Princess Grace: A Fairy Tale

Peter Williams couldn't tell if this was a dream or reality.

It was Saturday afternoon, October 4, 2008, and Peter was one of only four adults at a large house in Los Angeles. Two of the other adults were his brother Paul and his wife Aurora. The rest of the house was filled with children: it was the seventh birthday party for Paul's daughter Tiana, and the sound of cheering, hyperactive kids almost drove Peter, who had no children of his own, nuts.

Yet there was another adult there--a young woman about 25 years of age, who fascinated Peter's eyes. She was dressed as Cinderella, with a beautiful silver-and-blue dress and hard clear plastic shoes that passed for glass slippers, and the kids loved the idea of meeting a "real-life Disney princess."

Peter could not take his eyes off her. She had silky golden-blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a lovely smile. He couldn't believe she had such patience with these annoying children. He had to get to know her, somehow, someway.

By 7:00pm, Tiana and her friends were beginning to get tired. Paul and Aurora walked up to "Cinderella" and whispered something to her; Peter presumed that it was about payment. "Cinderella" waved goodbye to Tiana and her friends, then walked towards a black Cadillac that was waiting for her.

Suddenly, Peter ran out of the house towards "Cinderella," moving so fast it startled Paul and Aurora. "Hi," he yelled. "Not exactly a carriage you've got there!"

"Well, it's not exactly a pumpkin either," "Cinderella" said, her voice showing traces of an accent she had kept hidden while she was interacting with the kids.

Peter laughed. "I'm Paul's brother--I didn't want to bother you while you were working. I just wanted to say you did a terrific job--I work for a different firm than my brother's, but a lot of my colleagues also have young children as well. I think they'd love to have you at their birthday parties. Can I meet with you next week so we can discuss this?"

--

Please don't tell me this is another creep, Grace Houghton thought to herself as she looked at Peter's name and number. She thought back to all the unpleasantness she had seen since she started this work--the freaky fathers who tried to stick their tongues down her throat once their kids had gone to bed, the old multi-millionaires who grabbed her arse right in front of the child they'd had with their third wives. She loved the kids, couldn't stand the adults.

Paul and Aurora Williams happened to be her first Black clients. Paul and Aurora had been very nice--they didn't complain about her fee, didn't give her a long list of dos and don'ts, made sure she had car service to and from their daughter's party. Peter also seemed nice enough--and handsome enough--but you can't tell by looking who's crazy.

--

"Oh, wow, this is the first time I've been to the Ivy."

"I figured you'd want something a little more prestigious than In-N-Out Burger."

Grace laughed, and Peter knew he wanted to hear that laugh every day for the rest of his life.

"So, I read so much about you--I knew your brother was pretty powerful, but you've done pretty well for yourself!"

"Thanks. I mean, it hasn't been easy. We were raised to be pretty competitive with each other, and sometimes it gets ugly between us."

"Oh, that's such a shame. I'm an only child, so I can't relate."

Peter smiled. "So, I know that's an Aussie accent, but I can't pinpoint specifically where it's from--our firm has offices in Melbourne, but I don't think it's from there."

"I'm actually from Newcastle. I know, a princess from a castle, right?"

"It'd actually be funnier if you were from Queensland."

Grace laughed again. Peter knew he was deeply in love.

"So I moved out here three years ago after I graduated from drama school. I wasn't even thinking movies--if I got on a TV show, I'd be happy. I did a couple of commercials, but I keep running into shit--I'm not pretty enough, not blonde enough, not thin enough, not tall enough, whatever."

"There are a lot of casting directors with bad vision, if you ask me."

"Thank you--that is so sweet. Anyway, a friend of mine told me that there are a lot of--no offense--very rich families in Los Angeles who like to spoil their kids, and one way they like to do so is to hire someone to dress up as a Disney princess for their birthday parties."

"Interesting."

"I usually play Cinderella--I tried to play Snow White once, but I didn't want to wear a wig, so I dyed my hair black and it fucking wrecked my hair."

"A true commitment to the role!"

"Yes," Grace smiled. "So I just stick with Cinderella now. One time a family out in Brentwood wanted me to play Sleeping Beauty, but I thought that was kinda creepy."

