The Princess and the Player (Royally Pitched 1)

15 July

SeatGeek Stadium

Ele fastened the pin to her shirt and glanced back to the mirror. Second-guessing her choice for the tenth time. She shook her head in chagrin—at herself mostly.

Ele never got the opportunity to be the People’s Princess. That moniker always belonged to Juliana with her ready smile, unusual but gorgeous features, and no hint of anxiety with the press.

But as she’d contemplated her outfit the night before, she’d remembered Jamie climbing onto the chair in the royal box after the semifinal match. She read the articles the next day about his instinctive ability to connect with the masses. The headlines around the world extolled his charisma and manner. When Millie came at her with a staid navy suit, Ele had to hold herself back from physically recoiling. She hadn’t wanted to appear in front of the world in an outfit her grandmother would wear.

Again, her gaze returned to the mirror.

Her hair fell in waves down her back. Normally, she wore it up, a French twist or a sophisticated bun. In her ears, she wore small gold studs, hardly visible. Her white pants were tailored and tapered. Millie had cautioned her about wearing heels, but she was outfitting herself in armor today, and she needed to be fully dressed. Flats might have been more practical, but she found herself in heels nonetheless. She would walk on her toes as she made her way to the dais. Finally, her eyes landed on her choice of top. Beatrix had worked wonders with the jersey, tucking it at the waist. Truly, she thought the design was a bit ridiculous. Blue, white, and yellow gingham for a football jersey? But it actually didn’t look too bad with her pants.

She smoothed her hands down her thighs and finally turned to Millie and Beatrix. “Well?” she said, her voice laden with both hope and nerves.

Millie’s face broke into a wide smile. “It’s perfect.”

Beatrix, whose poker face was for shit, grinned. “Brilliant.”

A tiny bit more confident, she picked up her purse from the table and laced it over her shoulder.

“Robert is ready to brief you,” Millie said.

Ele nodded. Today would be a feat. Allowing herself to get caught up in her wardrobe had taken her mind off the game and her responsibilities after the game. It’d also allowed her to pretend that her last glimpse of Tristan wouldn’t be when she either congratulated or consoled him. Curfews and schedules wreaked havoc on their plans to see each other again. The ache of his departure from her life threatened, but she chose to focus on today. If she didn’t get a chance to say a proper good-bye, at least her last memory of him would be of him doing what he loved.

Caption that.

She stepped into the sitting room, the one with the love seat, two chairs, and an oval coffee table. This little room had been her home for the last four weeks. The love seat was brand-new, probably purchased right before their arrival so they would only have good things to say about it. But the flower patterns along with the solid chairs were just a bit off. Still, she would miss this room and the time she’d spent in it.

Robert stood by the chair. His eyes widened when he saw her, and she knew by the way he rolled the side of his lips between his teeth that he was holding back a smile.

“Okay?” she couldn’t help asking.

Probably noticing her need for reinforcement, Robert judiciously allowed his smile to spread across his face. Immediately, every taut nerve in her body eased. Robert possessed a far better stoic expression than anyone, even the queen.

He gave her a thumbs-up.

Robert ran Ele through the expectations for the stadium and the postgame ceremony. Then, because the game allowed them enough time to take an overnight flight home, they were scheduled to depart Chicago. When Ele and Robert concluded their briefing, there was a flurry of activity as the royal entourage packed everything. Ele returned to the bedroom and sat with Millie as she folded, sorted, and packed.

“What shall I do with this?” Millie asked, holding up the Cubs hat Ele had worn on her royal day off.

Ele grinned at the hat as Millie placed it in her hand. She ran her hand along the brim, remembering snippets of the day with Tristan. She didn’t want to part with the hat. She was about to shove it into the suitcase when she thought better of it. There wasn’t any token she could give to Tristan as a memento of their time together. He had one picture on his phone. Anything of hers would be conspicuous. But only she, Tristan, Robert, Millie, and Michael knew about the hat.

She went to the desk, tucked into the corner of the sitting room. She sat down, pulled out a piece of paper, and began to write. When she was done, she moved into the kitchenette and rummaged around for a bag. She located a discarded brown paper bag under the sink. Placing the hat and note in the bottom, she rolled the top down and folded it over.

“Robert,” she said as she came back into the sitting room, “can you see that he gets this?”

Their eyes met—hers heavy with a plea, his light with a promise.

“Of course, ma’am.” He took the bag from her and turned to leave the suite. “Five minutes.”

Ele nodded.

The next few hours flew. The drive to the stadium, the entry from the depths of the underground parking garage and through the corridors under the street, and finally into the royal box. The photo ops of her with the French prime minister. The carefully plotted seating arrangement that allowed Ele and Jean-Pierre Babbineaux maximum exposure to the crowd during the game. The sea of people surrounding them, already chanting and cheering. She should have been overwhelmed. But Juliana’s presence and Robert’s absolute attention to detail allowed her to be Princess Eleanor Ann-Juliet Josephine in a way she hadn’t been able to manage in over a decade.

It was the game. Her calm was edged with excitement for the match. She still didn’t understand offsides, and anytime two men went up for headers, her breath caught. But somewhere along the way, she’d caught football fever.

Next to her, Juliana practically vibrated in her seat. “This is so amazing.”