Have you enjoyed the royal wedding as much as I have? It’s so romantic, right? Every girl’s fantasy!
And now that you’re in the mood, CHASING ORDINARY is my modern-day adult fairy tale. Here’s what it’s all about.
The moment Petey closed the apartment door behind herself, she burst into hot tears. Jules, who had been relaxing in the living room with her Kindle, immediately jumped up and came over to her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, reaching for her hand.
“I’m just so…fucking stupid,” Petey growled through her tears.
“But what happened?” Jules frowned deeply. “Did Nik hurt you? Because I will kick his ass!”
Petey was crying too hard to answer, so Jules put an arm around her and led her to the kitchen counter. While Petey settled onto a stool and continued to sob, Jules poured them both a shot of Cuervo Silver. “Here,” she said, handing a glass to Petey, “suck this down and tell me exactly what happened.”
Sniffling, Petey tossed back the tequila and coughed as it hit her throat. Jules downed hers quickly, and repoured for both of them. “So talk,” she urged her friend.
“H-he lied to me,” Petey stuttered, trying to calm her voice.
Jules gasped. “He’s married! That son of a bitch.”
Petey shook her head miserably. “No. That’s not it. He told me he was in international business.”
“And he’s not?” Jules asked.
“No! He’s the fucking prince of Beruvia!” Petey’s tears started anew.
Jules blinked. “He’s the prince of Beruvia? Nik?” She shook her head. “Pete, that doesn’t even make sense. The prince of Beruvia is Prince Stefan. He’s all over the tabloids all the time. Here, I’ll show you.”
Cueing up Google Images on her phone, she chose a headshot of a handsome blonde man with stormy blue eyes, and she held it up to Petey.
“Hon, this is Prince Stefan of Beruvia.”
Petey peered at the image and bawled anew. “I know! He lied to me!”
Realization began to dawn on Jules. “This? This is your Nik?” Her eyes widened. “You fucked the prince of Beruvia in my guest room?”
She watched as Petey crossed her arms on the counter and rested her head on them, her back shuddering with sobs. Jules rubbed her back soothingly. “Petey, seriously, how did you not know he was a prince? I mean, everybody knows who he is. He’s like, Europe’s most eligible divorcé.”
Petey raised up her head slightly to scowl at Jules. “Well, thanks, because I wasn’t feeling stupid enough already.”
Jules shook her head and gazed out over the living room. “Geez, Pete, he’s always in the tabloids and on the gossip shows.”
“I live on a sheep ranch. In my spare time, which is precious little, I work on my sculptures. I don’t have time or patience for stupid celebrity gossip.”
“So how did you find out?” Jules wondered.
Petey, calmer now, sat up and swiped at her face with her hands. “We were jumped by a bunch of photographers outside of Paddy’s. Nik’s-” She paused, scowling. “Whoever’s people, they pushed us into a car and drove us away.”
“Paparazzi?” Jules glanced at Petey. “You realize you’re probably online right now.”
“Stop it!” Petey gasped.
Pushing away from the kitchen counter, Jules padded into her bedroom and retrieved her laptop. She returned to the counter and fired up the device. “Let’s see,” she murmured.
Watching over her friend’s shoulder, Petey watched as Jules entered Prince Stefan into the search bar. Immediately images of the man who’d introduced himself as ‘Nik’ filled the screen. Jules refined the search to ‘most recent’ and there she was, Petey Cavanaugh, gaping wide-eyed as she and Nik were pushed into the back of a black Mercedes.
“Motherfucker,” Petey breathed.
From deep within her purse, her phone began to ring. Jules glanced at her. “Are you going to get that?”
Petey shook her head. “It’s probably him.”
The ringing continued. Jules pursed her lips. “I think you should get it.”
“I’m not answering,” Petey said, crossing her arms defiantly.
“Then I’m going to get it.” Grasping Petey’s bag from the floor where she’d dropped it, Jules rooted around until she found the device. She showed Nik’s image to Petey before swiping to unlock the phone. “Hello?”
“Oh, thank God, Petey, I’m so sorry. Please allow me to explain,” pleaded a deep voice with a British accent.
“No, this isn’t Petey, this is Jules. Petey’s very upset. She doesn’t feel up to talking right now.” Quietly, Jules pressed the button for ‘speaker’.
“I beg your pardon,” replied the voice. “I know she’s upset, and I know she feels that I deceived her, but I need to explain everything. Is there any way she’ll talk to me?”
Jules looked to Petey, who flashed double middle fingers and mouthed a silent, “Fuck you!”
She frowned into the phone, “Yeah, Nik, that’s not looking too good right now. Tell you what, give me a few minutes and I’ll see what I can do.”
CHASING ORDINARY is a 5-STAR reviewed contemporary fairy tale for grown-ups.
Adventures in Date Night 
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