CHAPTER 6
For the next eight hours on the movie set, the princess was in heaven. While at first Ned had bristled hearing all the recommendations and changes she proposed to fix the tea party scene, he’d quickly become more receptive after she’d explained why the changes were needed and had ideas on how they could do things without breaking the bank.
Ned had even praised her for how great she was thinking outside the box. Even though she’d never been in the Hollywood box, she took this as a huge compliment. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. She’d had several heated conversations with Ned when they’d disagreed about something, and neither would back down. It got so fiery that the crew started taking bets on who would win. Benson had to step in once as a referee after the princess started playfully hitting Ned with his baseball hat, which she refused to give back.
In the end, they each ended up winning and losing some arguments. She was impressed that even when Ned disagreed with her, he would always listen to her. At one point Simone had accused them of arguing like an old married couple. While Ned looked embarrassed, the princess was secretly delighted to think anyone would see them as married, even if they were arguing.
The princess hoped whoever she married would be able to have passionate conversations like the ones she had with Ned. It was refreshing for someone to stand up to her. In her royal role, people were always polite to her, too polite. Everyone around her, outside her family and Benson, acted like they were walking on eggshells, always making sure they didn’t say or do anything to upset her.
She found spending the day on the set and being treated like a regular person was so freeing and exhilarating. Everyone from Ned to the producers, cameramen, and actors had no problem speaking up and letting her know how they felt about her ideas. They praised her for the good ones and called her out for the bad ones.
As the princess watched Ned expertly work with the crew and motivate the actors, she saw how much everyone respected and looked up to him. It made her like him even more.
A couple of times when she was watching Ned, she found Simone watching her closely. Her intuition told her Simone had feelings for Ned, too. The princess couldn’t blame her.
When Ned walked up to her smiling, she saw Simone watching, frowning.
“I don’t think Simone likes me,” the princess said.
“Why would you say that?” Ned asked. “You’ve helped me a lot today.”
“Yeah, and I think that might be the problem.”
Ned laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Simone just likes being the center of attention. It’s nothing personal. We should be wrapping up soon.”
The princess felt an instant rush of sadness to think her dream day was ending.
“I thought we could grab some dinner after?” Ned asked.
The princess perked up. “That would be great…”
Benson stepped in. “We didn’t agree to any after-hours meetings.”
Ned laughed as he put his arm around Benson. “You make it sound so nefarious, Benson. I wasn’t proposing a clandestine meeting. I was merely proposing dinner, so I could run a few things by the princess, work-related. I’d like to get her thoughts on the shoot we’re starting tomorrow at a castle upstate.”
The princess’s eyes lit up. “You have a castle in New York?”
“Actually, we have a couple dozen castles in New York,” Ned answered. “The one I’ve picked for this movie is pretty amazing. I have pictures and some video I can show you at dinner.”
“Wonderful!” the princess exclaimed. “I can’t wait to see it and…”
“Princess, remember we have that engagement tonight,” Benson interrupted.
The princess looked confused. “What engagement?”
Benson gave her a knowing look. “To go over the Elderman Report. You know how critical that is.”
The princess’s eyes narrowed. “Really, Benson. TheElderman Report?” The princess knew exactly what Benson was talking about. The Elderman Report was their secret code they used whenever they wanted to get out of an invitation. But the princess didn’t want to get out of Ned’s invitation. On the contrary, she was looking forward to dinner with him.
Ned laughed as he looked from Benson to the princess. “Is this something you always say when you don’t want to do something? You make up a fake report to go over?”
Benson’s mouth dropped open.
The princess laughed as she put her arm around Benson. “Ned, you’re going to give poor Benson here a heart attack. The answer to your question is yes.”
Ned laughed. “Yes, that’s a bogus report, or yes to dinner?”
“Yes to dinner,” the princess said. “If you could come to our hotel at seven, that would give Benson and me a chance to discuss this Elderman Report. Ned, to protect our privacy, we will need to have dinner in our suite. Is that okay with you?”
“Sure,” Ned said.
“And with you, Benson?” the princess asked.
Benson looked conflicted but finally nodded slowly. “That will be fine as long as this dinner doesn’t run too late.”
“It won’t.” The princess and Ned promised at the same time and laughed.
“So, we have a plan,” the princess said as she started to walk off with Benson.
“It appears we do,” Benson said, not looking thrilled about it.
“Oh, wait, my hat,” Ned called out after her.
The princess took off Ned’s black baseball hat and waved it at him. “We can talk about it at dinner.” She then quickly put his hat back on, grinning.
“Princess, you still need to call the king and queen and tell them about this. You promised,” Benson said in a stern tone.
“Well, it’s too late to call them now. They’re sleeping,” the princess replied. “But I will call first thing in the morning. Now, let’s plan our dinner. I want everything to be perfect…”