"Wow."

"I know, right?"

Peter chuckled. "Well, I do have to admit, when I saw you at Tiana's party, I thought of when my parents took my brother and I to see 'Cinderella' when we were kids. Back in the day, Disney would re-release all of their classic movies--'Cinderella,' 'Snow White,' 'Pinocchio,' all of them. I thought Cinderella and Snow White were so beautiful--they were my first crushes."

"Really!"

"In fact, I know this sounds crazy, and Paul used to tease me about it for years, but one night, when I was seven years old, after we saw 'Cinderella,' I literally wished upon a star to meet someone like Cinderella or Snow White."

Grace's blue eyes grew wide with shock, and she let out a nervous laugh. "You're joking me!"

"I'm not joking you, I swear."

"Well, you know what they say about what happens when you wish upon a star."

Peter smiled. "And as they say in 'Cinderella,' a dream is a wish your heart makes."

----

It wasn't long before Grace was spending every spare moment at Peter's house. He was one of the kindest and wisest men she had ever met, and though she hadn't given much thought to dating or relationships since moving to LA, she knew that Peter would have a major role in her life going forward.

As the financial crisis worsened, birthday parties for families in Los Angeles were scaled back significantly, and Grace's bookings sharply declined--so sharply that by December, Grace was afraid that she would no longer be able to stay in the United States. Peter knew he had to do something.

Despite his increased workload, Peter decided to take a personal day six days before Christmas. He drove to Brilliant Earth Jewelry in West Hollywood, spent a few hours on selections, then drove back to his house. At 6:00pm that evening, he asked Grace to come over. She was there by 7:00pm, and in a matter of minutes, he knelt down in front of her, opened a small box, and asked her to marry him.

Grace looked at the silver-and-blue ring; it exactly matched the colors of her Cinderella dress. She started crying.

"Look, Peter, you don't really have to do this. I know that if the government thinks this isn't legitimate--"

"Grace...I do have to do this. This is not about the government. This is about you. I love you. I've loved you since the first moment I saw you. You're the one I wished for all those years ago. I want you more than anything in this world. Please...I'll beg you if I have to. Will you marry--"

"Yes. Yes. I will."

----

Peter and Grace got married just a few weeks later, in a quiet, small, hastily arranged ceremony on Saturday, January 24, 2009. Their families and friends questioned why the event was so low-key and taking place so quickly after the engagement: Peter and Grace told their relatives and acquaintances that they wanted a sustainable ceremony with a limited carbon footprint, and that "When love feels this good, marriage shouldn't wait."

The honeymoon consisted of a weekend stay at the Beverly Hilton--any longer and Peter would have faced a severe work backlog. Just a few minutes after checking in, the newlyweds quietly and quickly undressed, before spending the next few hours making love. Grace was both stunned and pleased by Peter's passion and intensity, the joy on his face as he whispered in her ear, kissed her nipples, licked her pussy and penetrated her with his big, beautiful cock. By the time they finished, it was well past midnight.

The next morning, Grace woke up and found Peter fast asleep, slightly snoring. She turned on the television and watched the Sunday morning news shows. The talking heads were all discussing Barack Obama's inauguration earlier in the week. Grace looked at Peter and smiled. She took his hand and held it to her heart. I never thought I'd end up getting married to a guy like Peter, she thought to herself. Then again, if the American President can be a Black man, why can't my Prince Charming be the same?

She reached over and grabbed a pen and notepad from the desk next to her bed. As she wrote, Peter began to stir.

"Good morning, Grace. Thank you so much for last night. What are you doing?"

"Oh, just writing a little story."

"OK."

A few minutes later, Grace put down the notepad and kissed Peter.

"I'm gonna take a shower. You're more than welcome to join me."

"You know I will."

As Grace left the room, Peter looked at the notepad. In perfect handwriting, Grace had written:

"Once upon a time, a noble black prince and a fair white princess met in an angelic city. The prince had wished years ago to meet this princess; the princess soon realized that he was the prince she had been longing for. They joined their hearts in marriage and joined their bodies and souls in pleasure...and they lived happily ever after."