Chances Are

2 - The Bank Note

Daisy

Once upon a time, there was a little princess who got everything she ever wanted. 

The king and queen loved her and her sisters very much and made sure they were always happy. The princesses grew up in a very loving home full of love, laughter and prosperity. 

Everything was bright and beautiful in their kingdom near the ocean where the royal family built several castles to accommodate their guests. 

But all things, even the most precious, must come to an end. 

One day, when the princesses were just 10, 8 and 6 years young, the king fell ill. The queen and the princesses sought everyone who could save him, even selling some of their treasures and castles. The youngest princess even cracked open her little clay piggy bank to help but not one of all the healers in the land was able to find a cure. 

The king passed away and the queen and the princesses were left in grief. 

The princesses still too young to help their mother with their dwindling finances could only helplessly look on as the beautiful queen entertained a string of dukes, earls, counts and knights who promised her true love, loyalty, service and fortune but all ended up breaking her heart and disappointing her. 

At some point, they all found someone, younger or prettier or had less responsibilities. 

When the youngest princess was 16, the queen met another king. He was kind and thoughtful at first. He took care of the queen and the princesses and was faithful to the queen, so the queen married him. 

Once again, the glory of the kingdom was restored and the family lived in prosperity. 

After a few years, the eldest daughter left home. Having met a young prince to marry, she bids her family farewell to build a home with her husband in a foreign land. 

The second daughter soon followed to seek her own path in another land. 

The youngest princess was left alone with the queen and her new king and all seemed fine until she found out about her stepfather's secret. 

One day, the princess stumbled upon a book that bore the new king's secret. He has been taking away the queen and princesses' treasure and castles and giving them to someone to pay for his gambling debts. You see, this king loved to play cards. 

She asked the new king about it and he was furious. He hit the princess, leaving her black and blue and threatened the life of her mother if she said anything about his secret. 

To protect her mother, the princess kept the secret and fled the kingdom. She lived in a place far away, alone and afraid. 

Armed with determination, her trust fund and her innate intelligence, she worked hard to further her education and achieve all the success she has on her own. 

She would meet a prince time and again and fall in love but each time, she ended up cheated on, betrayed and feeling stupid. 

She learned from the life her mother lived  and the series of heartbreaks she had that love is nothing but an empty promise. 

And she lived unhappily ever after. 

Hopefully, that's not 

THE END.

***

A tragic fairy tale. Such is the story of my life. 

I sighed as I stared at the ripped-up bank note from my childhood piggy bank that I kept in a glass frame on my dressing table. It was a bitter reminder of the time when everything in my life started going downhill. 

The fall of the only man who ever truly loved me was also the rise of all my misfortune. 

"Papa... " I whispered as I remembered my father's love, kindness and laughter. His laughter was one that tickled your soul until you ended up giggling with him. 

His laughter was like... was like that of the guy I met at the club last night. 

That was probably the first thing that drew me to him. I heard him laughing with his friends from the table beside ours and when I turned I found a big fair-skinned handsome guy fooling around with his friends like a five year old. He had deep dark eyes that twinkled with his laughter and a deep dimple on his left cheek. 

He looked familiar but I didn't really realize who he was until my friend, Karen told me he was freaking Ethan Richards! 

Congratulations for being too buried in your work that you don't know about anything else in the world, Daisy. 

Ethan Richards looked my way. Our eyes met and needless to say, sparks flew. With a little cajoling from his friends, he came over to my table and asked me to dance. So we did. 

His friends passed us some drinks while we danced close to each other on the dance floor, eye to eye, face to face, skin to skin. 

Over the blaring techno music and hypnotic LED laser lights mixed with the effects of the liquor we were consuming, he leaned in. With his hot breath on my neck, he said, "Let's get out of here." And we did. 

He was all over me. We started kissing in his car and ended up naked and spent in his bed. 

Such was the night I spent with the one and only Ethan Richards. 

"I'm just here for the s*x. Have a good day." is probably the lamest morning after goodbye in all of history. Who would ever want a girl like that? 

"Even I would be embarrassed of you, Daisy Mara. Why in the world did you say that?" I scolded myself in the mirror. "Okay. Given that you were ashamed and remorseful for sleeping with someone you just met in a club to get over another stupid breakup and wanted to save face by acting like a badass chic who didn't care about it. f**k! 'Have a good day'? That was so lame." I scoffed. 

I took one more look at myself in the mirror and picked up my things. I got up, headed for the door and shrugged away my thoughts of last night. 

Why should I waste my energy thinking about him? Hello! He's Ethan Richards, the most insanely handsome and most popular celebrity in the country. He can have any girl he wants. He's probably off to his next conquest right this second and didn't even give last night a second of a thought. 

That Prince Charming is NOT FOR YOU, Daisy Mara. Not in a million lifetimes. 

Have a good life, Ethan Richards. May we never meet again.