crazy.”

“Which is the exact reason things are going to work out for us.”

Jonathan grinned widely as he nodded his head. “I agree. I have a good feeling about this.”

“I’m glad that I decided to come tonight. But I probably shouldn’t take up any more of your time.”

“It’s fine. I’m having a nice time talking to you You’re really fun to talk to.”

“You’re fun to talk to as well. But I’m sure that there are plenty of people who want to talk to you. Plus, I am going to be your future wife. We’ll have plenty of time to talk.”

“Alright, alright. I’m sure that my mother would be a little disappointed if I didn’t greet all the guests,” Jonathan commented. “I’ll tell Abby that you’re the one I picked and she can set up a meting to get the ball rolling on this whole scheme.”

“Sounds like a plan. It was really nice to meet you tonight,” Victoria stated, leaning up to press a kiss against Jonathan’s cheek before she was walking away.

“It was nice meeting you too,” Jonathan murmured, smiling lightly as he watched her walk away.

♕♛♕♛


Patrick honestly had no idea why he had even come to this stupid ball. It wasn’t like he was royalty and absolutely needed to make an appearance. And it wasn’t like there was anyone that he really wanted to see. Normally he spent most of his time at a ball making his rounds of the room, flirting with every girl he thought was pretty. But tonight he really wasn’t in the mood to do that.

It might have been due to the fact that he was still pissed off about his fight with Jonny. It wasn’t the first time they that gotten into a fight and it wouldn’t be the last, but it was the first time that Patrick had been hurt by Jonny’s words. Mainly because he knew that his best friend was right about him.

So instead of flirting his way around the room, Patrick had plopped himself down at the bar. He glared at anyone that tried to sit near him, slowly nursing a rum and coke, bitching to the bartender about how big of an asshole Jonathan was.

“I’ve been best friends with the guy since we were little kids. I know some pretty juicy secrets about him that would completely ruin him if anyone found about them. And have I ever spilled the beans?”

“I’m guessing now,” the bartender replied in amusement.

“Damn straight! But does he ever thank me? Noooo. He just calls me a whore,” Patrick scoffed, finishing off his drink. “Another one.”

“Alright,” the bartender murmured, smirking lightly as he took the empty glass, going to make a new drink.

“Prince Jonathan more like Prince Douche. Always got that stupid serious look on his face. What woman in their right mind would want to marry him?” Patrick mumbled to himself.

“I don’t know about that. The prince seems like a real catch to me,” a female voice spoke from the right of Patrick.

Patrick turned his head quickly to look at who had spoken, eyes widening slightly when they landed on a pretty brunette wearing a long red gown. “Well you would be wrong.”

The pretty brunette chuckled softly, quirking an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

“Because while he’s got the whole ruggedly handsome look going for him, he’s actually the world’s biggest idiot. And he’s really boring too.”

“I just met him a few minutes ago and he seemed alright to me. In fact, he was a perfect gentleman.”

Patrick snorted lightly. “You’ve only known him for like five minutes. Wait 20 years and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. He’s perfected that ‘aw shucks I’m just a simple guy from Canada everyone should love me’ look. Everyone always falls for it.”

The brunette smiled lightly. “I’m taking it your not a big fan of Prince Jonathan then.”

“Oh no. I’m actually best friends with the stupid fucker. We got into a fight earlier today and I’m still upset about it,” Patrick explained.

“Ahh. Makes sense.”

“But enough about that idiot. I’m Patrick Kane,” he stated as he held his hand out to the female.

“Victoria Walker,” the brunette replied as she shook Patrick’s hand.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Ms. Walker.”

“Same goes for you, Mr. Kane.”

The bartender came back over, placing a new drink in front of Patrick. “That’ll be $4.50.”

Patrick started to pull his wallet out, glancing over at Victoria. “Were you going to order anything?”

“I was going to order an Appletini,” Victoria answered.

Patrick gave a nod of his head, finishing pulling his wallet out of his pocket, taking out a twenty-dollar bill and giving it to the bartender. “An Appletini for the lovely lady and keep the change.”

“You got it,” the bartender stated as he took the money before going to make the drink.

“You didn’t have to buy my drink.”

Patrick hummed softly. “I know that I didn’t, but it wasn’t a problem. I would be an idiot not to buy a pretty lady like yourself a drink.”

Victoria chuckled softly, shaking her head. “I bet you use that like with all the girls.”

“Only the one’s that I think are special.”

Victoria blushed lightly, ducking her head. “You sure are a sweet talker, Mr. Kane.”

“I only speak the truth,” Patrick said, smiling lightly as he reached out, placing two fingers underneath Victoria’s chin so that he could lift her head back up. “I know this is probably pretty sudden, but would you like to go back to my place?”

“If you thought I was special enough, you would know that I’m not that kind of girl,” Victoria answered. “It takes at least a fancy dinner to get me to go home with someone.”

Patrick let out a quick laugh. “Good to know. Then would you go out to dinner with me?”

“You’re going to have to try harder than that. I’m a girl that likes to be wooed.”

“Wooed, huh? I can totally woo the pants off of you,” Patrick promised.

Laughing softly, Victoria grabbed a pen that was sitting on the bar and a napkin, quickly scribbling her number on it. “Give me a call,” she stated as she held the napkin out to Patrick.

Patrick grinned widely as he took the napkin from her. “I will definitely do that.”

Victoria smiled, grabbing her drink when the bartender set it down in front of her. “I’m looking forward to that call, Mr. Kane,” she stated before walking away.

Patrick stared down at the napkin, his grin only growing bigger. This night and turned out a lot better than he had thought it would. Now all he needed was a plan to woo this new woman.

♕♛♕♛


It was nearly 2:30 in the morning when Victoria got home from the ball, dead on her feet. As much as she hated going to parties like that, she had to admit that this one had been fun. Meeting Prince Jonathan had gone better than she thought it would. Then there had been the bonus of meeting Patrick. She new that nothing could ever really happen between the two of them now that she had basically agreed to marrying Prince Jonathan, but they could have some harmless fun, right?

“Good night?”

Victoria gasped softly, jumping nearly a foot in the air. “Holy fuck!” she muttered, placing a hand over her heart. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn’t realized her roommate Colette had walked into the room.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s alright. I was caught up in my own thoughts,” Victoria stated as she stepped out of her shoes.

“So, was it a good night?” Colette repeated.

Smiling lightly, Victoria gave a nod of her head. “Yeah, it was a really good night. Prince Jonathan was a lot better than I thought he would be.”

“I’m glad that you had a good night. I wish that I could have come with you.”

“Soon that wish will come true. Soon you’ll be attending every single ball because you’re the best friend of the future Princess of Canada. Hell, once Prince Jonathan and I get married, you’re going to be living in the palace.”

Colette smiled sadly, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “You don’t need to do that. I’m sure that you’re future husband doesn’t want your freak of a roommate moving in with you.”

Victoria frowned, moving over to Colette so that she could hug the other female. “First, you are not a freak. Second, if my future husband won’t let you move in with us, then fuck him. I’ll find someone to marry who will be okay with you moving in with us. I would never leave you alone. Though, I’m not worried about that. By the time we get married, I’ll make sure that Prince Jonathan loves you just as much as I do.”

Colette let out a wet laugh as she hugged Victoria back, sniffling. “You’re the best friend that I could ever ask for.”

“I know,” Victoria teased as she pulled back only to link their arms together before heading for their bedrooms. “But let’s get some sleep now. I have a feeling the next few days are going to be crazy.”
♠ ♠ ♠
And here's the next chapter. Things are a little confusing right now, but I promise that everything will be revealed very soon.